Podcasts

What are the friendliest states for solar? — This Week in Cleantech

What are the friendliest states for solar? — This Week in Cleantech
(Credit: NREL)

This Week in Cleantech is a new, weekly podcast covering the most impactful stories in cleantech and climate in 15 minutes or less. Produced by Renewable Energy World and Tigercomm, This Week in Cleantech will air every Friday in the Factor This! podcast feed wherever you get your podcasts.

This week’s episode features Business Insider reporter Catherine Boudreau, who wrote about Con Edison’s plans to capture heat from data centers and large commercial buildings to power underground thermal energy networks.

This week’s “Cleantecher of the Week” is Samuel Truthseeker, CEO of Solvari Solar. His system view of rooftop solar enables panels to be installed in 2 minutes rather than 20 minutes, and is based on over 20 years developing solar products. Congratulations Samuel!

1. How Solar-Friendly Is Your State? We Scored Them All — CNET

CNET just released a map that gives a letter grade to each state based on how “solar-friendly” it is for residential projects. The “solar-friendly” measurement is based on solar policy in the state, considering factors such as tax credits, property and sales tax exemptions, community solar access and net metering policies.

They also looked at each state’s total investment in its solar industry. Included in each state’s letter grade is a list of their rooftop solar incentives available, strongest scoring categories and categories to improve.

New Jersey is the only A-ranked state, while California gets a “D,” in part because its utilities got the state to gut net metering. The Garden state has one of the largest solar renewable energy credit markets, with some of the highest value energy credits and panels are exempt from property and sales taxes. They also have community solar and low-income solar programs available. 

This gives us a great snapshot of where things stand today. But even in the best-graded state, New Jersey, the price per watt is $2.95 – very expensive by international standards.

2. This Texas Energy Is So Bountiful, They Pay You to Take It Away — New York Times

Companies operating near the country’s largest oil field, the Permian Basin in Texas, are drilling for crude oil. But, natural gas typically comes out of the ground with it, and drillers are running out of pipeline capacity or places to store this gas. As a result, the local market is upside down, with U.S. energy producers paying buyers and businesses to take it away. 

In West Texas, natural gas prices fell below zero on 57 days so far in 2024. But limited pipeline capacity is restricting this excess natural gas from being easily transported to regions with higher demand.

Negative prices are also becoming common in electricity markets, because for a similar reason: You don’t always have demand in the same time and place as generation and it takes infrastructure to move that energy around.

3. Americans tapped $8 billion in tax credits on home energy upgrade — Washington Post

American taxpayers claimed over $8 billion in IRA tax credits on their 2023 returns for making climate friendly upgrades to their homes — That’s 2x what the government predicted. The average household that installed solar claimed just over $5,000 in tax credits, and more households are expected to claim the credits this year as credit awareness grows.

There has been evidence of earlier tax credits directly causing people to make climate-friendly purchases, but recently we’ve seen flat spending on heat pumps, solar panels and batteries. It could be that tax credits are keeping this spending flat where otherwise it might be declining, due to supply chain issues and a shortage of qualified installers. Heat pump installations are gaining market share relative to overall HVAC and home renovations which are supported not only by the IRA but also climate rebate programs at state and local levels.

On the other hand, spending on EVs has soared. Installing rooftop solar and heat pumps, as well as owning an electric vehicle got much easier for individuals since the IRA passed, and the good news is that early adopters of new tech help drive economies of scale.

Watch the full episode on YouTube

4. Delays hit 40% of Biden’s major IRA manufacturing projects — Financial Times

$84 billion of manufacturing investment –– that’s 40% of what was announced in the first year of the IRA and Chips Act –– has been delayed for months, or years, or just paused indefinitely. This is due to increasing expenses related to labor and supply chain issues, under-priced solar panels and batteries from China, slowing demand, and a lack of policy certainty in an election year. These delays have impacted solar panel and electrolyser factories, battery storage facilities, lithium refineries, EV lines and other manufacturing facilities that would have created jobs and boosted local economies.

The delays have caused doubts among voters on Biden’s plan to revitalize US manufacturing and create jobs, and have posed a threat to Harris’s appeal to blue-collar voters in the upcoming presidential election. While many voters remain skeptical that Biden and Harris can deliver on their economic development plans, a victory for Trump could essentially guarantee the dismantling of these initiatives.

5. How New York City’s data centers and Rockefeller Center could help power a climate solution — Business Insider

With data centers and large commercial buildings giving off lots of heat, Con Edison has a plan to capture excess heat and use it in an underground thermal energy network. As part of their cooling operations, data centers vent their excess heat out of the building — essentially wasting energy.

The utility has plans for three pilot projects that would capture some of this excess heat, and using a closed loop of water pipes and electric heat humps, distribute it through customers’ homes. If the pilots go well, Con Edison hopes to expand the technology to more customers, arguing that thermal networks perform best at scale.