News & Events
Wall Street Journal Articles Reference EMP Group Report on the Cost of Installed Solar
Two recent articles in the Wall Street Journal's online edition reference LBNL's recent report on the declining costs of installed solar.
No Evidence of Residential Property Value Impacts Near U.S. Wind Turbines
A new study from the Environmental Energy Technologies Division analyzed more than 50,000 home sales near 67 wind facilities in 27 counties across nine U.S. states, yet was unable to uncover any impacts to nearby home property values.
New Study Finds that the Price of Wind Energy in the United States is Near an All-Time Low
Annual wind power additions in the United States achieved record levels in 2012, while wind energy pricing is near an all-time low, according to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Energy and prepared by Berkeley Lab Scientists in the EMP department.
Webinar: Tracking the Sun VI
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory hosted a webinar on August 16, 2013 on Tracking the Sun VI.
EAEI Department Scientist Participates in DOE Google+ Hangout on Wind Energy
Ryan Wiser of the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Department participated in a Google+ Hangout on wind energy in America on August 8.
Forbes story covers report written by EMP researchers regarding costs of solar
An August 12 Forbes story covered a Lab-produced report showing a continued drop in the costs of solar. EE News, the Union of Concerned Scientists and other news outlets also covered the report, some quoting the study’s principal author Galen Barbose.
EMP Article Featured in Missouri Energy Initiative's Spring 2013 newsletter
Naim Darghouth, Galen Barbose and Ryan Wiser’s report “The Impact of Rate Design and Net Metering on the Bill Savings from Distributed PV for Residential Customers in California” is featured in the Missouri Energy Initiative's spring 2013 newsletter.
Wind Energy, Income and Jobs
EMP’s Ryan Wiser and Ben Hoen collaborated with Jason Brown and John Pender of the USDA Economic Research Service and Eric Lantz of NREL on a paper entitled Ex post analysis of economic impacts from wind power development in U.S. counties that was published in the Energy Economics Journal.
How do Australian solar prices stack up?
A recent report by Joachim Seel, Galen Barbose and Ryan Wiser was quoted in a Climate Spectator article entitled "How do Australian solar prices stack up?"
The Impact of City-level Permitting Processes on Residential Photovoltaic Installation Prices and Development Times: An Empirical Analysis of Solar Systems in California Cities
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is pleased to announce the availability of a new report, “The Impact of City-level Permitting Processes on Residential Photovoltaic Installation Prices and Development Times: An Empirical Analysis of Solar Systems in California Cities.”
Financing Energy Upgrades for K-12 School Districts
Energy costs K-12 schools in the U.S. $6 billion dollars annually. Spending less money on energy costs would leave more for funding-constrained school districts to spend on educating their students, according to researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Merrian Borgeson and Mark Zimring, in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD), have released a guide on planning and financing comprehensive energy upgrades that involve multiple measures and are targeted toward achieving significant and persistent energy savings in schools.
Webinar: Revisiting the Long-Term Hedge Value of Wind Power in An Era of Low Natural Gas Prices
LBNL is pleased to release a pre-print of a new journal article submission, titled “Revisiting the Long-Term Hedge Value of Wind Power in An Era of Low Natural Gas Prices.” This article investigates the degree to which wind power can still serve as a cost-effective hedge against rising natural gas prices, given the significant reduction in gas prices in recent years, coupled with expectations that gas prices will remain low for many years to come. Expanding production of the United States’ shale gas...
Webinar: Electricity Bill Savings from Residential Photovoltaic Systems: Sensitivities to Changes in Future Electricity Market Conditions
A webinar was held on March 12, 2013, discussing the findings of the 2013 published LBNL report, “Electricity Bill Savings from Residential Photovoltaic Systems: Sensitivities to Changes in Future Electricity Market Conditions.” The study, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, explores long-term uncertainties in the utility bill savings that customers receive from solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.
Why are residential PV prices so much lower in Germany than in the United States?
On February 26, 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SunShot Initiative, in conjunction with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), held a webinar entitled: Why Are Residential PV Prices in Germany So Much Lower Than in the United States?
US wind energy hit record growth in 2012
Dr. Ryan H. Wiser spoke with Beyond Zero Emissions, an Austrailian not-for-profit research and education organisation developing blueprints for the implementation of climate change solutions, about the US wind energy market.
Smarter Wind Turbines Help Wind Power Compete with Fossil Fuels
Superficially, wind turbines haven’t changed much for decades. But they’ve gotten much smarter, and considerably bigger, and that’s helped increase the amount of electricity they can generate and lower the cost of wind power.
Spending on US Utility Efficiency Programs to Double by 2025
Current energy efficiency policies could offset projected growth in electricity demand over the next decade and a half. From 2006 to 2010, spending on utility-funded energy efficiency programs doubled from $2 billion to $4.8 billion.
Lab Scientists Study the Human Side of the Energy Equation
If your utility company were to send you a letter challenging you to use less energy than your neighbors, would you respond? How would you decide whether to buy a refrigerator that is slightly more expensive but consumes significantly less energy? At Berkeley Lab scientists and engineers are pursuing a broad spectrum of technological solutions for using less energy.
Webinar: The Future of Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs in the United States: Projected Spending and Savings to 2025
Please join us for a webinar discussing the key findings of a new LBNL report entitled “The Future of Utility Customer-Funded Energy Efficiency Programs in the United States: Projected Spending and Savings to 2025”.
Webinar: Economic Development from Wind Power: Recent Results from Two Novel Studies
This January 2013 webinar featured Cai Steger of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Ryan Wiser of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).