Advanced Energy Perspectives

Image courtesy of AEE member SolarCity.

Not sure why it fell to the International Renewable Energy Agency to tell us this, but the number of people employed by the solar industry in the U.S. has passed oil and gas extraction, as well as coal mining. Also, as reported by Bloomberg, IRENA points out that these solar businesses have grown 12 times faster than overall employment growth in the U.S.

We were promised flying cars. Those Jetsons-mobiles careening through the air sure seemed like the way of the future… until we actually considered traffic logistics in a three-dimensional airspace. The future of transportation is closer at hand than ever before, though, and it just might be Rosie the Robot at the wheel rather than George Jetson. Driverless vehicles are fast becoming a reality, and companies are preparing for a new automotive frontier – and potential blowback.

Sometimes, it’s not so bad to be proved wrong. Late last month, David Keith, a Harvard professor of applied physics and public policy, published a piece in Greentech Media, revisiting his 2008-2011 projections on the cost of solar modules, in which he was skeptical about predictions of falling prices. But solar has gotten much cheaper much faster than he thought. In 2008 he predicted only even odds of lowering the price of a solar power system to $0.30 per watt in 2030. In reality, the prices have already lowered to $0.50 per watt, and for large installations in the best locations, the cost of electricity from solar PV, without subsidy, is now under $40 per MW-hour, and could be at $20 by 2020. “Compared to other new sources of supply, this would be the cheapest electricity on the planet,” wrote Keith. 

We here at Advanced Energy Perspectives are no strangers to being wrong, but we’ve also long known that the rapid innovation in technologies and business models is driving down the cost of advanced energy, and renewables in particular, making it more desirable for customers of all kinds. This week we saw several examples of this trend.

American offshore wind has been just over the horizon for years, but it wasn’t until recently that we could point to real, tangible movement. Last summer, off the coast of Rhode Island, Deepwater Wind “broke water” on a relatively small demonstration project. In July, the company delivered the foundations that will eventually support five wind turbines about 12 miles from the Rhode Island coast. As Deepwater prepares to kick off their second construction season, we find ourselves asking, wait… Wasn’t Massachusetts supposed to win the race for offshore wind?

This week, advanced transportation was making headlines across the country… but this week it’s not just electric cars and charging infrastructure. The news was full of solar planes, storage trains, and automated automobiles, as well as some of those EVs we love (though not everyone is loving them). Read on for this week’s advanced energy news update.