News

SunPower and Google have teamed up to create a $250 million program to finance residential solar leases for rooftop systems that use SunPower panels. SunPower brings $150 million to the table while Google brings the remaining $100,000. According to Chuck Boynton, SunPower CFO, the program will “help make solar accessible to more families.” Read more here.

The Department of Energy has announced a $15 million program - the Solar Market Pathways Program, to help communities develop multi-year solar plans to install affordable solar electricity for homes and businesses. This is part of the Administration’s goal to double renewable energy generation by 2020. Read more here.

Google has signed a deal with Iowa Power Company MidAmerican Energy to supply 407 MW of wind power to Google’s data center in Iowa. This will be the internet company’s biggest clean power contract yet. The deal also includes both direct energy generation from MidAmerican’s wind farms and MidAmerican’s renewable energy certificates from other wind projects. Read more here.

The modern solar cell has celebrated its 60th anniversary. In an email to GreenTech Media, John Perlin, author of Let It Shine: The 6,000-Year Story of Solar Energy explained that, "the silicon solar cell project got its start in early 1953 when Daryl Chapin began working on the problem of providing small amounts of intermittent power for remote, humid locations where dry cell batteries would degrade rapidly."

In its newly released findings, AEE member Retroficiency has shown that if the more than 30,000 commercial buildings in New York City adjusted their thermostats just one degree upward in summer and one degree lower in winter, they could save up to $145 million per year. This is one of the insights from Retroficiency’s Building Genome Project - a study that does high-level assessments of publicly available data in large portfolios. The project is aimed at providing policymakers, utilities and large ESCOs with a snapshot of what is possible using its analytics. It’s first project is the New York City study. Read more here.

Illinois Utility company Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) has partnered with automation company Nest Labs to offer $140 in rebates to  customers who purchase a Nest Learning Thermostat™ and participate in its demand response program. Additionally, from now through May 31, ComEd customers will receive a $100 rebate from ComEd for signing up to participate in ComEd’s Smart Ideas® AC Cycling Pilot that features Nest’s Rush Hour Rewards™, and an additional $40 rebate for participating in the pilot all summer. Read more here.

The US subsidiary of IKEA announced last Thursday that it is buying the 98 MW Hoopeston Wind installation in eastern Illinois as part of its efforts to offset its energy use with renewable energy generation. Construction on the project has not yet begun. IKEA’s Chief Financial Officer Rob Olson said that by the time the wind farm is built and running as planned for 2015, it will be capable of generating power equivalent to 165 percent of the company’s U.S. electricity needs. Read more here.

AEE member EnerNOC has bought utility management software firm EnTech. This is EnerNOC’s third acquisition this year. EnTech’s software supports more than 200,000 utility tariffs and will be integrated into EnerNOC’s energy intelligence software to provide more detailed information on forecasting energy costs. Read more here.

The Senate Finance Committee has approved a two-year extension for most tax provisions that expired at the end of 2013. Some of the tax credits that stayed in tact include; tax credit for research and experimentation for small businesses that have no income tax liability, the wind production tax credit and bonus depreciation. AEE’s Todd Keller was quoted in the story:

AEE Member Pattern Energy teamed up with Samsung to complete Canada’s largest wind power facility. The South Kent wind project is now fully operational and produces 270 MW of power and will provide renewable energy for 100,000 Ontario homes. It will also allow the province to achieve its clean energy goal.