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108 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

the United States, developments in the renewable power sector may be most
noticeable when considering the large, utility-scale deployments of recent
years. Encouraged by historically low installation costs, energy companies are
building wind farms and solar PV arrays faster than any other type of elec-
tricity generator. Accordingly, the fraction of American electricity derived
from clean, renewable sources is growing.
In countries like Sierra Leone, where the benefits of access to advanced
energy services are missing for too many people, renewable energy systems
are working at a different scale. Minigrids powered by renewables and off-grid
solar PV systems that are measured in watts rather than megawatts serve to
bring affordable power to populations that have been unelectrified.
The coming years promise to continue the development and deployment of
renewable energy, a prospect of great potential benefit to people and
planet alike. Once dismissively referred to as “alternative,” renewable energy
is poised to fuel sustainable communities across the globe.

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