PV Magazine: Germany Breaks Record Wind and PV Generation in July

According to Fraunhofer ISE's data, the amount of PV and wind generated electricity fed into the grid hit a record high in July in Germany. The PV power generated also matched up to nuclear, another first.

July 2015 became a record month for the combined efforts of PV and wind energy. Both renewable sources managed to churn out more electricity than ever before.

According to the Fraunhofer ISE, 11.7 terawatt-hours of renewable electricity were produced in July, and this number surpasses the previous highs in January and March this year.

Bloomberg: Why Power Suppliers Most Affected by EPA Plan Don’t Hate It

Opponents of President Barack Obama’s plan to cut power-plant emissions say utilities will be among the casualties. You wouldn’t know it to hear from the power providers themselves.

For a group that must dramatically alter the way it does business to comply with the proposal, utilities don’t sound very annoyed. In fact, the industry’s main trade group said the Obama administration “seems to have responded to some of our key concerns.” The new rules will even boost profits for some.

MIT Technology Review: Smart Windows Just Got Cooler

Window glass that can tint on demand is pretty slick, but a new advancement has made it even cooler -- and that could help the technology finally go mainstream.

Smart glass has been around for decades, but it is quite pricey and has found only niche applications, such as the windows of a new Boeing jetliner. But a new kind of electrochromic window glass, which changes color in response to the addition or removal of electronic charge, is more versatile than the technology now on the market, and it could be cheaper, too.

Wall Street Journal: Tesla Executive Presses Auto Makers on Electrification

Tesla Motors Inc. came to a conference here with a tough message for other auto makers: stop building compliance cars.

An executive at the Silicon Valley electric-car maker on Tuesday bemoaned the inability of General Motors Co. and other manufacturers to have better success selling their own battery-powered vehicles.

Instead, most other auto makers are producing electric cars to meet minimum regulatory standards while continuing to build and sell less-efficient gas-engine vehicles in droves, said Diarmuid O’Connell, Tesla’s vice president of business development.

Fuel Freedom: What Caused EV Sales to Drop Off a Cliff in July?

The website Inside EVs, which keeps track of monthly sales for all-electrics and plug-in hybrids in the U.S. and globally, has published its July numbers, and they’re abysmal: Only 7,102 were sold during the month, compared with 11,242 in July 2014.

There are still six models for which numbers are not available -- Ford’s Fusion Energi, C-Max Energi and Focus Electric; Porsche Cayenne S-E and Panamera S-E; and the Kia Soul EV -- but even if those cars come in at the same level as this June, the overall sales tally will still be well under last year’s pace.

For the first six months of 2015, a total of 61,449 EVs have been sold domestically, compared with 123,049 during the same period last year. Meantime, the rest of the world continues to outsell the U.S., thanks in part to generous subsidies in many European countries.