solar power - The Handbuilt City

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Energy Utilities

Community Solar: Coming To A Michigan Near You?

October 26, 2021October 26, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments CMS, coal, Coalicia, community solar, community solar power, Consumers Energy, decarbonisation, decarbonization, DERs, distributed energy resources, distributed generation, energy, fossil gas, jackson michigan, lobbying, natural gas, net metering, photovoltaic, photovoltaics, pv, pv solar, rooftop solar, sarah nielsen, solar, solar panel, solar power, solar pv, utilities, war on coal

DTE and CMS took the unusual step of tag-teaming a new announcement about community solar, a novel model for photovoltaic power generation development, in the Mitten state, where fossil fuels continue to dominate the generation mix.

Energy Utilities

Solar Power and EV’s, If Your Local Grid Is Up For The Challenge

July 1, 2021July 1, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments anacostia, anacostia river, community solar, DC, DERs, distributed, distributed energy resources, distributed generation, distribution losses, district of columbia, exelon, feeder lines, local power grid, microgrid, photovoltaics, power grid, power grid capacity, rooftop PV, rooftop solar, solar power, solar thermal, solar united neighbors, transmission losses, utilities, ward 7, ward 8, Washington DC

Power grids are complex things. Understanding the local grid capacity– as visualized by one mapping tool- can help us plan for things like rooftop solar or electric vehicle adoption.

Infrastructure Utilities

Centralization: Economy of Scale? Looming Disaster? Lil Bit of Both?

March 26, 2021March 26, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments 1.21 jiggawatts, ann durkin keating, blair kelley, centralization, charles perrow, chicago streetcars, coal power, decentralization, detroit edison, detroit public lighting, detroit public lighting authority, distributed generation, DTE Energy, electrical generation, georg leidenberger, hazen pingree, hazen s. pingree, history of street lighting, invisible networks, mehrsa baradaran, mistersky power plant, municipal streetcar systems, municipal water systems, municipalization, networks, normal accidents, power grid, power grids, private responsibility, public responsibility, samuel insull, social contract, solar power, street lighting, streetcar systems, Streetcars, texas winter storms, the detroit edison, transit systems

Streetcars, gas and water pipes, power lines, and other “invisible networks,” to borrow a line from the title of Ann Durkin Keating’s book, make up a vibrant history of infrastructure in which centralization vs. decentralization is a big debate.

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Business & Economics Energy Efficiency Climate

Epilogue from the Climate Leadership Conference: We Cannot Stop Asking The Tough Questions

March 11, 2020March 10, 2020 Nat Zorach 0 Comments apiculture, capitalism, climate crisis, distributed generation, DTE, ecological restoration, energy poverty, native landscaping, photovoltaics, solar power

The Climate Leadership Conference did a great job of bringing powerful stakeholders together. What it didn’t do such a great job of was asking tough questions of those stakeholders. But there is always opportunity to continue the dialogue.

Detroit Energy Efficiency Ontario Michigan Environment

Ontario Hydro vs. Michigan Coal: A Cross-Border Perspective on Energy Policy

April 27, 2017April 27, 2017 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments coal, coal power, Detroit, electrical generation, electrical grid, energy efficiency, energy policy, energy poverty, hydro power, hydroelectric, kathleen wynne, michigan, nuclear power, ontario, ontario hydro, photovoltaics, renewable energy, renewables, solar power, utilities, utility bills, wind power

Michigan’s neighboring state, also known as the Canadian province of Ontario, has been struggling for months with untenable increases in