How Thursday’s solar eclipse will shroud German solar power

A partial solar eclipse is seen beside the 'Golden Victoria' statue on top of the Victory Column (Siegessaule) in Berlin March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo
A partial solar eclipse is seen beside the ‘Golden Victoria’ statue on top of the Victory Column (Siegessaule) in Berlin March 20, 2015. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/File Photo


By Vera Eckert, Reuters

Electrical transmission networks in Germany are preparing for a solar eclipse this week that could trigger a sudden fall of around 1 gigawatt (GW) in solar power output, grid firm Amprion (RWEG.DE) said on Monday.

The event will take place between 0920 GMT and 1140 GMT on Thursday in northern Europe, an Amprion background paper said.

Related:
Here’s what you need to know about viewing the upcoming solar eclipse

Although it is expected to have a more modest impact than 2015’s solar eclipse across Europe — which reduced output by 15GW in a country that can need up to 80 GW of power on winter days — Germany’s four high-voltage grid operators, or TSOs, must keep the grids in balance because large amounts of power cannot be stored.

“The network frequency has to be stable and swings in production must be balanced,” said an Amprion spokeswoman.

The TSOs can draw on alternative energy sources such as coal, gas, nuclear and hydroelectric energy. One GW is equivalent to the installed capacity of a nuclear power station.

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Tailpipe fumes are killing us in NJ, NY and PA


By Larry Higgs | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

A study published Tuesday in Environmental Research Letters found that motor vehicle emissions caused an estimated 7,100 premature deaths in 12 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states in 2016, with New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania the three states with the highest death tolls.

New Jersey experienced an estimated 1,175 deaths in 2016 due to ozone and fine-particle pollution from vehicle emissions, a death toll was lower than both New York state, which had the highest at 2,024 deaths, and Pennsylvania, which had the second highest at 1,270 deaths, the study found. The 13-state region in the study had 7,130 deaths in 2016.

The study is part of the Transportation, Equity, Climate and Health (TRECH) Project, a multi-university research initiative independently analyzing the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI), and other policy scenarios in reducing emissions.

Government agencies participating in TCI set pollution limits, then require fuel companies to buy and sell emissions allowances from the state and each other, which could earn the state $300 million annually, activists say.

While New Jersey is one of the states that is developing the TCI-P, the state has not begun the process needed to formally join the program.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Institute for the Environment and the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health analyzed the deaths from transportation-related air pollution generated by five vehicle types in 12 U.S. states and Washington, D.C.

“What makes this study different from previous studies is that it connects the dots between where the pollution happens, and where the premature deaths occur,” said Saravanan Arunachalam, research professor and UNC Institute for the Environment deputy director.

New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey residents were also hardest hit with emissions-related health costs at $21 billion, $13 billion, and $12 billion, respectively, in 2016, based on the most recent data available from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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Gigantic dual-axis solar tracker installed on a residential property in Halifax, Nova Scotia

The array includes 90 Canadian Solar bifacial 390W panels, which help capture the high reflected light albedo during the snow season.

This M18KD tracker located in Halifax, Nova Scotia features 90 Canadian Solar bifacial panels generating 390 Watts each. (Mechatron Solar)ADD TO READ LIST 


By PVbuzz Editorial Team‘

A recently featured solar project details the installation of a massive dual-axis solar tracker on an estate in the city of Halifax, in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia.

Faced with high electricity rates, Halifax estate owner Stephen Mildenberger tapped solar developer Aartha Group of Surrey, British Columbia to install a Mechatron M18KD gearless dual-axis tracker. The tracker hosts 90 Canadian Solar bifacial panels generating 390 Watts each, along with Hoymiles microinverters.

The bifacial panels will help capture the high reflected light albedo during the snow season.

“We’ve already seen a boost of about 20% from the bifacial panels, on top of the 35% gain the tracker provides compared to a fixed-tilt installation,” says Mildenberger.

The 35 kW of energy produced by the system will provide the vast majority of the electricity demand for the estate, including enough to operate an EV charging station. Excess electricity is sold to the utility under net metering.

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Capitol Police had intelligence indicating an armed invasion weeks before Jan. 6 riot

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A pro-Trump mob fights to gain access to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. (Amanda Voisard for The Washington Post)

By Karoun Demirjian, Washington Post

The U.S. Capitol Police had specific intelligence that supporters of former president Donald Trump planned to mount an armed invasion of the Capitol at least two weeks before the Jan. 6 riot, according to new findings in a bipartisan Senate investigation, but a series of omissions and miscommunications kept that information from reaching front-line officers targeted by the violence.

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A joint report, from the Senate Rules and Administration and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees, outlines the most detailed public timeline to date of the communications and intelligence failures that led the Capitol Police and partner agencies to prepare for the “Stop the Steal” protest as though it were a routine Trump rally, instead of the organized assault that was planned in the open online.

Released Tuesday, the report shows how an intelligence arm of the Capitol Police disseminated security assessments labeling the threat of violence “remote” to “improbable,” even as authorities collected evidence showing that pro-Trump activists intended to bring weapons to the demonstration and “storm the Capitol.”

“There were significant, widespread and unacceptable breakdowns in the intelligence gathering. . . . The failure to adequately assess the threat of violence on that day contributed significantly to the breach of the Capitol,” Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), chairman of the homeland security panel, told reporters. “The attack was, quite frankly, planned in plain sight.”

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Nissan Delays Launch of Electric Car Over Chip Shortage

The Japanese automaker originally planned to release its first 100% electric vehicle to consumers worldwide this year.

Nissan Logo On Red Harold Cunningham Getty ImagesHarold Cunningham/Getty Images

From Agence France-Presse

Japanese carmaker Nissan said Friday it will delay the planned summer launch of its flagship new electric Ariya model to this winter over the global chip shortage plaguing automakers.

Announced in July 2020, the new 100% electric model was initially supposed to go on sale in Japan from mid-2021, before arriving in Europe, North America, and China by the end of the year.

But in a press release Friday, Nissan said customers in Japan could now order the limited-edition B6 model for “this winter,” with no set date for those in other markets.

A Nissan spokeswoman confirmed that the semiconductor shortage affecting carmakers around the world was hampering the rollout.

“We have been facing various industry challenges, including semiconductor shortage, and our priority is to ensure that we deliver the highly advanced all-new model… to customers with the highest level of quality and care,” she told AFP.

“And to make sure that those things are done, we have delayed the sales in our area.”

The model is particularly important for Nissan, which sees it as key to opening a “new chapter” for the firm, according to its director general Makoto Uchida.

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