China
Africa
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The rise of renewable power
Published in Christian Downie, Business Battles in the US Energy Sector, 2019
In the period of the policy contests, the German-based Solar World and American-based First Solar were the largest solar manufacturers and the largest solar firms in the US. Together, they represent over a third of the solar manufacturing market in the US (Osten, 2015: 28–30). In 2014, First Solar’s annual revenues were over $3 billion, and it is responsible for some of the largest solar plants in the US, including Topaz Solar and Desert Sunlight in California, which went online in 2014 and 2015, both with a generation capacity of 550 MW (REN21, 2015: 61; Osten, 2015: 29). These solar plants are commonly referred to as utility-scale solar because the power they generate feeds directly into the electricity grid and is typically purchased by a utility company via a PPA. Other large manufacturing firms that operate in the US include Suniva, Trina Solar, and Yingli Solar.
Introduction
Published in Peter F. Varadi, Frank Wouters, Allan R. Hoffman, Wolfgang Palz, Anil Cabraal, Richenda Van Leeuwen, The Sun is Rising in Africa and the Middle East, 2018
Peter F. Varadi, Frank Wouters, Allan R. Hoffman, Wolfgang Palz, Anil Cabraal, Richenda Van Leeuwen
Africa has been called the “lost continent,” but since 2000, it is not lost anymore. Many of its countries are among the world’s fastest-growing economies and are on the way to becoming middle-income countries, with a growing middle class. The extreme poverty is declining and the entire continent is trying to leapfrog from the Iron Age to the Electric Age. It is an astonishing fact that Africa’s “poor population” having still no access to electricity is spending vast amounts of money on kerosene for lights and taking their mobile phones to stores for recharging. They could use that money to switch to solar electricity. This is now being understood by more and more people, and many are switching to solar. Many African countries and donors from America, Europe, and Asia are realizing that installing utility-scale solar systems would provide the needed electricity faster and more securely than building many small-size hydroelectric systems or polluting with diesel generator sets requiring very expensive fuel.
Energy and Environment
Published in T.M. Aggarwal, Environmental Control in Thermal Power Plants, 2021
Land is a scarce resource in India and per capita land availability is low. Dedication of land area for exclusive installation of solar arrays might have to compete with other necessities that require land. The amount of land required for utility-scale solar power plants — currently approximately 1 km2 (250 acres) for every 20–60 MW generated – could pose a strain on India’s available land resource. The architecture more suitable for most of India would be a highly distributed set of individual roof top power generation systems, all connected via a local grid. However, erecting such an infrastructure, which does not enjoy the economies of scale possible in mass, utility-scale, solar panel deployment, needs the market price of solar technology deployment to substantially decline, so that it attracts the individual and average family size household consumer. That might be possible in the future, because PV is projected to continue its current cost reductions for the next decades and be able to compete with fossil fuel. Government can provide subsidies for the production of PV panels, in which there will be reduction in the market price and this can lead to more usage of solar power in India. In the past three years, solar-generation costs here have dropped from around ₹18 (28 US) a kWh to about ₹ 7 (11 US) a kWh, whereas power from imported coal and domestically-produced natural gas currently costs around ₹4.5 (7.1 US) a kWh and it is increasing with time. Experts believe that ultra mega solar power plants like the upcoming world’s largest 4,000 MW UMPP in Rajasthan, would be able to produce power for around ₹5 (7.9 US) a kWh.
Landfill Solar: Trash To Treasure*
Published in Energy Engineering, 2018
Bryan A. Jacob, Michael R. Ayers
Dramatic reductions in the cost of solar PV components has led to significant uptake of utility-scale solar systems. Erecting solar atop closed landfills is a viable option to minimize post-closure landfill maintenance and transform those liabilities into productive, renewable energy assets for the long-term.