California Energy Commission Awards Nearly $1.2 Million for Energy Research Projects

The California Energy Commission last week awarded $1,154,230 to spur research for projects including one improving climate change projections used for energy forecasts. Funds for the 10 projects come from the Commission’s Public Interest Research Project (PIER) program.

GE Wins Wind-Turbine Patent Case Brought by Mitsubishi Heavy

General Electric Co. (GE) didn’t infringe a patent owned by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. over a way to control the angle of wind-turbine blades to reduce wear and tear, a federal judge said. The decision by U.S. District Judge John Antoon in Orlando, Florida, eliminates the need for a trial that was scheduled to begin later this month. Antoon ruled that GE’s turbines adjust the angle of the blades in a way that’s different than that covered by Mitsubishi Heavy’s patent.

Wind Farm Called Threat to Condors

California illegally approved a giant wind farm in the Tehachapi Mountains that will kill California condors and golden eagles, environmentalists claim in Kern County Court. Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, and Center for Biological Diversity claim the Department of Fish and Game violated its own regulations by issuing an "incidental take" permit to the co-defendant developer, North Sky Energy. The environmentalists also sued the Kern County Board of Supervisors. The wind farm at issue includes the North Sky River and Jawbone Wind energy projects, which stretch across a combined 13,353 acres of windy desert roughly 200 miles north of Los Angeles. When completed, 116 turbines will produce up to 300 megawatts of clean energy, according to the complaint.

California Farm Bureau Opposes Project on Prime Farmland

A state law requiring a third of California's power to be generated from renewable sources by 2020 has generated concern for the California Farm Bureau in regards to a recent solar development project on Valley farmland.

Political tide turning against solar in California, warns ally

After a long run of legislative success, pro-renewables policies in California are facing “a very big push-back”, says one of the industry’s political champions. “California was already way ahead of other states regarding our policies in both climate protection and renewables, but the last three years we did more,” says State Assembly member Nancy Skinner, a Democrat who has co-sponsored numerous bills for solar and other renewables and, most recently, legislation to open the market for energy storage. “Now we are experiencing a very big push-back, from the utilities, from various companies,” she told a gathering of solar executives on the sidelines of Intersolar North America.

Insuring Your Solar Power Investment

GCube Insurance Services, Inc., the leading provider of insurance for the renewable energy industry and Assurant, Inc., a premier provider of specialty insurance , announced they have signed a distribution agreement to provide U.S. commercial solar project developers greater access to a comprehensive insurance bundle and warranty management program at affordable prices. Effective immediately, GCube will be able to offer and market Assurant Solar Project Insurance for commercial-sized solar projects in the range of 100kW to 3 MW nationwide.

U.S. Imports of Chinese Solar Panels Continues to Fall

Imports of Chinese solar cells and panels into the United States decreased for the second straight month in May year-over-year, according to the Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing (CASM). Chinese solar imports totaled $124.1 million in May, down about 45 percent from $225.8 million in May 2011, according to the Department of Commerce’s “U.S. Imports of Merchandise” database.

Valos and Gehrlicher joint venture to offer large-scale solar PV projects for utilities in California

Valos Solar Ventures and Gehrlicher Solar America Corporation, a subsidiary of Germany’s Gehrlicher Solar AG, have joined forces to provide solar energy to investor and municipal-owned utilities in California. The Valos-Gehrliche joint venture has 235MW of projects in development – including sites for PG&E, SCE, SDG&E - with Gehrlicher providing the utility-scale PV plant EPC.

Wind Power in Colorado: Has It Reached Its Peak?

Wind power has grown slowly but steadily in Colorado over the last decade. But now, with wind farms frequently coming online and manufacturing facilities buzzing with activity, the state faces the possibility of the wind energy industry screeching to an abrupt halt. Colorado currently receives 9.2 percent of its generation capacity from wind power, generating the third highest percentage of power from wind of any state, according to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).

Satcon Receives Funding To Reduce Effects Of Renewable Energy Intermittency

Satcon Technology Corp., a provider of utility-grade power-conversion solutions for the renewable energy market, and A123 Systems, Renewable Energy Services (RES) and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) have been selected by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to receive a $2 million grant to develop and demonstrate methods to reduce the effects of renewable energy intermittency. The funding is part of a larger initiative to develop solutions to enable higher penetration of renewable energy onto the electric grid through solar energy harvest, storage and array control capabilities.