On the long and winding road of solar project development, property taxes are frequently an afterthought. Yet, the presence, or lack, of a property tax on a solar energy system has significant implications for a project’s profitability. According to SEIA, 38 states in the U.S. have property tax exemptions for solar, and there are more states that a...
You can never truly predict what legislation will actually pass through Congress and get signed by the President. Nevertheless, there are several expiring solar tax benefits in the EXPIRE Act of 2014 that we hope will get extended and continue to benefit commercial solar installations. The Expiring Provisions Improvement Reform and Efficiency (EXPI...
Originally published on Gas2. Having conquered Pikes Peak last year, Lightning Motorcycles is ready to debut the consumer version of their race-ready electric motorcycle, the LS-218. If you have an extra $38,888 lying around, and an unquenchable need for electric speed, this is your bike. That’s a steep price to be sure, but consider the Lightning Motorcycles Teases Electric Motorcycle was originally...
The Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is set to see massive growth in solar photovoltaic (PV) demand in the coming years, according to recent findings in the latest NPD Solarbuzz Emerging PV Markets Report: Middle East and Africa. Year-on-year growth in the market in 2014 is expected to be as high as 50%. And, Middle East & Africa Solar PV Market To Surge By 50% In 2014 was originally published...
Called the Little Box Challenge, Google announced recently that it will be offering a $1 million prize for inventing much smaller solar power inverters. The challenge will be launched this summer, so currently few details have been released to the public. Note that Google Ventures is an investor in Transphorm, a company that doesn’t make $1 Million Dollar Prize Offered By Google For Better Solar...
Using crushed abandoned cars and bicycles as the raw materials from which new houses will be built — that’s the premise of an interesting new program from the Venezuelan government. The program is intended to help deal with the steel shortages that have become prevalent in the country — allowing the government to continue its Building Houses From Crushed Cars & Bikes —...
Originally published on Gas2. Among the first players in the performance hybrid space was Porsche, and you can expect more hybrids with more horsepower in the coming years. The automaker is keen to use its e-hybrid technology to boost performance of models like the Panamera Turbo S and Porsche 911 Turbo S, both of which More Porsche Hybrid Models With More Horsepower was originally published on CleanTechnica...
Originally published on Gas2. The battle of the electric buses is heating up, and the latest “win” goes Team Proterra, covering 700 miles of driving in 24 hours, a new record. This follows BYD’s own record-setting run of over 200 miles between charges, with both bus companies showing considerable strength in what could become a huge Proterra Electric Bus Sets New Record Of Driving 700 Miles In 24...
Many of the constituent states of the European Union are facing severe, critical shortages of fossil fuels and other natural resources in the near future, a new report from the Global Sustainability Institute at Anglia Ruskin University warns. Some of the numbers are quite stark — though not really surprising to anyone who’s already familiar EU Facing Severe Fossil Fuel & Natural...
Originally published on Gas2. GM has said it wants Cadillac to compete with the Tesla, and recent spy photos seems to show what appears to be a hotter Cadillac ELR out on the test track. Supposedly, the plug-in Caddy was being bench-marked against the Tesla Model S, and could be a sign of faster things to GM Wants Cadillac ELR To Compete With Tesla Model S was originally published on CleanTechnica...
Originally published on Gas2. Jay Leno’s obsession with automobiles is well known, and the latest addition to his garage is this McLaren P1 hybrid hypercar, star of Leno’s latest YouTube segment. It took Leno just a week to rack up 1,000 miles on his new P1, and with the McLaren CEO on hand, Leno digs McLaren P1 Hybrid Hypercar Gets Jay Leno’s Review (VIDEO) was originally published on CleanTechnica...
Originally published on Gas2. Though production of the BMW i3 and i8 have only just begun, the automaker is investing $200 million to triple production of carbon fiber. This could be the move that helps take carbon fiber into the mainstream. With 10,000 pre-orders for the BMW i3 and the BMW i8 reportedly already sold out BMW Carbon Fiber Production To Triple was originally published on CleanTechnica...
It’s been just a year since Germany began offering a subsidy for residential lithium-ion battery systems. In that time, already more than 4,000 new solar battery systems have been installed. The figures — which show the subsidy to be a success — were recently released by Germany’s Federal Solar Industry Association (BSW Solar). Along with the Germany’s Residential Battery Storage...
If you’ve read my stuff for long, you know that I’m pretty critical of most electric vehicle commercials. I can’t say I love everything about the video below, but it’s a pretty darn good one, imho. It makes the Smart E-Bike look cool. It shows its many benefits in clever ways and quickly enough that you Smart E-Bike Commercial Is Pretty Clever (VIDEO) was originally published...
Find Additional Energy Podcasts with Talk Solar on BlogTalkRadio In the latest TalkSolar/CleanTechnica podcast, Beth Bond talked with Dr. Stephen A. Smith, who has led the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) as its executive director since 1993. Dr. Smith also serves on numerous boards and committees, including: the US Climate Action Network (on board of directors, previously served Solar...
By Michal Bacia In April of this year, the British Government, through its Department of Energy & Climate Change, announced “…plans to turn the Government estate as well as factories, supermarkets and car parks into solar hubs.” This is huge! Translation? Government support for solar PV distributed generation (DG). Yay! The UK solar industry (at Why Rooftop Solar Is The Best...
When Elon Musk and the Tesla crew announced that they’d be building a battery “Gigafactory,” that really shook up with electric vehicle and investment world. A Gigafactory, wow! So, when Elon Musk just casually slipped out a comment that there would need to be hundreds of gigafactories, well, it’s hard to put even my own response Elon Musk: There Will Need To Be Hundreds...
China has thrilled the solar industry in the past few years with bigger and bigger solar installation targets. Of course, this also came on the back of solar capacity oversupply and a solar manufacturer shakeout that put many non-Chinese solar companies out of business, but it has also helped to pull manufacturers out of a financial China To Triple Solar Capacity To 70,000 MW By 2017, To Help Reduce...
As many of you know, I’m not a fan of how electric cars have historically been advertised. My favorites to date are probably a 2013 Chevy Spark EV commercial, Nissan & Renault’s “Gas Powered Everything” commercial, and BMW’s Olympics commercials for the BMW i3 and i8. But most commercials for electric vehicles are boring, uninteresting, and downright...
By Jamie Evans There’s no question about it, studies have proven most Americans agree that renewable energy is crucial to our future. In addition, while electricity rates across the country continue to increase, solar panels become more affordable and viable than ever. Yet, at a time when green technology is gaining popularity and prices are decreasing, one question Why Now Is The Time For The Commercial...