[amor de cosmos]

How Solar Will Destroy The Power Companies, In 5 Easy Steps
Rob Wile
Jun. 3, 2014, 10:13 AM

Barclays recently downgraded the entire U.S. electric utilities sector to "underweight" on the threat posed by widespread adoption of solar-storage. These systems allow homeowners to use rooftop solar panels and a battery to cut all but the figurative emergency backup cord to their local electric grid, putting a severe strain on an industry that has been a defacto monopoly.

The firm's sweeping case focused in large part on debt markets' apparent ignorance to challenge utilities are facing. We wanted to zero in on the astonishingly simple steps that makes Barclays lays out to make shaking up utilities quite possible.

1) Solar prices come down



2) The defection spiral commences

3) Utilities flail around in their state capitols seeking relief

4) The decommissioning process begins

5) The market turns

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-s...mpanies-2014-6

America's Sunniest State Has Become The Battleground For The Country's Biggest Fight Over Solar Power
Rob Wile
Jun. 2, 2014, 8:21 PM

You'd think expanding solar energy in Arizona, the state with the country's highest level of solar insolation, would be a breeze.

But last year, the state's Department of Revenue ruled that existing statutes suggest homeowners who install solar panels on their roofs are subject to a $140 surcharge on their property taxes.

Last month, the department further clarified that only homeowners who lease panels would face the tax — little comfort to those taking part in the fastest-growing segment of residential solar installations.

What prompted that first ruling remains unclear to this day. Whatever its origins, it is still in place.

Today, TUSK, a pro-renewables conservative group whose members include SolarCity and SunRun, launched its latest salvo in a campaign to reverse the department's interpretation, releasing an ad that calls on Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer to override the department's ruling. The coalition also announced last week that there will be a rally at the state capitol to protest the interpretation.

"It's a terrible tax for Arizona and a political gift for the Democrats," Barry Goldwater Jr., the head of TUSK, says in the ad. A recent TUSK-sponsored poll found 77% of Arizonans would be less likely to vote for an election candidate if they proposed ending support for solar.

The utility industry's opposition to solar has been well documented, but it seems to have grown most intense in Arizona, where the solar industry has accused the chairman of the state's electric utility, Don Brandt, of personally lobbying in favor of a bill that would codify the department's interpretation into law. The group that owns the utility spent more than $3 million last year on a campaign to peel back solar subsidies. The utility argues non-solar customers are hurt by the incentives.

We just wrote about how Barclays believes it's already too late for utility companies to achieve anything more than short-term speedbumps to solar adoption.

http://www.businessinsider.com/new-a...-tax-ad-2014-6

Watch the Meteoric Rise of First-Quarter PV Installations in the US
Q1 PV installations have grown nearly tenfold since 2010.
Mike Munsell
June 2, 2014

According to the Q1 2014 U.S. Solar Market Insight report released last week, the U.S. installed 1,330 megawatts of PV in the first quarter of the year. This is the second-biggest quarter in the history of the U.S. solar industry and by far the largest first quarter ever.

The chart below illustrates the nearly tenfold growth the PV market has seen over the past five first quarters.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...ons-in-the-U.S

Solar power storage system sales set to soar in Germany
03. June 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Intersolar Europe 2014, Markets & Trends, Trade show | By: Edgar Meza

A "quiet revolution" is taking place in the country's PV industry: a number of factors are coming together that will result in a boom in PV energy storage solutions, according to Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI).

While German political leaders and the media have largely focused on smart grids as the answer to increasing grid demand and subsequent market price fluctuations, Germany Trade & Invest (GTAI) says storage solutions are already helping to solve the problem and predicts that demand for storage systems will soon explode in the country.

Indeed GTAI -- the German Economic Affairs and Energy Ministry's foreign trade and investment promotion agency -- says "a quiet revolution has been taking place in the photovoltaic industry."

German solar photovoltaic generation peaked at around 15 GW on May 11 -- a record high that caused prices to sink briefly into the negative, GTAI notes.

"Balancing supply with demand in the grid presents operators with a significant challenge and leads to market price fluctuations," says GTAI renewable energies manager Tobias Rothacher. "That is where storage solutions come into play."

Storage is a major topic at this year's Intersolar Europe conference and exhibition in Munich, which runs June 2-6.

"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," adds Rothacher, who advises and supports international companies planning to invest in Germany.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...any_100015289/

Australian solar breakthrough – ‘giant step’ in race against coal
By Sophie Vorrath on 3 June 2014

An ARENA-backed, CSIRO-developed solar thermal demonstration project has notched up a significant win for the technology, generating the highest temperature steam ever produced using energy from the sun.

The world-first achievement at the CSIRO Energy Centre in Newcastle, NSW, has been hailed as a game changing breakthrough for renewables, demonstrating solar’s potential to power steam turbines equivalent to those currently used by advanced coal-fired plants.

‘‘Instead of relying on burning fossil fuels to produce supercritical steam, this breakthrough demonstrates that the power plants of the future could instead be using the free, zero-emission energy of the sun to achieve the same result,’’ said CSIRO’s energy director, Alex Wonhas.

The $5.7 million project (to which ARENA contributed $2.8 million) is part of a broader collaboration with leading solar thermal developer Abengoa Solar to advance solar storage and deliver renewable electricity around the clock.

Comprising two test plants – which concentrate light from 600 mirrors into receiver towers where water is heated to produce steam that drives turbines – it has shown it is possible for solar thermal generated supercritical steam to reach temperatures of up to 570°C and pressure of 23.5 megapascals.

Project leader Robbie McNaughton says his team now plans to do more testing, under even more extreme conditions, to see how far they can push the technology.

“Achieving the critical combination of high pressure and high temperature is a giant step,” said ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht on Tuesday. “It demonstrates solar energy has the potential to effectively power the steam turbines currently used by advanced coal-fired plants.

“In addition to being a renewable energy world first, this landmark development stands to deliver greater plant efficiency as well as advance a diverse energy future for Australia.”

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/aust...nst-coal-17973

Britain's solar boom seen even bigger this year
By Nina Chestney
LONDON Tue Jun 3, 2014 10:12am EDT

(Reuters) - Britain's growth in solar capacity could be greater this year than last as firms snap up government subsidies for new large plants before they come to an end, said Foresight Group, a major British asset manager investing in the solar sector.

Last year, Britain installed a record of 1.5 gigawatts of new solar photovotaic (PV) capacity and overtook Italy to become the second-biggest European market after Germany, according to a major industry association.

The rapidly falling cost of solar PV technology has fueled the installation of more capacity in Europe, and UK solar developers have also benefited from generous government subsidies in recent years.

Faster-than-expected deployment has led to a higher subsidy bill, however, prompting Britain to end support for new large-scale solar plants two years earlier than expected.

Last month, the government said it would end subsidies under its Renewable Obligation (RO) scheme for new solar projects over 5 megawatts (MW) from April 2015, instead of in 2017.

"The UK solar market experienced the fastest growth in Europe last year," Jamie Richards, partner and head of infrastructure at the Foresight Group, said in an interview.

"This year will be even bigger for UK solar growth due to a cut-off deadline for subsidies. After that, growth will likely take a pause as new capacity is rolled out," he added.

Foresight Group is an infrastructure and private equity investment firm with more than 1.1 billion pounds ($1.8 billion)of assets under management. It holds more than 650 million pounds of solar plant assets in Britain, Italy, Spain and the United States.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0EE1HI20140603