On May 23nd, 2013 UK Minister of State for Energy and Climate Change Greg Barker traveled to Brussels with a delegation from the UK solar industry to argue against punitive EU tariffs on Chinese solar photovoltaic (PV) imports. Barker stated on his Twitter account that he had written personally to all 26 EU Environment ministers to urge them to vote against anti-dumping tariffs. Various publications have reported that these tariffs have been authorized by the European Commission in a preliminary decision, but still require the approval of a majority of EU nations. Read more...

The nations at the nexus of the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, along with those along the strip of land between the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean, have long been pivotal for global energy development. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is also blessed with a quantity of annual sunlight which until recently has been more of a liability than an asset, as large areas of the region's land is too dry for agriculture. This report by Solar Server will explore both the current state and future potential of solar technologies in the MENA region, a land where the energy from the sun and the energy in deposits in the ground have an unusual relationship that may hold the key to growing solar markets and industries. Read more...

Solar Server: What is the Energy Democracy project, and what does it seek to accomplish? Craig Morris: Kirsten Hasberg, a Danish lady who is actually the head of the project, contacted me about her idea of using videos and infographics to reach a lay audience. I publish things in writing every day, but I rarely reach people who are not policy wonks. She was originally interested in the 100 % Renewables idea – convincing people that we can get all of our energy from renewables. Read more...

Before examining the reasons surrounding India’s solar manufacturing anti-dumping investigation, one overarching point must be made clear: India needs power. It is estimated that there are roughly 400 million Indians without access to power – roughly a third of the country, according to World Bank. India has the largest population without power of any country, even after the government had committed to provide power to all Indians by 2012 as part of their “power for all” pledge. The people and businesses that do have power face acute power shortages – about 9 percent power deficit and about 10 percent peak power shortage. A few months ago India faced one of the largest blackouts ever, when 600 million people were out of power for several days due in large part to insufficient power generation. Read more...