more solar, less wind

If the U.S. government, and here I mean both the Democrats AND Republicans, would get off their butts and show some independence, we could really plow ahead in developing renewable fuels.  Unfortunately, most of them are deep in the pockets of oil, coal, and nuclear power interests.  

Even so, the spread of solar and wind power is rapidly expanding, in spite of the government.  

There are some pretty exciting developments in the dissemination of power around the globe.

Check out this story on bringing power to Africa.

Did you know that in Africa, more people have mobile phones than electricity?  Sounds a little odd, doesn't it?

And this next one, about how more solar capacity has been installed recently than wind power.  

Solar power to overtake wind for the first time

Solar power capacity is set to overtake wind for the first time this year, as a slowdown in the world’s two largest wind markets, China and the U.S., clear the way for a growing solar market, according to a report released Thursday.

Clean energy news and data provider Bloomberg  New Energy Finance forecast new onshore and offshore wind farms to add 33.8 gigawatts and 1.7 gigawatts, respectively, to global power markets.

That compares with an estimated 36.7 gigawatts of new photovoltaic, or PV, capacity, the first year in which solar power will add more megawatts than wind.

“The dramatic cost reductions in PV, combined with new incentive regimes in Japan and China, are making possible further, strong growth in volumes,” said Jenny Chase, head of solar analysis at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF). “Europe is a declining market, because many countries there are rapidly moving away from incentives, but it will continue to see new PV capacity added.”

Falling technology costs, new markets and the growth of the offshore wind farms will ensure wind remains a leading renewable energy technology, it added.

Last year, offshore and onshore wind farms added 46.6 gigawatts to power markets worldwide, compared to 30.5 gigawatts for solar installations.

After years of oversupply and consolidation, wind turbine makers and solar manufacturers may see profits back, BNEF said. Suppliers have cut costs and honed focus on the more profitable markets, and clean energy stocks have rebounded by 66% since their lows of July 2012, it said.

Despite the change in rankings predicted for this year, wind and solar will contribute almost equally to new electricity capacity additions in the next decades, BNEF said.

The provider forecast wind power to expand to 17% of the world’s total power generation capacity by 2030, from 5% in 2012.  Solar will expand to 16% by 2030, from 2% in 2012.

Original.