Solar cell plant takes shape
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA - A startup originally funded by Google Inc. recently announced a $100 million financing package and set plans to build what it claims will be the world's largest solar cell manufacturing facility.
Currently in pilot production in Palo Alto, Calif., Nanosolar Inc. has started ordering volume production equipment for use in a factory said to have a total annual cell output of 430 megawatts-or approximately 200 million cells-per year once fully built out. It will be located in the San Francisco Bay area. Nanosolar's first panel fab, designed for a broad array of novel product form factors using advanced processes, is expected to be in Berlin.
Recently, the California Public Utilities Commission proposed the California Solar Initiative, the largest solar energy bill in U.S. history. Worth $3.2 billion, it will establish an 11-year rebate program for new and retrofit installations of solar photovoltaic systems.
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WASHINGTON - In nominal terms, the average monthly electricity bill for residential customers in the United States increased 13% from 2021 to 2022, rising from $121 a month to $137 a month. After adjusting for inflation—which reached 8% in 2022, a 40-year high—electricity bills increased 5%. Last year had the largest annual increase in average residential electricity spending since we began calculating it in 1984. The increase was driven by a combination of more extreme temperatures, which increased U.S. consumption of electricity for both heating and cooling, and higher fuel costs for power plants, which drove up retail electricity prices.
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