Germany sets new solar power record

Germany sets new solar power record, BERLIN (Reuters) - German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity per hour - equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity - through the midday hours on Friday and Saturday, the head of a renewable energy think tank said. 

Erik Kirschbaum Reuters May 26, 2012 - 2:02 pm 

The German government decided to abandon nuclear power after the Fukushima nuclear disaster last year, closing eight plants immediately and shutting down the remaining nine by 2022. 

They will be replaced by renewable energy sources such as wind, solar and bio-mass. 

Norbert Allnoch, director of the Institute of the Renewable Energy Industry (IWR) in Muenster, said the 22 gigawatts of solar power per hour fed into the national grid on Saturday met nearly 50 percent of the nation's midday electricity needs. 

"Never before anywhere has a country produced as much photovoltaic electricity," Allnoch told Reuters. "Germany came close to the 20 gigawatt (GW) mark a few times in recent weeks. But this was the first time we made it over." 

The record-breaking amount of solar power shows one of the world's leading industrial nations was able to meet a third of its electricity needs on a work day, Friday, and nearly half on Saturday when factories and offices were closed. 

Government-mandated support for renewables has helped Germany became a world leader in renewable energy and the country gets about 20 percent of its overall annual electricity from those sources. 

Germany has nearly as much installed solar power generation capacity as the rest of the world combined and gets about four percent of its overall annual electricity needs from the sun alone. It aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 1990 levels by 2020. 

GA PSC Addresses Solar

McDonald Calls for Study of Renewable Portfolio Standards to Promote Development of Solar Energy

 

Atlanta, October 18, 2011 – Commissioner Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, Jr. today issued the following statement during the Commission’s Administrative Session:

 

“It's important for us as Georgians and as the Georgia Public Service Commission to be aware of industry news and trends. In light of the recent negative press regarding Solyndra and SunPower, two solar companies here in America, I'd like to address the facts and assess their relevance to Georgia, the Public Service Commission and our planning for a cleaner energy future.

 

First, let's address Solyndra. Solyndra received $535 million worth of loan guarantees from the Federal Government from a process that started in 2009 and ultimately was awarded in 2010. Solyndra’s technology was the failure, not the solar industry. Solyndra designed and manufactured a unique and proprietary cylindrical module. Solyndra’s panel was NOT the same thing as silicon-based solar panels that are standard in the solar industry today.

 

The rush to support a NEW and UNKNOWN technology with the hope of resulting in lower cost as a way to compete with the ever cheaper Chinese solar panels was a failure. As far as the loan guarantee and the process, I'll leave that to investigators and the public to decide.

 

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