EGEB: California halts batteries without a vote, Utilities/ALEC/Koch attacking solar, Pentagon hippies, more

Electrek Green Energy Brief: A daily technical, financial and political review/analysis of important green energy news.

Rooftop Solar Dims Under Pressure From Utility Lobbyists – “Edison Electric Institute is happy to come to any state at any time,” Thomas R. Kuhn, the group’s president, “We have two dozen states we are working on…Years, ago, I think a lot of people said, ‘That’s not going to come to our area. And now we see it in each and every state.” – also – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, concluded that for the vast majority of states and utilities, the effects of rooftop solar credits on electricity rates for nonsolar customers would be negligible for the foreseeable future. The Edison Institute disputes that study’s findings. Your money pays for your electrical company to stick it to you. #democracy #capitalism #merica

California Assembly Yanks Major Storage Bill, Pushing It to 2018 – “The utilities blocked SB 700, plain and simple, by getting the chair to hold the bill in committee and denying it a hearing,” said Laura Gray, energy storage policy adviser for the California Solar Energy Industries Association. “They see distributed storage as an even bigger threat than standalone solar.” The response – “To suggest that the perspectives of the utilities affected the treatment of this bill is a simplistic statement,” Assemblymember Chris Holden said. “It avoids the substance of the issues surrounding further development of storage in California, which is a leader around the world in the work we have done thus far.” The politician follows up saying they’re looking for a study to give them more knowledge on distributed battery storage. The only reason I give this answer some respect is because it is California…however…California is NOT out of the grips of the fossil fuel groups as we’ve seen on plenty of bills.

Conservative groups urge lawmakers to gut climate programs in U.S. military – Those damn Pentagon hippies and their solar freaking panels…this is when you know ‘conservative’ politicians have absolutely given up their true political calling. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has long been supportive of programs that reduce troops’ petroleum dependence. In written testimony to a Senate panel after his confirmation hearing in January, Mattis said “climate change can be a driver of instability” and is “a challenge that requires a broader, whole-of-government response.” Except – Kock/ALEC money is influential and these people have no spines.

Scientists design solar cell that captures nearly all energy of solar spectrum – First off, before anyone gets too excited – these types of solar exist to a degree. They need dual axis tracking, concentration hardware and cost a whole lot of money. They also happen to be the solar panels on the International Space Station. Now – the fun – “Around 99 percent of the power contained in direct sunlight reaching the surface of Earth falls between wavelengths of 250 nanometers and 2,500 nanometers, but conventional materials for high-efficiency multi-junction solar cells cannot capture this entire spectral range,” Dr. Lumb said. “Our new device is able to unlock the energy stored in the long-wavelength photons, which are lost in conventional solar cells, and therefore provides a pathway to realizing the ultimate multi-junction solar cell.” – And this means a potentially 44.5% efficiency solar cell. With the costs of tracking coming down and volume (maybe) scaling, this product should become big…but it hasn’t yet. I tried selling them when working at Beghelli from 2011-2014, but flat solar panel pricing destroyed us.

Record heat in Phoenix investigated in 95 deaths after 118-120° highs – For those who say climate change is far, far away – we’ve been seeing the effects in Africa for a while, we’ve got spring coming three to four weeks early, animals migrating sooner and record heat waves across the earth. America, might you pay attention now that your neighbors are dying?

Low Battery Storage Degradation Underscores Excellent Overall Performance of Caribbean Microgrid – Relative diesel savings were 3.4 percent higher than forecasted: diesel consumption was reduced by 62 l/MWh instead of 60 l/MWh. These additional savings are particularly remarkable, as solar irradiation during the year was 4.9 percent below average due to local weather conditions. Just like we’re starting to get evidence that Tesla’s vehicle battery packs are going to go far beyond (500,000 miles) prior estimates of 150,000 miles, we’re now getting evidence that modern technology has advanced (surprise, freaking surprise) beyond prior estimates when connecting solar to the grid.

Corporate money going into solar is important. These groups own a large % of the square flat rooftops across the country, and they have a lot of money to invest –

Total corporate funding for #solar in Q2 2017 totaled $1.4B from 37 deals compared to $3.2B in 60 deals in Q1 2017 https://t.co/JWaqtJRZpm pic.twitter.com/BXyfVJfWv3

— Mercom Capital Group (@Mercom) July 13, 2017

Header image is of this guy. He’s not a hippie – he’s a sheepdog. A pragmatic war fighter whose job it is to protect the country.

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