scholarly journals Solar adoption in the rural Midwest : the diffusion of solar photovoltaic technology in two Midwestern states

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Heath A. Pickerill
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Adoption Process ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Utility Companies ◽  
The U.S ◽  
Solar Technology

In a nation of diverse geographies, many regions across the United States' vast rural landscapes have expressed support for the current administration's policies. At the same time, these rural areas have displayed a slow acceptance to renewable energy. In an effort to reduce government oversight and bring jobs back to rural communities struggling from high unemployment, the current administration has promised to lower environmental regulations and increase fossil fuel extraction with little regard to scientific research warning of the outcomes from climate change. Consequently, the U.S. finds itself immersed in a rhetoric promoting a revival of coal mining and other practices proven to negatively impact the environment. All the while, rural residents ignore job opportunities for skilled workers and increased revenues for their local communities, both of which could result from advancing solar photovoltaic (PV) technology in these areas. Compounding the challenge of increased solar adoption in rural areas of the Midwest, existing research has predominantly focused on major urban areas or large scale RETs like wind power. Few studies have explored the barriers and motivations of adopting solar technology in rural areas of the U.S. The purpose of this study was to better understand the challenges and opportunities for rural solar adoption in the Midwest and explore the political and regulatory impacts. The qualitative study was conducted using a grounded theory approach to theorize strategies in overcoming these barriers while promoting PV arrays as an energy source in rural areas where many residents are slow to embrace renewable energy. Twenty-four participants from Illinois and Missouri, representing various sectors of the solar industry, provided diverse perspectives on residential-scale rural solar adoption. Adopters, installers/consultants, advocates, government agencies, and utility companies were interviewed to collect data on the barriers and opportunities facing solar adopters in rural areas. The data revealed several key themes related to the diffusion of solar technology in the rural Midwest. Not only did multiple factors and motivations that affect solar adoption arise as a theme, but also diverse barriers and challenges became an obvious second theme. Furthermore, multiple utility types emerged as a theme because they create inconsistent statutes and levels of support. Similarly, each state's policies and incentives for renewable energy surfaced as a theme. The final two themes centered on the perception of solar adoption in rural areas and the diffusion of solar technology through the adoption process. The findings highlighted the effects of political environments on residential-scale PV installations in rural areas and the potential that energy storage advancements has to increase solar adoption. Additionally, growth for solar adoption in rural areas depends on a target audience willing to invest in PV arrays. This growth is possible by making solar technology assessable through firsthand experience. Accordingly, the findings support the promotion of solar technology through the development of a technical training center to educate and train potential adopters, installers/consultants, utility companies, and policy makers.

Assessing the Role of Environmental and Regulatory Issues on Offshore Renewable Energy Projects in the United States

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
William H. Daughdrill
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
The United States ◽  
Environmental Impact Statement ◽  
Regulatory Issues ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
The U.S

This paper will describe some of the key environmental and regulatory issues affecting development of offshore renewable energy projects in the United States. Offshore wind, wave, tidal current, and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) projects all have unique environmental and social issues that must be addressed to the satisfaction of federal, state, and local authorities. This paper examines the existing federal regulatory schemes applicable to offshore renewable energy development in the United States including a discussion of an on-going jurisdictional debate between agencies at the U.S. federal government level. The various permitting processes for offshore renewable energy projects all involve an examination of the potential environmental and social/human effects of each proposed project. Typically, the agency with primary permitting authority must prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) or equivalent document that includes a transparent process that encourages the participation of the interested public and other affected stakeholders. While acknowledging the importance of social/human impact issues, this paper will focus primarily on the potential physical and biological effects from offshore renewable energy projects including a discussion of the uncertainty that surrounds predicting the impact of new or innovative technologies. The U.S. Department of Interior, Minerals Management Service (MMS) recently published a programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) that includes 52 “best management practices” for reducing environmental and social impacts from offshore alternative energy projects. Finally the paper will examine the important role of environmental monitoring and adaptive management in informing regulators and developers of potential adverse impacts and adapting project design and operations to avoid or minimize these effects.

scholarly journals A BREAK-EVEN ANALYSIS AND IMPACT ANALYSIS OF RESIDENTIAL SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS CONSIDERING STATE SOLAR INCENTIVES

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 358-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minhyun LEE ◽  
Taehoon HONG ◽  
Choongwan KOO ◽  
Chan-Joong KIM
Keyword(s):  
Impact Analysis ◽  
Net Present Value ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Pv Systems ◽  
Break Even Point ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The U.S

Despite the steady growth and price reductions of solar photovoltaic (PV) market in the United States (U.S.), the solar PV market still depends on financial support and incentives due to its high initial investment cost. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct a break-even analysis and impact analysis of residential solar PV systems by state in the U.S., focused on state solar incentives. Three indexes (i.e., net present value, profitability index (PI) and payback period) were used to evaluate the investment value of the residential solar PV systems considering state solar incentives. Furthermore, PI increase ratio was used to analyze the impact of state solar incentives on the economic feasibility of the residential solar PV systems in each state. As a result, it was found that 18 of the 51 target cities have reached the break-even point and seven of the 51 target cities showed great improvement of the economic feasibility of solar PV systems in the U.S. due to excellent state solar incentives. The results of this study can help policy makers to evaluate and compare the economic impacts of the residential solar PV systems by state in the U.S.

scholarly journals RENEWABLE ENERGY AND TRADE DISPUTES: IMPLICATIONS ON SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC MANUFACTURING IN MALAYSIA

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nee Au Yong Hui ◽  
Lim Tan Kock
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Supply ◽  
The United States ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Green Jobs ◽  
Trade Disputes ◽  
Energy Mix ◽  
The Us

Malaysia has realised the importance of renewable energy (RE) in the energy mix and continuously reviewing its energy policy to ensure sustainable energy supply. The use of RE is among the options although the RE capacity is still underutilized. Malaysia achieves 5.5% share of RE in the energy mix by 2015, and the RE sector is expected to double by 2020 with strong growth in the solar photovoltaic (PV), biomass and biogas markets. Beyond 2020, it is predicted that solar energy will surpass all other forms of RE for Malaysia and other countries, and the solar power will be the long term source of energy supply. After an investigation on the RE policy, the domestic solar PV manufacturing scenario is elaborated in this paper. This includes the solar PV manufacturing, issues and trade disputes, and the way forward. Among the key findings from this paper include: the foreign direct investment (FDI) related to RE sector especially from the US and lately China, have increased rapidly, and more ‘green' jobs in the solar PV manufacturing and installation sectors have been created. With the existence of trade disputes between the United States and the European Union with China, Malaysia has the potential to reap benefits with the inflow of direct investments from China. Nevertheless, the future incidence of RE trade disputes is still uncertain.

scholarly journals Solar Energy in the United States: Development, Challenges and Future Prospects

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (23) ◽  
pp. 8142
Author(s):  
Sanzana Tabassum ◽  
Tanvin Rahman ◽  
Ashraf Ul Islam ◽  
Sumayya Rahman ◽  
Debopriya Roy Dipta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
The United States ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
The U.S

The ambitious target of net-zero emission by 2050 has been aggressively driving the renewable energy sector in many countries. Leading the race of renewable energy sources is solar energy, the fastest growing energy source at present. The solar industry has witnessed more growth in the last decade than it has in the past 40 years, owing to its technological advancements, plummeting costs, and lucrative incentives. The United States is one of the largest producers of solar power in the world and has been a pioneer in solar adoption, with major projects across different technologies, mainly photovoltaic, concentrated solar power, and solar heating and cooling, but is expanding towards floating PV, solar combined with storage, and hybrid power plants. Although the United States has tremendous potential for exploiting solar resources, there is a scarcity of research that details the U.S. solar energy scenario. This paper provides a comprehensive review of solar energy in the U.S., highlighting the drivers of the solar industry in terms of technology, financial incentives, and strategies to overcome challenges. It also discusses the prospects of the future solar market based on extensive background research and the latest statistics. In addition, the paper categorizes the U.S. states into five tiers based on their solar prospects calculated using analytical hierarchy process and regression analysis. The price of solar technologies in the U.S. is also predicted up to 2031 using Wright’s law, which projected a 77% reduction in the next decade.

scholarly journals Spatial Clustering of County-Level COVID-19 Rates in the U.S

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (22) ◽  
pp. 12170
Author(s):  
Marcus R. Andrews ◽  
Kosuke Tamura ◽  
Janae N. Best ◽  
Joniqua N. Ceasar ◽  
Kaylin G. Battey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Disparities ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Metropolitan Areas ◽  
Spatial Clustering ◽  
The United States ◽  
County Level ◽  
Communities Of Color ◽  
States Data ◽  
The U.S

Despite the widespread prevalence of cases associated with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, little is known about the spatial clustering of COVID-19 in the United States. Data on COVID-19 cases were used to identify U.S. counties that have both high and low COVID-19 incident proportions and clusters. Our results suggest that there are a variety of sociodemographic variables that are associated with the severity of COVID-19 county-level incident proportions. As the pandemic evolved, communities of color were disproportionately impacted. Subsequently, it shifted from communities of color and metropolitan areas to rural areas in the U.S. Our final period showed limited differences in county characteristics, suggesting that COVID-19 infections were more widespread. The findings might address the systemic barriers and health disparities that may result in high incident proportions of COVID-19 clusters.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of New Solar Photovoltaic System with Supercapacitor for Rural Areas

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Izuan Fahmi Romli ◽  
Rajprasad Kumar Rajkumar ◽  
Wong Yee Wan ◽  
Chong Lee Wai ◽  
Roselina Arelhi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Photovoltaic System ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Pv System ◽  
Maintenance Costs ◽  
Battery Lifetime ◽  
Pv Systems ◽  
Battery State Of Charge ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic System

Countries like Malaysia have more that 70% of its population living in rural areas. Majority of these rural areas lie in regions where most villages do not have grid connected electricity. Renewable energy using photovoltaic (PV) panels offers an alternative and cost efficient solution that exploits the yearlong abundance of sunlight available in countries like Malaysia. The main problem with PV systems is the high maintenance costs in replacing batteries every few years which makes PV systems unattractive for rural areas. A full scale PV system, developed in Semenyih Malaysia, aims to increase battery lifetime and reduce maintenance costs by incorporating supercapacitors. The system was developed in a life-sized cabin to mimic a rural home. A programmable load is used to test the system with the load profile of a typical rural household usage. Experimental and simulation results show that the supercapacitor bank is able to reduce the stress on the battery by absorbing peak current surges. Results also show that the system is able to maintain a high battery state of charge during the entire day.Article History: Received June 17th 2016; Received in revised form August 16th 2016; Accepted Sept 10th 2016; Available onlineHow to Cite This Article: Fahmi, M.I., Rajkumar, R.,  Wong, Y.W., Chong, L.W., Arelhi, R., and Isa, D. (2016) The Effectiveness of New Solar Photovoltaic System with Supercapacitor for Rural Areas. Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 5(3), 249-257.http://dx.doi.org/10.14710/ijred.5.3.249-257

An Evaluation of Financial Incentive Policies for Solar Photovoltaic Systems in the U.S.

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Alta Knizley ◽  
Heejin Cho
Keyword(s):  
Financial Incentive ◽  
Payback Period ◽  
System Capacity ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
Pv System ◽  
Pv Systems ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Utility Companies ◽  
Incentive Policies ◽  
The U.S

This paper analyzes some of the existing incentives for solar photovoltaic (PV) energy generation in the U.S. to investigate how effectively those existing incentive policies can promote PV adaptions in the U.S. market. Two common building types (i.e., hospitals and large hotels) located in five different U.S. states, each having their own incentives, are selected and analyzed for the PV incentive policies. The payback period of the PV system is chosen as an indicator to analyze and critique the effectiveness of each incentive by comparing the payback periods before and after taking the incentive into consideration. In this way, the existing incentive policies implemented by utility companies in each state are analyzed and critiqued. Finally, a parametric analysis is conducted to determine the influence of the variation in key parameters, such as PV system capacity and PV capital cost, on the performance of PV system. The results show how the existing incentives can be effectively used to promote the PV systems in the U.S. and how variations of the parameters can impact the payback period of the PV systems. Through the evaluation of the existing incentive policies and the parametric study, this paper demonstrates that the type and level of incentives should be carefully determined in policy-making processes to effectively promote the PV systems.

scholarly journals RENEWABLE ENERGY AND TRADE DISPUTES: IMPLICATIONS ON SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC MANUFACTURING IN MALAYSIA

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nee Au Yong Hui ◽  
Lim Tan Kock
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Energy Supply ◽  
The United States ◽  
Solar Photovoltaic ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Green Jobs ◽  
Trade Disputes ◽  
Energy Mix ◽  
The Us

Malaysia has realised the importance of renewable energy (RE) in the energy mix and continuously reviewing its energy policy to ensure sustainable energy supply. The use of RE is among the options although the RE capacity is still underutilized. Malaysia achieves 5.5% share of RE in the energy mix by 2015, and the RE sector is expected to double by 2020 with strong growth in the solar photovoltaic (PV), biomass and biogas markets. Beyond 2020, it is predicted that solar energy will surpass all other forms of RE for Malaysia and other countries, and the solar power will be the long term source of energy supply. After an investigation on the RE policy, the domestic solar PV manufacturing scenario is elaborated in this paper. This includes the solar PV manufacturing, issues and trade disputes, and the way forward. Among the key findings from this paper include: the foreign direct investment (FDI) related to RE sector especially from the US and lately China, have increased rapidly, and more ‘green' jobs in the solar PV manufacturing and installation sectors have been created. With the existence of trade disputes between the United States and the European Union with China, Malaysia has the potential to reap benefits with the inflow of direct investments from China. Nevertheless, the future incidence of RE trade disputes is still uncertain.

scholarly journals Healthcare Needs of U.S. Rural Latinos

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-48
Author(s):  
Cristina Maria Figueroa ◽  
Alexandra Medvin ◽  
Boondaniwon D. Phrathep ◽  
Chad W. Thomas ◽  
Judith Ortiz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Latino Health ◽  
Considerable Proportion ◽  
Latino Population ◽  
Healthcare Needs ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Sample Method ◽  
The U.S

Purpose: From 2000 to 2050, the Latino population in the United States (U.S.) is expected to grow by 273%. Health outcomes vary widely among Latino subgroups and health disparities more adversely affect rural residents. The commonly used “one-size-fits-all” approach assumes that the U.S. Latino population is homogeneous. Sample, Method: Rural Latinos in four study states: Arizona (AZ), California (CA), Florida (FL) and Texas (TX) were the focus of this study. This research describes changes in the Latino population in rural counties of the U.S. in two dimensions: 1) change in population by number, and 2) change in population by country of origin using data from 2000-2017. Findings: The following themes emerged: 1) the overall Latino population grew in each state; 2) rural Latino populations in each state also increased but at a lower rate; 3) there is a variety of diversity in the countries of origin of rural Latinos based in each state; and 4) a considerable proportion of Latinos living in rural areas are of unknown Latino origins. Conclusions: As the largest racial or ethnic minority in rural populations and as the second largest group in the nation, Latino health has a significant influence on the U.S. healthcare system. For nurses, evidence-based strategies can be tailored to address diverse Latino subpopulations to reduce specific disparities for various ethnic populations. Keywords: nursing, cultural competence, Latino health, Hispanics, rural health, treatment barriers DOI:  https://doi.org/10.14574/ojrnhc.v21i1.658  

Performance of Hybrid Renewable Energy Power System for A Residential Building

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-42
Author(s):  
Mohammad Qandil ◽  
Ahmad Abbas ◽  
Saif Al Hamad ◽  
Walaa Saadeh ◽  
Ryoichi S. Amano
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Average Energy ◽  
Residential Building ◽  
The United States ◽  
Diesel Generator ◽  
Electrical Grid ◽  
Cost Of Energy ◽  
Average Energy Consumption ◽  
The U.S

Abstract Using fossil fuels as the primary way to generate electricity causes a significant effect on the environment. In 2019 more than 64% of the electricity in the United States of America was generated using fossil fuels resources, while renewable energy (RE) resources contributed to only 17% of the U.S. electricity generation for the same year. Due to the complex terrain distribution of many states in the U.S., a massive opportunity of utilizing RE resources in rural and remote areas can reduce the cost of electrical grid installation for such areas. In this study, a typical residential building with an average energy consumption of 30.25 kWh/day with a peak of 5.34 kW was considered a case study in each state to optimize a hybrid RE system and find the best alternative electrical grid system. This study presents the best configuration between Solar and Wind energy with different types of energy storage. It was found that the photovoltaic (PV) - diesel generator with battery best serves in all states. The daily radiation and diesel prices substantially affect the Levelized Cost of Energy (COE) values in each state.

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