Solar panels installed at Canyon County school .

NAMPA -- Solar panels are the newest addition at Idaho Arts Charter School. The school was given a grant for the solar panels through Idaho Power's Solar 4R Schools program and Bonneville Environmental Foundation.  It is the first Canyon County School to be part of the Solar 4R Schools program.
Idaho Arts Charter School is the first school to use thin film solar technology. The solar panels are placed directly on top of the schools roof. Patti Best with the Solar 4R Schools program says the panels should produce enough energy to power one classroom for a year.
The amount of energy the panels produce is minimal when you look at how much energy the school uses. But Idaho Power says the project isn't about how much energy the panels produce but how much the students learn.
"The real purpose of this program is to educate the students and to get them excited about all the different technologies that are coming down the pipe," said Best. "These panels are a great way to get hands-on experience. They can really learn on a sunny day what do these panels do, on a cloudy day hey they are still going to produce a little bit of power and how does that compare.  Maybe inspire them to say how do we make these panels better."
Principal Jacki Collins hopes the solar panels may inspire students to think of new technology or ways to improve the solar panels people already use.
"You give that to kids and their minds begin working and their creativity," said Collins. "So they go out and they start to think of different ways to use solar energy and different ways to create panels. That is where it all gets started."

Solar panels to line roof of U building

By the start of 2012, a building on the University of Minnesota campus will be partially powered by the sun.
The University will use $230,000 of a $1.35 million grant to install solar panels on the roof of the University Office Plaza Building. The city of Minneapolis authorized the University to use part of the grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce Office of Energy Security  for the installation, which will be finished by the end of the year.
Located next to TCF Bank Stadium, the building’s solar panels will create an estimated 38.4 kilowatts of solar electric power — enough energy to supply five homes a year, said Brad Hoff, chief administrative officer for Facilities Management.
“38 kW is a sizable amount, and it will provide a significant amount of energy,” said Louise Goldberg, director of the University’s Energy Systems Design Program.
But Hoff said they’ll have a small impact on reducing the University’s total energy output when compared to other energy-saving practices.
The University is hoping the panels will help save 3 to 5 percent of the building’s energy consumption, Hoff said.
Other energy-saving practices like re-commissioning — a process performed every five years that adjusts functions in University buildings like temperature levels, fan schedules and light usage — save 15 to 20 percent in energy reductions, he said. Hoff compared it to “tuning a car.”
“I think the solar panels will be a good learning experience,” he said, “but it’s not like they’re going to put a huge dent in our carbon footprint.”
Once installed, the University will create an online interface where anybody can see a live feed of the energy generated and saved by the solar panels.
The installation of solar panels at the University Office Plaza Building, which houses the Minnesota Daily suite, is part of a regional effort to improve energy sustainability.
The project is part of the Energy Innovation Corridor — a string of energy efficient projects, like LEED-certified buildings and charging stations for electric cars, along the 11-mile stretch of the Central Corridor light-rail line.
Numerous green projects along the corridor have already been completed, such as the Target Center’s Vegetated Roof, as well as installation of solar panels on the roof of the Minneapolis Convention Center, the Seven Corners Apartment Building on the West Bank and atop Fire Station 19 in Stadium Village.
The corridor is using the $1.35 million grant to harvest a total of 190.2 kW in solar electric power along the light rail.
Because most of the funding comes from a state grant, the city will make its money back from the entire network of solar panels in less than three months, according to the city.
While Goldberg appreciates the city’s commitment to alternative energy, she said she questions whether solar energy is the most effective energy source to promote.
“What really is important with renewable energy is the cost effectiveness of each dollar spent,” Goldberg said.

Deepwater to build first U.S. offshore wind farm

(Reuters) - Deepwater Wind is racing to build the first U.S. offshore wind farm off Rhode Island and hopes to parlay that into a string of East Coast farms that could partially replace embattled nuclear power plants.The privately held U.S. wind power developer plans to begin construction of the $205 million, 30-megawatt Block Island project in 2013 or 2014, ahead of a farm proposed by Cape Wind which had been expected to be the nation's first offshore facility, according to Deepwater's CEO.
"Believe it or not, the first offshore wind farm will probably happen in little Rhode Island," CEO William Moore told Reuters in an interview.
The energy generated by the 30-megawatt Block Island project will be enough to power about 10,000 homes in Rhode Island. The company is planning other projects off the Atlantic Coast as well, with three 1,000-meagawatt projects currently in the works.
The company says a 1,000-megawatt offshore wind project will produce enough electricity for 350,000 homes.
Deepwater, majority owned by New York investment firm DE Shaw and minority owned by onshore wind developer First Wind, gained ground against other developers after Rhode Island picked the company, based in the state capitol city of Providence, as its preferred developer.
Rhode Island was not the first state to consider the clean energy prospects offered by offshore wind farms, but it moved decisively after concluding offshore wind power should be part of its energy mix.
Moore said Deepwater, as Rhode Island's preferred developer, last year submitted an unsolicited application with the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for a lease to build a separate 1,000-MW Deepwater Wind Energy Center in federal waters off Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
"The federal government has said it will give consideration to states that have conducted these kind of preferred developer competitions in terms of their decision about who can lease the federal waters," Moore said.
Moore said the second Rhode Island project would consist of about 200 turbines and could be connected via cables to the Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York power grids.
"In order to get a competitive cost level, we need to get to scale, which means 750 to 1,000 MW, and at that size you are better off trying to sell into multiple markets," Moore said.
The company has already bid the Deepwater project into the Long Island Power Authority's request for proposals for new energy sources for its New York customers on Long Island.
EYES ON THE BIG APPLE
While Cape Wind still expects its 420-MW project in Massachusetts to be the nation's first utility-scale offshore wind farm, Deepwater hopes its small Block Island wind farm will be stepping stone to bigger projects.
With New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo pressing to shut the 2,065-MW Indian Point nuclear power plant in 2013 and 2015 when its two reactors' operating licenses expire, Moore is proposing a 1,000-MW offshore wind project near New York City.
Entergy, the nuclear plant's owner, wants Indian Point to run for another 20 years and is seeking new licenses for the reactors from federal nuclear regulators.
"There is a lot of excitement in New York because the possibility Indian Point may be retired in coming years," Moore said.
"That has created a bit of an opening for offshore wind to participate in whatever process New York conducts to replace the energy from the nuclear plant."
Moore said Deepwater's Hudson Canyon Wind Farm will participate in the New York Power Authority's competition to select a developer, probably in 2013.
In addition, Deepwater and its partner New Jersey energy company Public Service Enterprise Group have already filed for a federal lease to build their proposed 1,000 MW Garden State Offshore Energy project off New Jersey.
Moore expects New Jersey regulators will conduct a competition and select a preferred developer in 2012. He also said BOEM could issue a lease for New Jersey later in 2012.
OBSTACLES
While the allure of clean wind energy is great, developers have faced several obstacles, including significantly higher costs than natural gas and even onshore wind power generators.
It can cost about six times more money to build an offshore wind farm ($6,000 per kilowatt) compared to an efficient natural gas-fired power plant ($1,000 per kilowatt).
Once the gas plant is built it can be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The wind farm is only available when the wind is blowing.
Moore said a 1,000 MW offshore wind project could cost about $4 billion to $5 billion.
While proposed offshore projects are generally closer to the nation's biggest population centers and have access to more consistent, stronger winds, it costs about twice as much to build an offshore wind farm than an onshore wind farm.
Developers also must lock up customers before breaking ground. UK-based energy company National Grid, which owns utilities in New England, has agreed to buy all the output from Block Island under a 20-year agreement and half of the power from Cape Wind. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino in New York; Editing by David Gregorio)

Solar Power Researchers Seek a Leaf Breakthrough

Tue Oct 11, 2011 2:13am EDT

by Pete Danko
One of the keenest areas of solar power research these days is into how nature turns the sun's rays into energy for growth. While MIT researchers have devised what they call an "artificial solar leaf" - essentially a silicon solar cell with different catalytic materials bonded to each side that allow it to split a water molecule into oxygen and hydrogen - a group of scientists from around the world says that by mimicking natural photosynthesis and using tiny molecular circuits, harvesting and transporting solar power could be made far more efficient.
This theory comes from Graham Fleming at UC Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory; Gregory Scholes of the University of Toronto; Alexandra Olaya-Castro from London's University College; and Rienk van Grondelle of the University of Amsterdam. Together they authored "Lessons from nature about solar light harvesting" in the journal Nature Chemistry.
The researchers began with the observation that in plants, antenna complexes capture sunlight and direct the energy to "reaction centers" that then carry out the chemistry necessary to make the energy useful. Berkeley's Fleming emphasizes that while a number of hurdles need to be overcome to devise man-made systems based on this model, "a clear framework exists for the design and synthesis of an effective antenna unit for future artificial photosynthesis systems."
London's Olaya-Castro, meanwhile, notes that a key fact to consider is the extraordinary ability of leaves to separate out energy they can use from energy that might be counterproductive. "On a bright sunny day, more than 100 million billion red and blue 'coloured' photons strike a leaf each second," she said. ""Under these conditions plants need to be able to both use the energy that is required for growth but also to get rid of excess energy that can be harmful. Transferring energy quickly and in a regulated manner are the two key features of natural light-harvesting systems."
That's why, says Toronto's Scholes, the molecular circuitry they envision would have to be remarkably intricate - "10 times smaller than the thinnest electrical wire in computer processors." According to Scholes, "these energy circuits could control, regulate, direct and amplify raw solar energy which has been captured by human-made pigments, thus preventing the loss of precious energy before it is utilized."

Did wind turbines blow away rural Liberal seats?

October 7, 2011

Rural Ontario had 'lost its voice’ says upstart who toppled Ag Minister Carol Mitchell

by SUSAN MANN
The Liberal position favouring wind turbines may have contributed to Thursday night’s election defeat of Agriculture Minister Carol Mitchell and Environment Minister John Wilkinson.
The two cabinet ministers were among several Liberal defeats as the party lost more than half of the seats it previously held in southwestern Ontario. But the Liberals still managed to squeak out their third election victory winning a minority government with 53 seats, while the Progressive Conservatives won 37 seats and the New Democrats have 17 seats.
PC Lisa Thompson, general manager of the Ontario Dairy Goat Co-operative, won in Huron Bruce with 19,126 votes to Mitchell’s 14,663 votes and NDP candidate Grant Robertson’s 9,374 votes. He is a former Ontario coordinator for the National Farmers Union (NFU).
Thompson, who raises goats for meat on her farm, says turbines were only one reason for her win over Mitchell.
“Over the last seven years rural Ontario seemingly has lost its voice,” she explains. In Huron-Bruce, the riding has been losing schools, jobs and its municipal autonomy. She says corporations drove wind energy developments in a top-down fashion “as opposed to an economic strategy that made sense for local communities and municipalities.”
The election results are a loud and clear message to Premier Dalton McGuinty “that rural Ontario matters and they want to be treated as equal partners at the table,” she says.
Is there an agriculture critic’s position in Thompson’s future? She says her number one priority is to represent the hard working families of Huron-Bruce and anything that comes after that she will take in stride.
Maria Van Bommel, Mitchell’s parliamentary assistant and the MPP for Lambton-Kent-Middlesex, lost to PC Monte McNaughton. He won with 19,348 votes to Van Bommel’s 12,424 votes. Environment Minister John Wilkinson, 13,652 votes, was defeated in Perth-Wellington by PC Randy Pettapiece, who got 14,282 votes.
Neither Mitchell nor Van Bommel could be reached for comment.
In eastern Ontario, a former agriculture minister, Leona Dombrowsky, the current education minister, lost in her Prince Edward-Hastings riding to PC Todd Smith. He won with 18,732 votes compared to Dombrowsky’s 15,688 votes.
Mark Wales, Ontario Federation of Agriculture vice president, says the election was fought based on issues that were important to the people of each riding and who the candidates were. It really wasn’t about the parties or the leaders.
He agrees with observers who say wind turbines may have been the deciding factor that blew Mitchell and Wilkinson out of their ridings. He isn’t sure what happened in Van Bommel’s riding but “it could have been a bit of spill over on the wind.”
Wales believes a Liberal minority government is a positive development in the provincial political landscape as far as the Federation is concerned. “It offers lots of opportunities. All three parties had many of our policy positions in their platforms.”
All parties supported the business risk management programs, environmental goods and services payments and properly funded rural municipalities, he says, noting there was a difference in energy policies between the Liberals and Conservatives.
Wales says it was nice to see a farmer elected to the NDP caucus – dairy farmer John Vanthof who won in the Northern Ontario riding of Timiskaming Cochrane.
Joe Dama, NFU Ontario coordinator, agrees a minority government is positive. “They’ll all want to listen to us and I think that will help us out,” he says. All three parties are in favour of the risk management program and they will all be trying to help “us out to make sure the risk management program is fully funded through the feds as well.”
Dama says he was surprised by Mitchell and Van Bommel’s defeat. He says he thought they both worked hard for farmers.
As for who takes over Mitchell’s job as agriculture minister, a spokesperson at Ontario Liberal Party headquarters says her replacement hasn’t been named yet. On Friday morning, the Liberals issued a press release announcing Dwight Duncan will remain as finance minister and he has been asked to immediately start working on an economic update for Ontarians.
Henry Stevens, president of the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario, couldn’t be reached for comment. BF

Solar and oil: New energy helps extract old in California

Think about the uses solar energy can be put to, and what comes to mind? Solar panels for making electricity, certainly. Solar thermal for heating water. Solar chargers for powering up cellphone and laptop batteries, maybe. But what about using solar energy to help pull more crude out of aging oil wells?
That’s what BrightSource Energy, a solar thermal technology company, is doing.  And not just for any oil drilling project, but for the largest enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project in the world.
The project got under way this week in Coalinga, California.  Built for Chevron Technology Ventures, the 29-megawatt-thermal “solar-to-steam” facility will use BrightSource’s proprietary technology to convert sun energy into high-temperature and high-pressure steam for EOR.
The BrightSource technology features 3,822 heliostats, each made of two 10×7-foot mirrors mounted to a six-foot steel pole. The mirrors are focused on a boiler on top of a 327-foot-tall solar tower. The boiler produces steam that is then pumped deep into the sub-surface oil reservoir to heat the area. That increases the pressure of the reservoir and reduces the viscosity of the oil, making it easier to bring to the surface. To conserve water use, the steam is then cooled and recirculated in a closed-loop system.
One of the oldest oil fields in the US, Chevron’s Coalinga site began operations in the 1890s. Because the field’s heavy crude does not flow readily, steam is injected into reservoirs to heat the crude, making it easier to bring to the surface. Steam at the field has traditionally been generated by burning natural gas.
“The energy intensity associated with extracting heavy-oil is extremely high,” said Paul Markwell, senior director of upstream research with IHS CERA. “Many of the known heavy-oil reserves around the world have limited access to cost-effective fuel sources and are located in areas with high solar resources. This provides an ideal environment for the use of solar thermal technologies for enhanced oil recovery.”

Solar project looks to energize economy

State Sen. Bill Montford, right, congratulates Gadsden County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Gardner on the National Solar Power's massive solar farm project. / Dave Hodges/Democrat

With the excitement of a massive solar-energy farm coming to the community still fresh on their minds, Gadsden County businesses are looking ahead to the potential such a project could have on the local economy.
Monday's announcement by National Solar Power was a discussion topic Wednesday at the "Go Gadsden" breakfast of the Gadsden County Chamber of Commerce. The invited speaker, state Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, told the gathering the project's impact will extend well beyond the county.
"This is good for Gadsden County, but it's good for all of North Florida," Montford said during the breakfast at the Florida Public Safety Institute in Midway. "We believe it's just the beginning."
Montford talked about the Florida Legislature's continued challenges in coping with state budget limitations as demand for government services increases. In the case of Gadsden County and its school system, the solar farm is anticipated to generate $120 million in property tax receipts throughout the life of the project.
Melbourne-based National Solar Power announced Monday that Gadsden County was its choice for the first farm construction — the Southeast's largest such solar project to date. It will sell power directly to electric utilities and will be big enough to power about 32,000 homes. It is expected to require up to 400 construction personnel to build, then will have a permanent staff of 120 thereafter.
"We have lost a lot of jobs over the last few years with the nurseries and a printing house," said chamber president Charlie Brown, referring to businesses that have closed. The solar project comes along at a good time, he added. "Hopefully, it will be a catapult for other jobs and other companies in Gadsden County."
Paul Gleasman, chief financial officer for Ram Construction & Development, said his company is looking at the business potential for the work necessary to create the solar facilities. There will be 90,000 solar panels per farm, with build-out consisting of twenty 200-acre parcels.
"I am very excited about it," Gleasman said. "In fact, it is interesting that North Florida is taking the lead on renewable energy."
"If you can add that accolade to your resume, that's very impressive," he added.
David Dickson, senior project scientist for environmental consulting firm Cardno Entrix, agreed. "Good things are happening for Gadsden County," he said. "It's something this region has sorely needed."
Montford thanked chamber executive director David Gardner for his efforts to pursue the solar project and build local support for it. Gardner responded that he suspects more companies may bring projects to the area once they hear of National Solar Power's decision to make a $1.5-billion investment in Gadsden County.
"This is going to be great. I am still trying to grasp it," Gardner said of the economic impact.

Solar power to light up parks in Dubai soon

 

Dubai: All parks across Dubai will soon use solar powered lighting systems, Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality told Gulf News.
"All lights in our parks will be solar. We have already started implementing it and gradually will cover all the parks," he said.
"This is one of our many initiatives towards sustainable development. We are focusing on measures that help reduce consumption of power through natural resources."
Lootah was speaking to Gulf News on the sidelines of the Future Cities Conference, organised by the Dubai Municipality and the Environmental Centre for Arab Towns (ECAT) in collaboration with Informa Exhibitions.
He said cities of the 21st century must evolve into centres of progress that serve as the forces for national and global advancement. No single entity can do this alone, he said; it will take individuals, businesses and all levels of government working together to achieve these goals. Leaders of the future have the responsibility to make this transition happen and must have the courage to lead, Lootah added.
He also outlined the vision and strategy for Dubai over the coming years, including areas of focus and what initiatives will be put in place to drive forward a sustainable strategy.
The conference also covered a number of key topics, pertinent to the devising of sustainable urban developments, including affordable housing, tourism, infrastructure, mobility and branding.
Last year, the Dubai Municipality General Project Department finished work on a neighbourhood park in Al Sofouh which uses solar lighting systems. Built on an area of 1.55 hectares, the park is the first to have used this technology. The project, that cost around Dh7 million, involved usage of special lighting elements that exploited solar energy for night lighting.
Dubai Municipality's Strategic Plan aims to increases the city's per capita green area to 23.4 square metres. It also aims to raise the proportion of cultivated land in urban public areas in Dubai to 3.15 per cent by the end of 2011.
"Dubai is one of the most beautiful cities and has seen a lot of development in the past. This has given a good quality of life but there have been side effects of this development like rise in per capita garbage production, high petrol consumption and high electricity," said Lootah.
"We need to ensure a sustainable development and adopt more environment friendly ways" like re-cycling sewage water and using it for irrigation, he said.
Gas-powered cars
The Dubai Municipality is working with Emirates Gas to convert all its cars from petrol to gas.
"We have already converted five cars. All our 1,000 cars will run on compressed natural gas (CNG)," Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality told Gulf News. He said this was one of the municipality's initiatives towards sustainable development.

 

 

US solar power growth accelerates

The US solar power industry employs more than 100,000 people, twice as many as it did two years ago and more than the steel industry or coal mining, the industry’s trade group has said.
In a bid to deflect some of the bad publicity the industry has attracted since the collapse last month of Solyndra, an innovative solar module manufacturer that was backed by a $535m federal government loan guarantee, the Solar Energy Industries Association is emphasising its job creation and growth.

In its regular quarterly assessment, published on Tuesday, the SEIA says investment in solar power should add about 1,750MW of capacity in the US in 2011, up from 900MW last year. Employment has continued to rise, although more slowly over the past 12 months than in the previous year.

Rhone Resch, SEIA president, warned however that the threatened end of so-called Section 1603 grants to renewable energy developers at the end of the year would be a severe setback to the industry.
The growth of the solar industry has been supported by several federal and state government incentives, including renewable portfolio standards mandating a proportion of electricity supply to come from renewable sources such as solar and wind and tax credits allowing the write-off of 30 per cent of the investment cost of a project.
Thanks to those programmes, solar power has been growing fast, although only about as fast as the global market, which is supported by similar incentives in European countries.
However, curbs on those incentives in Germany and Italy, two of the world’s largest markets, have slowed growth in Europe, making the US a more important part of the world market.
The leading state for total new solar installations in the second quarter of the year was California, which has sunshine and supportive policies, but the largest non-residential market was New Jersey, which has also had strong support for solar power from the state government.
However, the analysis prepared for the SEIA by GTM Research, a consultancy, warns: “Looking ahead, nearly every major market is facing some difficulty, California, New Jersey and Pennsylvania principal among them.”
Demand for solar power has been helped by falling prices for modules, which have made conditions difficult for manufacturers and helped tip Solyndra and other companies into bankruptcy, but increase solar’s competitiveness against coal, gas and other fuels.
In some sunny markets, including California, the industry says solar is now at or close to the point where it can compete with gas-fired power stations, the regulators’ benchmark for electricity costs, at peak times during the day.
The report says three uncertainties face the industry: whether falling costs will stimulate much new demand, whether new projects emerge once the existing pipeline of new developments has been built, and what happens to the Section 1603 grant.
These grants allow developers to take a tax credit worth 30 per cent of investment cost once a project is complete, rather than waiting to generate enough earnings to set the cost off against tax. They seem likely to be ended by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives when they come up for renewal at the end of the year.
Mr Resch said: “Much of the growth of the past two years can be attributed to the 1603 programme. We could see the solar industry turn down in 2012 if the grants are not extended.”

Solar power use: Top 10 countries

1. Germany
Total use: 10,000 megawatts
Germany is the world leader in solar energy.
Germany is expected to stay the top buyer of solar panels through 2011.
Germany has a goal of 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050.
In 2009 alone, Germany installed 3,806 megawatts of photovoltaics solar energy capacity, which is more than Spain's total capacity and almost eight times more than what the US installed recently.

2. Spain
Total use: 3,500 MW
Spain was the world leader in newly installed PV solar energy (2,605 MW) in 2008 but its new installed capacity decreased tremendously (to just 69 MW) in 2009.
The reasons for this drop are attributed to complexity and delays related to a new government subsidy programme and a decrease in energy demand due to the economic crisis.
With expectations that both of these will improve in and considering its excellent sun irradiation and PV potential, Spain is expected to bump up its solar energy capacity again this year.

3. Japan
Total use: 2,700 MW
Japan has high national solar energy goal's to achieve 28 GW by 2020 and 53 GW by 2030.
Japan invested $9 billion in stimulus money in solar energy in 2009, and the prime minister also announced a plan to install solar power at 32,000 public schools that year.

4. United States
Total use: 1,800 MW
Supportive state-level policies are a major driver of growth of solar energy in the US.
With many large ground-mounted solar projects in the pipeline, installed capacity in the US is expected to grow significantly in coming years.
The cap on the federal solar tax credit was lifted in 2009, promoting growth in this industry.

5. Italy
Total use: 1,300 MW
In 2009, Italy had experienced the second-largest solar energy growth in the world.
Every two months, Italians install more solar power than California does in an entire year.

6. Czech Republic
Total use: 600 MW
A generous FiT and simple administrative procedures have put the Czech Republic on this list.
The market growth has probably boomed unsustainably, however, and if appropriate policies aren't put in place to slow it, the nascent solar bubble is expected to bust in the coming years

7. Belgium
Total use: 450 MW
Belgium is a bit of a 2011 solar energy surprise.
Belgium's success was from 'a well-designed Green Certificates scheme (which actually works as a Feed-in Tariff), combined with additional tax rebates and electricity self-consumption.'

8. China
Total use: 400 MW
China gets a lot of attention these days for its clean energy push, and for good reason.
China is a major solar panel manufacturer but hasn't installed a ton of PV itself yet.
However, it now has 12 Gigawatts of large projects in the pipeline and if those projects are implemented China is expected to jump closer to the top of the list.
According to China's national energy plan, it is expected to reach a total of 20 GW by 2020.
According to a recent PTI report, China is marching well ahead of all of them when it comes to capturing the solar market.
China's solar energy budget still stands roughly 20 times larger than America's investment in the same period, Jonathan Silver, executive director, Department of Energy told US lawmakers recently.

9. France
Total use: 350 MW
France has a well-designed FiT for building-integrated photovoltaics, so BIPV dominates the market there.
They've put protections in place to help avoid abuse of the system, and may revise the tariffs to accompany price speculations.
One key issue of concern in France is that although many MW of solar energy have been installed, a lot of them have not been connected to the grid. In 2009, 285 MW of capacity was installed but only 185 MW connected to the grid.
This is a major issue that needs to be resolved.

10. India
Total use: 200 MW
India has fast-increasing electricity demand and it has very high sun irradiation levels. Its government has also been moving forward strongly on clean energy.
The country has a goal to reach 20 GW by 2020 as well.
India could quickly rise higher on this list with proper government strategies.

Solar power cheaper than coal

Many critics of renewable energy technologies will tell you that they’re a wonderful idea which they’d support whole-heartedly if they weren’t so bloody expensive. It might come as somewhat of a surprise then that the day when electricity generated by harnessing the energy of the sun will cost less than electricity produced by burning coal isn’t far off at all.

The cost of solar power has dropped exponentially for three decades and the trend continues unabated. According to the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the price of photovoltaic (PV) electricity (excluding installation) has plummeted from $22 per Watt in 1980 to just $3 today. In Germany, solar PV output has increased by 76% since 2010 while equipment prices have dropped by 50% since 2006. This year alone, the cost of conventional solar panels has fallen by over 20% internationally.

Michael Liebreich, the CEO of London-based research company Bloomberg New Energy Finance notes that “the most powerful driver in our industry is the relentless reduction of cost”. Some commentators have suggested that solar power will reach price parity with coal by 2020, a mere nine years from now, but their estimates are turning out to be rather conservative:

• In May, General Electric’s global research director, Mark M Little, suggested that his company’s thin-film PV technology would deliver cheaper electricity than fossil fuels or nuclear plants within three to five years.

• In June, the world’s largest thin-film solar panel manufacturer, Arizona-based First Solar, announced that they expect to be supplying power utilities in California at cheaper-than-coal prices in 2014.

• In August, a report by a think tank linked to the Chinese government projected that solar power would be as cheap as or cheaper than coal by 2015. China is set to double its solar electricity generating capacity to 2 Gigawatts by the end of this year, up from 900 Megawatts at the end of 2010.

• This month, a study published by the European Photovoltaic Industry Association suggested that parts of Europe could see cost parity between solar energy and the cheapest fossil fuels as early as 2013.

• For many poor, remote and rural areas in developing countries, locally produced solar power is already cheaper than electricity generated at large, centralised coal-fired plants.

Given all of this, you’d think the South African government would go all out to invest in solar energy in our sun-drenched country. Not so. We continue to build massive new coal power stations, ensuring that by the time solar power is cheaper than coal, we’ll remain almost exclusively reliant on this non-renewable fossil fuel which will become more expensive as reserves decrease and carbon-emission taxes become mandatory internationally.

In addition to tumbling costs, solar energy comes with some very important extra benefits:

• significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions and climate change impacts;

• cleaner air and less acid rain;

• much reduced water consumption compared to coal or nuclear power plants;

• employment – a home-grown solar manufacturing, installation and service industry has the potential to create tens of thousands of sustainable new jobs; and

• less environmental degradation from mining and pollution.

By stark contrast, burning coal to produce electricity has very substantial negative environmental and human health impacts, all of which are routinely ignored – or “externalised” – in cost calculations. A recent study co-authored by Dr Paul Epstein, Director of the Harvard Medical School, estimates that “the life cycle effects of coal and the waste stream generated are costing the US public a third to over one-half of a trillion dollars annually”.

In effect, we’ve all been subsidising the coal industry to the tune of billions of rands every year. As private individuals and as taxpayers we’ve been footing the bill for the damage it’s doing to our health and to our environment, and we’ll continue to do so for many years to come.

We need fundamental change. It’s high time that our government saw the light and did everything possible to get us off our national coal addiction by truly supporting renewable energy sources like solar power. For the sake of our people, our planet and our budget.

Cheaper options for solar power

RAPID development in solar energy technologies has made it an alternative to fossil-fuel power generation in many countries.
But Pakistan does not have to depend on borrowed ideas for generating bulk solar power at a high cost, when other economical options are available.
In a bid to overcome electricity loadshedding, the Punjab government has moved to tap possible energy resources for power generation on fast-track basis. An agreement was signed by it in July last year with a German firm to establish a 50-mw solar energy unit at Jalalpur Pirwala, Multan, apparently without conducting any project feasibility study. The first-ever solar farm costing $150 million, was to be installed within six months. But there is no physical progress achieved as yet.
Likewise, the government of Sindh has allowed an independent power producer (IPP) to construct a 50-mw solar power generation unit at Dhabeji and allotted 150-acres land to the investor at a nominal cost. The project, for which an agreement was signed by the sponsor with the same foreign company during the same period at a total cost of $125 million, was scheduled to generate power commercially by December 2011. So far, no construction activity has been undertaken at the site.
Both the projects are based on solar photovoltaic (PV) system and are proposed to be connected to the national grid. Seemingly, the projects are non-starters for a number of reasons. First, solar thermal electricity is the most expensive among other renewable energy resources.
In case of hydropower, and even wind energy, availability, reliability and affordability of power is comparatively much higher, since solar units usually attain the rated output only for about two hours a day around noon.
Also, capital cost is higher. Cost per mw for these solar projects works out to be $3 million, whereas hydropower costs $1.5 million and coal-fired $1 millon per mw, according to international markets.
Second, solar technology selected is not appropriate for on-grid application as its adoptability to the existing grid remains problematic, and in some cases, disruptive to the grid.
The power generation occurs only when sunlight is strong, weather not cloudy and supply to grid fluctuates broadly resulting in irregular, intermittent feed.
Third, the plant module, technology selected and foreign partner are apparently not suitable. The German company specialises in commercial and residential PV systems, having individual installations of maximum one megawatt only, and not having a utility-scale system.
There are no references for large-scale utility projects either in Germany or in export market. It has recently completed a 463-kW commercial project in the UK (equivalent to meet energy requirements of 125 homes on yearly basis).
Primarily, there are two solar systems for generation of electricity using solar energy – directly, using PV system, which is the most common, and indirectly, utilising concentrated solar power (CSP) system. By the end of year 2010, global installed capacity of solar PV power was about 40,000 mw. Germany alone ranked as the world leader in the field has installations of 17,370-mw cumulative capacity.
Normally, the maximum size of a solar electric system is of 20-mw capacity. The Sarnia Solar Project in Ontario, Canada has just become the largest PV solar power plant in the world with the recent quadrupling of its size from 20-mw to 80-mw capacity. The CSP technology is employed for large-scale power generation and has the ability to store energy as sunlight generating strong heat that, in turn, is used for power steam turbine.
The CSP technology, commercially developed in the late 1980s, is now proven and has an installed capacity of over 1,000 mw world over. There are four types of CSP plants: (i) parabolic trough, (ii) compact linear Fresnel reflectors, (iii) dish Stirling (parabolic) and (iv) solar power tower. International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that technology could be developed as a source of bulk power in peak and intermediate loads by 2020 and further, in base load, by 2030. Thus, within two decades the CSP technology might be able to compete with coal-fired power generation.
Currently, Mojave Desert of California has the world’s largest power plant, of 354-mw capacity, based on the CSP technology.
Now, Abu Dhabi plans to develop a 100-mw solar power plant adopting the CSP technology. Construction of the plant, which would cost $600 million, is scheduled next month.
Pakistan has abundant solar resources, while almost half of its population is devoid of electricity connectivity. There are about 40,000 villages with more than three million households that are without access to electricity and will remain so for long if allowed to depend on grid connection. Nevertheless, low-technology solar option offers long-term solution for electrification in these far-flung areas.
Based on PV, stand-alone solar systems are being used economically as a source of electric power for remote areas not connected with the grid. By the year 2010, a total of about 650 kW of PV have been installed for village electrification in Sindh and Balochistan. In addition, another 4,500 houses in Dalbandin (Balochistan) have recently been energised with solar power.
Moreover, stand-alone solar systems in the range of 600 watts to 5 kW have been installed in Sindh under the prime minister’s initiative.
Various NGOs have also electrified 485 houses in the FATA, about 2,000 houses in the AJK, and 12 solar panel systems of combined capacity of 3,600 watts in ten villages of Ziarat district (Balochistan). Other applications of solar energy in these areas are solar space heating, water heating, lighting, cooking, process heating, water pumping and telecommunication, etc.
The trend is being followed in urban areas. Besides street lights, a number of public and commercial buildings, including mosques, hospitals and parks, have been illuminated through solar energy. List covers the Quaid-e-Azam’s mausoleum and two systems of 180-kW each on grid solar system in Islamabad.
A number of solar thermal appliances such as solar cookers, solar water heaters and solar lights have been introduced in the country. Punjab also plans installation of tube-wells to be operated with solar energy at a cost of Rs1.36 billion.
Large-scale solar thermal power generation cannot play, and should not be allowed to play, a significant role in meeting power demands mainly for the reason that immense potential exists for hydropower and coal resources, which are abundant and cheap, and comparatively have many advantages for development under local conditions. This potential is required to be harnessed optimally and speedily. Simultaneously, solar PV system also needs to be developed further.

Sheffield solar power sees city top table for renewable energy installation

Sheffield solar power adoption since the introduction of feed-in tariffs has been so high that it is now the city with the highest rate of renewable energy installation per head. Photograph: Simon Burt/PA

Sheffield shines out as the soar-away winner of the solar stakes in the UK, with more solar power generation added in the city per household than in any other British city, according to a league table published on Monday.

Northern cities have been the unexpected winners from the boom in renewable energy that has followed the introduction of feed-in tariffs to pay for power generated by households, which are popular as they offer a guaranteed income stream as well as free electricity.

Nearly 2 megawatts of capacity have been added in Sheffield in the last 15 months, and Leeds comes second in the league table, with more than 1MW of capacity added. They are followed – though at quite a distance – by Bristol, Bradford and Birmingham, when renewable energy installations per person are counted.

London has added more renewable power than anywhere else, with more than 3.2 megawatts of capacity added in the 15 months since feed-in tariffs became available. But when assessed per head, it comes only sixth in the UK.
Sheffield has benefitted from a strong push by the local council to encourage the take-up of renewable power, and in particular by plans to give people living in social housing access to the technology, said Colin McNaught, knowledge leader on renewable energy for AEA Group, which carried out the research on which the league table is based.
He said that the unexpected success of northern cities in installing new renewable power flew in the face of expectations that the south would benefit most from photovoltaic installations.
McNaught said the boom was likely to continue, both in terms of domestic solar power installations and in bigger renewable energy projects. He said that there had been a marked increase in applications for large-scale solar parks, since the government announced recently that only large scale installations begun before August would be eligible for the higher rate of feed-in tariff.
McNaught predicted that this would result in much more generating capacity being registered in the coming months, and he pointed to a new £100m fund to be offered by Barclays Bank to assist farmers to finance renewable energy projects.
Around the UK, in the first 15 months to 30 June 2011, more than 160MW of low carbon electricity generation has been applied for under the feed-in tariff scheme, with a total of 44,460 separate installations, according to data collated by the electricity regulator Ofgem and the Department of Energy and Climate Change. About three quarters of the installations are solar power, though in Scotland wind is predominant.
AEA, an energy and environmental consultancy, has calculated the rate of growth in capacity in microgeneration at about 400% since the feed-in tariff was launched in April 2010. Photovoltaic technology – solar panels – have been at the forefront, with an increase in generating capacity of about 900%, though part of this was owing to the pent-up demand as households delayed putting up panels until the feed-in tariffs came into force. Over the same period, wind generation and hydro electricity – some smaller installations of which also qualify for the enhanced feed-in tariffs - have also grown strongly.

Wind turbines harness MRI tech

GE Global Research

GE researchers are applying more than 30 years of experience developing superconducting magnets for MRI systems to design an advanced generator for large-scale wind power.

By John Roach, contributing writer at msnbc.com.

The high-tech magnets in modern MRI systems encountered at the doctor's office may soon generate electricity from the wind, according to researchers at the General Electric Company.
MRI systems are the tube-like contraptions that make images of damaged hearts, torn ligaments, brains, and other body tissues. Instead of X-rays, the images are made with superconducting magnets, which are electromagnets made from coils of superconducting wire.

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GE has spent more than 30 years working on the magnets in MRI systems and now thinks they can apply what they've learned to make a more powerful and cost efficient wind turbine. The U.S. Department of Energy recently granted the company's research arm $3 million and two years to get cracking.
The goal is a wind turbine that is close to three times larger than the company's largest model, able to operate in the 10 to 15 megawatt range. One MW can power between 240 and 300 U. S. homes per year, according to the American Wind Energy Association. Most wind turbines in the market are in the 2-4 MW range.
GE's new turbine technology is a direct-drive system where the shaft of the rotor blade connects directly to a low-speed generator that uses permanent superconducting magnets to generate power.
Conventional generators produce magnetic fields made of copper coils, "which are resistive and lossy and produce a lot heat and hard to design with in a compact manner," Kiruba Haran, a manager in the electric machines lab at GE Global Research, explained to me Wednesday.
All direct-drive wind turbines on the market today overcome this problem by using magnets made from rare earth materials. One problem is most easily mined rare earths today are locked up in China.
Superconducting magnets are also more energy dense than rare earth permanent magnets "so the machine tends to be much lighter, more compact, and would enable you to scale up to a much higher megawatt rating in an easier manner," Haran said.
These new direct-drive systems are also considered more robust than traditional systems that connect the rotor shaft to a gearbox, which steps up relatively slow blade speeds of around 50 rotations per minute to the 1,000 rpm range needed by most generators to create electricity.
According to GE, gearboxes work well in turbines currently deployed, but they get too expensive when scaled up to the larger next generation wind platforms eyed by the government and industry mostly due to their heavy, clunky materials and maintenance costs.
The superconducting magnets reduce weight requirements since they are able to generate high magnetic fields without using as much heavy iron. "With the superconductor, we are trying to get the best of both worlds — bring the machine size down and have no gear box," Haran said.
Doing this, however, is a challenge. For one, superconducting magnets operate at temperatures approaching absolute zero. The DOE funding, Haran said, takes away some of the financial risk involved with translating MRI technology to a wind turbine.
"The applications are different," Keith Longtin, a wind technology expert at GE said in a news release, "but the basic technology is the same."

Solar Comes of Age: SolarCity to Double PV Systems on American Homes by 2016

A leading American solar company is set to begin the largest residential rooftop project ever undertaken, effectively doubling the number of solar systems currently on homes around the U.S.

Armed with funds from two major investment banks and a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy that will cover close to a third of the $1 billion project, SolarCity plans to install 160,000 solar photovoltaic systems on houses and other buildings on military bases around the country in the next five years.
As a “solar services” provider, SolarCity owns, operates and maintains the systems, and sells the electricity to the end-user. By working with investment banks to pool together often-complicated state and federal incentives, the company streamlines the process and simply offers the customer solar electricity — often at prices lower than current electric rates.
Given the relentless attack on green jobs and the DOE’s loan guarantee program in recent weeks, this story is particularly relevant.
SolarCity says it will try to employ American veterans and family members for the 750 people needed to complete the project, showing that green jobs do indeed exist. The company has seen extraordinary growth in recent years. After starting in 2006 with just two people, SolarCity has added over 600 employees since 2006. And this latest project will again double the staff.
The $344 million loan guarantee will leverage $1 billion from private investors Bank of America Merrill Lynch and USRG Renewable Finance. This comes after Google invested $280 million in a fund for SolarCity installations this past June.
With the bankruptcy of the solar company Solyndra last week, the Department of Energy loan guarantee program has been under major attack. What critics don’t mention is that the $535 million set aside for Solyndra is only two percent of all loan commitments to clean energy companies, and is dwarfed by the tens of billions of dollars leveraged by the program.
The DOE loan guarantee program is designed to fund “first-of-a kind” projects. As an ambitious 160,000-system undertaking, this project is exactly that. But it’s also a very safe bet. SolarCity is a company with a proven business model and a history of strong, sustainable growth.
You can bet that the critics who claim green jobs “don’t exist” or solar power “doesn’t work” will be ignoring this piece of news.

Urban Wind Turbine

Shining the light on solar energy

© NCSU Student Media 2011

Working at the NC Solar Center, Pennsylvania engireers Jeff Sloat from Summit Electric, and Matt Wilson, from Secco Inc, install solar panels as part of a national training course put on by SunPower Corporation April 14.

 

Solar energy is one field of alternative energies that is fairly misunderstood. Most people know what solar panels are but may be unaware that there are other ways of harnessing the sun's energy to power the amenities that we use everyday. Tim Lupo, Extension Specialist for the N.C. Solar Center, said there are two types of solar energy: passive and active.
According to Lupo, passive solar energy pertains mostly to the construction of a building.  Examples of this type of solar energy are seen throughout N.C. State's Solar House. It has amenities like natural lighting fixtures, which maximize outdoor lighting in the interior of a building.
The solar house also includes a large, south-facing sunspace—a two-story room with large windows to heat the house in the winter. The solar house also has thick, brick Trombe walls that help heat the bedrooms by providing solar heat. These walls store heat and slowly release it throughout the day. The basic concept of passive solar energy is using what is already there without having to convert it. These are very basic forms of solar energy, but take planning when building a structure.
Active solar energy is the more commonly recognized of the two, with its poster child: the solar panel. Yet, solar panels, while being well-known, are not well-understood.
According to Lupo, solar panels consist of two layers of silicon with a metal conductor in between. One of the layers is ingrained with atoms that have fewer electrons, usually boron atoms, the other with atoms that have more electrons, like phosphorous. When this system is exposed to sunlight, photons, the source of energy from the sun, force the electrons off of their atoms, which then travel between the two layers through the metal conductor, resulting in the production of electric current.
This current is then sent to the electric company via the grid, or the network that provides electricity from the electric company to the consumer. The electric company uses this energy to support the grid and pays whomever provides the energy. Thus, buildings that have solar panels do not necessarily run on solar energy, but they do provide this environmentally-friendly energy for the grid to use.
This raises the question of whether or not people who harness the sun's energy through solar panels are doing it for the economic reasons, or strictly for the environment.
"Most people go solar for environmental concerns, but there is an economic incentive," Lupo said. "[Solar is] not a quick payback, so you have to have interests in other areas like the environmental impact."
The initial cost of converting a small, residential structure is about $35,000, which Lupo rationalizes as being a reason for someone to have environmental concerns and economic interests.  However, once someone decides to use solar panels, there are significant tax incentives. The state has a 35 percent tax incentive, and there is also a 30 percent federal tax incentive for the installation of a solar panel system. With these incentives, the cost to install solar panels could actually be cut in half, making the payback period significantly shorter.
With a rise in alternative energy use, people may wonder what direction solar energy is headed in the years to come. Although there is research going into futuristic products like PV ink, a solar panel technology in ink form, Lupo said these ink products will not be market ready for quite a while.
However, Lupo believes that significant improvements will be made in the efficiency of active solar energy products in the near future. This will also effectively shorten the payback period of going solar by increasing the output of current, according to Lupo.
Another issue is energy storage. As it is now, the energy company grid is acting as the storage space for solar energy producers; however, if an energy storage device is made and produced, this would be a new avenue for solar energy, allowing consumers to effectively store their own energy. Lupo said this can improve cutting costs.
"The more people who invest in it [solar], the cheaper it's going to be," Lupo said.

DOE approves loan for solar power plant

The Dept. of Energy has approved a partial guarantee on an $852 million loan to support the development of the Genesis Solar Project in California
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced that the Dept. of Energy finalized a partial guarantee for an $852 million loan to support the development of the Genesis Solar Project. The Genesis Solar Project is a 250 MW parabolic trough concentrating solar power (CSP) facility that will increase the nation’s currently installed CSP capacity by about 50%. NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, the project sponsor, estimates it will fund approximately 800 construction jobs and 47 operating jobs. The project is located on land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in Riverside County, California.
“This project creates jobs, avoids greenhouse gas emissions and helps strengthen our nation’s renewable energy future,” said Secretary Chu. “With the support of loan guarantees, we will enable the deployment of clean, renewable sources at scale, which will help bring down the cost of solar power in the years to come.”
The partial loan guarantee will support a utility-scale deployment of proven and scalable parabolic trough solar thermal technology that has been used commercially for more than two decades. The project is expected to produce enough electricity to power over 48,000 homes and avoid over 320,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Power from the project will be sold to Pacific Gas and Electric Company. The lender-applicant, Credit Suisse AG, submitted the application under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP). Through FIPP financing, the Department of Energy guarantees up to 80% of the eligible costs of a loan provided to a renewable energy project by qualified financial institutions.
- Edited by Chris Vavra, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, http://www.csemag.com/

Sen. Reid Says Obama Will Push Green Jobs

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he is sure that President Barack Obama will discuss proposals for supporting energy-related green jobs during his jobs speech next week, reports the National Journal.

The Nevada Democrat said during his annual Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas that he is encouraging Obama to make a serious push for green jobs. John Podesta, president of the liberal group Center for American Progress, has urged the same.

Podesta told the National Journal that he met with Obama and urged the president to back short-term initiatives, including an Energy Department-run rebate program for investment in energy-efficient homes. The proposal, which has been referred to as “cash for caulkers,” reportedly would create construction and manufacturing jobs.

“Get those retrofits going, get those home products rolling out the door,” Podesta said. “I think there will be a lot of the support for this in Home Depots and Walmarts — 90 percent of that content is made domestically.”

Podesta clarified that he is not endorsing sweeping energy policies, such as Obama’s potential clean electricity mandate, because those would be unlikely to pass in a Republican-controlled House. Moreover, he believes that type of massive legislation would take years to have any noticeable impact on job creation.

US photovoltaics to power Australia’s first utility-scale solar power farm

AUSTRALIA’s first utility-scale solar power project, the Greenough River Solar Farm, is now underway, but will use photovoltaic modules from the US.

The solar farm is scoped to be 10 times larger than any other operating solar project in the country. It is expected to be fully operational mid 2012.

Financially, WA power utility Verve Energy and GE Energy Financial Services will each own 50 percent of the solar project. The WA state government will provide $20 million, including $10 million from the WA Royalties for Regions program.

All of the solar farm’s energy output will be purchased by the WA Water Corporation, for powering the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant.

Significantly, the 150, 000 advanced thin film photovoltaic modules at the core of the solar farm will be supplied by First Solar, who will also provide engineering, procurement and construction services, in addition to operations and maintenance support once the solar farm is operational.

First Solar is a US-based company, with manufacturing facilities in Germany, Malaysia and in Ohio, US. Electronics News understands no Australian photovoltaic  manufacturers will be involved in this project.

According to Verve Energy’s Peter Winner, the tendering process was open to the industry and market players.

“It was an open process. All the big boys took part, and First Solar came out better,” Winner said.
Spokesperson for First Solar, Peri Muddle, said the company was focused on building a team in Australia to pursue opportunities in what the firm viewed as a burgeoning market (especially given the region's solar reception), and there would be the chance for local manufacturers and supply chain players to participate in future projects.
For GE Energy Financial Services, the project represents its first renewable energy investment in Australia.

Providing clean, affordable and sustainable energy to partially power the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant, near the town of Binningup, the solar project is expected to create more than 50 construction jobs.

The project will produce energy during the day, and will displace 25,000 tonnes per year of greenhouse gas emissions, the equivalent of taking 5,000 cars off the road.