Tag Archives: Solar

Morocco Launches Gigantic Solar Power Plant

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To follow up on Nicky’s post about solar energy efficiency, Morocco has recently launched a power plant (called the Noor I) in the Sahara Desert that is capable of generating 160 megawatts of power. These solar panels cover thousands of acres of the desert (can actually be seen from space) and when the two other Noor plants are implemented they will offer renewable energy to over a million Moroccans. What are the economic impacts of this implementation? Right now, Morocco relies on imported sources of energy for 97% of its total energy use (according to the World Bank) while also having its electricity demand Continue reading Morocco Launches Gigantic Solar Power Plant→

Solar Leasing

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Solar energy has been growing in popularity in the United States, and alongside its growth has developed a new business model for it: solar leasing. NPR released a new article about the decision to opt for a lease versus ownership. In the article, they go over some of the differences, but I wanted to add some background to these options because it’s interesting and some important issues were left out of the article. The way leasing solar panels works is rather than owning the panels outright, you pay a flat fee that increases over time and in exchange all of Continue reading Solar Leasing→

Solar Power, and Net Metering (Part 1)

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Solar power in the United States is taking off quite vigorously, and installations of solar panels have begun to soar. This quarter, 53% of electricity coming from new installations this year is being generated by solar panels. From 2007, solar installations have gone up by 12 fold, and terms like ‘Gigawatts’ (one of which is enough to power 16 million 60-watt light bulbs continuously) are used on a quarterly basis to describe growth rather than as an end goal. This isn’t an industry, however, that has pulled itself up by its bootstraps so to speak: alongside significant tax incentives offered Continue reading Solar Power, and Net Metering (Part 1)→