"While #Australia has the world’s highest uptake of #RooftopSolar panels – one in three Australian households has them – only 1 per cent are made in Australia.
The #SolarSunshot program will be run by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and deliver grants and production credits. Those credits are then typically cashed in by manufacturers via tax breaks."
For the past 15 years, when we turned on the lights at Firestorm we were using electricity generated by a Duke Energy plant on Lake Julian, south of Asheville. Prior to its retirement in 2020, that plant burned 400K tons of Appalachian coal per year, mined through a process known as mountaintop removal, making it a frequent target of environmental activists. When Duke moved to replace it with a new facility that burns fracked gas, that plan was opposed by Appalachian Voices, NC WARN, and others who argued that the environmental impact could be just as bad, or worse. (Mountaintop removal and fracking are both nightmarish, go read about them, if you haven't already!) Today less than 10% of Duke's electricity is renewable, and the company's future plans for industrial scale wind, solar, and hydro are sure to replicate the environmental racism and extractive practices on which the company built its fortunes.
It shouldn't be surprising to learn that, as anarchists, our vision for energy justice is decentralized and radically democratic! We're excited to share that our co-op is now meeting most of its electric needs through a 7.5 kW rooftop solar system installed by the good folks at Asheville Solar Company. Like other energy sources, solar has significant environmental impacts—from materials mining to end-of-life waste—but the shift to neighborhood-scale energy production, alongside a reduction in energy use through degrowth, is essential to the solarpunk future we dream of.
America has learned very little from the subprime mortgage crisis:
"In Germany, where installation is done locally and there are fewer intermediaries, the typical residential system costs about 50% less than it costs in the U.S."
"A #RooftopSolar boom that’s powered #China’s world-leading pace of renewable energy installations is hitting new challenges as multiple regions run out of grid capacity for additional projects."
"The first ever life-cycle analysis comparing big and small solar photovoltaic systems has concluded that small-scale solar systems are in fact better for the environment than even the largest, and most efficient, #solar farm.
#RooftopSolar uses the existing infrastructure of the house or building [as support]. Similarly, by putting the solar panels close to the electric load, transmission losses across the grid are reduced."
Preliminary data from the #rooftopsolar industry shows a steep drop in installations and widespread job losses since April. That’s when the PUC’s changes to the #netenergymetering program took effect, slashing the compensation new solar customers receive for the excess power they feed into the grid… disappointing to see the outcome of state regulators’ wrecking-ball approach play out so predictably.
"Negative prices are now happening more often, and in the middle of the day, because of the sheer scale of output from #RooftopSolar, which is absorbing half of all demand in big states like #NewSouthWales (NSW), and occasionally all of demand in smaller states such as #SouthAustralia."
Does anyone know of any municipalities that have any local#solar incentives, with a particular concentration on businesses? Preferably in #massachusetts but I'll take anything. My local development and industrial council is looking at a solar parking lot canopy incentive but has no idea where to start.
Rooftop #solar eats up all demand in world’s most #renewable grid ! #SouthAustralia continues to set remarkable new #renewableenergy milestones, this time with #rooftopsolar which ate up all the state’s operational demand in the middle of the day on Saturday. Operational demand fell to just 21MW on Saturday, at 1.30pm, as rooftop solar accounted for the rest of demand. #solarenergy
“The rooftop solar record wasn’t the only one to fall on the weekend.
“According to GPE NEMLog2, other records to fall included record instantaneous battery charge in South Australia (334.7 MW earlier on Saturday at 10.30am), Victoria battery charge (390 MW), and record NEM-wide battery charge of 594.8 MW at 2.50pm (AEST) on Saturday.
“In NSW, battery discharge hit a record 174.5 MW at 6.30pm on Saturday.
“Other records included instantaneous wind output in Queensland (842MW), at the same time as a record amount of wind curtailment (854.7MW), and a record wind share (15.9 per cent).
“Also in NSW, black coal output hit a record low of 2,073.0 MW at 13:55 hrs on Saturday, and coal and gas together hit a new record low of 2,073.2 MW at the same time.”
Climate change is an immediate threat to the majority of the world's population.
We need a local, regional, state, national, and international "moon shot" type of concentration of effort using available resources while developing and advancing new science and technologies to counteract the damage humans have caused.
Without this type of all-out, universal cooperation, human civilization, and perhaps humanity itself, are in imminent danger of extinction.
@Lats That's in the video, including an example of how a combo of #ParkingLotSolar and #RooftopSolar could possibly justify the higher installation costs for a #Walmart-type retailer by covering all #energy costs and providing excess that can be sold to the #grid.
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once is my literal expression of what we all should be doing.
Nothing that mitigates #ClimateChange should be overlooked or left undone.
"The expansion of #RooftopSolar in #NewEngland is keeping the lights on during #winter, surprising the region’s grid operator and challenging long-standing assumptions that the growth of #RenewableEnergy could destabilize the power system."
Rooftop solar is booming in the US thanks to local manufacturing. A new report shows that domestic production of solar panels has increased by 50% since 2020. This means more jobs, lower costs, and cleaner energy for Americans.