solar :: GBIG Insight

The Age Old Question: Does Green Power Cost More? Of Course (Not)

By Christopher Wedding, PhD on 16 Aug 2016 • 3 minute read

Nobody likes paying more than they should. And my dad is a CPA, so this is definitely true for me, too. But this barrier is not unique to renewable electricity. The same expectation is true for most non-luxury goods and services. Yet I still hear the objections everyw …

Solar: Efficiency is Irrelevant. Cost is King

By Christopher Wedding, PhD on 25 Jul 2016 • 3 minute read

You’ve seen many headlines touting “record new solar panel efficiency.” We get excited seeing those, too. But they don’t matter. Alright, that was shock value. Let me explain. First, take a gander at the mind-numbing chart from the US National Renewable Energ …

Searching for Solar in Shanghai

By Pierre Moses on 11 May 2016 • 3 minute read

You know you’re a solar nerd when you always choose a window seat just to give yourself a few moments to survey the surrounding landscape for solar installations during takeoff and landing. Yep, that’s me. As I traveled around China for almost three weeks, I was sur …

Corporations Emerge As a Force in the Landscape of Clean Power Purchasers

By Christopher Clement on 25 Feb 2016 • 3 minute read

The investment landscape for clean energy becomes more crowded each year. For years utilities have been the dominant purchaser of large-scale PPAs, initially driven by the proliferation of Renewable Portfolio Standards and more recently by the favorable economics of cle …

Strong Projections for Solar + Storage Investments: So What?

By Christopher Wedding, PhD on 10 Feb 2016 • 2 minute read

Solar + storage installations are expected to grow 50x between now and 2018, totalling $1B in value, and then rising to $8B by 2026 (Source: GTM). Drivers include falling solar costs, falling energy storage costs, corporate go-to-market partnerships, utility interest in …

What is Going On With Solar Company Performance? 3 Key Insights

By Christopher Clement on 03 Feb 2016 • 5 minute read

In the wake of the solar ITC extension, not to mention the Paris Agreement, there is good reason to feel bullish about the future of solar. Even prior to this end-of-2015 policy boost, all indications were that solar was trending in a good direction. Project development …

Is Solar Really Cheaper than Fossil Fuels?

By Christopher Clement on 23 Sep 2015 • 3 minute read

Solar lifecycle costs are where the rubber meets the road If you want to be smart on solar, you have to hold one key distinction in your mind at all times - system costs vs. total lifecycle costs. Much of the hoopla about solar revolves around system costs, basicall …

The Power of Many: Using Group Purchasing Power to Reduce the Costs of Solar Power

By Christopher Wedding, PhD on 10 Jun 2015 • 2 minute read

“I cannot tell you how exciting it is to be at another landfill.” An EPA Administrator used this eye-catching expression when describing an innovative new multi-agency government collaboration to lower their costs to obtain solar power by 15% to 47%. The biggest …

Can $2 Trillion in Clean Energy Investments Be Wrong?

By Christopher Wedding, PhD on 28 Apr 2015 • 1 minute read

How many times have you heard that green building, solar, wind, or biomass are too expensive and do not make financial sense? Many times, I’m sure. Yet recent estimates from Bloomberg and the United Nations show that over $2 trillion has been invested in clean energy …

The Solar Foundation’s National Solar Schools Census

By Emma Arnold on 03 Oct 2014 • 1 minute read

TSF’s National Solar Schools Census puts solar schools on the map. As the most comprehensive database of its kind, the census identifies 3,752 K-12 Schools with solar installations in the US. That means that nearly 2.7 million students attend schools with solar. Th …