While climate deniers in the US and elsewhere seek to stop solar energy at every turn, smart entrepeneurs in China and other emerging economies see the potential, and are acting.
Huang Ming, founder and CEO of Himin Solar Energy, is known as the “Solar King” of China. A former oil industry engineer, Huang made a life-changing decision to begin his company when his daughter was born: “I worried about there being no blue skies for her to see, so I changed my thinking from oil to solar power.”
When Huang started Himin Solar Energy, he had a dream of making it the Silicon Valley of solar energy. The company began to grow quickly – so quickly Huang didn’t realize its profits were doubling each year, helping China become the world’s largest consumer of solar energy.
Himin’s corporate headquarters are in Dezhou, a city that’s leading the way for renewable energy in China. Dezhou has 124 miles (200 kilometers) of roads with solar-powered streetlights and 90 percent of the buildings use solar water heaters. Himin Solar Energy is helping drive the creation of this solar-powered infrastructure in part by manufacturing 3 million solar water heaters a year, which Dezhou and other cities in China have purchased. These solar water heaters alone have prevented the burning of over 200 million tons of coal over the last 20 years. But it doesn’t stop there. About 800,000 of the city’s 5.5 million residents now have careers in the solar industry – and Huang Ming’s dream is beginning to come true.
Let’s face it: China is ahead of the game when it comes to solar. The nation produced 64 percent of the world’s solar energy in 2013 and currently invests more in solar than any other country. It’s time for the rest of the world to catch up so we can create the global clean energy economy we need to stop climate change and thrive into the future.
Meanwhile, in the US:GreenTechMedia:
The Nevada Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision on Thursday that blocks constituents from voting to restore favorable rates to rooftop solar customers. The decision puts increased pressure on lawmakers to implement a policy change during the next legislative session.
The decision addresses a ballot initiative championed by the Bring Back Solar Alliance, a rooftop solar advocacy coalition backed by SolarCity. The referendum sought to repeal a piece of law that allowed utility regulators to impose higher fees on home solar customers.
Regulators approved the new tariff rate in late December. The order increased the fixed service charge for net-metered solar customers, and gradually lowered compensation for net excess solar generation from the retail rate to the wholesale rate for electricity over four years. The changes took effect on January 1, 2016 and promptly brought the rooftop solar market in the state to a standstill, causing companies to cut jobs. The changes were applied retroactively to all net-metered solar customers, eliciting a strong backlash from solar companies and consumer groups.
Great Post!!!
America’s solar King?
arrggg
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iD9kfqJQ2e4/hqdefault.jpg
Inspiring, and gives some hope that humanity will get its act together before it’s too late.
Well…… if you plot the stock charts of virtually all solar stocks, you’ll see a long painful decline for many years. Margins pressured, technological advances mostly have been done and solar PV panel efficiencies increases will be only incremental from here, as theoretical maxima are approached. And you can’t change the 1000 w/m2 of solar energy density. Solar should and will continue to grow, but not fast enough w/o a stiff carbon tax, which we desperately need.
Forward thinkers do seem to like guns’n’ammo stocks though… check out Smith and Wesson, ATK, and others.
As Peter might say – “welcome to the future”.
How many of you hopefuls own rooftop solar I’m wondering?
Have you evaluated what you got for your money? Verses what you got with Other People’s Money (OPM)?
Do you realize that the jig would be categorically up should the OPM content stop flowing?
Just wondering.
So you don’t travel on roads or use infrastructure that your taxes haven’t directly helped build but were funded by other people’s money? That must restrict your holiday destinations.
“Do you realize that the jig would be categorically up”, etc
“Just wondering.”
Gosh then the government should stop subsidizing the coal, oil, gas, and nuclear industries too now then shouldn’t they. That would be both direct subsidies as well as the downstream subsides of environmental and public health destruction costs that are currently passed on to the public to pay for.
I work at SolarCity and I know China is not ahead of of the game at all. There are good people in the USA with the ability to create change right now. Its the corruption in the US political system at all levels that holds back change, and the unbelievable ignorance of the American people. Even this website lacks presenting the facts CLEARLY.
One of the many ironies in the USA is many of the people reading this site are democratic and are anti-republican including the the website owner. These types of people will vote THE CLINTON’S into power and nothing will change. Its the same irony apparent in the anti nuclear movement. I we had mini nuclear reactors everywhere humanity could survive a long time.
Who cares about socialism as everyone will starve to death on that path – we should care about anti-monopolistic capitalistic democracy, and fight the corrupt democracy that is well entrenched in the USA. Just go to a stable democratic country that is not under the influence of massive corporate corruption here in the USA and you will realize what I am talking about.
Imagine if a wave of Americans pushed Trump to power on his ANTI CORRUPTION message, he is himself amazed at the movement that supports him which is primarily based on that message and on anti global monopolistic practices. Regardless of what you think that message would send shock waves through the political system.
This will not happen of course. Because most people in this country do not even know what Global Warming is and care more about the next car they are going to buy and on being so politically correct it almost suffocating.
Why do you think China is not ahead of the game at all? They appear to be the world leaders in PV manufacturing and deployment.
As to what Americans think about global warming, it depends on what poll you are looking at.
Most polling I have seen on the specific issue show very clearly that a vast majority of Americans want AGW solved, solved quickly, and that we are willing to spend more money for energy to accomplish that (Even tho we will all be saving a LOT of money if we make the transition)
” Just go to a stable democratic country that is not under the influence of massive corporate corruption here in the USA and you will realize what I am talking about.”
Amen to that.
I would like to know who is the asshole who has downrated every single post I have made in this thread? Got the courage to fess up?
Trump – LOL – Trump denies global warming, Trump is anti-science (well for that matter so is Jill Stein.) Trump will destroy all environmental protections. You have absolutely no clue what you are talking about.
Here’s something cool in CA. You get a text when energy loads are peaking and you respond by turning things off. The automated system can not only text you but also shut off, or reduce demand regarding internet connected thermostats, lights, &c. The better you respond (the more you reduce your acute load) the more credits you get. My friend gets texts and shuts off stuff regularly. She hasn’t paid her power bill for months because she has so much credit built up:
https://login.ohmconnect.com/ref/29467/refer
This video may or may not show up, but it’s in the link above:
[vimeo 119419875 w=640 h=360]