Tag - solar-energy

 
 

SOLAR ENERGY

China’s solar industry is seeking to emulate OPEC’s cartel model, but differences in technological innovation, market dynamics and centralized control by Beijing complicate such efforts.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2024
An OPEC for solar power isn’t going to work
Geological advantages are perpetual, but technological advantages can quickly become obsolete.
An electrical substation in Tokyo. Japan's total power generation fell to its lowest in more than a decade in the year through March.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 22, 2024
Japan’s power output falls to lowest in more than a decade
The total amount of electricity generated fell 1.6% year on year to 985.4 terawatt hours in the 12 months to March.
A Sardinian miner helmet, painted with the logo of Sardinia region, in Carbonia, west of Cagliari, Italy. Sardinia relies largely on coal for its electricity.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 18, 2024
Locals revolt against renewables in Italy's coal-fired island, Sardinia
The island a prime location for wind and solar power but intense investor interest has spooked locals who say Sardinia is being exploited.
Solar panels installed along the coastline of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture. Due to the relative ease of starting solar power generation, mega solar power plants have been installed rapidly across the country.
JAPAN
Nov 11, 2024
Japan to mandate solar panel recycling when lifespan ends
The number of panels reaching the end of their lifespans is projected to start rising sharply in the mid-2030s.
A worker inspects solar panels in Gansu Province, China, in 2013.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 16, 2024
China’s U.S. solar plants undermine domestic push, report says
The report comes amid increasing scrutiny of Chinese investment in U.S.-based manufacturing of the solar tech key to the transition away from fossil fuels.
A solar farm in Shilin, China. Last year, China installed more solar panels than the United States has in its entire history.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 19, 2024
Why the era of China’s soaring carbon emissions might be ending
The biggest factor in the shift is changes to how China produces its electricity.
A pumped energy storage facility and a wind turbine at Kibbutz Maale Gilboa, Israel, on July 9
WORLD
Jul 18, 2024
How 'energy islands' could help Israel build resilience for wartime
Israel's microgrid pilot, which will be complete sometime in the next year or two, will run in parallel to large stockpiles of diesel, coal and generators.
Nawaf Al-Osimy, chief technical officer of the Jazlah Water Desalination plant, which draws vast quantities of water from the Persian Gulf and makes it drinkable, in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, on March 4.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 30, 2024
Saudi Arabia eyes a future beyond oil
The kingdom is trying to juggle its still-vital petroleum industry with alternative energy sources like wind and solar as it faces pressure to lower carbon emissions.
Shipping containers at the port in Ningbo, China, March 27, 2024. The U.S. and Europe are trying to catch up to China’s lead in industrial policy, a rival skilled in using all the levers of government and banking to dominate global manufacturing.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 28, 2024
How China pulled so far ahead on industrial policy
In 2022, Beijing accounted for 85% of all clean-energy manufacturing investment in the world, according to the International Energy Agency.
A 2-megawatt solar farm in the city of Fukushima. “Megasolar” refers to farms with a minimum output of 1 MW of electricity — enough to power around 300 homes for a year.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
May 26, 2024
‘Megasolar’ is a dirty word in Japan. Where do solar projects go from here?
Vocal campaigns are pushing back against projects as dangerous eyesores, but "dual-use" approaches and community engagement may offer a solution.
A solar farm owned by the Huaneng Group in Shilin, China on March 2. Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels, as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 9, 2024
China racing ahead on plans to dominate solar energy industry
Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports.
Floating solar panels at the Canoe Brook water treatment plant in Short Hills, New Jersey
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Mar 6, 2024
Pressed for space, solar farms are getting creative
There are solar arrays on top of big-box stores, solar arrays on yachts and solar farms that float.
Solar installations in the village of Hjolderup in Denmark
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 21, 2024
Europe’s climate push fails to stem crisis in solar industry
Despite insistence to push for more homegrown energy infrastructure, governments have been slow to prop up the ailing industry.
Workers push damaged solar panels into a machine to be recycled at the We Recycle Solar plant in Yuma, Arizona.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 25, 2023
'Urban mining' offers green solution to old solar panels
Silver, copper, aluminum, glass and silicone are all commodities that can be harvested from old panels and have value on the open market.
Wiring connects photovoltaic panels at the Al Dhafra Solar project, constructed by Electricite de France (EDF) and Jinko Power Technology, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in January.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 13, 2023
China’s pressured clean energy industry sees Saudi potential
Saudi Arabia is said to offer benefits including low-cost electricity, good relations with other countries and a central location.
A solar farm at the University of California in Merced
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Nov 5, 2023
U.S. solar panel manufacturing boom threatened by cheap imports
Global solar panel prices have collapsed due to a wave of new Asian production capacity in recent months.
Utilities are increasingly controlling power output from renewable energy sources as the share of renewables expands.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Oct 30, 2023
Renewable energy cuts from output controls surge sixfold in Japan
With renewables such as solar power in wider use, output controls aimed at balancing power supply and demand have been used more frequently.
It’s hard to talk about space-based solar — that is, transmitting the energy — without conjuring images of a death ray. But the team at the California Institute of Technology says the power density of the beam would be comparable to the power density of sunlight.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Oct 27, 2023
Beam solar energy from space? These scientists say yes
The hurdles that have grounded space-based solar in the past aren’t merely technical, they’re also financial.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 15, 2023
Japan moves to make more effective use of solar power
Efforts are being made to use surplus electricity generated during the daytime by solar power and to shift power demand according to supply.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2019
Aging equipment and bad cable connections behind home-use solar system accidents in Japan
A commission under the Consumer Affairs Agency has found that numerous fires and other serious accidents involving home-use solar power systems have been caused by factors such as old equipment and faulty cable connections.

Longform

Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?