[amor de cosmos]

Juan Cole
More Solar Workers in U.S. Than Coal Miners, and Solar Doesn’t Poison Drinking Water
Posted on Feb 18, 2014
By Juan Cole

By the end of 2013, the number of workers in the solar energy industry in the US had grown to 143,000. About a third of them are in California, followed by Arizona, New Jersey, and Massachusetts.

the wind power industry employed another 80,000 or so workers directly, and many more in transportation of components, etc.

Together, wind and solar energy workers far outnumber all the estimated workers in coal mining, coal transportation, and coal plant operation. Solar installation jobs alone outnumber seasonally adjusted full-time jobs in coal mining by a substantial margin.

In contrast to the rapidly growing solar and wind sectors, 151 coal mines were idled in the second half of 2013, with a loss of 2600 mining jobs. Coal is very dirty and cannot compete with wind and natural gas if the industry is made to conform to the Clean Air Act.

There are about 83,000 coal miners in the US, and their numbers are declining. Another 40,000 or so workers toil at coal-fired power plants, but other kinds of power plants also employ workers, so the latter can’t be considered as essentially in the coal industry. Likewise, workers who transport coal would also be needed to transport solar panels and other energy-generating components, and so can’t be considered “coal” workers per se.

Solar jobs are concentrated in panel installation and average $38,000 a year. Obviously, state governments in places like Kentucky and West Virginia should be funding retraining programs for coal workers as solar panel installers and wind turbine installers and operators.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/...water_20140218

Tiny Solar Thermal Power Plant Solves Gigantic Salt Problem

We’ve been getting all excited about Ivanpah and Crescent Dunes, two new gigantic concentrating solar thermal projects in California and Nevada. Now let’s turn our attention to a third solar thermal plant at the Panoche Water and Drainage District in California.

This one, from a company called WaterFX, is different in terms of scale (miniature compared to the first two), solar energy collection (its concentrators are troughs, not flat panels), and thermal platform (it uses a form of mineral oil, not molten salt).

Solar Power Desalination Solves Part Of the Problem…

The plant is actually a modular, integrated system that WaterFX calls the Aqua4™ Concentrated Solar Still, and it’s designed to solve a problem bedeviling the water desalination field: what to do with all the leftover salty brine after you’ve extracted all the fresh water?

That problem is bound to keep growing as already-stressed global water resources keep shrinking, forcing farmers and other users to tap formerly overlooked sources including seawater, brackish groundwater, and various forms of wastewater.

One key element in the problem is that advanced desalination typically uses a high-pressure process called reverse osmosis, which requires a tremendous amount of energy, adding to the global carbon burden aside from adding to costs.

The energy factor can be partly solved by using solar power for desalination, along with other forms of clean, renewable energy.

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/02/18/...-salt-problem/

Solar power’s new wave
RICHARD BLACKWELL
The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Feb. 17 2014, 7:22 PM EST
Last updated Monday, Feb. 17 2014, 7:28 PM EST

At first glance, the awnings over the sidewalk and entryway at a new Toronto-Dominion Bank branch in Mississauga, just west of Toronto, look pretty normal.

On closer inspection, it’s clear these glass sheets – translucent panels in metal frames, adorned with an attractive grid of dark squares – are designed to do more than protect customers from the elements.

This is one of the few installations in Canada of “building integrated” photovoltaic solar panels, also known as BIPV. It’s an approach to renewable energy that is poised to expand dramatically in the coming years, with global industry revenues set to leap from around $2-billion a year in 2012 to more than $35-billion in 2019, according to an analysis from Virginia-based research firm NanoMarkets.

The idea is simple: Replace conventional building materials with elements that incorporate solar cells. Cells are built into glass, wall panels or roof tiles to become part of the building, instead of add-ons or attachments. Formerly passive structural components now produce power, cutting down on a building’s outside electricity consumption – and, eventually, lowering energy costs.

Les Lyster, chief executive of Toronto-based solar panel maker Eclipsall Energy Corp. is witnessing this solar shift firsthand. His company, which made the solar components for TD’s Mississauga branch, says BIPV products currently comprise about 10 per cent of the business, but Mr. Lyster says he expects that number to rise as high as 50 per cent in the next year or so.

While it takes time for BIPV systems to generate a financial payback – since the solar-integrated building materials are usually more expensive than the materials they are replacing – that balance is shifting as technology improves and energy costs rise.

Currently, though, most companies installing building-integrated systems are still doing so to test the technology, or to demonstrate their green credentials.

That’s clearly part of the motivation at TD, which has installed solar panels in one form or another at 94 branch locations across North America.

“We are committed to be an environmental leader,” so high-profile solar installations that are noticed by customers and employees are important, says Jacquelynn Henke, vice-president of innovation at TD’s enterprise real estate division. “They are easy to see. That gives us the opportunity to start a conversation about the environment …[and] it gives a sense of engagement.”

While the Mississauga branch is the first example of BIPV at one of TD’s Canadian buildings, Ms. Henke said, the technology is already widespread in the bank’s U.S. operations, where several branches have solar panels integrated into canopies over their drive-through lanes.

While the PR value is crucial, energy cost savings are also important, she said.

On average, the solar-panel-equipped drive-through canopies generate 12 to 18 per cent of each branch’s electricity needs. And now that the construction has been standardized, they are actually cheaper to build than the non-solar canopies.

Still, there are barriers to the expansion of building-integrated solar power.

First, antiquated building and electrical codes, which were written long before this technology was even considered, are slowing its spread. “There is a lot of bureaucracy now [getting in the way of] moving a building-integrated project along,” Eclipsall’s Mr. Lyster says. “Once that gets a little bit more streamlined, it’s going to help drive the costs down.”

At the same time, most electrical utilities have complex rules for attaching anything that produces power to the grid – creating another headache.

Despite that, many ambitious projects are now in the works. Mr. Lyster says his company is working with a builder on two planned 50-storey buildings in Toronto where solar panels will be incorporated in the spandrels – the panels between each row of windows.

“If we put building integrated there, we can get up to a 500 or 600 kilowatt system,” he says. “That can make a big difference in the [power] a building is going to need to operate.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...ticle16925532/

CIGS Solar Update: Avancis Sets Thin-Film PV Module Efficiency Record
The CIGS materials system continues to set new performance records.
Eric Wesoff
February 18, 2014

In September 2013, Saint-Gobain subsidiary Avancis curtailed production at its German CIGS thin-film solar factory. But the company is still working on CIGS technology in the lab and is setting new marks for conversion efficiency in this high potential materials system.

The Torgau, Germany-based firm's CIGS module has hit an NREL-certified efficiency of 16.6 percent. According to the firm, that's a "new efficiency world record for encapsulated thin-film modules." First Solar hit 16.1 percent with its CdTe thin-film module in April 2013. Parent company Saint-Gobain operates a float glass plant in Torgau.

The hero module is 30 x 30 cm². The firm noted that "ZSW´s 20.8% efficiency on a laboratory cell...demonstrates the extraordinary potential of the CIS-based thin film technologies." Avancis uses a sputtering process to deposit the absorber layer.

Dr. Jörg Palm, head of process development at Avancis, said in a release, "The very good homogeneity of the CIS absorber properties based on production dimensions of 158 x 66 cm² were demonstrated by the minor deviation of 0.15% absolute between different 30 x 30 cm² modules from the same full-size absorber." The release continued: "The improvement in efficiency is based on the optimization of the buffer layer with respect to InxSy bandgap, band matching, and in particular transmission in a short wavelength range. In addition, the transmittance and the sheet resistance of the sputtered ZnO:Al front contact was optimized and the dead area between the series-connected cells was reduced by the use of picosecond laser process."

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...iciency-Record

Belectric Goes After Building-Integrated PV With Organic Solar Cells
The ghost of Konarka haunts the BIPV market.
Eric Wesoff
February 18, 2014

Talk of building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV), or coating window glass with PV materials, typically occurs when a solar startup is running on fumes or a charlatan is in the room. (Here's a BIPV effort from Abound Solar and eIQ electronics, now both defunct.)

The BIPV I speak of is not the building-applied photovoltaics from the likes of Lumeta or Global Solar or SoloPower or Hanergy's MiaSolé. Instead, the term "BIPV" refers to solar power sources that are an integral, structural part of the building envelope or facade.

That's the market Germany's Belectric, a solar developer, financier, and construction firm, is targeting with the organic photovoltaic technology it acquired from Konarka and its new partnership with flat-glass processor BGT Bischoff Glastechnik.

Belectric has deployed more than 1 gigawatt of solar. The company's OPV Director of Business Development, Marketing and Sales, Hermann Issa, said in a release, “If solar energy is to be used throughout the entire building shell, then organic photovoltaics are extremely well suited to this purpose."

Organic solar cells (OSCs), sometimes referred to as third-generation solar, hold the promise of low-cost production, but their efficiencies tend to be very low. Hero cells are nudging 12 percent efficiency, but long-term reliability and degradation issues remain common with the technology. These low efficiencies have left OSCs to niche applications such as portable electronics, automotive, and the promised-land market of BIPV, which includes windows and facades, as well as concrete and other building materials. There are also potential military applications.

One of the appeals of third-generation thin-film solar cells is that they can be manufactured using solution-based, low-temperature, roll-to-roll manufacturing methods, using conventional printing techniques on flexible substrates. That is the siren song that has kept a trickle of funding flowing.

Organic and dye-sensitized solar cell developers include Dyesol, Heliatek, Solarmer, Plextronics, EPFL, Mitsubishi, Peccell, and G24i. Dyesol builds equipment to manufacture dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Eight19 Limited raised $7 million from the Carbon Trust and Rhodia to develop plastic organic solar cells. Ireland's SolarPrint has replaced the liquid part of the DSSC with printed nanomaterials. Intel has done some research into OSCs, as well.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...ic-Solar-Cells

Slideshow: Update on Ambri’s Liquid Metal Grid-Scale Battery
Commercializing the MIT-Sadoway innovation with funding from Bill Gates and Vinod Khosla
Eric Wesoff
February 17, 2014

David Bradwell, the CTO, co-founder and SVP of liquid-metal battery startup Ambri, spoke on Thursday at Infocast's Energy Storage Week.

We've covered the Ambri story in detail.

• The inventor of the core technology for the battery is Don Sadoway, MIT professor of materials chemistry, with technology inspired by the economy-of-scale of modern electrometallurgy and the aluminum smelter.
• Sadoway used seed money from within MIT to invent the liquid metal battery, using a technology called Reversible Ambipolar Electrolysis.
• Ambri raised a $15 million Round B from Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates and energy company Total in 2012.

Bradwell said a grid-scale battery needs to be resilient, safe and low-cost. The three layers in the Ambri battery are self-segregating, cheap to manufacture and earth-abundant. The materials used in the original design were magnesium and antimony separated by a salt -- but "we needed higher voltage and lower temperature," said the CTO, and so the firm has a new, undisclosed chemistry arrived at with the help of ARPA-E funding.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...-Scale-Battery

Advanced Batteries for Utility-Scale Energy Storage Applications Will Surpass $2.5 Billion in Annual Revenue by 2023
February 18, 2014

Batteries have not traditionally been an integral part of the utility grid, primarily due to concerns about cost, safety, durability, and efficiency. Today, however, technological advances in electrochemistry have enabled a new generation of advanced batteries to start playing an important role in grid management. Click to tweet: According to a new report from Navigant Research, worldwide revenue from advanced batteries for utility-scale energy storage applications will grow from $164 million in 2014 to more than $2.5 billion in 2023.

“Unlike most other networked systems, the electricity grid functions mostly without any stored resources,” says Sam Jaffe, principal research analyst with Navigant Research. “Innovative electrochemistries – particularly lithium ion and its subchemistries – have solved many of the challenges inherent in battery energy storage, and there are more than a dozen individual applications that could utilize batteries for energy storage.”

The clear market leader in utility-scale applications of batteries is lithium ion, which offers the best mix of performance specifications (including energy density, volumetric density, cycle life, calendar life, safety, and cost) for most energy storage applications. Other battery technologies, however, remain viable, according to the report. Flow batteries have been shown to excel at long-duration energy storage applications, and advanced lead-acid batteries have proven to be excellent performers in power-intensive applications.

http://www.navigantresearch.com/news...evenue-by-2023

Harvesting light, the single-molecule way: Molecular mechanism of light harvesting may illuminate path forward to future solar cells
Date: February 16, 2014
Source: American Institute of Physics

New insights into one of the molecular mechanisms behind light harvesting, the process that enables photosynthetic organisms to thrive, even as weather conditions change from full sunlight to deep cloud cover, will be presented at the 58th Annual Biophysical Society Meeting, taking place in San Francisco from Feb. 15-19.

At the meeting, Hsiang-Yu Yang, a graduate student, and Gabriela Schlau-Cohen, a postdoc in W.E. Moerner's research group at Stanford University, will describe how probing these natural systems at the single molecule level is helping to understand the basic mechanisms of light harvesting -- work that could help improve the design and efficiency of devices like solar cells in the future.

"Through our approach, we are able to have a better understanding of the natural designs of light harvesting systems, especially how the same molecular machinery can perform efficient light harvesting at low light while safely dissipating excess excitation energy at high light," explained Yang.

The Moerner group has been studying various photosynthetic antenna proteins using the single-molecule Anti-Brownian ELectrokinetic (ABEL) trap and has uncovered new states of the light harvesting complexes with different degrees of quenching. "By analyzing the transition between these states in a bacterial antenna protein," explained Schlau-Cohen, "we found a process that may be one of the molecular mechanisms of photoprotection, or the way in which the organism protects itself from damage by excess light."

The next steps are to use this technique to understand the natural designs of light harvesting systems, and investigate whether the same processes appear in higher plants. Thus, they are extending their studies to look at photosynthetic proteins from green plants. Eventually, understanding these general principles may help in developing or improving the building of artificial light-harvesting devices.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0216151401.htm

Leading PV markets see pipeline grow to 95 GW
18. February 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends | By: Edgar Meza

Commercial and utility-scale projects make up half of the 4,300 projects in the planning in leading PV countries in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America, according to NPD Solarbuzz.

Solar farms up to 5 MW in size are driving a 95 GW project pipeline in leading PV territories, according to NPD Solarbuzz's latest Global Deal Tracker report.

The study shows that solar PV projects between 250 kW and 5 MW now account for nearly 50 percent of the yet-to-be-completed 4,300 commercial and utility projects in major PV countries.

The leading countries for PV demand now include five major countries in the Asia-Pacific region (China, Japan, India, Thailand and Australia), four European countries (Germany, U.K., Italy and France) and the United States and Canada in North America.

"Collectively, these end-markets are expected to provide more than 80 percent of global solar PV demand during the next five years," the report said.

The total project pipeline for the leading PV markets has reached nearly 95 GW, with the largest projects, in excess of 50 MW, making up 68 percent of the total capacity on offer, although there are currently less than 500 such projects in the pipeline.

"While projects in excess of 50 MW account for most of the solar PV pipeline capacity, smaller projects up to 5 MW can typically be approved and completed within a matter of months, making this segment particularly interesting to suppliers and developers," said NPD Solarbuzz analyst Chris Beadle.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...-gw_100014276/

Global consortium collaborates on 8.5 MW Rwanda solar plant
18. February 2014 | Financial & Legal Affairs, Industry & Suppliers, Global PV markets, Markets & Trends, Top News | By: Ian Clover

The consortium is being led by Norway's Scatec Solar and Dutch developer Gigawatt Global Cooperatief, with additional funding from U.K., U.S., Finnish and Austrian governments.

The East African nation of Rwanda is set to lead the way in breaking new solar PV ground in the region with the announcement this week that construction has begun on a new 8.5 MW solar PV plant in the country.

The project is the result of a global consortium of solar companies, funding institutions and national governments, which between them raised €23.7 million in financing for the plant.

Leading the development is Norwegian solar company Scatec Solar and Gigawatt Global Cooperatief, a solar developer from the Netherlands. These two companies have partnered with Norfund – the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries; FMO – the Dutch Development Bank; and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF). All three entities have provided funding for the project, with additional investment coming via government-led initiatives from the U.K., U.S., Finland and Austria.

The PV plant will become East Africa's first utility-scale solar installation and, once complete, will generate 8% of Rwanda's electricity. The Rwandan government is eager to invest more steadily in renewable energy, and has set itself the objective of a five-fold increase in renewable sources of power by 2017.

The project is located 60 km from the Rwandan capital of Kigali, on land that belongs to the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV) – an educational and residential community created for Rwandan youths orphaned during the country's 1994 genocide. The ASYV is leasing the land, and some of the fees generated will be used to help fund the charity's ongoing activities. It is estimated that once complete, the plant will generate 16 million kWh of clean solar power a year. The Rwanda Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA) has signed a 25-year Power Purchase Agreement for the energy it produces. Completion and commercial operation is expected by this summer.

"We are very happy to be able to realize this first utility scale PV project in Rwanda," said Scatec Solar CEO Raymond Carlsen. "At the end of last year, we grid-connected the first utility scale solar park in Southern Africa. The 75 MW Kalkbult solar park is currently the largest on the continent. Our objective has been to bring the experience gained in South Africa to other African nations, and we are pleased to team up with Norfund, FMO and EAIF to introduce large-scale solar energy to East Africa."

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ant_100014270/

Scatec Solar to build East Africa’s first utility-scale PV plant in Rwanda
By Ben Willis - 18 February 2014, 10:57
In News, Power Generation, Project Focus

Norway-based Scatec Solar is to build the first utility-scale PV plant in Rwanda, also said to be the first of its size in East Africa.

The company has closed on a US$23.7 million deal to finance the 8.5MW project with Norway’s international development fund, Norfund, and developer Gigawatt Global Coöperatief.

Construction is expected to start work immediately, with completion scheduled for this summer.

When complete, the plant is expected to increase Rwanda’s total electricity generation capacity by 8% and contribute towards the country’s stated aim of increasing its renewable energy capacity fivefold.

Located around 60km from Rwanda’s capital, Kigale, the plant will be built on land belonging to Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), a residential and educational community for youth orphaned during and after Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

Electricity from the plant will be fed into the national grid under a 25-year power purchase agreement with Rwanda Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA).

The capital investment for the project will be financed through FMO, the Dutch Development Bank, the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and Norfund. Scatec Solar and Norfund will be majority owners in the solar park with project developer Gigawatt Global maintaining a 20% share in the project.

Scatec Solar is already actively involved in the burgeoning PV market in South Africa.

Chief executive, Raymond Carlsen, said: “At the end of last year, we grid connected the first utility-scale solar park in Southern Africa. The 75MW Kalkbult solar park is currently the largest in Africa. Our objective has been to bring the experience gained in South Africa to other African nations, and we are pleased to team up with Norfund, FMO and EAIF and introduce large-scale solar energy to Eastern Africa.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/scatec_s...lant_in_rwanda

Tokyo governor announces ¥4 billion renewable energy fund
By Andy Colthorpe - 18 February 2014, 10:53
In News, Power Generation, Finance

Tokyo’s new governor, Yoichi Masuzoe, who was sworn into office last week, has announced the creation of a public-private fund for the region to use for investment in renewable energy.

The proposed fund could reach ¥4 billion (US$39 million), with the prefectural government expected to budget around ¥1 billion (US$9.8 million) this fiscal year toward renewable energy projects.

Masuzoe announced the fund on Friday at his first regular press conference since being sworn in on 11 February. The governor said that it was his goal to expand renewable energy generation, while also stating that if possible he hoped the renewable energy funds could be used to help the disaster-struck Tohoku region.

No further details on what the fund will be spent on have yet been provided.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/tokyo_go...newable_energy

Jordan government approves PPAs for 200MW
By John Parnell - 18 February 2014, 10:30
In News, Power Generation

The government of Jordan has approved power purchase agreements (PPAs) for 200MW of new solar plants in the country.

The seven individual projects will each be awarded 120 fils/kWh (US$0.17/kWh). The current cost of electricity is around US$0.25/kWh.

The country’s state news agency reported that the Council of Ministers had given the green light to the contracts, which will now be put to the seven firms that were awarded each project.

“This was the official approval of the PPAs, but PPAs were not signed,” explains Iyad Zawaideh, partner, clean energy and sustainability group, Eversheds, Jordan. “Developers are expected to receive communication from MEMR informing them officially of the approval and setting a time limit within which to sign.

“Until developers receive such official communication from MEMR we won't know when signing is expected,” said Zawaideh, pointing out that the tendering process for the first of three planned rounds of PV procurement had now taken three years.

Jordan struggles with electricity shortages and has experienced several major blackouts and brownouts in recent years. It is highly dependent on oil and gas imports.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/jordan_g...ppas_for_200mw

Pour-In-Place System Helps Landfill Go Solar
February 18, 2014 Andrew Merecicky : 1 Comment

Landfills and brownfields have few options for development. Solar is a big exception. Developers are pursuing these areas for solar arrays instead of forest, farm fields or otherwise usable land.

Landfills and brownfields are also typically located in industrial areas or out-of-the-way places where local opposition to solar is limited. In addition, state governments are starting to embrace the development of these sites for PV projects with higher SRECs and other benefits. Utilities often approve these projects faster as well.

The challenge for landfills and brownfields has been the high cost of installing non-penetrating ballasted PV systems with high ground clearance. Labor costs are high for landfill work because union workers are often required, meaning installation speed is a significant issue. Traditionally, large precast ballast blocks have been used, which can be expensive and slow to install. If the racking system doesn’t accommodate for variations in terrain, the blocks must be perfectly leveled and spaced.

Recently, however, racking solutions have emerged using approaches other than precast blocks or ones that allow for adjustments in the racking. For instance, ballast trays for standard pavers and pour-in-place plastic forms, which have concrete poured into the forms on the site after racking has been installed, can reduce install time and racking costs. In these cases, the need to cast the concrete is removed, leading to lower costs. Also, the racks are assembled first, while they are light. The weight is added after the system is lined up.

The Dupont solar landfill project was a 548-kW, five-acre solar installation in Newport, Del., on the site of a former landfill. The company, which owned the site, wanted to make it productive with solar, according to Terry Gooding, a public affairs manager at DuPont. Gooding said the panels provide a viable renewable energy option for the Newport community and enough electricity to power 60 homes.

http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com...fill-go-solar/