By DR. MIRIAM ACZEL In San Giovanni a Teduccio, a coastal suburb in Naples, a new people-driven project has become Italy’s first renewable “solidarity...
Archive for category: Solar
The Inflation Reduction Act: How Does It Benefit Everyday Americans?
By DR. MIRIAM ACZEL and KATE RINGNESS On August 16, 2022, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) into law, which...
Biden’s New Low-Income Solar Power Program Hailed as ‘Vital’ for People and Planet
By JENNA MCGUIRE “Let’s keep those executive actions coming—and use them not only to build renewables, but also to shut down fossil fuels,” said Jamie...
Solarize: the Grassroots Initiative that Cut Solar Costs up to 35%
By Jerold Brito Back in 2009, solar panels were not nearly as widely used as they are today. At the time, solar power generation in the...
‘So What Are You Waiting For?’ Say Climate Campaigners After IEA Says Solar Now ‘Cheapest Electricity’ in Human History
By Andrea Germanos Solar “is on track to set new records for deployment every year after 2022.” Solar is on track to be the “new...
Indian Prime Minister Modi: A UN Climate Champion
By UTKARSH VIVEK On October 3rd the Prime Minister of India received the United Nation’s Champion of the Earth Award in the Policy Leadership Category for his...
Workshop Explores Local Government Clean Energy Financing Alternatives
By MELISSA CHRISTENSEN Representatives from six local governments in Northern Virginia attended a workshop on budget-neutral, clean energy alternative financing options for local governments at the...
Virginia’s rural co-ops learning lessons with community solar
Last month, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) approved three-year pilot community solar programs for four distribution co-ops served by the Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC), based in the Richmond suburb of Glen Allen. They are A&N, Mecklenburg, Northern Neck and Rappahannock. In addition, applications by two other distribution co-ops also served by Old Dominion — Shenandoah Valley and Southside — are pending before the SCC.
Connecting Individuals with Solar Jobs
How does someone get a job in the solar energy industry? 90% of employers in the Mid-Atlantic area find it either somewhat or very difficult to hire qualified individuals, according to The Solar Foundation’s 2017 Solar Jobs Census. And solar jobs pay well; an installer job pays on average $20 an hour. So how do we bridge the gap between inexperience and jobs?
The answer – job training.
Mini Grids: Providing electricity to Myanmar’s communities away from the grid
In Myanmar, approximately 70 percent of the population and 84 percent of the rural households do not have access to electricity. The Myanmar National Electrification Plan (NEP), funded by the World Bank and other partners, aims to achieve 100 percent electrification by 2030. However, the challenge to reach this goal is huge. Electricity shortages and supply disruptions are widespread in Myanmar due to under-investment in the sector.
Mini grids using locally engineered and financed technology have played a crucial role in the provision of electricity for thousands of villages in the country. These mini-grids largely emerged due to the entrepreneurial drive from the local private sector and community organizations with little or no public sector support. They also simultaneously reflect the determination and ingenuity of many local communities in finding alternatives to candles and kerosene.