Nuclear - or solar?

environmentalresearchweb blog

« Cool cities | Main

Nuclear - or solar?

There is reputedly a nuclear renaissance underway, with new reactor technology providing some of the impetus. However, problems seem to have emerged for one of the new reactor types that have been developed- the European Pressurised Reactor (EPR). The first two EPRs, being built in Finland and France, are both behind schedule and over budget. Olkiluoto 3 in Finland, now over three years behind schedule, was originally budgeted at €3bn, but is now expected to cost at least €4.5bn.The follow-up French EPR at Flamanville is around nine months behind schedule, with the cost of power now being expected to be around 20% more than planned- around 55 euros a megawatt hour, instead of the 46 euros announced when the project was launched in May 2006.

In the UK, much of the running is being made by the French company EDF, who have taken over British Energy and have talked of building possibly 4 new plants here, presumably EPRs. They have claimed that they will not need subsisdies, but on May 26 2009 Vincent de Rivaz, chief executive of the UK subsidiary of EDF, told the Financial Times that a “level playing field” had to be created, suggesting that the government needed to put a guaranteed floor under the price of carbon permits in the EU’s emissions trading scheme. He said “We have a final investment decision to make in 2011 and, for that decision to give the go-ahead, the conditions need to be right,” adding that “We will not deliver decarbonised electricity without the right signal from carbon prices.”

Meanwhile, South African power company Eskom has decided not to press ahead with a planned nuclear build programme, with an EPR being one option, saying the costs were too high. This means the only current nuclear build programme underway in South Africa is the experimental 165MW Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) and costs for that have risen significantly. In 1999, construction costs were budgeted at R2 billion rand (£200m). By 2005, they had risen by a factor of seven, to R14 billion (£1,400m), not including decommissioning and waste processing.

Interestingly, Eskom is seeking finance of R5 billion (£500m) to build a 100MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in the Northern Cape. CSP, which use light focussing mirrors, troughs or dishes to generate steam for a turbine, is still expensive, but even so, on the basis of the figures above, the PMBR will cost 1.7 times more per MW installed. Plus of course, once built, fuel cycle costs- which don’t exist for CSP.

Around the world, CSP seems to be catching on. There are large projects operating in Spain and the USA and more are planned there and in Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, the UAE Iran, Israel and Jordan- in all there is 1.2 GW under construction.According to estimates in a CSP Today.com overview of new CSP in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, last year more than 3000 MW of new CSP projects had been announced.

The US has 75 MW of CSP under construction, and 8.5 GW scheduled for installation by 2014, while the American Solar Energy Society claims that in theory CSP plants in the SW states of the USA ‘could provide nearly 7,000 GW of capacity, or about seven times the current total U.S.electric capacity’. Globally, CSP could supply7% of electricity by 2030, and up to 25% by 2050, according to a report by the IEA SolarPACES group, Greenpeace, and the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association

That would of course take massive investment, but current investment this year was over 2 billion euros worldwide and technology advances are being made. Some of the 480MW of projects already in place globally are hybrid solar-gas plants, with gas providing the steam overnight, but some are now making use of molten salt heat stores to produce solar heat around the clock. There are also plans to transmit power from CSP plants in N Africa by High Voltage DC undersea links to Europe. That of course adds to the cost. Even so, CSP solar looks like it could be an interesting new renewable option.

Indirect solar, in the form of wind energy, is still the most economic of the major new renewables, with over 120 GW now in place globally, and biomass represents a very large solar-derived energy source, but the prospects for direct solar energy are also looking good. In addition to the new CSP projects, there is around 120GW(th) of solar heat producing capacity installed at present worldwide and over 10GW of solar PV electricity generation capacity.

There is clearly some way to go before these and other new renewables can rival nuclear, which has around 372GW of operating capacity. However, if the 760 GW or so of existing hydro capacity is included, along with contributions from geothermal plants and modern biomass/waste powered plants, then despite their generally lower capacity factors (e.g. around 20-30% for wind and CSP without storage, and 40-50% for large hydro, compared to 70-80% for nuclear), the renewables overall would, even now, seem to be able to offer a similar level of output. And more is coming on line rapidly.

By contrast, although some new plants are under construction or planned, the nuclear contribution fell over the last year to about 14% of global electricity generation, due in part to the extended shutdown at Japan’s Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant. Six of the site’s seven reactors have been out of action since the Niigata Chuetsu offshore earthquake in July 2007. The seventh unit restarted this month, but it is still not clear when the others will follow.

Click

PG&E Tops 2008 SEPA Rankings

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (NYSE: PCG), based in San Francisco, California, was the most solar integrated utility for the year 2008, interconnecting 85 megawatts (MW) of new capacity, according to rankings released by the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA).

Southern California Edison--an Edison International company (NYSE: EIX)--and San Diego Gas & Electric--a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE)--were second and third.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company accounted for over 44% of the survey total.

SEPA's "2008 Top Ten Utility Solar Integration Rankings" report identifies the utilities in the U.S. that have the most significant amounts of solar electricity integrated into their portfolio, and records the increased collaboration of the U.S. electric utility and solar energy industries.

The report found that many utilities doubled the amount of solar power in their portfolio in just one year. The overall installed solar capacity of the top ten ranked utilities rose from 711 MW to 882 MW, reflecting 25% growth. Ninety-two utilities participated in this year's survey, an increase of more than 80% over last year, showing that the utility industry's interest in solar power is stronger than ever, SEPA said.

"This year's report demonstrates that solar electricity is finally on the radar screen of utilities across the country," said Julia Hamm, executive director of the Solar Electric Power Association. "Solar plants large and small are ready for significant build-out, and the utility industry is moving quickly toward mass adoption to meet a variety of business needs."

The report also documents a wave of utility-driven installations, pointing to the growing importance of utilities in the solar power market, and the growing importance of solar power to the business of utilities. Historically, the solar power market has been dominated by customer-driven installations.

"Residential and commercial photovoltaic projects will continue to be important stimulants for job creation and small business growth, but they will be complemented by large-scale photovoltaic and concentrating solar power projects," said Mike Taylor, director of research and education at SEPA. "The variety of ways solar power is being implemented signals an increased maturity in the market."

This year's report shows that 2008 solar power growth came almost entirely from thousands of distributed generation projects, which grow more steadily and consistently than centralized plants. However, SEPA anticipates that in future years centralized solar electric plants will play an equal or larger role.

"Traditional fossil-fuel power plants come in two sizes, large and larger," said report author Mike Taylor. "The solar market is more vigorous, complex and democratic because of the combination of distributed generation and large-scale projects."

Large-scale centralized solar plants will allow utilities to jump up in the rankings quickly, but are currently at an earlier stage of development with most large-scale projects in the contract or construction phase.

SEPA said solar power is entering a similar growth phase as wind power did a few years ago, with a dramatic increase in capacity expected.

This year's report is based on the 2008 Utility Solar Electricity Survey completed by utilities in April 2009. The report catalogs how much solar electricity was interconnected by surveyed utilities in calendar year 2008 and what was installed cumulatively up through the end of 2008, including both photovoltaics and concentrating solar power. It includes all solar electricity generation integrated into the utility's portfolio regardless of whether it was owned by the utility, their customer, or a third-party company, and regardless of whether it was installed on the utility or customer side of the meter.

Results

For the solar watts-per-customer category in 2008, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), a water utility that provides electrical generation to its municipal buildings, ranked first with almost 2700 watts per customer for its 340 customer sites. SFPUC has invested in many PV projects with the assistance of state incentive programs to achieve this coverage for its city buildings.

Second and third were Kauai Island Utility Cooperative in Hawaii and Palo Alto Utilities in Northern California.

On a cumulative solar megawatt basis, Southern California Edison was ranked first, followed by Pacific Gas & Electric and NV Energy, a Nevada utility.

Cumulatively in watts per customer, SFPUC ranked first again, followed by the Port of Oakland, and Southern California Edison. Both the SFPUC and the Port of Oakland are not electrical utilities in the traditional sense, serving residential and commercial customers, but entities that procure electricity for their municipal and port accounts.

For the first time this year, the report provided separate rankings for what was installed in calendar year 2008 and what was installed cumulatively up through the end of 2008.

Participating utilities had an average of 11 MW in their cumulative portfolio, and the Top Ten utilities represented 93% of all solar capacity. Because of their head-start, the large investor-owned utilities in California are likely to retain a lead in the overall cumulative rankings even as the year-to-year rankings shift.

 

Website: www.solarelectricpower.org

« previous news story

Click

University of Lleida's new solar heating system features Fresnel lens

June 1, 2009

University of Lleida’s new solar heating system features Fresnel lens

Construction Corner

Korky Koroluk

Regular readers know how intrigued I am with innovative technology and what it can do for us.

Researchers all over the world are constantly coming up with new technological gizmos that are fun to play with and might even be useful. But what I like the most is when new twists are found for old ideas.

Consider the Fresnel lens, something that has been around more than 180 years. Now, we learn, it might be at the core of a solar heating system meant for installation in roof or curtain-wall assemblies.

Some folks carry a credit-card sized Fresnel lens in their wallet for occasional help with the fine print in a document, or with a menu in a dimly lit restaurant.

These are mass produced things, stamped or moulded out of transparent plastic. They are also often used in overhead projectors of projection televisions, although they degrade the image somewhat.

But they were first invented by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel, who designed them to replace the heavy, expensive lenses used as beacons in lighthouses.

The first ones, made of glass, of course, went into service in 1823, and Fresnel lenses are still mounted in lighthouses around the world.

Construction Corner

Korky Koroluk

The need to design products that help us reduce carbon emissions has got scientists all over the world busy, and one small group at Spain’s University of Lleida hit upon a way to use Fresnel lenses in solar power modules that can be integrated into a building’s roof or curtain walls.

Like so many good ideas, this one is, at heart, really simple.

Concentrating solar power (CSP) devices usually use parabolic mirrors to focus the sun’s light on collectors and use the energy to create steam to drive a turbine.

Such units, because of their size, tend to be found on places like the desert areas of the American southwest, or the high, sunny central plains of Spain.

But Daniel Chemisana, Manel Ibáñez and Joan Ignasi Rosell, wanted a device that collected the energy right where it was needed. They hit upon the idea of using a lens instead of a mirror to concentrate the light. But they needed a curved lens with a fairly short focal length that didn’t cost an arm and a leg to manufacture.

They hit upon the idea of using a Fresnel, cheaply made from easily moulded acrylic material, tough, but easy to replace should it be damaged.

The short focal length of the lens means it can be placed close to the linear photovoltaic array that collects the energy, which can then be used to generate electricity, or to heat a building.

The modules have a solar concentration of 10 suns, which means that it needs only a tenth part of a standard system’s active surface to produce the same energy.

The reduction in the surface area implies a considerable reduction in cost when compared with conventional solar arrays.

Having accomplished the scientific aspects of their work, the researchers then set about making it practical to install in a building.

They hit upon the idea of making the modules small enough that they can be installed in roofs and in openings in curtain walls or as part of the railings in terraces.

Since the system is made up of small modules, it can be scaled down for a private home, up to a small commercial building, or way up to a large building.

The researchers believe they can achieve over-all efficiency exceeding 60 per cent — that is, of the total solar energy that is gathered by the system, 60 per cent or more is converted to usable energy.

The figure looks high, but if they succeed, they’ll have a winner.

The system is patented in Spain, and applications have been made for international patents.

Korky Koroluk is an Ottawa-based freelance writer. Send comments to editor@dailycommercialnews.com

Print | Email | Comment

Click

$350M Stimulus Boost Could Begin New Era for US Geothermal Energy

By Tilde Herrera - Tilde Herrera The Obama Administration gave geothermal energy generation in the U.S. a huge shot in the arm Wednesday with the announcement of $350 million in stimulus funds to scale the barriers of tapping the Earth’s heat as a steady renewable power source.

The geothermal energy industry, which gets far less attention than wind and solar, rejoiced, especially since just a few years ago it seemed federal funding would disappear.

“In one shot, this is more funding now than in the past 20 years,” Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association in Washington, D.C., told me yesterday.

He believes the significance of the funding goes beyond the sheer dollars by signaling a new direction for the industry. President George W. Bush at one point seemed keen to terminate the geothermal funding, Gawell said, but a report from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggested geothermal could large role to play in America’s energy future.

The report said a reasonable investment in geothermal research and development could lead to 100 gigawatts or more of generating capacity, compared to about 3,000 megawatts now. According to GEA research, 126 geothermal energy projects now under development may add up to 5,500 megawatts to the nation’s overall capacity, mostly in the Western U.S.

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Geothermal Technologies Program will use the $350 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to help expand geothermal resources and break down technological barriers. The largest slice -- $140 million -- is allocated for demonstration projects in new regions, oil and natural gas fields, geopressured fields and areas with lower-temperature resources.

Another $100 million is earmarked for exploration techniques revolving around drilling, siting, and other processes that carry a high upfront risk. Gawell pointed out a recent assessment from the U.S. Geological Survey estimated 80 percent of the country’s geothermal resources are hidden, requiring better exploration technology.

About $80 million will go toward enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) technology research and development to expand generation capacity across the country, while the DOE will spend about $30 million on a national geothermal data system, resource assessment and classification system.

“It’s hitting on a lot of points that resonate with the geothermal community,” Gawell said of the funding plan.

Wednesday’s announcement also included money for solar -- $117.6 million split between photovoltaic technology development, solar energy development and concentrating solar power research.

Image: Hot Springs in Steamboat Springs, Nevada. Source: U.S. Department of Energy

Click

Solar Plan Could Revolutionize India's Energy Sector

A leaked early version of the Indian Government's national solar energy plan indicates that India may be thinking more ambitiously about a "clean energy" roadmap than was previously anticipated.

The draft strategy, first published in The Hindu, outlines plans for a national target of 200,000 megawatts of solar generation capacity by 2050. This is 1.3 times India's current installed power generation capacity of 150,000 megawatts across all energy sectors.

Although the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change is yet to approve the plan, and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has not confirmed the claim, this possibility raises important questions for India's energy future, namely: Could a large-scale transition to solar power and other renewables be economically and technically possible? And if so, what would it take?

India is home to one of the most abundant solar resources in the world, with 2.97 million square kilometers of tropical and subtropical land and an average of 250-300 clear sunny days a year. As such, solar power offers significant potential to meet a large share of the country's energy needs using both centralized and decentralized production.

Such changes, if realized, could dwarf current solar leaders Germany, Spain, Japan, and the United States in both domestic market size and export manufacturing. They would also create a hefty job market in solar manufacturing and installation.

According to the leaked document, India's "solar mission" will include measures for rapidly expanding the use of small-scale photovoltaic panels, solar lighting systems, and commercial-scale solar plants, in order to drive down costs and encourage domestic solar manufacturing. The efforts would occur in both rural and urban areas and target residential as well as commercial users. The plan also proposes scaling-up centralized solar thermal power generation, with the aim of achieving cost parity with conventional grid power by 2020 and the full necessary energy infrastructure by 2050.

With India's installed solar capacity currently at only 3 megawatts, this would be the most ambitious solar plan that any country has laid out so far. The scope of the initiative would also match and ultimately far exceed India's plans for nuclear power generation.

Several recent studies have outlined wider renewable-energy scenarios for India, including Energy [R]evolution, a report released by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council in March and Mitigation Options for India: The Role of the International Community released by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in December 2007. Both reports encourage the transition to solar power as a critical way for India to boost its energy security and help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally.

Both the Greenpeace and TERI studies operate from the premise that global carbon emissions must peak by no later than 2015 to avoid dangerous emission levels. They make the case that it is not only technically and economically feasible for India to make the shift to renewable energy sources (if this rollout is combined with energy-efficiency measures), but also prudent to begin this transition now.

There are several reasons for this urgency. First, the reports note that India's power-generation infrastructure is undergoing rapid expansion to meet national development objectives, with the country still facing unmet power demands that equate to as much as 80 percent of current installed capacity. Second, they point to rising energy security concerns as energy prices go up and supplies shrink, making it a ripe time to shift to a new model of energy production.

Crucially, however, once the high upfront investment costs have been circumnavigated, the shift to renewables would actually be cost positive, the reports conclude. "The fuel savings up to 2030 would amount to $2,170 billion, seven times more than the additional investment costs," said Sven Teske, an author of Energy [R]evolution. "Over 30 years, India would make money."

Both reports offer recommendations for how such a shift could happen. Proposed steps include a widespread scaling-up of both decentralized energy production and centralized renewable energy production (particularly solar photovoltaics, concentrating solar power, wind, and biomass); the use of combined heat-and-

Click

Consortium to raise US$425 million for solar power plant

YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, RUSSIA: The last major offshore natural gas well is being completed at the Lunskoye platform in Russia's sub-Arctic Sea of Okhotsk preparing the way for full production capacity of liquefied natural gas (LNG) at Sakhalin II, one of the world's largest integrated oil and gas projects and Russia's first LNG plant. Read More HAMBURG, GERMANY: Airtricity, the renewable energy division of Scottish and Southern Energy, has signed an agreement with Siemens Energy for the delivery of 80 SWT-3.6-107 wind turbines for the Butendiek offshore wind farm in the German North Sea. The offshore project, with a capacity of 288 MW, is expected to commissioned in 2012. Read More

Click

We're getting left behind in renewable energy research

") + 8; var adzoneHTML = $("#banZone").html().toLowerCase().replace(/ /g, "").replace(/\r\n/g, "").substring(cutoff); //get the remaining substring. Take the first six characters of that. var banzone = adzoneHTML.substring(0, 6); //If there is no banner data associated to that zone, the substring found //above will contain the closing div tag of the banner. If it has data, //there will be something else in its place. If no data, hide the banner. if (banzone == "") { $("#banZone").css("display", "none"); } });

Since the industrial revolution, global energy consumption has increased to improve our living standards. With an increase in energy usage, Canadians need to plan a future for generations to come.

The potential to make significant gains over the next decade by converting to solar power is immeasurable. Canadians are 16 years behind Germany for incorporating renewable energy into our homes. There is plenty of sun in Canada and in the populated areas the yearly average sun actually exceeds Germany and Japan, which are the leaders in solar energy use.

Germany has 30 per cent less solar energy landing on it than Ontario. The United States, Spain, Germany, Italy, France and even India and China have already invested in low-impact renewable energy because of its multiple environmental, social and economic benefits.

Our government needs to demonstrate a similar commitment to the development of renewable energy.

Further efforts are required in Canada and internationally to remove barriers that may limit investments in renewable energy.

Without major changes in the way we are to meet our future energy needs, there is little hope of reducing the impact of energy production and use to reasonable levels. Surveys show that solar is the preferred energy source of Canadians and that we are willing to pay more for our energy if it comes from the sun.

A failure to act critically and without delay will have long-term penalties for Canada's economic competiveness and position in the community of nations. Increased awareness of renewable energy opportunities and government policies supportive of renewable energy development are helping to speed this transition to a sustainable energy future.

Supportive policies and innovative financing solutions from countries around the world provide examples and opportunities for Canada to pursue.

Many pundits foresee a solar future for utilities due to the scarcity of resources. The prices of today's technology base are insufficient to provide clean and plentiful energy for nine billion people, and today's population densities far exceed what could be maintained by natural means. In Canada, which has one of the highest energy consumptions in the world, investment needs to take place now.

High prices for gasoline and home heating oil are here to stay. Current estimates are showing that natural uranium for nuclear power will last only 50 years, oil no more than 100, gas, 150, and coal, 200. These estimates should be daunting enough for Canadians to want to plan for the future.

Will our civilization come to a halt after the 23rd century when fossil and nuclear fuels become entirely exhausted?

The energy in sunlight striking the earth for 40 minutes is equivalent to global energy consumption for a year, and solar energy is virtually unlimited in source. At present, the total or full lifecycle of solar energy makes it competitive now.

A private citizen installing a one-kilowatt system is today buying 100 per cent of the electricity from that system at 32 cents per kWh over the first 35 years. The challenge is to develop the right incentives for such a transition to occur.

Large-scale solar energy entering the market some time during this century would make it possible to replace fossil or nuclear energy, and if a reduction in cost could be accomplished, solar energy would indeed represent a viable alternative.

A bright future with solar energy ensures a limitless supply of energy in Canada. If successful, solar energy alone could provide the energy required for a fully industrialized society.

Furthermore, solar creates jobs and supplies reliable power not affected by international events and natural catastrophes while improving the environment.

Environmental concerns and supplies are important factors that make timelines crucial. The end of the fossil-fuel era is a certainty now with concentrated supplies of oil and gas in a small region of the world; solar as a clean, powerful, proven energy source is the most practical.

We cannot wait until non-renewable sources have been depleted before we start to promote alternate energy sources. Canada needs to catch up and see beyond the fossil fuel era to ensure a mature and competitive renewable energy industry when the inevitable transition to renewable power comes later this century.

For more information on local environmental and sustainability issues contact the Environment Network at 705-446- 0551 or visit www.environmentnetwork.org.

Click

A solar plant that's worth its salt

Now a storied rocket maker in Canoga Park and a renewable energy company in Santa Monica are hoping to take what they learned at the long-closed desert facility to build a much larger plant that could power 100,000 homes -- all from a mix of sun, salt and rocket science once believed too futuristic to succeed. The Santa Monica-based energy firm SolarReserve has licensed the technology, developed by engineers at Rocketdyne. "Molten salt is the secret sauce," said SolarReserve President Terry Murphy. It is one of at least 80 large solar projects on the drawing board in California, but the molten salt technology is considered one of the more unusual and -- to some energy analysts -- one of the more promising in the latest rush to build clean electricity generation. "It's actually something we'll likely see in a few years," said Nathaniel Bullard, a solar energy analyst with New Energy Finance in Alexandria, Va. "It's moving along in a nice way, and they have good capital behind it."SolarReserve, which is financing and marketing the project, said it is working on agreements with several utilities to buy electricity generated from the plant. It hopes to have several announcements in a few months that could help jump-start construction of the first plant, which would probably be on private land in the Southwest, Murphy said. The company last fall secured $140 million in venture capital.The plant could begin operating by early 2013. It would use an array of 15,000 heliostats, or large tilting mirrors about 25 feet wide, to direct sunlight to a solar collector atop a 600-foot-tall tower -- somewhat like a lighthouse in reverse.The mirrors would heat up molten salt flowing through the receiver to more than 1,000 degrees, hot enough to turn water into powerful steam in a device called a heat exchanger. The steam, like that coming out of a nozzle of a boiling tea kettle, would drive a turbine to create electricity. The molten salt, once cooled, would then be pumped back through the solar collector to start the process all over again. "The plant has no emissions, and if you have a leak or something, you can just shovel it up and take it home with you to use for your barbecue," Murphy said.The molten salt can be stored for days if not weeks and then used to generate electricity at any time. Many other solar technologies work only when the sun is shining. Storing electricity in a battery works for cars and homes but not on a massive scale that would be needed to power thousands of homes."You can put that into a storage tank that would look much like a tank at an oil refinery," Murphy said. "We can store that energy almost indefinitely."While there are high hopes for the technology, some environmentalists have criticized solar-thermal plants for requiring vast tracts of land as well as precious water for generating steam and for cooling the turbines. The array of the mirrored heliostats for the SolarReserve plant would take up about two square miles. Transmission lines would also be needed to transport the power where it's needed. With dozens of solar, wind and geothermal projects planned for California's deserts, some fear that this unique habitat will be destroyed.But SolarReserve officials said that the plant would use one-tenth the amount of water required by a conventional plant and that mirrors will be "benign" to the environment.The technology, with the exception of using salt, is similar to those that Rocketdyne engineers developed for the nation's more notable space programs.At the sprawling Canoga Park facility, the engineers who came up with the SolarReserve technology also developed the power system for the International Space Station, the rocket engine for the space shuttle, and the propulsion system for the Apollo lunar module.Rocketdyne's aerospace heritage stretches back to the earliest years of rocket development, when it was founded shortly after World War II to study German V-2 rocket technology. After becoming part of Rockwell International in the late 1960s, the company was sold to Boeing Co. in 1996.United Technologies bought the Rocketdyne unit from Boeing for $700 million in 2005 primarily for its expertise in rocket engines. It didn't know about the solar project until after the acquisition.Now Rocketdyne believes it can generate $1 billion in revenue from making the components for the plant, including the tower that would collect the sun's concentrated heat from thousands of mirrors.The solar collector in many ways is similar to the inside of a rocket nozzle that has to withstand thousands of degrees of heat, said Rick Howerton, Rocketdyne's program manager for concentrated solar power who previously worked on the space station program. The solar-thermal technology was proved workable more than a decade ago at the Barstow pilot plant. But the complex was shuttered in 1999 when the cost of natural gas fell to one-tenth of what it is today. Also there wasn't as much concern for the environment then, Murphy said. "It was ahead of its time. The market hadn't caught up to it."peter.pae@latimes.com

Click

Obama Invests $467M in Solar and Geothermal Development

Obama Invests $467M in Solar and Geothermal Development NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nevada, May 28, 2009 (ENS) - President Barack Obama Wednesday announced over $467 million from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to expand and accelerate the development, deployment, and use of geothermal and solar energy across the United States.

The funding is intended to help the solar and geothermal industries overcome technical barriers, demonstrate new technologies, and provide support for clean energy jobs.

"We have a choice," said the President, addressing armed services personnel and legislators at Nellis Air Force Base. "We can remain the world�s leading importer of oil, or we can become the world�s leading exporter of clean energy. We can hand over the jobs of the future to our competitors, or we can confront what they have already recognized as the great opportunity of our time: the nation that leads the world in creating new sources of clean energy will be the nation that leads the 21st century global economy. That�s the nation I want America to be."

The President announced the new funding on the 100th day after he signed the Recovery Act while standing near the largest solar electric plant of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. More than 72,000 solar panels built on an old landfill provide 25 percent of the electricity for the 12,000 people who live and work at Nellis.

The system was inaugurated in a ceremony on December 17, 2007 and is expected to save the Air Force $1 million each year through 2027.

"Today, projects like the one at Nellis are still the exception to the rule, unfortunately," Obama said. "America produces less than three percent of our electricity through renewable sources of energy like wind and solar - less than three percent," he emphasized. "In contrast, Denmark produces 20 percent of their electricity through wind. We pioneered solar technology, but we've fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in generating it, even though they get less sun than we do. They certainly get less sun than Nevada."

President Obama toured the solar power array at Nellis Air Force Base (Photo Airman 1st Class Nadine Barclay courtesy U.S. Air Force)

At Nellis, Obama announced a solar program by which the U.S. Department of Energy, DOE, will provide $117.6 million in Recovery Act funding to accelerate widespread commercialization of clean solar energy technologies across America.

These activities will leverage partnerships that include DOE�s national laboratories, universities, local government, and the private sector, to strengthen the U.S. solar industry and make it a leader in international markets.

The solar program has three components. DOE will invest $51.5 million in advanced photovoltaic concepts and high impact technologies, with the aim of making solar energy cost-competitive with conventional sources of electricity and to strengthen the competitiveness and capabilities of domestic manufacturers.

DOE will invest $40.5 million to strengthen solar energy deployment, focusing on non-technical barriers to solar energy deployment, including grid connection, market barriers to solar energy adoption in cities, and the shortage of trained solar energy installers.

Combined with new technology development, these deployment activities will help clear the path for wider adoption of solar energy in residential, commercial, and municipal environments.

In addition, DOE will invest $25.6 million in concentrating solar power research and development. This work will focus on improving the reliability of concentrating solar power technologies and enhancing the capabilities of DOE National Laboratories to provide test and evaluation support to the solar industry.

President Barack Obama addresses an Air Force audience at Nellis Air Force Base. May 27, 2009 (Photo courtesy U.S. Air Force)

Solar Energy Industries Association President and CEO Rhone Resch said the new funding will help create jobs.

"We have seen this job creation momentum in action as the solar industry is currently playing an important role in our economy by helping revive U.S. manufacturing and growing local economies," Resch said Wednesday. "In Oregon, SolarWorld opened a manufacturing facility that will eventually employ 1,000 workers. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, SCHOTT Solar opened a manufacturing facility earlier this month that has plans to eventually employ up to 1,500 workers. Dow Corning just today announced it has expanded its manufacturing operations in Michigan, and states such as Tennessee are increasing their investment in solar."

In addition to the new solar program, President Obama announced a $350 million new investment in geothermal technology, much larger than previous government commitments.

"The second program I'm announcing will help develop the use of geothermal energy in America," said Obama. "Already, Nevada has 17 industrial scale geothermal plants, and your capacity to generate this type of power is expected to increase in the next few years. The program we're announcing will help accelerate this process, here, and across America. This will create more jobs, it will create more businesses, and more affordable electricity for the American people."

The new geothermal program has four components. Funding of $140 million will support demonstration projects to advance geothermal energy in new geographic areas, and also from oil and natural gas fields, geopressured fields, and low to moderate temperature geothermal resources.

Funding of $80 million will support research of enhanced geothermal systems technology to allow geothermal power generation across the country. Conventional geothermal energy systems must be located near easily-accessible geothermal water resources, limiting its nationwide use, the DOE explains. Enhanced geothermal systems technology makes use of available heat resources through engineered reservoirs, which can be tapped to produce electricity. Research and development is needed to demonstrate the technology�s readiness.

Funding of $100 million will support projects that include exploration, siting, drilling, and characterization of a series of exploration wells utilizing innovative geothermal exploration techniques.

Exploration of geothermal energy resources can carry a high upfront risk, says the Department of Energy. By investing in and validating innovative exploration technologies and methods, DOE can help reduce the level of upfront risk for the private sector, allowing for increased investment and discovery of new geothermal resources.

The long-term success of geothermal energy technologies depends upon a detailed characterization of geothermal energy resources nationwide, the DOE says. In 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted an assessment of high temperature resource potential in the Western United States.

To fully leverage new low-temperature, geopressured, co-production, and enhanced geothermal systems technologies, DOE will invest $30 million in`a nationwide assessment of geothermal resources, working through the USGS and other partners. Finally, DOE will support the development of a nationwide data system to make resource data available to academia, researchers, and the private sector. The DOE also will support the development of a geothermal resource classification system for use in determining site potential.

The Geothermal Energy Association, an industry group, says geothermal power is "poised for dramatic growth."

"The West has a huge untapped geothermal energy potential," according to GEA Executive Director Karl Gawell.

With new federal and state incentives, he said, there will be billions of dollars of new investment in geothermal power bringing tens of thousands of new jobs to the United States.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.

Click

Consortium to raise $425m to construct solar power plant in Jordan

Notes and media contactsBadr Investments:
Badr Investments is a global private investment house, combining world-class strategic thinking and access to capital. The firm invests in a diverse portfolio including real estate, financial services, energy, engineering, manufacturing, retail, aerospace, extractive industries and professional services. Its global reach includes investments in North America, the Pacific Rim, Europe and the Middle East.

Chescor Capital:
Chescor Capital helps its clients develop and finance their businesses. For over 20 years, the firm has specialised in corporate finance, project finance and strategy consulting. Since 1998 it has focused on the Middle East and regional cross border transactions.

Chescor Capital has acquired a reputation for innovation and knowledge leadership, and in the last two years, the firm has advised on transactions totalling over $4bn.

Parsons Brinckerhoff:
Founded in 1885 and headquartered in New York City, Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) is a leader in the development and operation of infrastructure to meet the needs of communities around the world. The firm provides strategic consulting, planning, engineering, and program and construction management services to both public and private sector clients.

Maisam Architects & Engineers:
Building on more than twenty years of architecture & engineering experience in the region and internationally, Meisa Batayneh and her team of associates established maisam in Amman with the vision to use knowledge, innovation and design in the pursuit of architectural excellence. Our expertise is focused on providing planning, architecture and design services to developers, corporations, governments and individuals.

Ma'an Development Area (MDA):
The Ma'an Development Area (MDA) is the first project by the South Company for Construction and Development (SCCD) to be developed with the objective of capitalising on Ma'an's strategic location, key resources and assets, while elevating standards of living in Ma'an and around the governorate, as well as in the Kingdom. In order to ensure the most efficient administration for MDA, the Ma'an Development Company (MDC), the master developer in charge of promoting and managing MDA, was established by SCCD in partnership with the Jordan Industrial Estate Corporation and Al-Hussein Bin Talal University.

Consisting of four complementary clusters, including a Residential Community, an Industrial Park, a Hajj Oasis, and a Skill Development Center, MDA is set to become a regional hub for industrial activity and a centre of excellence for vocational training, as well as a religious landmark for pilgrims on their way to the Holy cities, offering them the ideal environment for their rest, relaxation and prayer. MDA will also be home to a thriving and self-sustained city providing its residents and visitors with a quality living and working environment to fulfill their potential.

For more information, please contact:
Andrew Mackay
Tel: + 44 7958 675150

Andrew Wigley
Tel: + 44 7879 435348

Maie Qaddoura
Manning Selvage & Lee Public Relations
T: +(962) 6 4644142

Posted by Rana Mesbah
Thursday, May 28 - 2009 at 10:05 UAE local time (GMT+4)

Replication or redistribution in whole or in part is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AME Info FZ LLC / Emap Limited.

Disclaimer:
Articles in this section are primarily provided directly by the companies appearing or PR agencies which are solely responsible for the content. The companies concerned may use the above content on their respective web sites provided they link back to http://www.ameinfo.com

Any opinions, advice, statements, offers or other information expressed in this section of the AME Info Web site are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of AME Info FZ LLC / Emap Limited. AME Info FZ LLC / Emap Limited is not responsible or liable for the content, accuracy or reliability of any material, advice, opinion or statement in this section of the AME Info Web site.

For details about submitting your stories, please read the guide - all content published is subject to our terms and conditions

Click

Why renewables don't work

Whenever the costs of energy increase dramatically as they’ve done these last weeks, the typical responses echoed from energy authorities revolve around basically the same crusted refrain, so much that they’ve become not only predictable but verge on cliché.

It is not surprising to expect prepackaged responses. The clichés reflect the capacities of those who govern. As they hardly vary, never mind the specific peculiarities of every episode, we’ve come to expect governance close to catatonic, ineffective and impotent.

The only difference is in the delivery. Some are shouted, complete with arguments exclaimed like invectives. Others are spewed like retaliatory gunfire, as if the concerns of a severely concerned public are neither warranted nor justified.

In these responses there are three major categories. The first is a declaration that the authorities will summon energy respondents to shed light on their pricing. The second is to parrot the crusted provisions of the deregulation laws. The third is one we’ve chosen to tackle in our continuing analysis of what fails energy governance.

Simplistically, the third is a response to the question, “Short of constantly hauling energy companies to a command conference only to be slapped back on all four cheeks with the tenets of deregulation, what else can energy authorities do?”

As predictable as the first two responses are, the third evokes long-term measures to establish energy security through renewables. The stock reply is dejà vu. We’ve heard it before and we are hearing it again. Again and again.

We all know that there is a major wind farm in the north that is moderately alleviating supply constraints, providing as it does some degree of base-load capacity.

We also know that in the south, the Deep South for that matter, there are mini-solar facilities introduced through a program funded by the Americans, a former American independent power producer that has since divested from our economy and an American equipment supplier. That it is concentrated in the south makes sense when we see the growing population of American servicemen in sharp contrast to the increasingly exponential and above-average death rate of locals, innocent villagers, Christians and non-Christians.

In between our northern shores and the porous south, in that large swathe of real estate between Ilocos and Basilan where most of the energy consumers are, there is not much of viable renewable power to justify the rhetoric of the energy authorities who justify their employment in a largely deregulated energy regime.

If through deregulation in both the oil and electricity-generation sectors, energy authorities are practically useless, then their redeeming importance must lie in renewables development. Unfortunately, their prioritization of renewable-energy sources as a main feature of their remnant career is perplexing. Sans wind turbines in Ilocos and solar energy in Basilan, why haven’t renewable facilities blanketed an economy several times victimized by high energy costs from the more traditional sources?

To answer, let us briefly review the detail of renewable-energy facilities as they are actually operating or realistically proposed.

On the question of petroleum substitutes, while we’ve started on a 10-percent ethanol level for motor-vehicle fuels, most, if not all, of the supply is imported and subject to the vagaries of the exchange markets and the vulnerabilities of ethanol suppliers.

On the matter of wind farms, while these are fashionable and are, indeed, indigenous and renewable with competitively low operating costs, it’s up-front capital requisites remain prohibitively high. At a tad over $1 million per megawatt, because viable capacities do not yet extend beyond 70 megawatts, economies of scale are limited.

Moreover, one of the hidden capital expenditures (capex) are sunk costs for research and development (R&D) where at least two years of pre-operating wind studies, wind behavior and wind orientations are needed whether the project pushes through or not.

Simply add these to the $1-million-per-megawatt capex and a developer would need extremely deep pockets to be competitive against a similar fossil-based facility. Note that diesel-fired facilities can technically be constructed within months and would be up and running while the R&D costs of wind farms wallow in a state of economic uncertainty.

As for solar power, one of the largest facilities is in Cagayan de Oro, where the privately operated plant augments power from sources that include hydroelectric, coal and bunker-C. The facility is not a base-load plant and requires co-generation, as most solar facilities cannot handle industrial demand.

In areas of Mindanao where solar facilities are primary power sources, generators are small and can only handle limited household uses. For instance, solar generators cannot operate air conditioning, ironing or even color-television sets. In some remote areas where solar energy finds its niche, financially constrained users tend to hock the batteries integral to a solar-energy system. One calamity and these are readily exchanged for food and medicine or the materiality of a sudden birth, death or marriage in the family.

Indigenous coal-fired facilities, while not renewable, are often misconceived as part of the energy-security mix. This is not surprising given that some officials push for its proliferation despite its lethal toxicity. Unfortunately, local coal does not only have lower heating rates than those imported, but it is also more toxic even as officials cite using “clean coal” technology or circulating fluidized beds (CFB) thought to control sulfur and nitrogen oxides.

That may be true, but there is no such thing as “clean coal,” the nomenclature being part of a paid publicist’s lexicon under the general heading of “greenwashing.” CFB facilities are not only 1.5 times more expensive than regular coal-fired plants, they also fail to control arsenic, cyanide, mercury and cadmium emissions which can be far more toxic than sulfuric acid or nitrates.

So why do energy officials continue to harp on renewables despite the fact that they’ve done little to make these viable? Perhaps because when they walk their talk, huff and puff, they may actually be pushing for methane as an alternative fuel.

< Prev   Next >  

Click

Top Utilities Grow Solar Power Despite Recession

EIX) – CA (441.4MW)
#2 Pacific Gas & Electric (PCG) – CA (229.5)
#3 NV Energy – NV (77.9)
#4 San Diego Gas & Electric (SRE) – CA (49.3)
#5 Public Service of Colorado (Xcel Energy - XEL) – CO (28.5)
#6 LA Department of Water & Power – CA (13.6)
#7 Public Service Electric & Gas Co. – NJ (13.2)
#8 Arizona Public Service Co. – AZ (10.6)
#9 Sacramento Municipal Utility District – CA (10.2)
#10 Long Island Power Authority – NY (7.7)

Although the sunny West Coast dominates this year’s list, other states are coming on strong including Florida, North Carolina, and Florida. Yes, the availability of sunlight is one driver in the expanded use of solar. Other drivers include the retail price of electricity, state government initiatives such as RPS, and cap-and-trade of emission credits.
There are two primary solar technologies, photovoltaic and concentrating solar power. Photovoltaic (PV) technologies utilize a photosensitive material to generate electricity direct from sunlight. PV can also be magnified using mirrors or lenses in low- or high-concentrations known as concentrating photovoltaic technology or CPV. Concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies utilize mirrors or lenses to concentrate sunlight on a point or line and generate high-temperature heat, which is captured to generate electricity in a later process.
Julia Hamm, Executive Director of SEPA, sees strong growth in both PV and CSP. For example, Southern California Edison is planning a massive 1.3GW of CSP with BrightSource. Arizona Power is planning 125MW of PV. Medium- and utility-scale photovoltaic and concentrating solar thermal power projects are adding around 20 billion of dollars worth of investment.
Some European nations that aggressively use wind power, such as Spain and Denmark, have demonstrated that intermittency is quite manageable when renewable energy is less than 20% of the mix. CSP can take the mix much higher by storing energy in liquids like molten salt for delivery when demand peaks.
#5 on the list, Public Service of Colorado (Xcel Energy), is already experimenting with vehicle-to-grid (V2G Report), which will allow the growing population of electric vehicles to provide power to the grid during peak hours. Utilities are experimenting with several forms of large scale grid-storage which will be promising if significant costs are achieved.
Some 30 years ago, solar was dismissed as impractical. Now that PV manufacturing cost is 100 times less than in early days, utilities are taking the lead in the growing demand for solar power.

John Addison writes about clean transportation and renewable energy. He is the author of the new book - Save Gas, Save the Planet – which includes details of the growing use of renewable energy in powering cars, public transportation, and high-speed rail.

Click

Concentrated Solar Power Could Make Up 25% of World's Energy

Concentrated Solar Power Could Make Up 25% of World's Energy  E-mail Written by Megan Treacy    Thursday, 28 May 2009

A new study by Greenpeace International, the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association and the International Energy Agency considers three different potential scenarios for concentrated solar power's (CSP) growth over the next few decades. In the third and most aggressive scenario, we could see CSP generating 25 percent of the world's electricity by 2050.

The scenario includes increased investment in the technology to $29 billion a year by 2015 and $243 billion a year by 2050. These investments would lead to installed CSP plant capacity of 1,500 GW by 2050. The second scenario saw more modest investment increases and a total capacity of 830 GW by 2050, still an impressive 12 percent of the world's energy needs. The first scenario assumed no investment increases at all, with CSP making up only 0.2 percent of the world's energy.

The technology has been taking off recently. Spain alone has 50 projects in the works and will be generating 2 GW from CSP by 2015. Worldwide, CSP currently makes up 436 MW and investments in the technology will reach about $2.8 billion this year. Based on current global plans, by 2017, close to 20 GW of CSP capacity will be installed. While the dramatic investment increases that the study explores are very unlikely, it's interesting to see the full potential of the technology and maybe it will lead to at least a modest increase in investment and development.

The technology is best fitted for desert regions and the entire sun-belt around the equator, including parts of southern U.S., North Africa, Mexico, China and India could make great use of CSP.

The full study is available here (PDF).

via Guardian

 

Click

DGAP-News: SCHOTT Solar prepares itself for the growing US market

SCHOTT Solar AG / Miscellaneous

28.05.2009

Release of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer / publisher is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

Intersolar 2009

SCHOTT Solar prepares itself for the growing U.S. market - New plant opens in the U.S. with the world's first combined solar manufacturing - Further expansion of production capacity in Europe - New module generation for roof-integrated solar systems the exhibition highlight

Mainz/Munich, May 28, 2009 - SCHOTT Solar AG continues to expand its production capacities in the fields of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaics (PV). At the beginning of May, the solar company celebrated the opening of a new manufacturing facility for photovoltaic modules and receivers for solar thermal power plants in Albuquerque, New Mexico (U.S.A.). This makes SCHOTT Solar the only company in the world that produces both high-quality receivers for solar power plants that utilize parabolic trough technology, as well as components for photovoltaic applications.

'Solar energy offers one of the most important alternatives for securing the power supply of the future, therefore investing in solar energy today is clearly the right step for us to take. By doing so, we create stable jobs that are extremely valuable in uncertain times like these,' emphasizes Dr. Martin Heming, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SCHOTT Solar AG.

Technology for solar power plants and photovoltaics under one roof SCHOTT Solar opened a new plant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 11 and has invested more than 100 million dollars in the new production facility that created 350 new jobs initially. Plans call for both the number of employees and the production capacity to continue to increase in the years to come. The new facility in Albuquerque is now the world's first manufacturing site at which photovoltaic modules and receivers for solar thermal power plants are to be manufactured under one roof. During the first phase, the annual production capacity for photovoltaic modules will be as high as 85 MW. With respect to receivers, the company plans to achieve an annual production capacity of up to 400 MW.

Besides this new facility in Albuquerque, SCHOTT Solar has also further expanded its sites in Aznalcóllar (Spain), Alzenau (Germany) and Valasske Mezirici (Czech Republic). In the field of photovoltaics, a total of 360 megawatts of module capacity is to be achieved by the end of the fiscal year (ends September 30, 2009). The CSP division plans to achieve a production capacity of one gigawatt of electrical output.

'With our manufacturing sites in Europe and the United States, we now have local presence in what we consider to be the key markets for solar technology,' notes Dr. Martin Heming in commenting on the internationalization strategy at SCHOTT Solar.

Exhibition highlight 2009 SCHOTT Solar announced a completely new generation of modules for roof-integrated solar systems at Intersolar. The modules of the new InDaX 225 Series actually replace conventional roofing tiles and yet perform two different functions: They protect the house from wind and weather at the same time that they produce environmentally friendly electricity - and actually look great, too. With a nominal output of more than 200 W, the new series delivers even more energy to the roof. The new products are expected to be available for purchase starting in March 2010.

***

Number of characters: 3.254 including empty spaces SCHOTT InDaX(TM) is a registered trademark of SCHOTT Solar AG. Further information is available under www.schottsolar.com Press photographs are available for downloading under www.schott-pictures.net

You will also find this press release under www.ffpress.net/Kunde/SOLE/

SCHOTT Solar, with its high quality products, enables the potential of the sun as a nearly inexhaustible source of energy to be utilized. And it's for exactly that reason that SCHOTT Solar produces important components for photovoltaic applications and solar energy plants. In the photovoltaic industry, the company is one of the few integrated manufacturers of crystalline silicon wafers, cells and modules. The production of the wafers is ensured by the WACKER SCHOTT Solar joint venture, which also secures the supply of silicon, enabling long-term growth. In thin-film technology, SCHOTT Solar also describes itself an advanced supplier due to having over twenty years of experience. And in the production of receivers for solar power plants, SCHOTT Solar sees itself as a market and technology leader. The receivers are key components in large-scale power plants that generate electricity from solar energy centrally on the basis of parabolic trough technology and are able to supply entire cities with power. SCHOTT Solar has production facilities in Germany, the Czech Republic, the USA and Spain. The innovative power and technological competence of the company date back to the late 1950s. SCHOTT Solar GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of the international SCHOTT technology group. SCHOTT develops special materials, components and systems for the household appliance, pharmaceutical, solar energy, electronics, optical and automotive industries. With around 17,300 employees, the SCHOTT Group generated a worldwide turnover of about 2.2 billion euros in fiscal year 2007/2008.

Contact: SCHOTT Solar AG Lars Waldmann Press and Public Relations Phone: +49 (0)6023 - 91 1811 Fax: +49 (0)6023 - 91 1700 lars.waldmann@schottsolar.com www.schottsolar.de

SCHOTT Solar AG Burkhard Söhngen Investor Relations Tel: +49 (0)6023 - 91 1819 Fax: +49 (0)6023 - 91 1700 burkhard.soehngen@schottsolar.com www.schottsolar.de 28.05.2009 Financial News transmitted by DGAP

Url zum Artikel: http://www.ad-hoc-news.de/dgap-news-schott-solar-prepares-itself-for-the-growing--/de/Unternehmensnachrichten/20248627

Click

As the climate warms, environmentalists square off over Big ...

CN fined $400,000 for Cheakamus spill Rail company to pay $1.4 million for 2005 Alberta spill

Big numbers Try-a-Tri Kids of Steel draws junior triathletes to Whistler

The Brains go to Hell �N Back Montreal psychobilly zombies invade Whistler with infectious, energetic live performance for punk rock purists



Click

Obama: Nellis a "shining example" for renewable energy

President Obama wrapped up his two-day visit to Las Vegas at Nellis Air Force Base Wednesday, where he called for a "renewable energy revolution." It was the perfect setting as the president toured Nellis' photovoltaic system. And as News 3's Hetty Chang reports, the president seemed very impressed.

President Obama joined Senator Harry Reid on walking tour of the photovoltaic system, the largest solar plant of its kind in the western hemisphere. When he arrived, the president said, "This is pretty neat stuff out here."

And that's the only part News 3 was able to hear from his tour of Nellis' solar plant. Our crew, long with the president's press corp, were kept in the background as Colonel Howard Belote gave President Obama and Senator Reid a quick, ten minute walking tour.

North America's largest photovoltaic system is 140 acres, with 72,000 solar panels that provide 25 percent of the energy used on the entire air force base. At the news conference following the tour, President Obama also announced federal funds to help develop renewable energy.

"First is a solar energy technology program that will help replicate the success of the Nellis project in cities and states across America. Because, in this case, what happens in Vegas should not always stay in Vegas. This base serves as a shining example of what's possible when we harness the power of clean, renewable energy to build a new firmer foundation for economic growth."

The other funding the president discussed will be put toward developing geothermal energy. A total of $467 million will be used to develop green energy sources in the next few years.

After his tour of the air force base, President Obama boarded Air Force One; he traveled to Los Angeles to attend a political fundraiser for the Democratic party in Beverly Hills. Wednesday night, he's appearing at a star-studded dinner with host Steven Spielberg.

And although it didn't receive any presidential attention Wednesday, the world's third largest "concentrating" solar plant is right here in Nevada as well. Nevada Solar One near Boulder City can produce enough energy to power 14,000 homes.

All the plant needs is a sunny day. It produces power by concentrating the sun's rays onto a small tube filled with oil. When the oil becomes hot, it produces steam, which turns turbines that make electricity.

Right now, all 64 megawatts are sold to NV Energy to help it meet its renewable energy needs. Nevada Solar One may expand in the future; however, a spokesperson says the company doesn't have any immediate plans.

Click

Intersolar: Will Oerlikon's Silicon Rival First Solar? And More!

Intersolar: Will Oerlikon’s Silicon Rival First Solar? And More!

Solar companies gathered in Munich this week to launch new products and announce breakthroughs. Companies developing devices for monitoring and boosting solar panel performances are making noise. 

Intersolar kicked off in Munich Wednesday, and lots of solar companies are announcing new products, deals and research results. Solar stocks trading in the U.S. exchanges are all experiencing a lift in their share prices, including those from First Solar, SunPower, Suntech Power, Trina Solar, Akeena Solar and Evergreen Solar.

Here is a roundup of the news from the conference:

Oerlikon Solar

The Swiss solar factory equipment maker said test results from its pilot line showed that its second-generation equipment could produce amorphous silicon solar panels with 11 percent efficiency. That means the cells in the panels can convert 11 percent of the sunlight that hits them into electricity.

Crossing the 10 percent threshold is critical for emerging solar technologies to demonstrate that they can be competitive in a marketplace where most of the solar panels use crystalline silicon as the key ingredient for power generation.

First Solar stands out as the non-crystalline silicon panel maker by keeping the costs of producing its cadmium-telluride products very low ($0.93 per watt). The Tempe, Ariz.-based company achieved 10.9 percent efficiency with its panels during the first quarter of this year, the company said.

Oerlikon said the new efficiency results would enable it to roll out equipment that could produce panels at a cost of $0.70 per watt by the end of 2010. Now, the 11 percent efficiency is the best result from a limited production, so it might not be what its customers could get in mass production. The second-generation equipment deposits a layer of amorphous silicon and a layer of microcrystalline on glass during panel production.

Fat Spaniel Technologies

Software developer Fat Spaniel Technologies has teamed up with a satellite data provider Meteotest to provide meteorological information, such as solar radiation data, available to solar power plant operators. San Jose, Calif.-based Fat Spaniel plans to make the service available to its European customers first, the company said.

Fat Spaniel develops software that allows solar energy system owners to monitor their installations' performances over the internet. The company said its software could diagnose problems and track power output of each panel in the system. The company is targeting residential and commercial solar markets.

The company has been boosting its offerings by working with communications equipment. Fat Spaniel recently said it would market its service with Satel, a Finnish wireless equipment maker, in Spain.

The deal with Meteotest, based in Switzerland, would add new content offerings from Fat Spaniel.

SolarEdge

SolarEdge, which develops electronic devices and software for monitoring and improving solar panel performances, said BP Solar has agreed to check out SolarEdge's products and maybe integrate them into BP's solar panels some day.

SolarEdge, based in Israel, is one of a growing number of companies developing products that aim to increase electricity production from each panel in a system. Currently, a solar energy system is strung together in a way that a poor-performing panel would affect the energy output of the rest of the panels in the system. So the overall power output of a system could be much lower. Shading and dust are some of the chief culprits for causing some panels to produce less power than they should.

SolarEdge's approach to fixing this problem is to embed each solar panel with its electronic device for harvesting power before the power is sent to a centralized inverter for converting from direct current to alternating current for the grid. The company also sells the centralized inverters.

Some of the alternative approaches fashioned by the company's competitors include getting rid of the centralized inverter in favor of microinverters that are attached to each solar panel. The microinverters would monitor and get as much power out of each panel before doing the DC-to-AC conversion. SolarBridge Technologies and Enphase Energy are two startups developing microinverters.

Regardless of the methods, all these companies would like to see their products built into solar panels instead of adding them to the panels at the job site. Integrating these power-harvesting and monitoring devices would simplify the design of a solar energy system and reduce installation time and labor costs. 

National Semiconductor

National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) has developed an electronic device for coaxing more power out of each solar panel. The long-time power management chip company formally announced the product launch at Intersolar even though it had been discussing it publicly for nearly a year.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company signed a memorandum of understanding with large Chinese solar panel maker Suntech Power, which plans to evaluate National Semi's SolarMagic and decide whether to do joint marketing or product development. Suntech also has a deal with Enphase Energy to market Enphase's microinverters to Suntech's network of dealers in the United States.

National Semi also said field trials conducted within the last two months by HaWi Energietecnik in Germany showed that SolarMagic devices could recoup 54.4 percent of the energy that would otherwise be lost because of shading. A solar energy system could produce 50 percent less power even if only 10 percent of it is under the shade, the company said.

Like SolarEdge, National Semi's SolarMagic focuses on getting more DC power from each panel rather than doing the DC-to-AC conversion at the panel level.

Another company, Tigo Energy, also is developing devices and software to improve power production of each solar panel. The Los Gatos, Calif.-based startup just raised $10 million for a second-round of funding. 

Join industry leaders and influencers at Greentech Media's Concentrating Solar Technologies & Markets at Intersolar in Munich, Germany on May 29.

Click

DOE Offers Up $467.6 M for Geothermal and Solar

Ucilia Wang | May 27, 2009 at 3:39 PM 0 Comments DOE Offers Up $467.6M for Geothermal and Solar

Geothermal power companies that have felt a bit neglected by federal government can rejoice. President Obama just announced $350 million from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act for developing and demonstrating geothermal technologies.

The funding, to be doled out by the U.S. Department of Energy, would go to companies in four categories. The largest chunk, $140 million, would be given to companies that can demonstrate ways to harvest energy from below the earth's surface. Another $100 million would go to companies developing drilling and other exploration activities.

The DOE plans to give $80 million to research in what's called "enhanced geothermal systems," which involve drilling deep into hot rocks and injecting water to create a steam reservoir. The EGS technology promises to create geothermal fields in areas with limited natural steam resources.

Lastly, $30 million will go to developers of geothermal resource databases. The databases would provide researchers and companies with information on where the best geothermal resources are and how to classify different types of resources. The U.S. Geological Survey did an assessment of high-temperature resources last year, and it'll work on creating the databases, the DOE said.

The federal government hasn't always embraced geothermal power research and development. Companies developing drilling technologies, in particular, have complained about inadequate federal funding to support their work. Drilling a well just to see if there are any geothermal resources to be harvested could take a few millions. Then there is the drilling of the production wells and building the power generation facilities that cost more money.

On Thursday, Obama also announced a pot of $117.6 million for solar energy development. The money would go to national labs, universities and the private sector to commercialize solar technologies, the DOE said.

The DOE plans to give $51.5 million to technology developers, especially those who could deliver solar power more cheaply. Another $40.5 million would go to efforts that don't involve developing solar technologies, such as training installers. Finally, $25.6 million would go to national labs to conduct research on concentrating solar power research. 

Click

Could Ontario Be the Next Germany?

London, UK [Renewable Energy World Magazine]

If the Green Energy and Green Economy Act (Bill 150) is passed as expected in May 2009, Ontario will become the first North American jurisdiction with an incentive system modeled after German feed-in tariffs (FITs), according to incentive expert Paul Gipe. With proposed tariffs of up to 80.2 CAN cents/kWh (US$0.64/kWh, €0.47/kWh) for solar power generation, fixed and guaranteed for 20 years, the province would have the most favorable incentives currently available worldwide for roof-mounted systems below 100 kW. More lucrative, even, than current German incentives under the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG).

Ontario’s proposed Green Energy Act passed a second reading in March and was ordered to the Standing Committee on General Government for public comment, ending as REW goes to press. Changes to both the Act and the feed-in tariffs may still occur, but as it is almost certain to pass (the Act is supported by the Ontario Liberal Party, which controls 71 of the 107 seats in the Legislative Assembly), the Ontario government started a parallel process in February to work out the deployment details.

In a separate initiative, the Ontario government will also launch a C$250 million (€150 million) Emerging Technologies Fund, which should be operational on 1 July 2009. This fund will match investments from private sources, such as venture capital firms, in Ontario-based technology companies, including cleantech firms. It might, for example, be leveraged by innovative solar companies seeking to establish a broader presence in Ontario by developing technologies locally.

We believe that the combination of the Green Energy Act and the Emerging Technologies Fund will dramatically improve the business conditions for cleantech endeavours in Ontario. Combined with the province’s integration into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) space, traditionally low manufacturing costs and abundant skilled workforce, this Act may actually turn Ontario into the most attractive beachhead for European and Asian renewable energy technology companies seeking to expand into North America.

This fund seems to be making a difference already. For instance, Nicolas Morgan, co-founder and vice president of Business Development at Morgan Solar, a Toronto-based venture developing a concentrating photovoltaic panel, observed: ‘For a while, it looked like Morgan Solar would have to move to the US to attract investments. As a young company with two products to commercialize in the next 12 months, we have been talking to a number of investors and have received offers of financing on condition that we move to the US. Ontario’s Green Energy Act and the Emerging Technology Fund may change all that. We are now hopeful that we can launch our venture in Ontario.’

How does Ontario compare to Germany?

Looking solely at installed capacity, Ontario and Canada are dwarfed by Germany. While Germany has over 5000 MW installed, the whole of Canada has less than 50 MW. California, the largest PV market in North America, has 530 MW by comparison. Capacity-wise, Ontario therefore has lots of catching-up to do, currently standing roughly where Germany was 20 years ago.

Comparing the inputs to the economics of energy is more flattering for Ontario. It might surprise even Canadians themselves to learn that Ontario receives more sunlight than Germany, which is located a little further north than the Canadian province. In fact, large parts of Ontario get 10%–15% more sunlight per year than southern Germany. (Left: Houses in the community with solar panels, credit Ontario Green Energy Act.)

Since the incentives take the form of a feed-in tariff in both Ontario and in Germany, as opposed to California where they are added to the electricity savings (through net metering), local electricity rates are less important to the return on investment for solar systems.

On the other hand, Ontario electricity rates are much lower than in both Germany and California, meaning that public support to expand the energy supply side has not been as strong as in those two jurisdictions. Instead, the political incentive used to motivate the Ontario public and justify the Green Energy Act has been the promise of a province free of coal-fired plants.

‘Ontario has the potential to become a mini-Germany,’ confirms Ian MacLellan, Systems Division president and founder of Ontario-based solar cell manufacturer ARISE Technologies. ‘Obviously, with 82 million inhabitants in Germany – more than six times as many as the 13 million in Ontario – we will never get the same volumes as in Germany. But, if our politicians and bureaucrats manage to make the process of developing solar systems as simple as it is in Germany, I would expect Ontario to see a development similar to that of Germany, only at a relatively smaller scale. We have to recognize that Germany, through their ‘1000 roofs’ programme (1990–1995) and later their ‘100,000 roofs’ programme (1999–2003), gained years of experience which we don’t have in Ontario, so even if the politicians have sought to learn from the German experience, I expect it will take time in Ontario as well. One cause for concern is the 100 MW cap which leads to an automatic 9% lowering of the tariffs, an uncertainty which I believe will keep some from investing in Ontario,’ he notes. (Left: The Sun Simba HCPV is a high concentrating photovoltaic system. It is not yet available, and is still in the prototype and testing stage of development. Credit: Morgan Solar)

Ontario FITs favour systems below 100 kW

MacLellan explains further the effect he anticipates from the suggested tariff structure on the type of photovoltaic projects that will be proposed: ‘At ARISE, we feel the feed-in tariffs play to our sweet-spot. On the other hand, developers of solar parks will probably be disappointed. If you take our previous estimate of 100 MW for 2010 we assume that 20% of the volume will be solar parks, 40% will be commercial rooftop systems between 10–500 kW and 40% will be residential and smaller systems up to 10 kW. In other words, we are looking at only four or five solar parks of a size of 4–5 MW next year.’

For systems up to 100 kW in size, the Ontario FITs at the recommended rates would be superior to the German FIT. That is especially true for residential and smaller rooftop installations with rates at 80.2 CAN cents/kWh (68 US cents/kWh) for rooftop solar photovoltaic systems below 10 kW. It’s worth noting that, in 2007, systems below 10 kW made up 40% of the German market – it appears that the Ontario FITs will stimulate a similar initial focus on smaller systems. And as with Germany, Ontario systems would benefit from a guaranteed 20-year fixed rate.

Interestingly, a handful of companies had already announced the development of large solar parks under the previous incentives, the Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program (RESOP), which paid a lower rate of 42 CAN cents/kWh (€0.25/kWh) to all solar project categories. In April 2008, for example, Toronto-based SkyPower and SunEdison of Baltimore launched the construction of their First Light solar park, a 19 MW project (broken down into two phases each falling under the current 10 MW threshold) consisting of more than 200,000 panels near Kingston, Ontario, and announced they would be pursuing six more projects.

Even though RESOP was suspended the following month, in May 2008 (according to our contacts at SunEdison, the First Light project was delayed as a result, but construction has resumed and is scheduled to be completed by August 2009), those companies may now find even a minimal 5.5% increase – from 42 CAN cents to 44.3 CAN cents (36 US cents to 38 US cents) – welcome, especially if it applies retroactively to projects they already saw as financially viable. To discuss this last possibility, the Ontario Power Authority recently called for comments on the application of the new incentives to ‘legacy’ projects.

Is it time to set up shop in Ontario?

The main criticism of the Act is that it does not establish long-term targets for renewable capacity. Some observers argue that regulatory policy stability is not guaranteed, and the minister concerned can still change policies if political priorities shift. While regulatory uncertainty remains indeed a source of risk, some cleantech companies have decided not to wait for more assurance from the government, and jumped in with announcements of new installations in Ontario.

Everbrite Solar, a division of Toronto-based Everbrite Industries, has licensed a turnkey manufacturing technology from an unnamed supplier overseas, to invest CAN$500 million (US$400 million, €300 million) in a photovoltaic manufacturing facility in Kingston, Ontario. Arizona-based First Solar and solar project developer Recurrent Energy of San Francisco acquired and are planning to develop multi-megawatt solar projects in Ontario, and thin-film module manufacturer Nanosolar Inc. is considering setting up a regional assembly plant in the province, according to a local newspaper.

It has been made clear that the Act will favour businesses with operations in Ontario and include requirements for a certain amount of domestic content (at a level yet to be decided). With the Ontario value chain in cleantech needing considerable strengthening, early movers are likely to see significant advantages. Apart from a handful of local manufacturers, additional suppliers are needed to get new projects off the ground. Ontario-based companies like ARISE Technologies, 6N Silicon, Timminco and Menova Energy are leading domestic players, but they all depend on outside partners to complement their offerings. This need is likely to create opportunities for best-in-class providers from Europe and Asia.

This sentiment was shared by Nicolas Morgan of Morgan Solar: ‘The proposed feed-in tariffs are well designed from a solar perspective. Currently, the province lacks capacity in the solar supply chain, so we believe there will be more wind projects in Ontario in the first couple of years. The fact that the province is committing to invest substantial amounts in a smart grid, however, means that the timing is perfect for companies like Morgan Solar.’

But MacLellan is less concerned with the supply chain: ‘Bottlenecks are not a problem for ARISE Technologies, but may be for newer companies in Ontario. ARISE probably has installed more rooftop systems in Ontario than anyone else and has established all the necessary partnerships in the supply chain. On the financing side we will rely on our international partners, at least until the Canadian banks enter the market with products.’

And other incentives to setting up operations in Ontario may help further build local R&D and manufacturing capabilities – chief among them, the Next Generation Job Fund, which covers 15% of the cost of establishing operations in Ontario for direct foreign investment, and generous R&D tax credits covering a wide range of activities. Universal healthcare and a federal pension plan, Ontario’s proximity to a market with over 400 million people through NAFTA, and a very cost-competitive workforce compared to the US (with the third largest manufacturing base in North America after Texas and California) complete the picture.

So, while this is not a foregone conclusion, the stars seem to increasingly align to make the Ontario market more attractive.

The path to success in Ontario

As we alluded in our previous article in Renewable Energy World magazine, Roadmap for A Changed Landscape: Consolidation and Integration in the Solar PV Business (Nov/Dec 2008), businesses with a winning formula must take advantage of international expansion opportunities such as those emerging in Ontario, or risk being rapidly outflanked by their competitors. With average factory gate prices of crystalline modules already 24% down on 2008 levels due to overcapacity, and module prices decreasing, favourable business environments like the ones being created in Ontario should be explored pro-actively.

However, uncertainty remains about the level of interest among businesses and home owners in Ontario in investing in rooftop systems in these constrained economic times, even with a good return on investment.

Indeed, the federal election results from October 2008 saw voters in Ontario reject party leader Stephane Dion’s proposed ‘Green Shift’. The Liberal party, who had put that initiative at the centre of its campaign, lost 7% of votes in Ontario, and the Green party failed to pick up a single seat in the province, suggesting that ‘green’ may not be as important for Ontarians as for Germans. After all, the Alliance90/Green Party holds 51 seats in the Bundestag, while its Canadian counterpart has seats in neither the federal parliament nor the provincial assembly. In this context, a market entry strategy in the residential and commercial segments should include a solid local awareness campaign built around the financial and societal benefits of a rooftop system.

Canada has not been impacted by the economic recession as much as the US has, but property prices have nonetheless fallen and businesses have considerably reduced their spending. With Canadian banks still some way from being able to offer financing products for retail and commercial solar systems, new entrants to the Ontario market should consider partnering with other financial institutions and PPA providers (such as SunEdison for commercial rooftops) to ensure they can offer a turnkey solution to prospective customers. (Left: Solar PV panels by Bright Solar Inc, a Toronto-based green energy company.)

Be it made of residential, commercial, or solar farm installations, or a mix thereof, any solar project portfolio should include a financial risk alleviation component, driven by a project mix diversification strategy, and tight management of the committed projects. For the latter, a well-articulated market strategy, bolstered by a targeted partnership and networking programme, will go a long way in facilitating the right financial and project development support.

Generating local goodwill would also help address the politically-motivated resistance to the subsidized programme that, left unaddressed, will inevitably gain further traction and likely derail solar projects and the progress of the province towards a cleaner energy mix. History has shown that the price to pay to address this problem after the fact was, too often, underestimated by the solar industry and its political supporters. It is especially regrettable since it can be tackled cost-effectively through a discerning awareness-building programme, making good use of innovative actions such as a social media campaign to build thought leadership and positive word-of-mouth around positive messages.

A point worth considering is to note that one in four Canadians are already on Facebook, and Toronto had the largest Facebook community until it was overtaken in 2007 by London, a characteristic that could be leveraged effectively to build local support for solar energy. A timely industry- and/or government-led grass roots awareness campaign would greatly help fuel exponential interest in the programme, and make sure that solar power really ignites in Ontario.

Greg Boutin and Jon Worren are independent partners co-operating together on projects, www.growthroute.com. E-mail: gregboutin@gmail.com or jon.worren@gmail.com

Click

Abengoa Solar Begins Construction on Second CSP Plant in Spain

(Source: Datamonitor)Abengoa Solar has begun construction on its second concentrating solar power plant in the town of Logrosan, located in the province of Caceres, Spain. The parabolic trough technology plant will have a power output capacity of 50MW, enough to power approximately 25,000 households.

The concentrating solar power (CSP) plant will also prevent the emission of 31,400 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year, thereby upholding Abengoa's commitment to sustainability and to combating climate change.

Like the first plant, which is already under construction in the same location, this new power station will utilize parabolic trough technology, a solution developed by the company in recent years and proven and tested at the Solucar Platform plants in Sanlucar la Mayor, Seville.

Pedro Robles, CEO of Abengoa Solar Spain, said: "Two years ago we began the process involved in building these plants. After having made the necessary investments involved in purchasing land and the primary equipment, we can today affirm that Extremadura will enjoy two clean energy plants. Both power stations will be part of the future Extremadura Solar Platform, which will make the most of the sun, one of the region's greatest natural resources."

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.


Click