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Items tagged with: solar

This is an interesting new #OpenAccess paper looking at the intersection of energy, development, neighborhood race and class in #SouthAfrica.

They find that #Solar panel installation is by far more common in wealthy and especially white neighborhoods, and that the drop in #NighttimeLight radiance observed from #VIIRS_DNB is lowest in these neighborhoods.

They suggest that solar adoption may reduce the impact of #LoadShedding (i.e. #RollingBlackouts).

I see a few issues with their methodology, but it's nevertheless so interesting to see all these aspects combined with day and nighttime #RemoteSensing.

dx.doi.org/10.1088/2753-3751/a…

A figure from the paper showing the area of solar panels per household on a logarithmic scale, for different income levels and racial makeups. Homes in high income areas have an average of 2.2 square meters of solar panels, while poor and low income homes rarely have solar panels. Similarly, homes in white neighborhoods have an average of 3.5 square meters of solar panels, while homes in Indian neighborhoods have 0.14, Coloured neighborhoods 0.01, and African neighborhoods effectively none. The authors note in the paper that these references to race are a historic legacy of Apartheid, and are used because while Apartheid has ended, it nonetheless established historical patterns of settlement that are only changing slowly.
#solar #openaccess #southafrica #remotesensing #nighttimelight #viirs_dnb #loadshedding #RollingBlackouts

#Sunspot groups AR4055 (bottom) and AR4058 (top) yesterday as they rotate out of view and approach the West solar limb. #Solar cycle 25 is just past its activity maximum. #science #Astronomy #astrophotography
Image of an area of the Sun close to the solar limb (the edge). Two sunspots groups can be seen, the one below is larger than the other. As the Sun rotates, these sunspots will be out of view in a few days.
#science #astronomy #solar #astrophotography #sunspot

First month on record: #fossilfuels drop below 50% of #US power mix
What this means is that #cleanenergy generated more than half – 50.8% – of US #electricity for the first month on record. Together, wind and #solar reached an all-time high, generating 83 TWh of US electricity, 11% higher than the previous record of 75 TWh set in April 2024. #Fossilfuel generation fell by 2.5% (-4.3 TWh) compared to March 2024.
electrek.co/2025/04/04/first-m…

First month on record: fossil fuels drop below 50% of US power mix

Fossil fuels just hit a record low in the US electricity mix last month, while solar and wind soared to all-time highs, according to Ember.
Michelle Lewis (Electrek)
#us #solar #electricity #fossilfuels #cleanenergy #fossilfuel

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