A little-known $15 billion deal between PG&E and the Department of Energy is raising concerns for California residents. The agreement, which will expand hydropower, also includes shutting down the Ivanpah solar plant, which has been providing energy to 140,000 homes. Without this reliable source of clean energy, California's already overburdened power grid will struggle, leading to higher energy costs and more frequent blackouts. Critics argue that while PG&E benefits financially, everyday Californians will be left paying the price with increased bills and an even less reliable power system.

Questions are also being raised about possible conflicts of interest with key players in the deal, making it even more controversial. We spoke with one of the main investors of the Ivanpah plant to learn more. 

The post PG&E’s $15 Billion Deal Could Mean Higher Energy Costs and More Blackouts for Californians appeared first on Green Prophet.

The latest phase of construction brought the farm’s total capacity up to 2.8GW, comparable to the capacity of the Golmud Solar Park in China, the largest solar farm by capacity.

The post Dubai’s new $4.5 billion solar energy park appeared first on Green Prophet.

Unlike PV systems, CSP output doesn't dip when skies are momentarily overcast, and they do not need battery back-up to store energy for nighttime use.

The post Noor Complex in Morocco 160MG CSP solar power plant appeared first on Green Prophet.

Investments in solar energy innovations are not dead! Remember those weird and wonderful solar energy harvesting tulips planted in Israel and Spain? Seen miles away the sky-high tulips have found a new commercial home – in Ethiopia, the company announced last week in a press statement. We’ve covered Aora over the years and thought possibly […]

The post Aora’s solar tulips start shining in Ethiopia, without water! appeared first on Green Prophet.

To date the most efficient way of making solar cells is using silicon. Now a team of scientists at the University of Sheffield in the UK is the first to fabricate perovskite solar cells using a spray-painting process – a discovery that could help cut the cost of solar electricity. Cutting the cost of solar […]

The post Scientists make spray-on solar cells efficiencies close to silicon appeared first on Green Prophet.

While solar power plant installations jump to a new annual record this year, according to the Worldwatch Institute, global trends show that despite all the batabata bing bing (announcements, agreements, tea ceremonies, hand-shaking), the Middle East is doing miserably in taking advantage of the sun –– one country is the exception there and it is Israel. The […]

The post Israel’s 420 MW leads the Middle East in solar installations by a landslide appeared first on Green Prophet.

The switch was flipped this week as California’s Ivanpah solar thermal power plant went live. The 392 megawatt concentrating solar plant (CSP) is now delivering renewables to power the equivalent of 140,000 homes in California. After a long journey lasting decades of development, fighting regulations, manoeuvring around turtle conservationists, burning birds may be the latest problem. […]

The post Will burning birds shut down Brightsource, world’s largest solar thermal power plant? appeared first on Green Prophet.

Key investors in renewable energy for the Middle East and North Africa regions will be on hand to discuss the criteria for securing project financing. They will present the case studies of the Shams 1, a 100MW plant in Abu Dhabi and the Noor 1, a 160MW (being constructed in Morocco). Meet the World Bank and […]

The post Menasol Dubai answers key financing questions for Middle East CSP solar projects appeared first on Green Prophet.

With Dubai’s government close to finalizing legislation, property owners in the Emirate may soon have the option to feed solar power into the grid so they can make money from feed-in tariffs. As of recently, there has been much encouragement from industry sources for the use of solar power on rooftops. Mounting photovoltaic panels on […]

The post Dubai Readies Law to Let Home Owners Feed Energy to the Grid appeared first on Green Prophet.

About half of Abu Dhabi’s trash will ‘burn’ into green electricity in new $850 million power plant. Maybe you saw the wonderful movie, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. Or maybe you’d read stories on Green Prophet about Masdar, or Shams, the world’s largest CSP plant in Abu Dhabi. Arab nations and their economies are certainly […]

The post Abu Dhabi Dump to Power 100 MW Green Energy Incinerator appeared first on Green Prophet.

California-based GlassPoint Solar has installed an unconventional concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Oman. Comprised of rows of six meter tall steel mirrors encased in glass boxes that look and in some ways act like greenhouses, this 7MW pilot project uses clean technology to extract dirty fossil fuels. Commissioned by Petroleum Development Oman, GlassPoint has […]

The post GlassPoint Uses Solar Mirrors to Loosen Dirty Oil in Oman appeared first on Green Prophet.

Even as some solar projects are just taking flight in Israel, underlining a new wave of optimism about the technology’s ability to succeed in the country, other solar giants are taking their leave of Israel. International energy and infrastructure giant, Siemens, announced last Monday that it was closing down its Siemens-Solel plant in Beit Shemesh, Israel. In […]

The post Siemens Exits Israel’s Solel Solar Initiative appeared first on Green Prophet.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) economic capital, Dubai, has reaffirmed its committment to sustainable energy and the environment as it pushes forward on massive growth projects. Dubai’s ruler and UAE’s Vice-President and Prime Minister Mohamed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said that as the city continues to develop, the environment and clean energy prospects remain at the top […]

The post Dubai Confirms Commitment to Sustainable Environment, Energy appeared first on Green Prophet.

Shams 1 will displace 175,000 tons of CO2 per year and its power output will be enough to power 20,000 homes. Abu Dhabi’s push into clean energy is to get a massive boost by the end of the year with the Shams 1 Concentrated Solar Power plant going live in the emirate and will begin supplying solar power […]

The post Abu Dhabi’s Shams 100 MW CSP Solar Power Plant To Switch On … Soon appeared first on Green Prophet.

A Saudi solar project with gigantic storage could deliver solar at night in South Africa. Saudi Arabia might not spring to mind as a nation creating the top CSP companies globally, but South Africa just selected as a “preferred bidder” to develop solar, a consortium led by the Kingdom’s own power and water group ACWA […]

The post Saudi Arabian Solar Chosen by South Africa appeared first on Green Prophet.

This wood waste may not look like fuel for a solar power plant, but it soon could be.

The post Egypt to Test Unique CSP Solar/Biomass Hybrid Plant appeared first on Green Prophet.

With a 35 meter high sun-ray collection tower and about 50 mirrors positioned to direct the sun, Israel’s AORA is about to flip the switch on its latest solar power plant in Spain. The company created a huge buzz in Israel in 2009 when it was the first solar energy company to connect to the […]

The post AORA’s Solar Sun Tulip Says Ola Sol in Spain appeared first on Green Prophet.

Solar panels at the Kuraymat CSP planet in Egypt require precious water resources to stay clean but Masdar & Siemens aim to change that. When coated with layers of dust, solar panels lose their energy-absorbing efficiency and require a regular cleaning schedule. But spending this precious natural resource on energy when many people in the […]

The post Masdar and Siemens Team Up to Develop Sand-Resistant Solar Panels appeared first on Green Prophet.

Looking deeper into the pitfalls and promise of Desertec at Dii conference in Cairo. Green Prophet’s Tafline is there and reports from the field. Instead of scrambling to find funds and legislative support for the Desertec initiative, a handful of people gathered at the Dii conference in Cairo to explore the project’s overall environmental sustainability. […]

The post Water-Intensive CSP is Impossible for Desert Solar! appeared first on Green Prophet.

BrightSource Energy is making a big bet on CSP while others switch to PV

The third huge US solar project from BrightSource Energy is its largest yet. At a whopping 750 MW it is the size of three or four US coal or gas plants.

Its Rio Mesa Solar Electric Generating Facility in California will use the solar tower technology it inherited from Israel's Luz, its parent company (Luz Rises Again as BrightSource for California) in which a field of mirrors on poles reflects sunlight onto a tower to create steam to drive a turbine to make electricity.

But it comes at a time when many utility-scale solar companies are switching to PV (photovoltaic) solar - those traditional rooftop solar panels that most people associate with solar - from Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) such as this. Why?

The post BrightSource Energy Makes Gigantic Bet on 750 MW Solar Project appeared first on Green Prophet.

The Middle East-North Africa region has greater potential for Concentrated Solar Power projects than in another in the world, a new World Bank study finds. If the MENA region plays smart, it could benefit from a huge influx of Concentrated Solar Power projects, according to a new World Bank study. In cooperation with Ernst & […]

The post MENA Is Fired Up For A Solar Boom appeared first on Green Prophet.

As solar energy becomes a more widespread reality and lessons are uncovered, conferences allow stakeholders to get the learned scoop. Given that Morocco has the highest concentration of solar power in the MENA region, it is appropriate that the country should host this year’s third annual MENASOL conference on May 4-5. These two days comprise […]

The post The Early Bird Gets The Sun: Save €400 On May MENASOL Conference In Morocco appeared first on Green Prophet.

Since the hype clearly failed, Masdar and Foster and Partners have turned to the nuts and bolts of building a sustainable city instead. Masdar and Foster and Partners (F&P) have eaten several servings of humble pie in the last few months. After a barrage of criticism related to the costs and failed expectations of Abu […]

The post Masdar City’s More Transparent Zero Carbon Plan appeared first on Green Prophet.

The UAE relocates the residents of Braka in order to build four nuclear power plants. As the shovel hits the sand in the remote (former) village of Braka, the site of the United Arab Emirates future nuclear power plants, many argue that using solar power would not only be safer and more environmentally friendly, but […]

The post Abu Dhabi Should Opt for Solar Not Nuclear for Future Needs appeared first on Green Prophet.

Farming the sun from hot climates to Europe? This is the plan of DESERTEC. Today we speak with Oliver Steinmetz. Oliver’s a co-founder and volunteer board member for the DESERTEC Foundation, a small NGO founded in 2008 to promote the DESERTEC concept of supplying clean energy from desert regions to regions with less sun, like […]

The post Meet DESERTEC’s Oliver Steinmetz: Opportunities for Middle East Countries appeared first on Green Prophet.