[amor de cosmos]

Solar Energy Storage System Market In Germany Approaching A Boom

The solar energy storage system market in Germany is approaching a boom period, according to many analysts, with a rapid uptick in sales likely as the technology enters wider use.

The drive behind this boom is the simple fact that such systems are extremely practical for many people/purposes — most pay themselves off in only a few years, providing yet another way for renewable energy to help cut utility costs for homeowners.

With the recent surge in solar energy in the country — and the achievement of a new record high on May 11, 2014 (15 GW) — the time certainly does seem ripe for a solar energy storage boom.

The systems don’t just benefit the consumer, though. The grid benefits as well.

“Balancing supply with demand in the grid presents operators with a significant challenge and leads to market price fluctuations. That is where storage solutions come into play,” explains Tobias Rothacher, renewable energies manager at Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI).

“Many solar installations will have paid for themselves in the next couple of years and some will soon reach the end of their 20-year feed-in tariff contract,” Rothacher, an advisor for international companies planning to invest in Germany, continues.

“With modern and cheaper battery technology now available, these owners are able to store excess power during the day instead of feeding it into the grid at low prices and buying it back at night when it is more expensive. This helps to reduce grid fluctuations and with feed-in tariffs set to fall this summer, it makes even more economic sense.”

EuPD, a leading market research firm, currently expects sales of solar energy storage systems in Germany to rise significantly in the next few years — up to 100,000 units a year in 2018, up from the 6,000 that sold in 2013.

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/06/09/...roaching-boom/

U.S. EPA Announces Rules on Carbon Emissions: But the Real Payoff is in Spurring Technology Development and Deployment, Not a Binding Global Climate Deal

On Monday, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Gina McCarthy revealed a “Clean Power Plan” to implement Obama administration’s proposal for reducing CO2 emissions from existing power plants down 30% from 2005 levels by 2030. The President had laid out the broad brushstrokes of the proposed regulations in his weekly address on Sunday. EPA’s announcement yesterday underscored that the rules are enforceable with specific targets for each state ranging from lower targets for coal-dominant states, like Kentucky at 23%, and for states with a cleaner energy mix, such as New York at 44%. The EPA rules are not prescriptive for specific technologies, but allow for flexibility by individual states in how they choose to achieve their targets. They can institute Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) like much of the Northeast, or set up carbon trading markets, including broad regional ones. Any such plan will include more renewables, both utility-scale and distributed. For some states, the targets may not be a heavy lift: For instance, analysis from the World Resources Institute indicates Minnesota can achieve a 31% reduction by continuing its existing RPS, increasing the use of combined cycle natural gas (currently operating at 11% capacity), and enforcing existing energy efficiency standards.

The EPA will enforce the new rules under section 111-d of the Clean Air Act, but is bound to face many legal challenges prior to that. However, if the U.S. Supreme Court acts on its own precedents set in Massachusetts vs EPA in 2007, the new rules will withstand the legal challenges. More serious challenges may be in the offing on the political front, particularly if a Republican takes the White House in the 2016 presidential election.

The new rules represent the most significant action taken by the U.S. government to address climate change to date, given that existing power plants account for 38% of the country’s carbon emissions, and complement the expected reductions in the transportation sector generated by the EPA’s increased fuel economy standards for automobiles, released in July 2011. This action has raised the hopes of international agencies like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) regarding a global climate deal in 2015.

These new rules, however impactful for the U.S. emissions, on their own are unlikely to have a dramatic impact on the global climate, given that almost all future growth in carbon emissions will come from developing and underdeveloped countries – most notably China, which became the largest carbon emitter in 2007. Hence much of the debate about the rules has centered on how likely they are to help induce China and other nations to agree to binding targets of their own. However, much of the discussion misses a critical point: Whatever their political importance, the rules will accelerate technology development and deployment, making it more practical and affordable for nations everywhere to reduce emissions. While their success is far from certain, their influence on innovation is where they will need to have the biggest impact for the world to achieve its CO2 reduction goals.

We predict four major technology sectors to get a boost:

• Commercial- and utility-scale solar demand will rise in unexpected places
  Subsidized internal rates of return (IRRs) are already high for commercial and utility solar installations in states like California and Massachusetts, ranging from 10% to 15% (see Lux Solar Demand Tracker – client registration required). However, the new carbon emissions rules will likely open up hitherto unattractive markets due to the lack of significant subsidies, such as Georgia and South Carolina, where we project IRRs between 2% and 5%. As the IRRs rise in the Southeast, expect a greater flow of debt capital and competing business models, such as leasing from SolarCity and solar loans from Sungage, to make their presence felt. Provided the states comply, the new rules will also make it more difficult for utilities to raise legal objections to increasing use of renewables in the energy mix.

http://blog.luxresearchinc.com/blog/...-climate-deal/
http://www.luxresearchinc.com/news-a...pur-innovation