Skip to main content

Clean Energy Finance Forum

produced by
Yale Center for Business and the Environment homepage
  • Home
    • Clean Energy Bonds
    • Climate Resilience
    • Commercial and Industrial Markets
    • Community-Based Marketing
    • Community-Shared Solar
    • Crowdfunded Projects
    • Data and Secondary Markets
    • Distributed Generation
    • Economic Opportunity
    • Electric Vehicles
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Energy Services Agreements
    • Energy Storage
    • Fossil Fuels
    • Green Banks
    • International Markets
    • Legislation
    • On-Bill Repayment
    • PACE
    • Performance Contracts
    • Research
    • Rural Programs
    • Solar Finance
    • Solar Thermal Technology
    • Tax Credits
    • Yieldcos
    • All Topics
    • States of Clean Energy
    • Alabama
    • Alaska
    • Arizona
    • Arkansas
    • California
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • District of Columbia
    • Florida
    • Georgia
    • Hawaii
    • Idaho
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Kentucky
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Maryland
    • Massachusetts
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Mississippi
    • Missouri
    • Montana
    • Nebraska
    • Nevada
    • New Hampshire
    • New Jersey
    • New Mexico
    • New York
    • North Carolina
    • North Dakota
    • Ohio
    • Oklahoma
    • Oregon
    • Pennsylvania
    • Puerto Rico
    • Rhode Island
    • South Carolina
    • South Dakota
    • Tennessee
    • Texas
    • Utah
    • Vermont
    • Virginia
    • Washington
    • West Virginia
    • Wisconsin
    • Wyoming
    • Series: Building Blocks of Community Microgrids
    • Series: Electricity Evolution
    • Series: Searching for a New Deal on Climate?
  • About
  • Getting Started
  • Submit a Story Idea
  • Contact
Storm damage in Puerto Rico

Damaged distribution lines in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria / Western Area Power / CC BY 2.0

Leveraging Smart Contracts for Peer-to-Peer Solar Financing in Puerto Rico

Jesse Laniak
July 31, 2019
  • Topics:
  • Community-Shared Solar
  • Distributed Generation
  • Climate Resilience
“Smart” contracts leverage blockchain technology to streamline and automate many of the most technical and time-consuming financial and logistical steps in smaller-scale solar development. Furthermore, smart contracts integrate peer-to-peer financial mechanisms, tapping into new capital pools for small and distributed renewable systems.
View from an arch in Mexico

What Will It Take to Catalyze the Energy Transition?

Kat Friedrich
February 12, 2019
  • Topics:
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Energy Storage
  • Solar Finance
  • Community-Shared Solar
  • Distributed Generation
  • Economic Opportunity
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Climate Resilience
  • Legislation
  • Commercial and Industrial Markets
  • Community-Based Marketing
  • Electric Vehicles
  • International Markets
  • Research
  • Rural Programs
Vastly higher clean energy targets are essential to empower the international community to make the leap to a sustainable future, according to Richard Heinberg, coauthor of “Our Renewable Future: Laying the Path for One Hundred Percent Clean Energy.” In this interview, he delves into the practical challenges involved in the global transition to renewable power sources.
Sharan Burrow at the Investor Summit on Climate Risk

Unions Partner with Entrepreneurs for a Just Energy Transition

Jordan Cozby
January 14, 2019
  • Topics:
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Energy Storage
  • Solar Finance
  • Community-Shared Solar
  • Distributed Generation
  • Economic Opportunity
  • Climate Resilience
  • International Markets
“There are no jobs on a dead planet,” said Sharan Burrow, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. Burrow is vice-chair of The B Team, a coalition of business and civil society leaders that was founded by Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz. In an attempt to address the dual dangers of economic injustice and environmental disaster that Burrow’s remark references, The B Team launched the Pledge for a Just Transition to Decent Jobs in August 2018.
Solar panel at an angle

Introducing "States of Clean Energy Innovation," A News and Data Hub

Stuart DeCew
October 24, 2018
  • Topics:
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Energy Storage
  • PACE
  • Solar Finance
  • Community-Shared Solar
  • Green Banks
  • Distributed Generation
  • On-Bill Repayment
  • Economic Opportunity
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Climate Resilience
  • Legislation
  • Commercial and Industrial Markets
  • Electric Vehicles
  • Energy Services Agreements
  • Performance Contracts
  • Research
  • Rural Programs
  • Tax Credits
With so much happening at a state level in solar power and energy efficiency, it is difficult to keep up with the variety of approaches and perspectives. So the Yale Center for Business and the Environment is here to help by launching “States of Clean Energy Innovation,” an online news hub with customized clean energy data and stories about the United States and Puerto Rico. Each state is different. Each state has thoughtful leaders working on our transition to clean energy. And each state deserves its own dashboard.

NAACP Clean Energy Policy Advocates Speak up

Kat Friedrich
January 30, 2018
  • Topics:
  • Energy Efficiency
  • PACE
  • Solar Finance
  • Community-Shared Solar
  • Distributed Generation
  • Economic Opportunity
  • Climate Resilience
  • Legislation
  • Community-Based Marketing
  • Research
  • Rural Programs
During the solar policy debates that have happened in the United States over the past several years, many conversations about what low-income utility customers want have taken place without the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) being in the room. But now that the organization has published its 2017 report “Just Energy Policies: Model Energy Policies Guide,” it’s clear that the views of its constituents have been misrepresented in these meetings.
Solar panels

Low-Income Solar Policy Guide Shows Work Is Needed

Kat Friedrich
October 09, 2017
  • Topics:
  • Solar Finance
  • Community-Shared Solar
  • Distributed Generation
  • Economic Opportunity
  • Climate Resilience
  • Community-Based Marketing
The residential solar market has heated up in the United States during the past few years. Although its fortunes have fluctuated, it has seen dramatic improvements. The same cannot be said for the low-income solar market, which is just beginning to thaw. According to the Low-Income Solar Policy Guide developed by the nonprofits Grid Alternatives, Center for Social Inclusion, and Vote Solar, there is a key set of structures that needs to be put in place at the government level to set the ground rules for a profitable market. The frameworks depend on the state policy environment.

Developing Nations Build Distributed Energy Solutions

Anastasia Kiryushkina
September 12, 2017
  • Topics:
  • Energy Storage
  • Solar Finance
  • Community-Shared Solar
  • Distributed Generation
  • Economic Opportunity
  • Climate Resilience
  • International Markets
  • Rural Programs
Adoption of solar power and microgrid technologies has been on the rise in frontier and growth markets. This trend results from declining equipment costs and increasing support from development funds, government programs, and impact investors. But there is much room to fill. There are as many as 1.1 billion people around the globe who still don’t have access to a reliable supply of electricity. Microgrids can help address the issue without expensive transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Will a National Green Bank Act Win Support?

Chijioke Onyekwelu
July 18, 2017
  • Topics:
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Energy Storage
  • Solar Finance
  • Community-Shared Solar
  • Green Banks
  • Distributed Generation
  • Economic Opportunity
  • Clean Energy Bonds
  • Climate Resilience
  • Legislation
  • Commercial and Industrial Markets
A number of senators and representatives led by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.) have cosponsored The Green Bank Act of 2017 (PDF) (S. 1406. H.R. 2995). The act is expected to support the establishment of a national green bank capitalized with $10 billion in treasury-issued green bonds. This is the third time legislators have proposed it.

Building Climate Resilience in Native American Communities

Kat Friedrich
October 09, 2015
  • Topics:
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Solar Finance
  • Community-Shared Solar
  • Economic Opportunity
  • Climate Resilience
  • Commercial and Industrial Markets
In the Navajo Nation, electricity may be a fragile commodity as climate change intensifies. Other tribes in the United States face similar energy quandaries. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Sept. 2 that it is requesting applications to co-fund renewable energy, energy efficiency, and combined heat and power to help increase the climate resilience of indigenous communities. The available funding is estimated to total around $4-6 million. Applications are due by Dec. 10.

Is the White House’s Solar Commitment on Target?

Kat Friedrich
July 17, 2015
  • Topics:
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Solar Finance
  • Community-Shared Solar
  • Economic Opportunity
  • Climate Resilience
  • Research
  • Rural Programs
  • Tax Credits
When the White House announced a multipronged solar commitment that benefits low-to-moderate-income communities, the decision did not take place in a vacuum. Although most news coverage has simply focused on the federal statement, a more in-depth look shows this thorny challenge has blocked progress for the solar industry for a long time. According to some researchers, this commitment does not provide a complete solution.
Content Type
  • (-) Article
Topics
  • clean energy bonds
  • (-) climate resilience
  • commercial and industrial markets
  • community-based marketing
  • (-) community-shared solar
  • distributed generation
  • economic opportunity
  • electric vehicles
  • energy efficiency
  • energy services agreements
  • energy storage
  • fossil fuels
  • green banks
  • international markets
  • legislation
  • on-bill repayment
  • pace
  • performance contracts
  • research
  • rural programs
  • solar finance
  • tax credits
States
  • Alabama
  • Alaska
  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Connecticut
  • Delaware
  • District of Columbia
  • Florida
  • Georgia
  • Hawaii
  • Idaho
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Michigan
  • Minnesota
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • Nevada
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • North Carolina
  • North Dakota
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • Puerto Rico
  • Rhode Island
  • South Carolina
  • South Dakota
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Vermont
  • Virginia
  • Washington
  • West Virginia
  • Wisconsin
  • Wyoming
  • About
  • Geting Started
  • States
  • Article Series
  • Search
  • Contact Us
  • Submit a Story Idea
produced by
Yale Center for Business and the Environment homepage