General Energy
What’s Lighting Up the Web: Solyndra
The recent bankruptcy of Solyndra Energy resulted in a media frenzy that directed considerable attention and scrutiny to the clean energy industry. The failure of this solar company has been called a “black eye” for the renewable energy industry, the end of green jobs, and as David Roberts of Grist warned, a climategate-level mess.
What is Your Commitment to Drive the New Energy Era?
RMI is sponsoring a video contest through our Facebook page to allow people to share what they are doing to Reinvent Fire and drive America to the new energy era.
Transforming the Solar Market
With all the talk about Solyndra’s bankruptcy, the message that the solar industry is struggling to effectively compete at scale with cheaper electricity sources such as coal is being made loud and clear. So while solar photovoltaic module costs have decreased significantly in the past decade, high installation costs caused by a complex tangle of utility interconnection requirements, financing expectations and permitting codes is a big reason why installed solar PV remains an expensive energy option.
Lights out in San Diego: A Case to Reexamine the Future of our Grid
The U.S. enjoys some of the most affordable and reliable electricity in the world. This has largely been enabled by the electricity grid (the largest man-made machine in the human history), which provides power to our schools, hospitals and homes.
The Backbone of the Information Economy
The importance of electricity in our modern world cannot be overstated. Electricity not only animates the storehouses of human knowledge, it also enables communications and control, and delivers energy precisely to billions of devices that drive our economy—from the stock market to hospitals. Yet, as crucial and ubiquitous as it has already become, electricity is poised for a profound leap in importance. This clean, precise, and flexible energy carrier can help us conquer one of the most important challenges of our time: drastically reducing our dependence on fossil fuels.