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on November 21st, 2011% ![]()
President Bill Clinton was interviewed this week on the Daily Show about his new book, “Back to Work: why we need Smart Government for a Strong Economy.” Of particular note, the President pointed out that government’s role right now is to create jobs through the right policies.
He suggested the opposite may be happening when he said; “There is no correlation between the amount of corporate tax that companies pay and whether they’re creating jobs in America. the countries that are doing great have a partnership between government and business.”
He also noted that manufacturers all over the world want research and development to be near their manufacturing facilities. He said, “ we have a huge chance to do that.” To do so, the President “…would keep the research and development tax credit and eliminate the others.” He referenced Germany as an example of a country whose incentives has netted 300,000 jobs in clean tech and solar over the years.
President Clinton deduced that because the U.S. is four times the size and twice as sunny, we could implement the same program and create 2.5 million new jobs. He concluded the interview by saying, “…I don’t mind giving people tax credits, but it ought to be to generate jobs and opportunity in America.”
But, the reality is that there are two kinds of clean tech jobs: manufacturing and deployment.
While the U.S. remains the global leader in research and development, it has been unable to match the industrial policy of Germany, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, and others. it means that the one-off tax incentives and grants deployed recently in the U.S. are unlikely to create massive American manufacturing jobs in clean tech.
Why? once an R&D manufacturing facility has “perfected” a manufacturing method, the jobs will be filled in a country with a sustained effort around industrial policy — as they should. the cost is less.
This is much more than just incentives for the actual plant. the incentives include training for labor, low-cost electricity and input costs, and low-cost debt for the rest of the plant financing. we can argue about whether this is a trade barrier, but the reality is that China is not the only country doing this – there are several.
On the other hand, service and deployment jobs continue to grow in America and are sustainable. These are the jobs, for example, where a solar facility is fabricated on site –- like a rooftop. These jobs are needed in-country and cannot easily be outsourced to an overseas workforce.
Keep in mind, there is interdependence between the manufacturing jobs in China and the deployment jobs in the U.S.
To increase the number of deployment jobs, we actually need the manufacturing jobs to go to the lowest-cost producer to drive down the cost. the difference between solar panel costs of $1.10 and $1.40 per Watt is substantial. this can mean a 15 percent difference in the electricity price to the consumer – enough to make or break a deal.
This is why I am against a trade war with China. it will cause hundreds of cost effective projects to become uncompetitive and cost thousands of job-years for solar project developers and installers.
I co-authored a recent opinion piece in Politico that “cost reduction has helped create a U.S. solar industry that employs more than 100,000 Americans, with growth rates that far outpace the general economy. the vast majority – about 75 percent – of solar’s job and value creation is in project development and installation.”
When we decided to pursue globalization many years ago, we agreed to let countries and private capital focus on their core competencies. China shares our addiction to coal and is working with us to drastically reduce the costs of installing solar power so that we can achieve cleaner air and water. With 7 billion people on the globe, we have to find ways of meeting our growing demand for electricity with cleaner sources at scale.
So the key question is, how do we deploy the lowest-cost, sustainable fuel sources to meet our energy needs?
And, how do we measure the cost on a level playing field?
I ask about a level playing field because, right now, the playing field is not level. for example, U.S. government incentives for nuclear, oil, coal, gas and fossil fuels add up to more than $380 billion over the next five years, according to the bi-partisan Green Scissors report.
While we need incentives to incubate new technologies to reach the scale necessary to reduce costs, we do not need to incentivize proven existing technologies.
So, I agree with President Clinton. we need Smart Government. but where I disagree is that we have limited funds for incentives, so we have to focus on our core strengths. for us that is innovation and deployment.
So while I would love to get clean tech manufacturing jobs here near R&D facilities, I do not think these manufacturing jobs will have the staying power of deployment jobs. With limited funds, over incentivizing manufacturing jobs for clean tech is not Smart Government for the U.S. we can pursue both, but be realistic about the outcome.
Innovation and deployment will create millions of jobs in the US as we replace our 50-year old infrastructure with the best that American ingenuity has to offer. we just need Smart Government to set up a level playing field and then let the most cost efficient energy fuel sources win. it is how Americans can leverage their core competencies to meet our energy needs and win the future.
Jigar Shah is the CEO of the Carbon War Room, a nonprofit that harnesses the power of entrepreneurs to implement market-driven solutions to climate change and create a post-carbon economy. by bringing project finance and growth capital together with infrastructure entrepreneurs, corporations, governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), he identifies and eliminates market barriers, driving environmental improvements alongside economic growth.
Shah founded SunEdison in 2003 with a new business model, the solar power services agreement business (SPSA). the SPSA uses mature technologies and required no new legislative action. the SPSA model launched solar services into a multibillion dollar industry. SunEdison now has more solar energy systems and megawatts under management than any other company.
Link from source: Gigaom
on November 20th, 2011% ![]()
Heat is an indispensable ingredient in each of those steps, and that’s why large furnaces dot the assembly lines of all the solar cell manufacturers. the state of the art has been thermal or rapid-thermal-processing furnaces that use radiant or infrared heat to quickly boost the temperature of silicon wafers.
Now, there’s something new.
A game-changing Optical Cavity Furnace developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory uses optics to heat and purify solar cells at unmatched precision while sharply boosting the cells’ efficiency.
The Optical Cavity Furnace (OCF) combines the assets that photonics can bring to the process with tightly controlled engineering to maximize efficiency while minimizing heating and cooling costs.
NREL’s OCF encloses an array of lamps within a highly reflective chamber to achieve a level of temperature uniformity that is unprecedented. it virtually eliminates energy loss by lining the cavity walls with super-insulating and highly reflective ceramics, and by using a complex optimal geometric design. the cavity design uses about half the energy of a conventional thermal furnace because in the OCF the wafer itself absorbs what would otherwise be energy loss. Like a microwave oven, the OCF dissipates energy only on the target, not on the container.
Different configurations of the Optical Cavity Furnace use the benefits of optics to screen wafers that are mechanically strong to withstand handling and processing, remove impurities (called impurity gettering), form junctions, lower stress, improve electronic properties, and strengthen back-surface fields.
Making 1,200 Highly Efficient Solar Cells per Hour
NREL researchers continue to improve the furnace and expect it to be able soon to hike the efficiency by 4 percentage points, a large leap in an industry that measures its successes a half a percentage point at a time. “Our calculations show that some material that is at 16 percent efficiency now is capable of reaching 20 percent if we take advantage of these photonic effects,” NREL Principal Engineer Bhushan Sopori said. “That’s huge.”
Meanwhile, NREL and its private-industry partner, AOS inc., are building a manufacturing-size Optical Cavity Furnace capable of processing 1,200 wafers an hour.
At about a quarter to half the cost of a standard thermal furnace, the OCF is poised to boost the solar cell manufacturing industry in the United States by helping produce solar cells with higher quality and efficiency at a fraction of the cost.
An NREL colleague inserts a multi-crystaline silicon solar cell sample into the Optical Cavity Furnace while Principal Engineer Bhushan Sopori, gets ready to read its analysis on his computer screen. Credit: Dennis Schroeder
The furnace’s process times also are significantly shorter than conventional furnaces. the Optical Cavity Furnace takes only a few minutes to process a solar wafer.
NREL has cooperative research and development agreements with several of the world’s largest solar-cell manufacturers, all intrigued by the OCF’s potential to boost quality and lower costs.
R&D 100 Award Winner
NREL and AOS shared a 2011 R&D 100 Award for the furnace. the awards, from R&D Magazine, honor the most important technological breakthroughs of the year.
Billions of solar cells are manufactured each year. A conventional thermal furnace heats up a wafer by convection; a Rapid-Thermal-Processing furnace uses radiative heat to boost the temperature of a silicon wafer up to 1,000 degrees Celsius within several seconds.
In contrast to RTP furnaces, the Optical Cavity Furnace processing involves wafer heating at a relatively slower rate to take advantage of photonic effects. Slower heating has an added advantage of significantly lowering the power requirements and the energy loss, so it can boost efficiency while lowering costs.
“With all solar cells, optics has a big advantage because solar cells are designed to absorb light very efficiently,” NREL Principal Engineer Bhushan Sopori said. “You can do a lot of things. You can heat it very fast and tailor its temperature profile so it’s almost perfectly uniform.”
In fact, the OCF is so uniform, with the help of the ceramic walls, that when the middle of the wafer reaches 1,000 degrees Celsius, every nook and cranny of it is between 999 and 1,001 degrees.
“The amazing thing about this is that we don’t use any cooling, except some nitrogen to cool the ends of the 1-kilowatt and 2-kilowatt lamps,” Sopori said. that, of course, dramatically lowers the energy requirements of the furnace.
The use of photons also allows junctions to be formed quicker and at lower temperatures.
As America strives to reach the goal of 80 percent clean energy by 2035, the White House and the U.S. Department of Energy are challenging the solar industry to reach the goal of $1 per watt for installed solar systems. To reach that goal, manufacturers need better, less expensive ways to make solar cells. At $250,000, the Optical Cavity Furnace can do more, do it quicker, and do it at a lower capital cost than conventional furnaces.
Twenty Years of Great Ideas
For more than two decades, Sopori had great ideas for making a better furnace.
He knew that incorporating optics could produce a furnace that could heat solar cells, purify them, ease their stress, form junctions and diffuse just the right amount of dopants to make them more efficient.
“It’s always easy on paper,” Sopori said recently, recalling the innovations that worked well on paper and in the lab, but not so well in the real world. “There are moments … you realize that no one has ever done something like this. Hopefully it will work, but there are always doubts.”
Trouble was, he’d come up with some elegant theoretical solutions involving optics, but wasn’t able to combine them with the optimal geometry and materials of a furnace. “We’ve had a whole bunch of patents (12) to do these things, but what we were missing was an energy-efficient furnace to make it possible,” Sopori said.
And then, combining his expertise in optics with some ingenious engineering with ceramics, he had his ah-ha moment:
NREL’s Optical Cavity Furnace uses visible and infrared light to uniformly heat crystalline silicon wafers, especially at the edges, which are prone to cooling or heat loss, at unprecedented precision. the rays heat the sample, but the wafer never physically contacts the lamps.
The Optical Cavity Furnace is versatile. each step in the solar cell manufacturing process typically requires a different furnace configuration and temperature profile. However, with the OCF, a solar cell manufacturer simply tells a computer (using NREL proprietary software) what temperature profile is necessary for processing a solar cell.
So, the OCF can perform five different process steps without the retooling and reconfiguration required by the furnaces used today, all the while incrementally improving the sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiency of each solar cell.
Provided by National Renewable Energy Laboratory
on November 19th, 2011% ![]()
Here is a 6 Watt Portable Solar USB Charging Panel designed to Rapid Charge power hungry cell phones and other USB devices that can be charged via their USB port. this panel is rated to produce up to 1.2 Amp of power @ 5v via the standard USB charging output port and this allows rapid solar phone recharging in bright sunny conditions and this also allows quicker recharging in partly sunny conditions.
Today’s new smart phones, Iphone, Android, Droid smart cell phones demand larger batteries and much more power per day compared to phones from just a year ago and this means it takes alot more power to rapidly recharge your new smart phone. If you want to solar charge your cell phone or Iphone then you need a portable solar charger that is capable of producing enough power to rapidly recharge your phone in good sunny conditions and this is where most solar cellphone chargers fail and fall short since they are under sized and simply do not produce enough power to quickly recharge your USB devices.
The panel we have made here is using the highest efficiency solar cells on the market, the same type Mono Crystalline solar cells that are used in the popular glass solar panels you see on the top of large buildings and homes all over the world. the solar cells are 17-18% efficient at turning sunlight into electricity vs. the other folding solar panels that use ThinFilm solar cells that are only 8-9% efficient at turning sunlight into electricity. the higher the efficiency of the solar cell the less surface area it takes to generate 1w of power. since we are using 17-18% efficient solar cells our portable solar usb cell phone chargers are as small as you can currently make them without using super expensive NASA grade 22% efficient solar cells.
Mono Crystalline Solar cells also provide another benefit over Thin Film solar cells which is a much longer life span when it comes to producing the power its rated to produce. Mono Crystalline solar cells are usually rated to produce 85% of their rated output power over a 25 Year time frame which is something you will not see thin film solar cell manufacturers claiming. Bottom line is that our portable solar USB charging panels will keep producing close to their rated 6 watt power output rating for up to 25 years if properly taken care of.
Our goal is to offer a high quality portable solar usb cell phone battery charger to the world to recharge all their USB electronics free from sunlight every day and offer this extremely useful product for a price that is lower than anything else that is currently on the market so more people can enjoy the benefits of constantly recharging their devices anywhere and anytime there is sunlight outside. Below are some reasons we really love our portable solar usb charging panel.
We have tried all of the USB Solar Phone Chargers on the market and this one is our favorite because:
Unique Advantages Of this USB Solar Mobile Phone Charger
Small enough to fit into your pocket, and, most importantly, it actually works
Via: portablesolarpower.biz/collections/portable-solar-cell-phone-chargers/products/6-watt-portable-solar-usb-mobile-phone-charger
on November 18th, 2011% ![]()
San Diego, CA (PRWEB) November 18, 2011
two new solar systems will be dedicated at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held today at Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU). the new 620kW DC photovoltaic (PV) system and 54 kW solar thermal hot water system on PLNU’s campus will provide a combined savings of up to $1.6 million over the next 20 years. the projects build on PLNU’s first solar PV system developed by SPG Solar in 2008. PLNU continues to show their commitment to sustainability with one of the highest ratios of solar power to students in the U.S.
SPG Solar – a leading national solar energy company – designed, engineered and constructed the 620kW system that spans two rooftops and five solar carports, using Kyocera KD 235-watt solar panels. Perpetual Energy Systems financed the system through a Power purchase Agreement under which PLNU will purchase the electricity produced at a predetermined rate over 20 years.
Concurrent to the PV system’s construction was the installation of a 54 kW solar water heating system by Adroit Solar, an integrator of solar thermal systems. the system will provide an estimated 940 gallons of hot water a day to the student dorms and save the university $5,000 annually on utility bills. the project was financed by the Student Green Fund, a $5 semester fee initiated by students to provide funding for sustainability efforts on campus.
The two projects, which include more than 2,600 Kyocera solar panels, are expected to produce over 917,000 kilowatt-hours annually and provide a savings of up to $1.6 million over the next two decades.
What the partners are saying about these innovative solar projects:
“PLNU strives to be forward thinking and take a leadership role in sustainability efforts and environmental stewardship,” said Dr. Bob Brower, president of PLNU. “The stewardship of resources is one of our core values. It was through the strong partnership with Kyocera, SPG Solar, Perpetual Energy Systems, and Adroit Solar that we were able to expand our solar portfolio.”
“SPG Solar values its great partnership with Point Loma Nazarene University, to date installing nearly 1 megawatt (MW) of solar power on the campus,” said SPG Solar CEO Chris Robine. “Through the dedicated support from the students, faculty and staff, PLNU is a leader and preparing for the future – securing predictable energy rates and enriching the educational experience for the students with this cross campus solar power system.”
“PLNU is one of the most innovative universities, filled with students and faculty who are driven by energy, water and resource conservation. we applaud their decision to install a solar thermal system, which further showcases their sustainability efforts and provides consistent financial savings for years to come,” said Jim Backman, President of Adroit Solar.
“Recognized for its leadership in the area of sustainability, PLNU has joined a growing number of environmentally conscience academic institutions whose investment in clean solar generated-electricity will benefit future generations,” said Steve Hill, president of Kyocera Solar, inc.
“PES is proud to count PLNU among the ranks of universities that clearly understand the benefits of hosting solar energy through power purchase agreements,” said Michael Streams, Senior Vice President of Perpetual Energy Systems.
About Point Loma Nazarene University Point Loma Nazarene University is a selective Christian liberal arts university located in San Diego, California. Founded in 1902, PLNU is known not only for its 90-acre campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean but also for its well-rounded, forward-thinking graduates. In addition to more than 50 undergraduate areas of study, PLNU offers graduate program regional centers in Bakersfield, Arcadia, Mission Valley (San Diego) and the Inland Empire. PLNU serves more than 3,500 students. to learn more about PLNU visit pointloma.edu.
About SPG Solar SPG Solar is a leading national solar energy company providing the highest quality and most reliable distributed solar power systems to large commercial, industrial, government and public energy users. Headquartered in the Bay Area, California, SPG Solar has been delivering the highest quality solar energy solutions to its customers for over a decade. SPG Solar provides the best products and services to clients from the SPG Solar SunSeeker® Tracker, a leading ground mount system generating more solar power, to SPG Solar Structured Finance, a team providing a full array of financial resources and expertise. With over 68 megawatts installed coast-to-coast, SPG Solar is a proven solar partner. for more information on SPG Solar and distributed solar power, please visit spgsolar.com.
About KYOCERA Kyocera Corporation, a public company (global.kyocera.com/), the parent and global headquarters of the Kyocera Group, was founded in 1959 as a producer of fine ceramics (also known as “advanced ceramics”). By combining these engineered materials with metals and plastics, and integrating them with other technologies, Kyocera has become a leading supplier of solar power generating systems, telecommunications equipment, printers, copiers, electronic components, semiconductor packages, cutting tools and industrial ceramics. during the year ended March 31, 2011, the company’s net sales totaled 1.27 trillion yen (approx. USD15.3 billion). the company is ranked #604 on Forbes magazine’s 2011 “Global 2000” listing of the world’s largest publicly traded companies.
About Perpetual Energy Systems Perpetual Energy Systems is an independent power provider of solar energy projects, and has completed systems for Caltech, Santa Clara University, University of Delaware, Siemens, Jefferson Union School District and the City of Hollister, to name a few. By utilizing the Power purchase Agreement (PPA), Perpetual is able to provide educational, industrial, commercial and municipal enterprises with on-site clean, energy resources with no capital (zero) outlay required from the host. Perpetual combines renewable energy tax incentives with conventional financing and sponsor equity to achieve the design, construction, installation, operations and maintenance of renewable energy systems. for more information, please contact Michael Streams at (310) 497-2134, or visit goperpetual.com.
About Adroit Solar Adroit Solar is a San Diego renewable energy and energy efficient technology contractor with 25 years of experience in the industry. Adroit Solar installs solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, ground source geothermal heating and cooling systems, radiant heating and cooling systems, hydrogen fuel cells, micro turbines and provides design and specification work for development of energy independent “net zero,” high-end residential and commercial properties. They are a licensed contractor in California and Hawaii with C46 (solar) and C36 (plumbing) licenses, a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Visit adroitsolar.com to learn more.
on November 17th, 2011% ![]()
When Danny Kennedy founded Sungevity, he said he wanted everyone to have solar.
It is that founding principle that drives the company’s new charitable program to donate a solar light kit to a Zambian school for every residential solar installation it makes in the United States.
The solar leasing company formed a partnership with “Every Child has a Light” program through Empowered by Light. The kits Sungevity will donate are compact lighting solutions in reusable packaging containing a triple LED lamp, a solar panel and a built-in USB connection to charge mobile devices.
“We really want to work at sharing the sun,” Kennedy said “this program allows us to spread the sunshine to other countries.”
Kennedy said Sungevity has had a tremendously successful year, and the company wants to give back through this program.
Kennedy’s idea behind creating Sungevity was to make solar accessible to average American families by allowing them to lease the solar panels on their roofs instead of shelling out the significant upfront cost.
Now the idea has expanded, and he aims to make solar accessible to everyone. The program is a way to give something and to do something charitable and good in celebration of the company’s success and as a way to further Sungevity’s mission of providing solar for everyone.
The light units are small and compact. They’re affordable, and they replace kerosene lamps in many cases, which have harmful fumes and are costly to keep fueled.
“These lights can make a real impact on outcomes for families and whole villages,” Kennedy said.
Statistics have shown that villages with the lights have increases in education levels because children are able to study in the dark more easily, Kennedy said.
Marco Krapels, Empowered by Light co-founder, has said that the program is enabling developing nations like Zambia to leap-frog the traditional energy sources that the industrialized world has become so dependent upon.
Image courtesy of Empowered by Light.
on November 17th, 2011% ![]()
Howard Johns, the quietly outspoken head of the Solar Trade Association, is understandably “having a nightmare”. Not only has the Government just announced the third substantial cut in solar power subsidies in four months. But it seems increasingly zealous about shale gas, which is “fracked” out of the rocks with blasts of sand, chemicals and water and has been linked to earthquakes and water pollution.
As a former lynchpin of Britain’s environmental protest movement, who has thrown his body down on construction sites from the A30 in Devon to the open-cast Selar mine in South Wales, Mr Johns is deeply concerned about the prospect of widespread fracking in this country.
As head of the Solar Trade Association – and founder of Southern Solar – the photovoltaic businessman is concerned about the damage that shale gas could inflict on his industry because it is far cheaper than renewable energy and much greener than coal and oil.
Sitting in a café on the corner of London’s Borough Market, 38-year-old Mr Johns is a study in quiet determination.
In a sharp-but-casual grey suit, the softly spoken Mr Johns rips into the Government. "This is a complete and utter sham, all this stuff about green growth and how this was going to be the greenest government ever," says the son of a Royal Navy Commodore, who spent most of his boyhood in Portsmouth.
"No one will invest in green growth in this country when the Government keeps moving the goalposts. You need stability to grow as an industry, so you can make plans and stick to them."
He is particularly angry because he is sitting on what he regards as explosive new evidence that so-called feed-in-tariffs (FITs, or sums paid for excess electricity generated by households from renewable sources), far from draining the purse, are highly profitable.
He wouldn’t give the numbers ahead of their release by the Element Energy consultancy later this month. however, The Independent has seen an extract which shows that the tariffs have generated more than £280m in various taxes since they were introduced in April last year, and cost just £220m.
According to Mr Johns, this new evidence contradicts the Government’s stated reason for cutting its FIT subsidy on solar power by more than half this month. The Government has assumed that the tariffs would ultimately be loss-making with the costs passed on to consumers in the form of higher bills. Announcing the tariff cut this month, it said that if it didn’t lower FITs they would be adding £26 to the average electricity bill by 2020.
Whether FITs are ultimately profitable or not, the energy Britain could generate from the sun has recently been overshadowed by the promise of shale gas. The discovery in September that shale gas reserves in the Blackpool area are far greater than previously estimated, has made fossil fuel an increasingly viable and attractive alternative to renewable energy.
Politicians have made a series of comments in recent weeks which suggest to Mr Johns that they are preparing the ground to drive through hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, on an industrial scale.
Last week, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne called for regulator Ofgem to look into whether "further action is needed to ensure that medium- to long-term gas supplies for consumers remain secure".
Mr Johns comments: "This looks like a cover for pushing through shale gas. The fracking lobby were all over the Tory party conference. Britain is far too small and densely populated for fracking. and there are still a lot of questions about its effects to be answered."
Mr Johns argues that the tariff cut will force an exodus of household and larger-scale investors in the industry that in turn threatens about 10,000 jobs – about 40 per cent of the total – as well as lost tax revenues for the Government.
Looking back on his education, he admits to "being pretty disinterested at school… my standard report card said ‘could do well if I applied myself’."
After failing to get the grades for architectural engineering, Mr Johns’ sister asked him what really interested him. The answer – nature and renewable energy – prompted an exhaustive search through university prospectuses until the two of them found a single course in renewable energy at the University of Glamorgan. it was 1991.
After graduating, Mr Johns became an active protester at the centre of a nationwide campaigning network. a few years of protesting later, he trained as a plumber and electrician before setting up Southern Solar, an installer headquartered in Lewes, Sussex, with two friends in 2002.
"Protesting is very important, but it is essentially saying ‘no’ all the time. I wanted to do something positive, so I started saying ‘yes’," he said.
The Government’s proposal to reduce the solar tariff from 43.3p per kWh of electricity generated to just 21p will reduce the annual return from investing in solar panels from around 7 per cent to 4 per cent. This will increase the time it takes to pay off the £10,000 to £12,000 upfront investment from 10 to 18 years.
In his latest quest, Mr Johns wants to persuade the Government to rethink its FIT cut, reducing it by just a quarter – to 32p – instead.
A slew of legal cases may aid his case. these argue that the proposals are illegal because the new tariffs are set to be introduced on 12 December, even though the consultation process doesn’t end until 23 December.
If successful, the lawsuits, brought by environmental groups such as Friends of the Earth, would likely postpone the introduction of the lower FIT rate. This would buy Mr Johns valuable time to finalise his research and use it to pressure the Government to rethink its FIT strategy.
The CV: Howard Johns
*The son of a Royal Navy engineer who rose to the rank of Commodore, Howard spent much of his childhood in Portsmouth, where his father ran Portsmouth dockyard.
*He completed a degree in energy and environmental technology at the University of Glamorgan. after graduating, he spent a few years protesting on environmental issues before moving to Italy to learn how to install solar panels. he returned to the UK, trained as a plumber and an electrician, and set up Southern Solar with two friends in 2002.
*In addition to running Southern Solar, he was appointed chairman of the Solar Trade Association in 2007. he is also one of the founders of OVESCO in the so-called transition town of Lewes in East Sussex. The organisation is dedicated to making the area "carbon-neutral".
on November 14th, 2011% ![]()
If you are new to researching green energies you are going to be surprised at the variety of options available.While you will find a lot of information and products using traditional solar cells, polymer solar cells are the latest in solar energy technology studies and research.
Polymer cells are also referred to as plastic cells, and are types of organic cells. The future of these solar is assured because they are much less expensive and more disposable than traditional cells that are produced from silicon crystal and involve a complicated production process. At this point in time polymer cells are not produced commercially by many companies, mostly because their efficiency rate has been only as high as six percent.
Energy efficiency refers to the percentage of energy that is stored in a cell that can be converted into usable energy. At the rate that these cells are being researched, companies predict that they will reach the seven to ten percent efficiency rate they need to compete with the bigger solar cell producers within the next three years.
The size, weight and overall flexibility of these cells makes them ideal as energy sources for portable products like laptop battery chargers, and used in items such as umbrellas and tents. these solar energy sources can be derived solely from ink jet printers or photographic film manufacturing equipment. this means that a large supply of energy can be derived with low manufacturing costs.
While most of the plans are aiming towards using polymer cells with niche markets, improved efficiency and their unique ability to be spread very thinly will introduce them to unique markets. currently research is also pointing to creating polymer solar cell sheets that can be installed easily against window panes and also produce an attractive tinting effect.
One drawback to plastic cells is their limited lifetime of a few years compared to conventional solar cells which last decades. The relative inexpensive cost of manufacturing and the less damaging effects on the environment when it comes to disposing of these cells can be used to counter this decreased life span.
Currently Denmark is the country leading the way into industrializing polymer cells. They have constructed solar panels with the newer technology and might just become the forefront polymer solar cell panel exporter. Universities within that country include the technology as part of their studies and have come across many of the new breakthroughs that are starting to make this energy resource feasible.
While we do have to wait a bit before we are going to start seeing these solar energy solutions in our clothes, on our cars and in stores as heating solutions for our homes, they are something any green thinking individual will want to keep an eye out for. Just thinking about the possible uses for a power source that travels easily will boost researchers and entrepreneurs into action.
on November 11th, 2011% ![]()
11/10/2011 2:26 PM EST
I doubt it. This co. goes WAY back. it was started in the very early ’70s as I recall by Stanley Ovishinsky, an EE and self-taught physicist. at the time, the conventional wisdom was that semiconduction was a phenomenon limited to crystalline structures; he proved it was possible to create useful devices with non-crystalline amorphous((glassy) materials, with much lower processing costs and fewer limitations. The whole concept was pooh-poohed by the scientific establishment, and he fought for quite a few years until there was grudging recognition that his theory was in fact correct. The technologies he pioneered lie at the core of many electronic devices and structures today. he died some years back, recognized as the father of the science of “ovonics” (named for him). Maybe 25 years ago, he recognized the biggest potential applications would be in solar cells and batteries (hence the name of his company, Energy Conversion Devices). their current problems stem mostly from a severe GLUT of overcapacity in the amorphous semi supplier base (like 66 different companies world-wide), all trying to profit from the overblown promises of the solar power industry. Do some research!
on November 11th, 2011% ![]() 10. November 2011 | Top News, Applications & Installations, Industry & Suppliers, Global PV markets | by: Becky Stuart
U.S. solar expert, Alexander von Welczeck, takes time out of his busy schedule to talk to pv magazine about the American utility-scale solar market. Permitting, installation costs, site selection, and the announcement of new solar energy zones, are just some of the issues covered.
Alexander Von Welczeck has his fingers in a lot of solar pies. Currently serving as director of Solar Land Partners Inc., and a principal at both Clean Power Group and Clean Power Advisors LLC, his mission is to develop "meaningful, world-class" photovoltaic plants in western America.
While he also provides advisory services to a host of clean tech companies, many know him for his work in the field of power purchase agreements (PPAs). Indeed, in 2007, he founded Solar Power Partners, which is credited as being one of the pioneers in solar PPA development.
Next week, he will be conducting a "Dos and don’ts of large-scale solar" workshop at PV Power Plants – USA 2011, organized by Solarpraxis and scheduled to be held from November 30 to December 1, in Phoenix, Arizona.
During the event, he will cover a plethora of pertinent solar issues, including: land acquisition, entitling and permits; interconnection, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC); and PPA and project financing.
Before that, however, he talks to pv magazine about the utility-scale solar in the U.S. market.
How is large-scale solar defined?there is no hardline definition as it depends upon the geographic region, competitive environment, transmission access and other project characteristics. nonetheless, in general, in the USA, you can say projects over 50 megawatts (MW) are considered large-scale solar.
How long does it take to obtain all the necessary paperwork for a project? in order to fully permit and obtain all entitlements, from project inception to NTP "shovel ready", one should estimate three years.
What are the key considerations when selecting a site? all critical path elements are equally important, as the total development is only as strong as its weakest link. in other words, if one critical element, for example, environmental impact, fails, then the entire project fails.
What is the timeframe involved in taking a project from conception to completion? in general, a schedule of 3.5 to five years, made up of about 2.5 to 3.5 years for project development, plus another one to two years for EPC build-out.
How have installation costs been affected this year? we have seen significant decreases in EPC costs over the past 18 months, driven primarily by much lower photovoltaic panel prices. The larger, over 50 MW projects benefit from even larger economies of scale, currently allowing for all-in EPC costs of between USD$2.40 to 2.90 per watt AC.
What are your thoughts on the new announcement by Ken Salazar to identify solar energy zones in six U.S. states?It may be too little too late. there are already many large utility solar projects under development across the U.S., with a significant clustering in the high, direct normal insolation (DNI) southwest that will more than satisfy current statewide renewable portfolio standard (RPS) requirements. If the Federal Government could pass a national RPS, which would create better solar market conditions in high DNI states like Utah, Nevada, Texas, Arizona and more, then these new Federal solar zones could become interesting.
What is the average timeframe for obtaining an interconnection agreement (IA)? what are the obstacles?The American transmission landscape is very fragmented. Obtaining an IA differs from state to state, and there are even different processes by different Balancing Authorities within the same state. A typical timeframe from Interconnection Request (IR) to Interconnection Agreement (IA) can be two to three years.
What are the hurdles for an EPC contractor?from the project developer perspective, there are few EPC obstacles, with many choices for hiring quality EPC construction companies. The primary obstacle is to ensure the EPC contractor can provide performance guarantees that are bankable.
What is the key to being a successful EPC contractor? Who are the biggest players in the U.S. market?The most successful EPC construction companies tend to be regional businesses that are directly accessing quality local labor, and eliminating middle-men mark-ups. The top players from the East Coast to western USA are mostly different. we are seeing many different types of contractors newly entering the solar EPC business, from premier general contractors like Swinerton, Turner, and Mortenson, to leading electrical contractors, like Cupertino Electric and Rosendin Electric, to global infrastructure builders, like Bechtal and Flour, to varied international enterprises from Germany, Spain, Korea, Japan and more. The international enterprises often combine their EPC services with an in-house proprietary photovoltaic product.
What is the current project financing landscape like? in which states or regions is it easiest to secure funds? all project financing in the USA is complex. there is no, or little, difference on a state by state basis. The first step is to secure project development equity. For a large scale over 50 MW project, typically over $5 million in development equity is required to fully develop to NTP shovel ready. as the project is now bankable, project ITC tax equity, debt leverage and project equity is readily available by many different banks and private investors, both domestic and from abroad. The ITC tax equity players are mostly large U.S. banks and insurance companies, but we are seeing recently more corporate entrants, including Google and Chevron. Most recently, we have seen a wave of investment from China into the U.S. utility solar project financing market.
Overall, which states or regions are the most desirable for large scale solar projects? California remains the most attractive state for large scale solar, due to the large market size, the financial quality of investor-owned utility (IOU) power off-takers, the attractive PPA rates, including time of day (TOD) and higher solar DNI. and now, with the new law SBX1-2, 75 percent of all RPS qualified renewable energy needs to be produced within California, not from out of state.
Finally, what are the biggest hurdles to implementing a large-scale solar project in the U.S.? Successfully completing the highly complex and risky project development phase.
on November 11th, 2011% ![]()
LEBANON TWP. — Hearings on two ordinances will be held Wednesday, Dec. 7 at the municipal building on West Hill Road.
One ordinance would set rules for commercial solar systems. in September the Township Committee adopted rules on solar and other alternative energy for small-scale private use.
The township already has one solar “farm” nearing completion on Buffalo Hollow Road.
Under the proposed ordinance any new commercial solar projects would be permitted as a principal use in the highway business district and industrial district. A minimum of 15 acres would be required and the lot must be at least 450 feet wide and 550 feet deep.
Front setbacks would be 150 feet, side setbacks 75 feet, and rear setbacks 100 feet. The equipment could be no taller than 10 feet, under the proposal.
The developer would have to provide landscaping to screen the view from the public and neighbors and safety fencing would have to be installed.
Floodplains, flood hazard areas, wetlands, wetlands transition areas and riparian corridors would be excluded from solar developments.
Thin-film solar panels and battery storage of energy would be prohibited. The developer would have to provide a maintenance plan and impact statement.
If the system is out of service for a year, it would be deemed abandoned and the property owner would have to remove the equipment within three months.
The second ordinance covers grading and steep slopes.
The proposed ordinance would apply to existing lots with slopes greater than 15%. A lot grading plan would have to be submitted before construction could begin. The township engineer would have to verify that the proposed driveway would be accessible by emergency vehicles.
A site grading plan would have to be created by a licensed professional engineer with the information outlined in the ordinance.
The hearings will be held in the Municipal Building on West Hill Road. The meeting begins at 7 p.m.
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