More than 3,000 solar panels power Jack’s Solar Garden, cool the land and help it turn a profit
The Guardian receives support for visual climate coverage from the Outrider Foundation. The Guardian’s coverage is editorially independent
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© Photograph: Thalia Juarez/The Guardian
© Photograph: Thalia Juarez/The Guardian
© Photograph: Thalia Juarez/The Guardian
Apartment living can be a barrier to solar and battery adoption. Here’s how to navigate the hurdles and practicalities
Change by degrees offers life hacks and sustainable living tips each Saturday to help reduce your household’s carbon footprint
Got a question or tip for reducing household emissions? Email us at changebydegrees@theguardian.com
Australia is a world leader in household solar, but the benefits of rooftop renewables are unevenly distributed – and many of the 2.5 million people living in apartments or units are missing out.
About 39% of Australians living in detached or semi-detached houses have solar, compared with 6% of those in apartments or units, research by Energy Consumers Australia (ECA) finds. A gap also exists in the take-up of batteries, installed in 7% of houses but only in 3% of apartments or units.
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© Photograph: Allume Energy
© Photograph: Allume Energy
© Photograph: Allume Energy
Welcome to this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief… a controversy has erupted in recent days with the FCC’s approval of a proof-of-concept satellite that reflects daylight to Earth at night, in a move that has astronomers concerned. In our analysis, we’ll be looking at 1) the FCC’s approval of Reflect Orbital’s Eärendil-1 satellite, 2) what the company says about its sunlight mirror orbital technologies, 3) the sharp responses from the astronomical community, and 4) where things go from here as the demonstration satellite heads toward production.
“While we fully support American technical innovation in space, this innovation cannot come at the cost of imperiling scientific research, which has been at the forefront of American innovation and global leadership for decades.”
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This week, in a controversial ruling that has sky watchers (and others) concerned, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the launch of an experimental satellite crafted to reflect sunlight onto Earth after sunset.
The move has seen significant pushback from astronomers, who now warn that the technology would likely interfere with scientific observations and alter the natural appearance of the night sky.
Dubbed Eärendil 1, the satellite is being developed by the California-based Reflect Orbital as a proof-of-concept for the company’s larger, and potentially even more impactful vision: as many as 50,000 orbiting mirrors capable of directing sunlight to different regions on Earth.
While astronomers have expressed concern over the implementation of such orbital systems, the company says its satellites would offer the possibility for providing illumination after dark in select areas, which could be used to extend the operation hours for solar powered facilities.
Branding itself as “the sunlight company,” Reflect Orbital says in a statement at its website that it aims to provide “clean, abundant energy available on demand,” because “reliable access to affordable energy is the foundation of human progress, economic growth, and a healthier planet.”
The satellite, which shares its name with Eärendil the Mariner, a character from J.R.R. Tolkien’s mythos, will carry an 18-by-18-meter (59-by-59-foot) reflective Mylar surface that unfolds in orbit after launch. Operating roughly 625 kilometers (390 miles) above Earth, the spacecraft is designed to redirect sunlight onto specific target areas of approximately five kilometers (three miles) in width.
Although many are sounding the alarm about the potential consequences of such technology, the Reflect Orbital says it maintains strict exclusion zones where astronomical operations or “sensitive areas” exist, and that its technology can be carefully deployed only to regions identified as target areas.
According to a FAQ page on the company’s website, the light produced by Eärendil 1 and future members of the company’s constellation will be “contained within the spot” among several other safety features it promotes. The company also says it can turn off the light quickly, and disable it at any time to prevent light from reaching Earth.
“The light is not bright enough to start fires or harm eyes,” the company’s FAQ page states, “even when viewed through a telescope, and cannot be concentrated past maximum natural sunlight irradiance.”
The company’s CEO, Ben Nowack, has argued the concept could improve the economics of solar power overall, allowing Earth-based power systems the ability to harvest additional sunlight before sunrise and after sunset.
The proposal has drawn criticism from several groups, particularly the American Astronomical Society (AAS), which urged the FCC to reject the application.
“The American Astronomical Society (AAS) is dismayed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision on 9 July to grant a license to Reflect Orbital,” the organization said in a statement following the FCC ruling. “As the AAS expressed to the FCC, Reflect Orbital’s proposed satellite, which would reflect sunlight back to Earth at night, carries the potential for significant harm to our members and the broader community of those who depend on a dark night sky.”
“This harm could include damage to sensitive research telescope equipment, potential flash-blinding of pilots and drivers, and — as Reflect Orbital stated in its own FCC filings — potential permanent eye damage to anyone looking through a mid-sized telescope,” the AAS statement adds, noting what appears to be a sharp contrast between information contained in FCC filings, and that which appears on the company’s website.
Further, research cited by the AAS suggests that a full constellation of Reflect Orbital satellites could increase nighttime sky brightness by a factor of two to three, even at remote observatories, due to atmospheric scattering of the reflected light.
“While we fully support American technical innovation in space, this innovation cannot come at the cost of imperiling scientific research, which has been at the forefront of American innovation and global leadership for decades,” the AAS statement concludes.
However, in the wording featured in the agency’s approval, the FCC concluded that such concerns fall outside its authority, which is primarily limited to regulating the use of radio-frequency spectrum, adding that it believes the overall likelihood of injury resulting from the launch of the proof-of-concept satellite to be low.
In the meantime, while the FCC’s approval marks an early win for Reflect Orbital, the company has said that it is planning to have independent research commissioned to help assess the technology’s environmental and scientific impacts. Additionally, the company says it plans to coordinate with the National Science Foundation to help ensure that its efforts align with those of the broader scientific community.
Fundamentally, the AAS’s disappointment—a view expressed by other members of the scientific community, argues that the ruling presents broader questions about who should oversee the environmental consequences of future space-based illumination projects, especially if such systems end up becoming more widespread in the years ahead.
“In the absence of another licensing agency that could take these considerations into account, we believe that it is critical for the FCC to consider all of the impacts of the satellite’s use case,” the AAS said in its statement this week.
That concludes this week’s installment of The Intelligence Brief. You can read past editions of our newsletter at our website, or if you found this installment online, don’t forget to subscribe and get future email editions from us here. Also, if you have a tip or other information you’d like to send along directly to me, you can email me at micah [@] thedebrief [dot] org, or reach me on X: @MicahHanks.
Here are the top stories we’re covering right now…
GenCost report contradicts parties’ claims about abandoning emissions target, and finds nuclear would be most expensive way to generate power
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Claims by the Coalition and One Nation that abandoning a net zero climate target would bring down power prices are contradicted in a new CSIRO report on the costs of generating electricity.
Generation costs will probably rise after 2030 regardless of Australia’s policy on net zero, according to the CSIRO’s annual GenCost report, but prices should then stabilise at levels below recent price spikes.
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© Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty Images
Timing of Devon switchoff ‘could not be worse’, says board, as members face an estimated £2m in lost revenue
Britain’s biggest community solar project has been forced to shut for the duration of its first summer by the government’s energy system operator to avoid overloading the local grid with renewable energy.
The north Devon solar farm was ordered to shut weeks before record high temperatures across Europe led to power supply warnings, due to concerns that the large amount of rooftop solar in the area could destabilise the power grid by triggering a “thermal overload”.
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© Photograph: Peter Cade/Getty Images
© Photograph: Peter Cade/Getty Images
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts
This week’s question: Why is there no rugby culture in Germany?
I would like to know why we build solar farms over green space, when we could just put them over massive car parks as a popular current internet meme suggests. Chris, Middlesbrough
Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com.
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© Photograph: WePro/Getty Images
© Photograph: WePro/Getty Images
© Photograph: WePro/Getty Images
China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) has put the world’s largest solar PV-plus-concentrated-solar hybrid into commercial trial operation in the Gobi Desert — and its headline trick is delivering power after sunset without a single lithium battery.
The 1-gigawatt Hami project in Xinjiang stores the sun’s energy as heat in molten salt, letting it keep generating for up to eight hours after dark.
New Economics Foundation and Finance Innovation Lab suggest loan scheme backed by Bank of England could benefit up to 8m homes
Millions of UK households could save hundreds of pounds a year on their energy bills if the government were to approve low-cost loans for solar panel installation, research has found.
Solar panels with batteries are one of the cheapest ways to generate electricity and reduce energy bills, but with an upfront cost of about £6,000 they are still beyond the reach of most cash-strapped UK households while other countries forge ahead with installation.
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© Photograph: Paul Martin/Alamy
© Photograph: Paul Martin/Alamy
© Photograph: Paul Martin/Alamy
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions considers a hot topic within renewable energy
This week’s replies: Are there places on Earth where humans haven’t been?
I would like to know why we build solar farms over green space, when we could just put them over massive car parks as a popular current internet meme suggests. Chris, Middlesbrough
Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com. A selection will be published next Sunday.
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© Photograph: Justin Paget/Getty Images
© Photograph: Justin Paget/Getty Images
© Photograph: Justin Paget/Getty Images
For months I’ve been trying to receive my FIT payment, which should be more than £1,000
I moved into my new house 14 months ago, and soon afterwards applied to ScottishPower, with whom the solar panels are registered for a feed-in tariff (Fit), for transfer of ownership of the panels and the tariff.
After many emails back and forth, I got a response saying they had all the information required.
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© Photograph: Timon Schneider/Alamy
© Photograph: Timon Schneider/Alamy
© Photograph: Timon Schneider/Alamy
Handful of gas plants paid £4m to generate electricity at half- and full-time in World Cup game
A handful of Great Britain’s gas power plants were paid almost £4m to generate electricity for just a few hours on Tuesday evening as millions of sweltering viewers turned to air conditioning, electric fans and icy drinks during England’s second World Cup game.
The heatwave has caused electricity prices across Europe to surge this week amid higher demand for cooling and a string of power plant outages due to the record high temperatures.
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© Photograph: DeFodi Images/Shutterstock
© Photograph: DeFodi Images/Shutterstock
© Photograph: DeFodi Images/Shutterstock
Solar panels are overheating amid soaring temperatures, leading to gas power stations across the UK being ordered to fire up production to make up the shortfall.
The post Solar Panels Overheat as Gas Power Stations Ordered to Fire Up appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Asda, Amazon and B&Q among retailers in talks to sell devices that feed into household sockets and can cut electricity bills by 30%
Bosses of some of Britain’s biggest retailers are discussing plans with the government to start selling plug-in solar panels as part of a drive to encourage more UK homes to generate their own electricity.
Executives from brands including Currys, B&Q and Amazon met Martin McCluskey, the minister for energy consumers, on Tuesday to discuss guidelines for selling “balcony solar panels” to the British public.
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© Photograph: Climate Central
© Photograph: Climate Central
© Photograph: Climate Central
Thinktank says decoupling electricity from gas prices has also helped shield Spain from hikes caused by Iran war
Spanish households save €10 a month on electricity bills because of wind turbines and solar panels installed in the last five years, a report has found.
Typical energy bills would be 19% more expensive if electricity costs were still as tightly coupled to gas prices as in 2021, according to Ember, a climate thinktank. It found Spain’s “strategic” expansion of renewables since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 has shielded Spanish households from the latest rises in fossil fuel prices caused by the Iran war.
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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Solar supplied 12.8% of US electricity in May even as Trump boosts coal over clean energy
Even as Donald Trump boosts coal over clean energy, solar power is hitting new milestones in the US and remains the leading source of new power.
Data released on Wednesday by the global energy thinktank Ember, along with a report by the Solar Energy Industries Association (Seia) and analytics firm Wood Mackenzie, show the continued growth of solar and decline of coal in the United States despite federal policy. In May, for the first time, solar supplied more of the nation’s electricity than coal, or 12.8%, Ember said. Coal supplied 12.2%, its fourth-lowest monthly share ever.
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© Photograph: Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images
© Photograph: Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images
© Photograph: Angela Piazza/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images
The net zero economy is booming, so claims that prosperity depends on oil and gas are bunkum – unless you’re a Reform backer with fossil fuel interests, of course
Really? You want to destroy a million jobs? Vote Reform UK for mass unemployment: is that your pitch? Hammer these questions home whenever you meet a supporter of the party. Or, for that matter, a Conservative, as their party now takes an almost identical line.
The figures are stark. They were compiled not by Just Stop Oil or the Green party, but by that bastion of conservatism, the Confederation of British Industry. They show that the net zero economy now directly employs more than 300,000 full-time workers, while supporting the jobs of 1.1 million. The net zero sector is worth £100bn to the UK already, and is likely to grow by hundreds of billions more. The rest of the green economy directly employs a further 600,000.
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© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
The 700 projects include wind and solar farms, battery storage, gas and hydro plans
More than half the renewable energy projects needed to meet the government’s clean power targets by 2030 are now able to plug into the electricity grid after years of delay, according to the system operator.
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) has offered more than 700 clean energy projects in Great Britain a grid connection date since the start of the year, after a two-year process to unblock a bottleneck that threatened to delay projects into the 2030s.
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© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian
© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian
© Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian
Australia leads world in residential solar per capita with 22GW installed but commercial and industrial sector has deployed only a quarter of that
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Australia’s revolution in rooftop solar has left behind commercial and industrial buildings, where installations have lagged far behind homes, according to new analysis.
Australia leads the world in residential solar on per capita terms, with 22GW installed as of last December. But businesses have only installed about a quarter of that – 5.6GW – despite consuming more electricity than households, a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has found.
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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
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