Amazon plans to deploy of large-scale solar systems on the rooftops of more 15 fulfillment and sortation centers – representing 41 MW of generation – nationwide this year, the Seattle-based company announced on March 2.

In addition, Jeff Bezos’ electronic commerce and media juggernaut will extend the initiative globally by 2020 – to 50 overseas fulfillment and sortation centers.

The initial solar projects planned for completion by the power up facilities in California, New Jersey, Maryland, Nevada, and Delaware.

Depending on the specific project, time of year, and other factors, a solar installation could generate as much as 80 percent of a single fulfillment facility’s annual energy needs, Amazon said. For example, solar panels installed on the rooftop of the Patterson, California, fulfillment center cover more than three-quarters of the 1.1 million- square-foot building’s.

Amazon’s recent renewable energy projects include the company’s largest wind farm to date, located in Texas. In addition, a network of wind and solar farms in Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia are delivering energy onto the electric grid that powers Amazon Web Service data centers.

To date, Amazon has announced or commenced construction on projects which will generate a total of 3.6 million MW of renewable energy.

“As our fulfillment network continues to expand, we want to help generate more renewable energy at both existing and new facilities around the world in partnership with community and business leaders,” said Dave Clark, SVP of Worldwide Operations.

“We are putting our scale and inventive culture to work on sustainability—this is good for the environment, our business and our customers,” Clark added. “By diversifying our energy portfolio, we can keep business costs low and pass along further savings to customers. It’s a win-win.”

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At first glance, renewable-energy sources like solar power and energy-storage battery packs seem like a logical match.

Energy storage allows excess power collected by solar panels to be stored for later use, addressing the intermittent nature of solar power.

It’s a concept that has already won over policymakers, electric utilities, and some automakers.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has moved to consolidate the automaker and his SolarCity company in order to better facilitate the deployment of energy-storage-backed solar power.

Many individual homeowners also dream of being able to cut their ties to the grid by installing solar panels and battery packs.

But according to one study, the environmental reality of home energy storage may be less appealing than some of these positive predictions indicate.

Storing solar power in home battery packs actually has a somewhat higher environmental impact than connecting solar panels to the grid, according to a new University of Texas Energy Institute study.

Researchers examined energy use at the well-known Pecan Street project in Austin, Texas.

Pecan Street is a privately-run green housing development in the Texas capital city that is used to test renewable-energy and so-called smart-grid technologies.

Out of 100 houses equipped with solar panels, researchers found that those with energy-storage systems used 8 to 14 percent more electricity than those that switched to the grid at night.

Houses with energy storage consumed more energy than those with standalone solar panels in part because the storage systems consume energy whenever they charge or discharge.

That extra energy increases annual energy consumption by about 324 to 591 kilowatt-hours, researchers found.

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Panasonic Corp will invest more than 30 billion yen ($256 million) in a New York production facility of Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors to make photovoltaic cells and modules, deepening a partnership of the two companies.

Tesla’s shares were up 3.5 percent at $220.75 in early trading on Tuesday.

Japan’s Panasonic, which has been retreating from low-margin consumer electronics to focus more on automotive components and other businesses targeting corporate clients, will make the investment in Tesla’s factory in Buffalo, New York.

The U.S. electric-carmaker is making a long-term purchase commitment from Panasonic as part of the deal, besides providing factory buildings and infrastructure.

Bloomberg: Yamanashi Vies for Energy Storage Investment

A patch of land in the shadow of Mount Fuji is becoming a testing ground for energy storage, with some of Japan’s leading companies trying to develop technologies such as spinning flywheels and fuel cells.

The Yamanashi Prefectural Government is hoping that by attracting companies such as Panasonic Corp. and Toray Industries Inc. it can become a kind of Silicon Valley for energy storage development.

As part of a project in the city of Kofu, the prefecture has built a 1-megawatt solar power station that is being made available to developers of storage devices who want to run tests under closed conditions, according to Masaki Sakamoto, an official in charge of the project.

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Sam Stranks, an experimental physicist at Cambridge University, is a firm believer in the power of solar energy to dramatically reduce global carbon emissions. “Solar could well be the solution to our energy needs and getting rid of emissions,” he says. “It’s an infinite source, but expensive to harvest.” Stranks thinks instead of just installing more solar panels, we should focus on making panels that are more efficient. One way to do that is to add a perovskite layer to today’s commercially available solar panels.

Perovskite is a mineral coating that is applied directly to a typical solar cell to boost its efficiency. “We could take a silicon solar panel with a lab record efficiency of converting sunlight to electricity of 25 per cent, add a perovskite layer, and boost the power generation by a fifth,” says Stranks. “For a solar cell, the maximum efficiency is around 30 per cent – but with one of these perovskite ‘tandem’ layers it could go up to around 50 per cent.”

The thin crystalline films are made by mixing two readily available salts without the need for costly high-temperature processing. “They could cost half of their silicon counterparts,” Stranks says. “In just three years, the efficiency has hit 21 per cent and rising — whereas conventional silicon took 30 years to get to that stage. You can inkjet print it; you can spool off reels like newsprint. And half a cup of the ‘ink’ would make enough perovkite solar panels to power a home.” Early commercial applications, he suggests, are likely in 2017. “Hybrid perovskites over the past three years have become nearly as efficient as silicon. You get solar cells that are so light they can be suspended on a soap bubble.

Stranks’ enthusiasm has to be tempered with some unpleasant realities. Keith Emery, who compiles the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s solar cell efficiency data, explains why perovskites need a disclaimer. “The samples degrade very quickly to zero. They degrade fast enough that it has prevented intercomparing results among groups or even having an independent efficiency measurement.” Light, air and water are all kryptonite to perovskites, according to NASDAQ.com. Silicon cells are far more durable. The best way to preserve them so they last long enough to be commercially viable is to encapsulate them, but that adds weight and cost, reducing their competitive price advantage claims Yuanyuan Zhou, PhD candidate at Brown University’s School of Engineering.

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The co-founder of a project that saw a solar-powered aircraft complete the first fuel-free flight around the world this year expects electric passenger planes to operate in just under 10 years.

Bertrand Piccard, who along with fellow pilot Andre Borschberg founded Solar Impulse, also shrugged off concerns that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s appointment of a fossil fuel industry defender as his top environmental official could hamper global clean technology efforts.

Since completing their historic fuel-free flight in July, Piccard and Borschberg have been working on projects to show how the technologies used in their plane can be used in other applications.

Borschberg said they were especially interested in how the technology could be used to develop small electric planes with a flying time of about 1.5 hours. The two plan to announce their next project early next year, Borschberg said.

“In 9 years and 8 months, you’ll have 50 people travelling short-haul on electric planes,” Piccard, founder and chairman of Solar Impulse told an IATA airlines association briefing in Geneva.

“Why 9 years and eight months? Because since four months, I’ve been saying it will be ’10 years’. It will happen,” he added.

Piccard said that it didn’t matter what people thought about climate change because clean technology was getting cheaper and would help to drive growth. He cited examples of insulation making homes cheaper to live in, of LED lights reducing lighting costs.

“Five years ago everything that was clean tech was more expensive – that is not the case today. If the aim is to be profitable and create jobs, then coal is out of business,” he said.

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November 4 (SeeNews) – The government of Alberta, the Canadian province, will kick off its first renewable power competitive bidding process next year, seeking to procure up to 400 MW, it was announced on Thursday.

This would be the first auction under the province’s programme to add 5,000 MW of renewable power capacity by 2030 in order to reach a 30% share — a target known as “30 by 30”.

The Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO) will be in charge of the renewables programme. It will start gathering feedback from industry on draft commercial terms in the first auction on November 10.

Alberta noted that a portion of carbon revenues from large industrial emitters will be used to support financially the winners in the upcoming auction.

The government said it will soon introduce the Renewable Electricity Act that will make the 2030 target official and provide the legislative framework for the renewables programme. The scheme is expected to result in new investments of at least CAD 10.5 billion (USD 7.8bn/EUR 7bn) into the Alberta economy by 2030.

“This program is built on the recommendations from the AESO, who studied jurisdictions around the world to come up with the best possible program design in the interests of Albertans‎. This process will be competitive and transparent and will provide renewable electricity we need at the lowest possible price,” commented energy minister Margaret McCuaig-Boyd.

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Change is coming to the energy landscape. A transition to a new energy economy is happening. In a country like Australia – awash with energy both under and above the ground – this transition could be rapid and profound. There is a lot to lose for those who can’t keep pace.

Last month the government committed $1bn to the Clean Energy Innovation Fund. The fund will have “the primary purpose of earning income or a profitable return” on debt and equity extended to renewable energy, energy efficiency and low-emissions technologies. While many will argue the right way for that money to be used, investment like this is well timed.

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