Here is this week’s Renewable Energy News Round Up! This is a collection of new, important or offbeat renewable energy news we’ve found throughout the week.
Report: U.S. solar $6 billion industry in 2010
By Candice Lombari at CNET GreenTech
The U.S. solar market grew 67 percent from a $3.6 billion market in 2009 to $6 billion in 2010, according to “U.S. Solar Market Insight: 2010 Year in Review,” a report released this month by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research.
California installed the most photovoltaics last year, with 258.9 megawatts of direct current (MWdc), followed by New Jersey in second place with 137.1, and Nevada with 61.4. Others on the Top 10 list in order of greatest installations included Arizona, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Florida, North Carolina, and Texas.
Austin legislators push solar energy measures
Texas is the top-producing state for wind-generated electricity just 12 years after a legislative deal jump-started the industry.
The Legislature is now debating whether Texas should provide a similar subsidy for other renewable energy sources that, according to proponents, would kick-start solar, geothermal and biomass as job-producing industries. The goals also would be to diversify the state’s renewable energy base and help the environment.
PUC approves line route to transmit wind energy
The pace of wind energy transmission approvals for the Panhandle is building from a breeze to a gale with another route finalized and the last two moving along.
The Public Utility Commission approved a line route from near Lefors to the Panhandle area on Friday that could cost $62 million for about 40 miles of high-voltage transmission. That will put the cost of the three segments Cross Texas is building at more than $200 million, according to the company.
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