European Court of Justice rules that French feed-in tariff is state aid

Friday, 12.27.2013 - 2:23 (Solarserver)

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has determined that the French feed-in tariff is based on state aid, in a ruling on the Vent De Colère case. The European Union sets strict limits on state aid, and this will allow the EU jurisdiction over French renewable energy policy. Read more

Panasonic launches shade design contest for 100,000 solar lantern project

Friday, 12.27.2013 - 19:20 (Solarserver)

Panasonic Corp. (Osaka, Japan) has updated its project to deliver 100,000 solar-powered lanterns to homes and schools in areas that lack access to electricity by 2018, with shades based on designs contributed by participants. Read more

Georgia Power prepares bidding process for 500 MW of solar PV

Friday, 12.27.2013 - 16:04 (Solarserver)

Georgia Power (Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.) has published draft documents for bidding processes for 500 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) generation. The company has also opened a comment period on these documents through January 31st, 2013. Read more

JinkoSolar puts online 80 MW of solar PV in Western China

Friday, 12.27.2013 - 15:30 (Solarserver)

JinkoSolar Holding Co. Ltd. (Shanghai) has commissioned four solar photovoltaic (PV) plants each 20 MW in capacity in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Western China. The company notes that this has allowed it to reach its goal of connecting 213 MW of PV projects to the grid in 2013. Read more

Solar May Reach 49 Gigawatts in 2014

Friday, 12.27.2013 - 12:01 (Renewable Energy World)

It’s close to the end of the year, and businesspeople are looking forward to 2014. Among them the solar industry, which is anticipating continued growth into the new year as international markets continue to expand.  At least one company, NPD Solarbuzz has taken a bullish approach anticipating that the global level of solar installations could reac Read more

Japan Eyes Smart Meters, Fuel Cells to Tackle Climate Change

Friday, 12.27.2013 - 16:12 (Renewable Energy World)

Japan plans smart meters in every residence and factory by the early 2020s and 5.3 million fuel cells in homes by 2030 to tackle climate change, according to a report to be submitted to the United Nations. Read more

Spain commissions 1 MW battery system to support renewables

Friday, 12.27.2013 - 19:08 (Solarserver)

Spanish grid operator REE (Alcobendas, Spain) has put online a 1 MW lithium-ion battery-based storage system connected to the transmission grid in Seville, Spain. The system will absorb surplus energy production, mostly from renewable energy sources, and discharge upon demand. Read more

RenewableEnergyWorld.com’s Most Popular Stories of 2013

Friday, 12.27.2013 - 10:00 (Renewable Energy World)

As editors we delight in learning which of the stories that we wrote or commissioned were most popular with our readers. That’s why at the end of each calendar year, we pull reports that tell us which stories we posted got the most shares, the most views, the most comments, etc. We also look at which videos were watched the most. Often, we post articles that we know will be a big hit: like explanations of controversial solar legislation. But other times you surprise us, readers, by taking great interest in articles that we felt were solid but not necessarily ground-breaking. Read more

Listen Up: Let's Talk Energy Storage

Friday, 12.27.2013 - 6:01 (Renewable Energy World)

To many experienced solar hands, the emerging grid energy storage business looks a lot like the solar industry did about a dozen years ago. We have always been trying to figure out how solar power works at night — and energy storage can do the trick. Today, energy storage technology works reliably, commercial applications are coming onto the market, and incentives are available to help make the economics pencil out for customers. Read more

Renewable Year-end Focus: Turkey

Friday, 12.27.2013 - 6:01 (Renewable Energy World)

As the renewable energy market shifts and evolves each year, industry experts need to know where the next hot region will be in order to keep up with the changing tides. Read more

New York funds state bank to support clean energy projects

Friday, 12.27.2013 - 2:38 (Solarserver)

Andrew Cuomo, the governor of the U.S. state of New York, has dedicated USD 210 million in initial funding for a state bank to support renewable energy and energy efficiency projects. Read more