IEEE Spectrum, March 28, 2013 Bright sun and high utility rates help rooftop solar energy compete with grid power. The map shows how much residential demand could be fulfilled by solar more cheaply than by the grid in 2018. Source: Institute for Local Self-Reliance Photovoltaics are still, on average, a pricey, subsidy-dependent source of electricity. However, … Read More
Solar cells are unusual in that they were cost-competitive from the get-go. From the Apollo space program to highway signs to lighting for buoys, solar could replace highly expensive power from batteries or other sources and eliminate the need for the construction of electric distribution lines.1 When the Institute for Local Self-Reliance was founded in 1974, … Read More
Can energy decisions be made locally, energy generated locally, and energy owned locally? John answers those questions and talks about Solar 1.0 through 4.0 in this 20-minute discussion on Attitude with Arnie Arnesen on New Hampshire’s WNHN on March 20, 2013.
In this episode of Local Energy Rules, John Farrell and Wade Underwood talk with Susan Osborne, the former Mayor of Boulder, CO, about that city’s effort to take control of its energy future. … Read More
Free Press, March 21, 2013 “Solar was like a dream,” said Appleton resident Kal Winer as he recalled the first few years homesteading with his wife Linda Tatelbaum in the late 1970s. “Back in the ’70s when we had the first oil shock, I could see what I thought was a very real crisis for people. … Read More
Three years ago, the prospects for Americans to own their energy future seemed relatively bleak. There were almost no replicable models for doing community-based energy projects or investment, despite falling costs and technology – solar and wind – that lend themselves to local development. But thanks to recent opportunities in community solar and crowdfunding, we may … Read More
Last night, the House Energy Policy Committee in the Minnesota state legislature voted 8-6 to approve a 4% by 2025 solar energy standard, with an innovative new approach to financing solar power. It’s a powerful first step for what would be one of the more robust policies to support distributed, local solar power in the country. … Read More
Silicon Beat, March 11, 2013 Walmart has about 4,500 stores in the United States (which includes retail stores, Sam’s Clubs and distribution centers). That’s a lot of big, flat roofs: perfect for solar PV. Many stores are 80,000 to 120,000 square feet in size; some are as large as 180,00 square feet. To date, Walmart has … Read More
Renewables International, March 7, 2013 The Institute for Local-Reliance (ILSR) has begun publishing a series of Local Energy Rules podcasts. Installments will be added twice a month on the first and third Thursday of each month. The third installment shows how community ownership is a great option for Americans – but also how unnecessarily complicated the … Read More
