First Public Auction for Solar Energy Rights on Federal Land

         Federal officials are trying to figure out why the Bureau of Land Management's first-ever auction of public land for solar-energy development failed to attract any bids. According to the Denver Post, no bidders showed up for the first auction for three parcels of land in Colorado's San Luis Valley, even though five solar development companies had expressed interest in the land.
        Three parcels covering 3,700 acres in so-called solar-energy zones were offered on Thursday, October 24. The bureau has created 19 zones for large solar projects in 6 Western states, encompassing nearly 300,000 acres, the newspaper reported. "We are going to have to regroup and figure out what didn't work," Maryanne Kurtinaitis, the renewable-energy program manager for the BLM's Colorado division, told the Denver Post. "It is always tough to be the first out of the chute. This is a learning experience."
       Even though the auction's results seem to be pretty bleak, good news is on the horizon. The Obama administration continues to make it a priority to promote solar energy development as part of its energy strategy. Since 2009, the Interior Department has approved 47 renewable energy projects on public lands, including 25 solar facilities, 10 wind farms and 12 geothermal plants.

Solar Funding in Germany Will Stop at 52 Gigawatts

Germany's energy policies have been very friendly towards the continual production of clean energy sources such as solar and wind power. While some of these policies tend to be structural and permanent, others are designed to be "temporary boosts" to help society rely less on fossil fuels and more on renewable energy sources. 

Peter Altmaier, Germany's federal minister of the environment, has announced that Germany will stop subsidizing solar energy by the year 2018 at the latest because the pre-set ceiling of 52 gigawatts of capacity should be reached by that time. 

          

AFP writes: "The system of subsidies, under which solar energy producers are paid a guaranteed price for each kilowatt-hour of power generated, created a boom in recent years, making Germany a global leader in the field. The farm sector in particular seized upon solar power as a chance to supplement income, and the low price of solar panels from Asia contributed to the craze."

UPS, the delivery giant, gets involved with solar!

      

      Within these past few year, many companies have been getting involved with solar-powered technology as it is impacting the world on a global level. They have mostly been focusing on producing and installing solar panels to obtain electricity in a healthy cost-efficient way. One major corporation, known as the UPS, realized its benefits in this expanding time and has made it official by announcing its latest project, in installing solar energy installations in its locations in Parsippany and Secaucus, New Jersey.
      The project that was constructed in Parsippany, New Jersey, was a 1.2 megawatt installation that was completed last Fall in the year of 2012. The project in Secaucus is said to also produce a 1.2 megawatt installation that will be completed at the end of Spring this year. In a public statement, Steve Leffin, whom is the director of global sustainability at UPS, claimed that he and his team will be overseeing every aspect of the design and installations, which he believes to be extremely beneficial.
      "Federal and state government incentives and state government incentives encouraged our investments in solar energy sources," said Steve Leffin. "We develop, engineer, own and operate our solar capacity, which is a departure from contracted power-purchase agreements in which a company pays a solar power provider for a set price of electricity for 20 years. Under this arrangement, we not only benefit at UPS, but can also help community power grids by providing a hedge against possible energy price hikes during peak usage times."

Source : UPS pressroom