#solarenergy

danie10@squeet.me

Who needs a roof when you can use balcony solar for apartments

The photograph shows a woman standing on a balcony, holding a cup. The balcony is attached to a building with old-style architecture, featuring decorative moulding above the windows and a mix of light beige and dark teal colours on the façade. In the foreground is a black solar panel that looks almost like a privacy screen that extends the length of the balcony. Plants are visible in pots both on the balcony and in the background growing along the building's exterior wall.
Lots of people, especially city dwellers and renters, don’t have rooftops where they can install solar panels to generate some of the electricity they use in their daily lives. Community solar offers a partial solution for some, but it is not available everywhere. In Germany, more than 1.5 million people have installed Balkonkraftwerke, which translates as “balcony power plants.” Almost every apartment has a balcony with a railing to keep folks from tumbling into the street below. If it gets any sun exposure during the day, balcony solar panels can be mounted to those railings to make electricity that helps power a home.

It may not be as much power as a rooftop system but is still around 300 W which does offset electricity costs a bit, and there is a battery to also store excess energy.

What is different from a rooftop system is that it is easily portable, so you can take it with if you move, or even if you go off camping. If you live in an area subject to hail, then these are easy to take inside when you need to. It usually also does not require professional electricians to install it.

And as far as the electricity grid goes, in Germany there are already more than 500,000 of these installations, so that adds up to quite a saving anyway on the grid side.

See cleantechnica.com/2024/12/21/g…
#Blog, #balconysolar, #environment, #solarenergy, #technology

waynerad@diasp.org

"China adds 160 gigawatts in first 3 quarters of 2024."

Of solar power, that is.

"It's truly impossible to comprehend the scale of solar power deployment in China these days. When I saw how much solar power China had installed in the first 9 months of the year, I thought I must be reading something wrong. I checked a few times. But, indeed, China's National Energy Administration (NEA) reports that a shocking 160 gigawatts (GW) of new solar power capacity were added in the first three quarters of the year. 160 GW."

To put that in perspective, 1 gigawatt is enough power for 750,000 homes. (I assume that number is for homes in the US, as I got it from CNET.)

So 160 gigawatts is enough power for 120 million homes.

Also remember, it takes 1.21 gigawatts to go... back to the future ;)

China Adds 160 Gigawatts in First 3 Quarters of 2024

#energy #solarenergy #china

claralistensprechen3rd@friendica.myportal.social

Hopefully same deal for the "white elephant" nuke plant in Clinton?

DoomsdaysCW - 2024-07-28 15:48:44 GMT

More of this, please...!Feds pick #Hanford #nuclear site for massive #SolarFarm

By Conrad Swanson
July 25, 2024

"While Washington struggles to contend with surging demand for electricity, federal officials on Thursday announced plans for a massive solar farm on the Hanford nuclear site.

"The U.S. Department of Energy is negotiating a real estate deal with Chicago-based #HecateEnergy, which would build a solar farm across 8,000 acres of federally owned lands on the heavily #polluted site.

"If built as planned, the project would have the ability to generate up to a gigawatt of renewable energy, and would rank among the largest solar installations in the country. That’s about enough energy to power half of Seattle City Light’s customers during record peak demand.

"The project would also include #battery storage, which is a critical component that allows electricity generated by solar power to be used at times when the sun isn’t shining.

"Producing #RenewableEnergy at the #HanfordSite would mark a substantial new chapter for the land.

"The site covers 560 square miles, nearly half the size of Rhode Island, said Sean O’Brien, executive director of the renewable nonprofit Energy Forward Alliance. For decades, the government made plutonium for nuclear weapons there.

"Despite its history — and contamination — large swaths of the site are not #radioactive, O’Brien said. And local organizations like his and the Tri-City Development Council share a vision for the place to be a national hub of clean energy generation.

"The solar array and battery storage would make up just one portion, albeit a large one, of the site’s renewable energy potential, Reeploeg and O’Brien said.

"The partnership between federal officials and Hecate — representatives for which could not immediately be reached for comment — could sidestep major hurdles these types of massive projects face, said Glenn Blackmon, manager of Washington’s Energy Policy Office."

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/climate-lab/feds-pick-hanford-nuclear-site-for-massive-solar-farm/

#SolarFarms #SolarEnergy #RenewablesNow #EnergyStorge #Brownfield #WashingtonState

mkwadee@diasp.eu

It's a nice #SunnyDay outside and it really feels like spring. The #bees are busy making use of the #flowers, while the flowers are busy making use of the bees.

The #UK #ElectricyDemand is currently 32 GW and of that, 25.2% is coming from #SolarEnergy, 17.1% is coming from #WindEnergy, 16.8% is coming from #NuclearEnergy and 9.9% is coming from #Biomass and only 7% is coming from #Gas. There is also a fair amount coming from continental Europe through the various interconnections.

https://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

#Environment #Electricity #FossilFuels #GreenhouseGases Renewables #RenewableEnergy