Within a decade, 300,000 megawatts of unsubsidized local solar power could compete with utility electricity prices in almost every state, enough clean energy to produce 10% of U.S. electricity. Grid parity is building like a relentless wave, but how much solar is at parity today? In 2016? In 2020? On homes or businesses? With incentives or … Read More
Nearly 300 gigawatts of unsubsidized local solar could beat utility prices in the next decade, but until recently most Americans couldn’t participate because their own rooftop isn’t suitable for solar. That’s changing fast. Just one project featured in our 2010 community solar report, by the Clean Energy Collective, has managed to replicate its initial success. But … Read More
A presentation summarizing ILSR’s reports on the local solar opportunity as unsubsidized solar becomes competitive with retail electricity prices in nearly every state over the next decade. Read the reports and view our other multimedia resources on solar parity. Is Your Utility Ready for a Solar Rooftop Revolution? from John Farrell
A funny historical tidbit courtesy of David Morris, showing the exercise of papal power over wind power: “In Northern Europe, one of the earliest records of windmills were the ones in England recorded in 1185…Also, in 1191, records show that a windmill in Bury St. Edmunds was constructed in defiance of the local abbot. The windmill … Read More
Although only 0.1% of electricity is generated by solar power in 2012; within a decade, 300,000 MW of unsubsidized solar power will be at parity with retail electricity prices in most of the United States and more than 35 million buildings may be generating their own solar electricity sufficient to power almost 10% of the country.… Read More
eTopia, November 19, 2012 An eTopia News interview with ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell. John describes how renewable energy, by its nature, decentralizes the generation of energy and that the dispersion of power generation means local ownership is a natural complement to renewable energy, expanding both its economic and political impact. Click below to watch the … Read More
The enormous growth in local renewable energy is decentralizing the electricity system, often supplanting energy from centralized power plants. But not all renewable energy is built locally, even in a country like Germany with massive local ownership of its renewable energy systems. The Germans are undergoing significant upgrades to their electricity grid as they push 25% … Read More
Friend and renewable energy journalist Osha Gray Davidson released a book today called Clean Break, detailing the German Energiewende (translation: energy change). It’s a story of how the Germans systematically shifted to clean energy, finding as they proceeded that the possibilities were greater, the costs lower, and the benefits for ordinary citizens more prodigious than anyone … Read More
ILSR Senior Researcher John Farrell is giving this presentation to a collaborative meeting of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the National Association of Regulatory Commissioners (NARUC) this weekend. It highlights the proven value of distributed solar to utility grid systems and the urgent need for regulators and utilities to incorporate this value into their … Read More
