Solar Power Thread

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Every 4 Minutes, Another American Home Or Business Goes Solar

If you missed yesterday’s Solar Summit at the White House, we have the whole rundown for you, including this little nugget: every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar. No, for realz. That’s a direct quote from the Solar Summit fact sheet.

However, apparently that four-minute mark is not good enough for the Obama Administration, which just used the Solar Summit to launch a whole new raft of initiatives that will ramp up the pace of development even faster. Combined with the falling-off-the-cliff trend in solar pricing, you’re looking at a major trend in US workforce development that should bury that tired old “jobs-versus-environment” argument once and for all.

New Solar Summit Programs

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/18/...-growth-spurt/

Top 5 Policy Tricks Against Solar
Originally published on SolarWakeup.
By Yann Brandt

After incredible victories by solar policy groups, the anti-solar world lead by the likes of ALEC and investor owned utilities is coming out with a new bag of tricks. We have already seen the work come out in drafts of bills and those filed by legislators doing the work of the crowd going against solar. Most local solar companies engage in some level of statewide policy advocacy and as such needs to be up to speed on the tactics that may be happening in other States.

Solar policies are written to catch up to the market that has been carved out by large corporations that don’t want any competition or consumer choice in the market. The ability to put solar on your house or business should be an option for everyone, regardless of the State you live in. The transparency in the tactics is becoming clearer since solar now has policy shops that can help the strong grassroots support for our industry. “Sunshine is the best disinfectant;” as we present the top 5 policy tricks being used against solar:

5. Kill solar legislation in committee; it’s just too popular with the people

4. Too much solar is a cost shift from the rich to the poor

3. The utilities love solar; we have no problem with it and welcome it

2. Get rid of net metering, for something that’s better (Pinky Promise?)

1. Allow solar leasing…but only if provided by the investor owned utility

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/18/...-tricks-solar/

April 18, 2014
Eleven states generated electricity from nonhydro renewables at double U.S. average



About 6.2% of total U.S. electricity supplies in 2013 were generated from nonhydro renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal, up from 5.4% in 2012. But 11 states produced electricity at more than twice the national average from these sources—accounting for between 14% and 32% of their net electric generation—according to preliminary 2013 generation data in EIA's Electric Power Monthly report.

http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=15911

US mid-scale solar market to get US$100 million finance boost
By John Parnell - 17 April 2014, 11:07
In News, Power Generation, Finance

A new US$100 million project finance fund for distributed solar in the US is to be set up by Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure (HASI) and clean energy finance firm Sol Systems.

The construction and term debt financing will be offered to developers and owners of commercial, municipal and utility-scale projects in the US.

"With this programmatic finance solution for solar developers, we are looking to take the economic and documentation uncertainties out of the finance process and accelerate a developer's ability to close on a project,” said Jeffrey Eckel, president and CEO, HASI.

“We believe this new offering will provide the distributed solar industry with a flexible source of capital for portfolios of smaller projects, along with the skilled staff needed to transact at scale, with speed,” he added.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/us_mid_s..._finance_boost

April 17, 2014
High-temperature plasmonics eyed for solar, computer innovation

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - New "plasmonic metamaterials" that operate at high temperatures could radically improve solar cell performance and bring advanced computer data storage technology that uses heat to record information on a magnetic disk.

The materials could make it possible to harness clouds of electrons called surface plasmons to manipulate and control light. However, some of the plasmonic components under development rely on the use of metals such as gold and silver, which cannot withstand high temperatures. They also are not compatible with the complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) manufacturing process used to construct integrated circuits.

Purdue University researchers are working to replace silver and gold with titanium nitride and zirconium nitride.

"These materials remain stable at the high operational temperatures required for high efficiency and performance," said Urcan Guler, a postdoctoral research associate working with Alexandra Boltasseva, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Vladimir M. Shalaev, scientific director of nanophotonics at Purdue's Birck Nanotechnology Center and a distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering.

The promise of high-temperature plasmonics is described in an article appearing Friday (April 18) in the journal Science. The article, appearing in the magazine's Perspectives section, was co-authored by Guler, Boltasseva and Shalaev.

Metamaterials have engineered surfaces that contain features, patterns or elements, such as tiny antennas or alternating layers of nitrides that enable unprecedented control of light. Under development for about 15 years, the metamaterials owe their unusual potential to precision design on the scale of nanometers.

Now, researchers have discovered that a new class of plasmonic technologies might use high temperatures to achieve superior efficiency. One obstacle, however, is that the operational temperature required for high-efficiency devices is estimated to be around 1,500 degrees Celsius (about 2,700 Fahrenheit). Titanium nitride and zirconium nitride are said to be refractory, meaning they have a high melting point and chemical stability at temperatures above 2,000 Celsius (about 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit).

The materials might be used for solar thermophotovoltaics, in which an ultrathin layer of plasmonic metamaterials could dramatically improve solar cell efficiency: Whereas today's solar cells have an efficiency of about 15 percent, in theory the efficiency might be improved to as high as 85 percent with solar thermophotovoltaics. The plasmonic layer acts as a thin "intermediate spectral converter" that absorbs the entire spectrum of sunlight and then illuminates the solar cell, Guler said.

The spectral converter is an extremely thin layer of metamaterial that uses plasmonic nanoantennas to absorb and emit light. The layer might be as thin as 500 nanometers, or half of a micron, roughly one-hundredth the width of a human hair. This layer of material would be heated by sunlight to about 1,500 degrees Celsius.

http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/relea...nnovation.html
http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/04/hi...ter-innovation

Internal report slams U.S. handling of Abound Solar guarantees
By Valerie Volcovici
WASHINGTON, April 17 Thu Apr 17, 2014 4:55pm EDT

(Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy displayed a "lack of guidance" in how it dealt with millions of dollars in loan guarantees to now-bankrupt Abound Solar Manufacturing, the agency's internal watchdog said in a report on Thursday.

The DOE in recent years has tried to help commercialize the production of solar equipment such as panels and photovoltaic modules with a series of loan guarantees.

The program was savaged by Republican lawmakers after the high-profile bankruptcy of California-based solar manufacturer Solyndra in 2011. The latest audit of loan guarantees to Abound could re-open those wounds.

In a 32-page report, the DOE's Inspector General reviewed the case of Colorado-based Abound, which filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2012 and laid off more than 100 employees, after receiving about $70 million of a $400 million loan guaranteed by the government.

Although the DOE said it had identified and taken steps to mitigate risks, and suspended funding when the company failed to meet certain milestones, the IG report said the loan guarantee program had not established "comprehensive policies, procedures and guidance for awarding, monitoring and administering loans."

"We noted a lack of guidance in the areas of the Board's reconsideration of loans, the processes for resolving differences in professional opinions among the Program's technical experts, the nature and timing of financial and industrial analysis, and the management of distressed loans," the report said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0N90YK20140417

Shunfeng completes issue of USD 460 million in convertible bonds

Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Ltd. (Changzhou, China) has completed the private issue of USD 460 million in 10-year convertible bonds. USD 280 million of these convertible bonds went to shareholder Cheng Kin Ming and his company Peace Link Services Ltd. (British Virgin Islands) to repay his down payment on Wuxi Suntech (Wuxi, China).

Chen Kin Ming paid USD 410 million to secure Shunfeng's acquisition of the solar photovoltaic (PV) cell and module maker in December 2013, in accordance with terms of the acquisition. The remaining USD 180 million in convertible bonds were acquired by three individuals and Power Triumph (British Virgin Islands), all of whom are listed as independent third parties.

Placement to increase share capital by 50%

The convertible bonds bear no interest, and are priced at USD 0.46 per share, representing 1 billion Shunfeng shares. These bonds increase the company's share capital by 50%.

This is only one of a number of convertible bond issues and other measures that Shunfeng is undertaking to raise capital, both for costs associated with the Wuxi Suntech acquisition and its PV project business.

The price of USD 0.46 per share is equal to roughly 79% of the of the average closing prices of a six day period prior to the initiation of the bond issue.

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...ble-bonds.html

Synergy Study: Colocating solar farms and biofuel crops
Written by Sandra Henderson 17 April 2014

Scientists at Stanford University in California (US) have created computer models for exploring the advantages (and possibly drawbacks) of “colocating” solar panel farms with biofuel crops. Such colocated solar-biofuel systems could be a win-win approach, potentially a creative solution to more than one problem: generating solar energy and easily transportable liquid fuel from biofuel cultivation while conserving land and water.

Dust and dirt have to be washed off photovoltaic (PV) panels regularly anyway to ensure optimal efficiency. Runoff water from cleaning the solar panels would water the crops. The vegetation in turn would help anchor the soil to alleviate erosion and reduce the dust being kicked up from the ground by wind. The locational advantages for sunny areas, where land or water are scarce, are evident — both land use and water use would be doubled up.

The types of plants the Stanford team has in mind for drylands, where many solar farms operate, are ones that can ecologically and physiologically adapt and achieve meaningful yields on less fertile soils with low water availability; for example, several species of agave, including the tequila plant. Native to North and South America, these perennial evergreen xerophytic plants can be used to produce liquid ethanol, a biofuel that can be mixed with gasoline or used to power ethanol vehicles.

“In water-limited areas, coupled solar infrastructure and biofuel cultivation could be established in marginal lands with low water use, thus minimising the socioeconomic and environmental issues resulting from cultivating biofuel crops in prime agricultural lands,” says Sujith Ravi, who is conducting postdoctoral research in environmental earth system science at Stanford.

http://www.solarnovus.com/synergy-st...ops_N7662.html

Article Released Tue-15th-April-2014 19:16 GMT
Contact: Mikiko Tanifuji
Institution: National Institute for Materials Science
An abundant and inexpensive water-splitting photocatalyst with low toxicity

Researchers at Japan's National Institute for Materials Science have discovered a new photocatalyst, Sn3O4, which facilitates the production of hydrogen fuel from water, using sunlight as an energy source.

Technology that allows the direct conversion of sunlight, an ultimate renewable energy, into chemical energies (i.e., fuels) that can be condensed and transported is not yet available. As such, solar energy is not ready at present to be utilized in place of conventional fossil and nuclear fuels.

Many water-splitting photocatalysts, such as titanium dioxide (TiO2), can decompose water and produce hydrogen fuel when absorbing ultraviolet light. However, due to their inability to absorb visible light, which accounts for more than half of solar energy, their practical use in the conversion of solar energy is limited. While the development of new photocatalysts that can split water by absorbing visible light has been worked on globally, there are cost- and environment-related issues because many of the available photocatalysts contain expensive rare metals, such as tantalum, or high concentrations of lead, which is very toxic.

http://www.researchsea.com/html/arti..._toxicity.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0416172027.htm

[amor de cosmos]

Roy L Hales, Solar, Technnology
The Toxic Issue of Solar Panels
April 18, 2014
By Roy L Hales

Last year Robert Lundahl and I co-wrote an article about a California PV solar factory that is not disposing of their solar panels once their lifespan expires. We could not name the company, as our source still works there, but they use a known carcinogenic called gallium arsenide. This is not believed to be a problem as long as the panels are intact. However if they end up in a landfill the panels will be broken and the toxins can leech into the soil. Environment California recently directed me to a study that puts this problem in context and suggests areas where the industry can improve.

Amy Galland’s “Clean and Green” was inspired by companies that are not complying with environmental health and safety codes, but she found PV manufacturers actually do more than what is required.

Some beat standards set for emissions, have excellent procedural methods and reduce waste by recycling materials. Suntech’s panels, for example, (p 17) are 100% recyclable because 85% of the components are recycled materials. (p 18) Both Abound Solar and First Solar claim and recycle their semiconductor materials at-end of life. SolarWorld established a joint venture, SolarCycle, that deals with recycled solar materials.

Another article I’m researching deals with a company whose panels are exceeding their expected performance. A recent Kyocera news release cites tests proving that 10 year old modules still retain 95% of their original capacity. An installation made 30 years still has 90.4% capacity! As a result of these tests, Kyocera now guarantees that their solar panels will retain 80% capacity for 25 years.

Galland devoted a large portion of her study to correctly handling solar panels, from the manufacturing stage to final disposal. She suggested (19) the ends of some panels should be encapsulated, for added protection and longer life.

One of the carcinogenic’s she identified was cadmium (CdTe). More than 63% of the CdTe found in our bodies is attributed to the fertilizers used for plants, never-the-less it is also in solar panels. Solar companies need to protect their workers during the manufacturing stage and used panels need to be handled properly. (p 23) Galland notes that First Solar recycles up to 95% of the CdTe from used panels.

She did not go into detail about gallium arsenide other than to say (pps 45) it is only used in small quantities on satellites and concentrated solar power systems due to the expense.

The problem of ensuring that all solar panels are treated properly remains.

http://www.theecoreport.com/green-bl...-solar-panels/

NRG Targets SolarCity: ‘We’d Love to Give These Guys a Run for Their Money’
As solar companies broaden their reach, new competition is emerging between service providers.
Stephen Lacey
April 18, 2014

When NRG Energy acquired the eighth-largest U.S. residential solar installer last month, it had a very specific goal in mind: to start challenging big solar service providers like SolarCity.

"We’d love to give these guys a run for their money," said Tom Doyle, CEO of NRG Solar. "It is such an important space for our business."

Turns out, SolarCity had the same idea when it started buying up other solar companies and vertically integrating itself. It also wants to challenge independent power producers like NRG and other regulated utilities for their customer relationships.

"We’re an energy company," said Tanguy Serra, the chief operating officer of SolarCity, speaking about the firm's broader vision to be more than just a provider of solar.

The two executives were part of a panel at GTM's Solar Summit this week. The discussion centered on solar business models, competition between utilities and solar service providers, and what needs to happen in order for solar to be truly considered "mainstream."

Although few utilities have seen solar PV nudge out their existing fossil-based power plants, all the panelists agreed the technology is already impacting customer relationships and eroding demand.

Howard Wenger, head of SunPower's international power plant business, concurred with Serra's observation that solar firms are "migrating to become energy companies."

"There’s a battle -- a war, if you will -- between companies to grab the consumer’s twenty-year relationship," said Wenger.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...gets-solarcity

10 Charts that Reveal the Potential ROI for Solar Blogging
Tor 'Solar Fred' Valenza, UnThink Solar
April 18, 2014 | 0 Comments

I know I write a lot about how solar companies can blog effectively, but I still see few companies truly embracing blogging. Perhaps that’s because solar marketers want to show their CEOs some objective stats that show how blogging can be effective and not a waste of time and resources.

And that’s where HubSpot, a popular inbound (content) marketing platform, brings some objective — though non-solar — statistics from surveys it's done with its clients.

First, let’s answer that burning question about ROI. Is there one? For most companies, yes:

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...solar-blogging

51% of New US Electricity Capacity In 1st Quarter Came From Solar Energy, 92% From Renewables (CHARTS)
by Zach
on April 19, 2014

If you love solar, you’re going to love electricity capacity trends in the US. In the first quarter of 2014, over 51% of new electricity generation capacity came from solar (51% excludes small and medium rooftop solar projects), and renewable energy on the whole contributed 92.1%.

This follows a year (2013) when solar was the #2 source of new electricity capacity, adding 21% of all new electricity generation capacity (again, not including rooftop solar projects).

This is all better visualized in charts and tables, so below are several of those. Above is a chart of new electricity generation capacity in the 1st quarter of 2014, and here is a table on that split:

http://solarlove.org/51-new-us-elect...wables-charts/

[amor de cosmos]

Solar Industry’s Threat To Utilities Greatly Exagerrated, Says Solar CEO

One of the world’s leading solar company CEOs, Arno Harris of Recurrent Energy (a US arm of Sharp), has backed up Warren Buffet and said that much of the hype over solar’s threat to utilities is an exaggeration.

“You can’t just take on the utilities and destroy them,” Harris, who is also the chairman of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), said in an interview at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) conference in New York. “To get to any significant solar penetration, we’ll need more and better utility services.”

Despite the fact that the trade association of investor-owned utilities, the Edison Electric Institute, released a report last year explaining how distributed (rooftop) solar could lead to a utility company death spiral, many utilities have since then come around and conceded that solar energy is a big part of the future of energy and they can help enable that future without killing themselves.

“Now they’re ready to have that conversation about how to integrate more solar,” said Harris. “It’s inevitable that solar will become a bigger part of the energy mix and we need the utilities to help manage the grid as it does.”

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/20/...ays-solar-ceo/

North America reaches 5 million square feet of solar air heating collector area

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA, Washington D.C.) reports that 5 million square feet (460,000 square meters) of building-integrated solar air heating collectors are now installed in North America, which it describes as a “major milestone” for the industry.

This represents 250 MW-thermal of capacity. While SEIA did not provide a breakdown by geography, International Energy Agency (IEA, Paris) data from previous years indicates that unglazed solar air heating systems in Canada have historically represented the bulk of installed capacity in the continent.

“Building-integrated solar air heating systems are often overlooked in the discussion about renewable energy,” said SEIA CEO Rhone Resch said. “We need to change that mindset.”

“These cost-effective, energy-efficient systems can reduce by 20 to 50 percent the amount of conventional energy used for heating buildings – or for agricultural or process drying applications. That can represent a huge savings to companies, business owners and farmers nationwide.”

SHC costs as low as USD 0.06/kWh

Resch notes that 44% of U.S. energy consumption is attributable to heating and cooling. He also estimates that the United States can create 50,000 new jobs and save USD 60 billion in energy costs over the next 30 years by expanding the use of solar heating and cooling (SHC) systems across the United States.

SEIA also cites a study by BEAM Engineering (Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.) which finds that SHC is the most efficient renewable technology for generating thermal heat, with costs as low as USD 0.06 per kWh.

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...ctor-area.html

[amor de cosmos]

Solar Shingles’ Rise Brings Clean Energy and Aesthetics to Home Solar
Posted on April 21 2014 by Gary Hilson

Once the domain of early adopters who didn’t mind what their homes looked like, residential solar power is on the verge of becoming more mainstream thanks to innovative and aesthetically pleasing solar panels and shingles.

Solar power has long been an option for homeowners to save money and take advantage of clean, green energy — and it’s never been more affordable than it is today. But solar is now also becoming chic and sleek enough for homeowners to incorporate into new builds or even retrofit older houses to go solar.

What is making solar power for residential homes even more attractive is a great shift in the technology’s aesthetics, thanks to new products that integrate more smoothly into a house’s architecture. Now, rather than being an addition to a roof, solar panels can become the roof.

It has taken time for these technologies to gain traction, but installers are starting to see more interest from homeowners, and solar power installations are becoming much more intertwined with the roofing and construction industries, rather than being an afterthought bolted on by early adopters who care about the environment.

One technology that has been around since 2005 is solar shingles — usually photovoltaic cells designed to look like and integrate with conventional roof shingles. In their early days, these shingles were more expensive than bolt-on panels and mainly appealed to those willing to spend the money on solar power that could be completely integrated aesthetically into their home. However, solar shingles have become more competitive with panels price-wise and are catching the eye of homeowners who are looking to re-shingle since they function as actual shingles — they are protective and weatherproof.



Dow Solar is not the only company in the business of providing integrated solar power for residential homes. Building-materials manufacturer CertainTeed offers its own line of solar shingles that are designed to mesh with traditional roofs. Its Apollo II Solar Roofing uses monocrystalline silicon solar cells to capture and convert solar energy. Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingles, meanwhile, are now available in 18 U.S. states, and they recently made their debut in Canada through an exclusive, authorized distribution agreement with Canadian Energy.

Craig Ballard, CEO of Canadian Energy, said the company sells the shingles through multiple channels in Canada — including roofers, builders and solar companies — as well as doing installations directly. “Our goal is to get clean, renewable energy being produced on as many rooftops as possible.”

However, Ballard said, the market is not well defined, as solar shingles are a relatively new technology. “The market is in its infancy, and in some ways solar power is in its infancy. We’re working with a lot of different people to connect this product with peoples’ roofs at the consumer level.”

He said the elephant in the room is that homeowners do not want to put solar panels on their roofs, even if they are environmentally inclined, because of how they will affect the look of the home. “They simply don’t want the appearance of solar panels because it hurts the aesthetic of their house.”



Solar shingles have a number of advantages over solar panels, said Ciota, in large part because they can be installed in combination with a re-shingling. The drawback of solar panels over a traditional roof is that the homeowner must make sure the roof will outlive the solar panels. If the roof needs replacing, the solar panels must be removed. In addition, many solar panels are raised off the roof, which creates cozy nooks for animals to take shelter.

Ciota said solar shingles make a great deal of sense for retrofitting older houses to take advantage of green energy, and noted that at least one local historical society, the Sag Harbor Board of Historic Preservation and Architectural Review, has approved their use.

But not everyone sees solar shingles as the only appealing approach for solar power on residential homes. David Kelly, CEO of Calgary-based SkyFire Energy, said the residential grid-tied solar electric systems his company installs are more affordable and more efficient than current solar shingles and can function as the entire roof, while still being aesthetically pleasing. They come in a variety of colors including black and what Kelly describes as a frames version. They can also be integrated in the side of a home, he said, although solar shingles do make sense if you’re putting on a new roof.

http://solarenergy.net/News/solar-sh...cs-home-solar/

[amor de cosmos]

Like a hall of mirrors, nanostructures trap photons inside ultrathin solar cells (w/ Video)
1 hour ago

In the quest to make sun power more competitive, researchers are designing ultrathin solar cells that cut material costs. At the same time they're keeping these thin cells efficient by sculpting their surfaces with photovoltaic nanostructures that behave like a molecular hall of mirrors.

"We want to make sure light spends more quality time inside a solar cell," said Mark Brongersma, a professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford and co-author of a review article in Nature Materials.

Brongersma and two Stanford colleagues—associate professor of materials science and engineering Yi Cui and professor of electrical engineering Shanhui Fan—surveyed 109 recent scientific papers from teams around the world.

Their overview revolves around a basic theme: looking at the many different ways that researchers are trying to maximize the collisions between photons and electrons in the thinnest possible layers of photovoltaic materials. The goal is to reveal trends and best practices that will help drive developments in the field.

Solar energy is produced when photons of light collide with the electrons in a photovoltaic crystal. As loose electrons move through the crystal, they generate an electrical current.

Today's solar cells are already thin. They are made up of layers of photovoltaic materials, generally silicon, that average 150 to 300 micrometers, which is roughly the diameter of two to three human hairs.

As engineers continue to shave down those dimensions they have to develop new molecular traps and snares to ensure that photons don't simply whiz through their ultrathin solar cells before the electrical sparks can fly.

"A lot of the excitement now is about using the principles of photonics to manage light waves in the most efficient way," Fan said. "There are perhaps hundreds of groups in the world working on this."

The review article provides a high level view of how scientists are trying to design structures to facilitate interactions between the infinitesimal instigators of solar current, the photons and the electrons.

http://phys.org/news/2014-04-hall-mi...ultrathin.html

UK to install 16 GW by 2018
22. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends, Panorama | By: Edgar Meza

Britain's solar strategy will lay ground for a stable future for solar development, according to IHS, which estimates the country installed 922 MW of utility-scale systems in the first quarter of the year.

Examining the U.K. government's recently announced solar strategy, Josefin Berg, solar research senior analyst at market research group IHS, says the plan, along with prevailing investment conditions for ground-mounted PV plants, will drive total U.K. PV installations to 2.5 to 3 GW annually until 2018.

The U.K. government released the second part of its U.K. Solar Strategy in early April. While expressing continued support for the PV industry, the plan shifted the focus away from ground-mounted projects towards rooftop systems.

In a report released Tuesday, IHS says the government plan "breeds optimism among participants in the U.K. PV market" but adds that the document remains vague on exact support measures to spur the commercial rooftop segment. "Some key barriers are inherent in the nature of the U.K. real estate sector, such as the relation between tenants and owners, as pointed out in the strategy document."

Nevertheless, IHS has raised its near-term forecasts for the U.K., as the strategy document along with signs of high developer activity indicate continued growth. By 2018, IHS forecasts the U.K. to have 16 GW of installed PV capacity, 13 GW of that new capacity installed over the next five years. This would put the U.K. on track to overshoot the government's target of 20 GW by 2020, which may result in a revised support environment. This year, IHS expects 2.4 GW of new PV installations in the country.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...018_100014871/

US adds 584 MW of solar in first quarter, reaches 8.67 GW in March
22. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends | By: Edgar Meza

Solar accounted for more than 50% of new capacity installed between January and March. The number of new grid-connected plants reached 47 in the period, down from 66 a year ago.

The United States added 584 MW of installed large-scale solar capacity in the first quarter of 2014, according to a report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects Energy Infrastructure (OEP).



New solar power plants to go online in March included:

• Daniel Farm LLC's 5 MW Daniel Farm Solar project in Davie County, North Carolina (with power generated sold to Duke Energy Carolinas under a long-term contract
• Strata Solar LLC’s 5 MW Roxboro Solar project in Person County, North Carolina (with power generated sold to Progress Energy Carolinas under a long-term contract)
• Ignite Solar Holdings 1 LLC’s 6 MW PSEG Shasta Solar Farm project in Shasta County, California (with power generated sold to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. under a long-term contract)
• OCI Solar Power’s 4 MW Alamo II Solar project in Bexar County, Texas (with power generated sold to CPS Energy under a long-term contract)
• Genesis Solar LLS’s 125 MW Genesis Solar Energy Project Phase 2 in Riverside County, California (with power generated sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under a long-term contract)
• Winchendon Solar LLS’s 2 MW Winchendon Solar project in Worcester County, Massachusetts (with power generated serving the electric demand of the town of Winchendon)

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ch-_100014864/

Italian solar PV meets 8.0% of demand in March 2014

Italian solar photovoltaic (PV) plants produced 2.10 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity in March 2014, according to figures by grid operator Terna (Rome). This was a 37% increase from a year prior and enough to meet 8.0% of the nation's electricity demand during the month.

Italy has the highest portion of power demand met with PV of any mid-sized to large nation on earth. In 2013 the nation met around 7.0% of its demand with PV throughout the year, but it is likely that this will increase in 2014 despite a slowdown in the nation's PV market following the close of its feed-in tariff.

When hydroelectric, wind and geothermal generation are included, renewables met 32% of demand during the month. This is an increase from a year ago, with lower wind output more than made up for by a 20% increase in hydroelectric generation.

During the first quarter of 2014, Italy met 5.2% of electricity demand with PV, and renewables overall met 30% of demand.

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...arch-2014.html

Japan installs 569 MW of solar PV in January 2014

Japan installed 86 MW of residential and 483 MW of “non-residential” solar photovoltaics (PV) under its feed-in tariff in January 2014, according to statistics released by the nation's Ministry of Energy, Trade and Industry (METI).

This is a 3% sequential fall from December 2013 levels, and is consistent with the ongoing dominance by the commercial and utility-scale sectors over residential installations.

These figures bring Japan to 1.13 GW of residential and 4.61 GW of non-residential PV installed in the first ten months of the nation's fiscal year 2014, for a total of 5.74 GW. This represents just over 7 GW on an annual basis, and most market analysts project this level of installations throughout 2014.

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...uary-2014.html

[amor de cosmos]

Researchers Achieve Higher Solar-Cell Efficiency With Zinc-Oxide Coating
Surface modification allows cell to absorb more light
Tuesday, April 22, 2014

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have achieved the highest efficiency ever in a 9 millimeter-squared solar cell made of gallium arsenide. After coating the cufflink-sized cells with a thin layer of zinc oxide, the research team reached a conversion efficiency of 14 percent.

A small array of these cells – as few as nine to 12 – generate enough energy for small light-emitting diodes and other devices. But surface modification can be scaled up, and the cells can be packaged in large arrays of panels to power large devices such as homes, satellites, or even spacecraft.

The research team, led by Omar Manasreh, professor of electrical engineering, published its findings in Applied Physics Letters and the April 2014 issue of Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells.

An alternative to silicon, gallium arsenide is a semiconductor used to manufacture integrated circuits, light-emitting diodes and solar cells. The surface modification, achieved through a chemical synthesis of thin films, nanostructures and nanoparticles, suppressed the sun’s reflection so the cell could absorb more light. But even without the surface coating, the researchers were able to achieve 9-percent efficiency by manipulating the host material.

“We want to increase the efficiency of small cells,” said Yahia Makableh, doctoral student in electrical engineering. “With this specific material, the theoretical maximum is 33 percent efficiency, so we have some work to do. But we’re making progress. The beauty of zinc oxide is that it’s cheap, non-toxic and easy to synthesize.”

Makableh said the surface modification could also be applied to other solar cells, including those made of indium-arsenide and gallium-arsenide quantum dots. Solar cells made of these materials may be able to achieve 63-percent conversion efficiency, which would make them ideal for future development of solar cells.

Makableh used equipment and instrumentation in the College of Engineering’s Optoelectronics Research Lab, which is directed by Manasreh. Researchers in the lab grow and functionalize semiconductors, nanostructured anti-reflection coatings, self-cleaning surfaces and metallic nanoparticles to be used in solar cells. Their ultimate goal is to fabricate and test photovoltaic devices with greater solar-energy conversion efficiency.

http://newswire.uark.edu/articles/24...-oxide-coating
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0422084515.htm

UK installs 1.1 GW of solar PV in Q1 2014, dominated by utility-scale projects

Driven by a boom in utility-scale PV, the UK installed 1.085 GW of solar photovoltaics (PV) in the first three months of 2014, according to NPD Solarbuzz Inc. (Santa Clara, California, U.S.).

This brings the nation to 4.46 GW of cumulative installed PV. The company expects this booming market to continue, citing policy stability and the success of the Renewables Obligation Credit (ROC) program.

“With the future of onshore wind looking increasingly at risk, a new Solar Strategy released from DECC, a likely reduction in Chinese module pricing in Europe, and a whopping project pipeline growing under 1.4 ROCs, it begs the question: can it get any better for the UK solar PV industry?” asks NPD Solarbuzz VP Finlay Colville.

Larger ground-mounted installations dominate new capacity

NPD Solarbuzz marks October 2013 as a turning point for the UK PV industry, given the resolution of the EU's trade case with China through the price undertaking. In the six months since October 1st, 2013, the nation has installed 1.54 GW of PV.

Of this capacity installed in these six months, 78% was in the ground-mounted segment, as opposed to only 22% in the rooftop segment. Of these ground-mounted installations, PV projects larger than 10 MW made up 2/3 of capacity.

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...-projects.html

Deployment of distributed solar PV to grow secondary power electronics market 134% annually

GTM Research Inc. (Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.) has issued a new report predicting that the market for secondary power electronics equipment for solar photovoltaic (PV) integration will grow by 134% annually over the next three years to reach USD 320 million in 2017.

This will be driven by the expansion of PV and its effects on the distribution grid. GTM's “Advanced Grid Power Electronics for High Penetration PV Integration 2014” notes that secondary power electronics also allow grid operators to improve distribution grid efficiency through conservation voltage reduction, enhanced control over power quality and improved situational awareness.

“Utility-owned power electronics offer a variety of services for utilities at a fraction of the cost of competing storage solutions,” said GTM Research Senior Grid Analyst Ben Kellison.

“These enable utilities to fine tune unstable portions of the distribution grid, while allowing the bulk of the grid to operate using cheaper, more traditional technology.”

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...-annually.html

Contact: Komunikazio Bulegoa
UPV/EHU
2014/4/22
Quantum simulators developed to study inaccessible physical systems

Quantum simulators recreate the behaviour on a microscopic scale of biological and quantum systems and even of particles moving at the speed of light. The exact knowledge of these systems will lead to applications ranging from more efficient photovoltaic cells to more specific drugs. Researchers in the UPV/EHU’s department of Physical Chemistry are working on the design of several of these quantum simulators so they can study the dynamics of complex physical systems.

Quantum mechanics is the mathematical tool that enables us to describe the physical processes that take place on a microscopic level; it is capable of satisfactorily predicting the stability of atoms and molecules, the reactivity of different chemical compounds, or the result of the interaction between radiation and matter. They are all situations that constitute the basis of our physical world and for which there is no explanation within the framework of classical physics. “The physical processes that take place on a quantum level obey such sophisticated mathematical models that they cannot be analysed by means of today’s computers because of the computational limitations of these devices,” explained Dr Jorge Casanova, researcher in the UPV/EHU's department of Physical Chemistry. One possible way of solving the problem of computational complexity of physical systems is to use a quantum platform or technology as a simulator.

Quantum simulators are systems capable of reproducing the dynamics of a specific physical system, and overcoming the limitation of conventional computers. Among the various technologies that are studied with a view to developing efficient quantum simulators, this UPV/EHU research group has been focussing on the technology of trapped ions. “Basically, these systems work by isolating individual atoms in a controlled environment so that there is no interference with the environment. They then undergo laser treatment, and after that, it is possible to conduct operations like exciting or de-exciting the electrons of these atoms. That way they are made to behave like the system we want to study," explained Casanova, the lead author of the work.

http://www.basqueresearch.com/berria...I#.U1fsmqLN6So
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0422113307.htm

Turning Solar Farms into Actual Farms, Too
Posted on April 22 2014 by Scott Thill

Consolidating precious natural resources in a warming world is a must. Which is why literal solar farms make sense — and maybe dollars — to Stanford scientists recently researching a colocation approach for simultaneously creating solar power and biofuels. It’s a simple idea, really: Grow some agave plants beneath vast solar farms across Earth’s increasingly arid regions, and voila! You’ve got a potential agritech solution for decreasing lethal emissions, and perhaps a reliable source of domestic fuel.

More microcosmically, the solar sector could reduce its water footprint by relying instead more heavily on agave, and what Stanford’s colocation announcement called “other biofuel crops,” to capture runoff and moisture to keep our photovoltaic panels cleaner in inhospitable climates. It sounds good on paper; specifically, the new issue of Environmental Science & Technology wherein Stanford’s scientists explain their collocated energy concept.

“It could be a win-win situation,” said Stanford postdoc Sujith Ravi in a press release. “Water is already limited in many areas and could be a major constraint in the future. This approach could allow us to produce energy and agriculture with the same water.”

http://solarenergy.net/News/turning-...-actual-farms/

Florida lawmakers press Duke Energy to invest in solar, efficiency
By Claire Cameron
April 23, 2014

Dive Brief:

• State and federal officials in Florida are calling on Duke Energy to invest more in clean energy.
• In a letter delivered to Duke Energy Florida President Alex Gleen, lawmakers expressed “support for clean energy" and urged Duke "to deepen its investment in energy efficiency and solar power in Florida.”
• Duke Energy spokesperson Nicole LeBeau said that the company had received the letter and would respond in due course.

Dive Insight:

This is part of a larger campaign by the Sierra Club. Karl Nurse, a city council member for St. Petersburg, said Duke Energy Florida is lagging behind the utility’s efforts to increase energy efficiency projects in other states. Officials said the letter wasn’t intended to reflect negatively on the utility; rather, it is intended to “empower us to do more to bring more energy efficiency and solar” to Florida, they said.

Currently, Florida ranks 16th in the U.S. for total number of solar installations, and 26 other states had better-performing energy efficiency programs than Florida. Lawmakers hope increasing energy efficiency efforts will help boost the state’s economy.

http://www.utilitydive.com/news/flor...ciency/254575/

Juan Cole
Top 5 Reasons Solar Energy Will Save the World
Posted on Apr 23, 2014
By Juan Cole

This post originally ran on Juan Cole’s Web page.

1. The research and development monies now going into solar energy are great enough to fuel innovation and bring down prices rapidly. First Solar expects solar electricity generation costs to fall from 63 cents a watt to 35 cents a watt from now through 2017!

2. Honda is experimenting with a zero-carbon home. It includes a direct DC recharger for an electric car so as to cut down on energy lost to heat during the DC to AC conversion. Charging would take only 2 hours, direct from sunlight.

3. Thin-skin solar panels will be installed directly on the cars, and a canopy recharger will fill them back up.

4. Even poor countries of the global South like Pakistan are finding it affordable now to create enormous solar parks. Bahawalpur faces blackouts and a deficit of 4 gigawatts of electricity. It will soon get 1 gigawatt of electricity from solar and other renewables.

5. After seeing the way Russia is bullying Western Europe over opposition in Brussels to Russia grabbing Ukrainian territory, with Russia threatening to cut off natural gas, many countries will be encouraged to invest in renewable energy sources that cannot be cut off. Thailand is investing in 3 gigawatts of solar energy, not only because its government wants more electricity but because it wants more energy independence! The falling price of solar panels will give a further economic motive for going green, but tensions in the ASEAN countries over the possibility of gradually being reduced to Chinese puppets are real– something Obama is trying to address on his current trip to Japan and other countries of the far east. The alternative to solar, hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to produce natural gas, is not affordable in many countries; it uses enormous amounts of precious water, damages the environment, and produces huge methane emissions that threaten deadly climate disruption. Solar gives both cost savings and security, as well as a brighter climate future.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/...world_20140423

SkyFuel's Parabolic Trough in Stillwater Hybrid Geothermal Plant
Published on 23 April 2014

SkyFuel, Inc. is providing the parabolic trough solar field being integrated into the heating loop of Enel Green Power (EGP) North America's Stillwater geothermal power plant.

The solar field is designed to return the temperature of the brine from the geothermal wells to its original design point and thus recapture the full capacity and economic value of the existing turbine generator. All equipment for the solar troughs has been delivered and the system is expected to be operational by the end of 2014. This will be the world's first commercial plant integrating solar thermal power with geothermal.

http://www.solarnovus.com/skyfuel-s-...ant_N7670.html

NY Region
Bloomberg Backs a Solar Lamp
Former Mayor's Foundation Aids Devise for Use in Africa
By Melanie Grayce West
April 21, 2014 10:04 p.m. ET

A trendy solar-powered lamp will soon brighten more homes and classrooms in Africa, thanks to a low-interest loan from the foundation of former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Bloomberg Philanthropies is scheduled Tuesday to announce a $5 million deal with LittleSun GmbH, the German company that makes Little Sun, a hand-held solar-powered lamp created by Berlin artist Olafur Eliasson and Copenhagen engineer Frederik Ottesen. It is the first such support lent by the foundation to a so-called social business.

The lamp, introduced two years ago at the Tate Modern museum in London, is intended for use in areas where electricity is scarce and the primary source of lighting is kerosene lamps. The device is available in eight sub-Saharan African countries. At $9 to $17 apiece, the device pays for itself in roughly six months, say Mr. Eliasson and Rohit Aggarwala, who is part of the environmental group at Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The commitment from Bloomberg Philanthropies will allow Little Sun to expand production and distribution until these functions can be supported with the company's revenue.

The Little Sun device offers a "huge opportunity" from an environmental perspective, said Mr. Aggarwala.

Kerosene lamps produce carbon dioxide and throw off particulate matter. The foundation estimates one hour of breathing the fumes from a kerosene lamp is equivalent to 10 cigarettes.

The lamp "will improve the health and quality of life of the people who purchase it because you get away from indoor air-pollution issues which are detrimental to everyone, but especially detrimental to children," said Mr. Aggarwala.

Little Sun isn't the only company providing a solar-powered solution to replace kerosene or other fuel lamps in Africa. But Mr. Aggarwala and his team liked the quality of light from Little Sun and the "useful and attractive" design, he said. "The fact is…you could be living in an off-grid community in Africa making only a handful of dollars a day, you're still going to be attracted to good design."

The Little Sun lamp has been widely exhibited in museums, art fairs and music festivals and is sold at museum design stores. Mr. Eliasson, the artist, is best known in New York for his 2008 public-art installation comprising four artificial waterfalls around the city.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...15990325973098
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news...-african-solar

RWE Invests in Its First U.K. Solar Park; Conergy to Build
By Tino Andresen Apr 23, 2014 12:48 AM PT

RWE AG, the German utility that cut its renewables unit’s investments by two-thirds, is funding construction of its first U.K. solar park, to be built by Conergy U.K. Ltd.

The 37-megawatt Kencot Hill Solar Farm, on a disused airfield in Oxfordshire, England, will be one of the country’s largest, providing about 10,000 households with electricity, Essen-based RWE said today in a statement.

The park is scheduled to start operating in late summer. RWE, providing financial and technical support, agreed to sell the facility to Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) once constructed, it said.

“RWE aims in future to repeat this structure, attracting investors” in the U.K. and other European countries, Stefan Judisch, chief executive officer of RWE’s Supply & Trading unit, said in the statement, referring to the financing.

RWE’s renewables unit will invest 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) from 2014 to 2016, a similar amount to last year alone. RWE posted its first loss last year since World War II.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...-to-build.html

Apr 23, 2014
SunPower and Google Form $250 Million Solar Lease Program

April 23 (Bloomberg) — SunPower Corp., the second-largest U.S. solar manufacturer, and Google Inc. are creating a $250 million program to finance residential solar systems.

The solar producer is committing $150 million and Google will provide $100 million, San Jose, California-based SunPower said today in a statement. The program will “help make solar accessible to more families,” said Chuck Boynton, the solar company’s chief financial officer.

The program will support solar leases for rooftop systems that use SunPower panels. Leasing, the fastest-growing part of the U.S. solar market, allows homeowners to pay little or nothing up front for systems in exchange for monthly payments.

This is the second clean-power investment in two days for the Mountain View, California-based search-engine company. Google has invested more than $1 billion in renewable energy worldwide, including two prior deals in residential solar, the company said on its website today.

SunPower gained 7.6 percent to $31.61 at 10:19 a.m. in New York. First Solar Inc. is the largest U.S. solar manufacturer.

http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/sunp...lease-program/

Solar-thermal neighbourhood shines in Alberta
22 Apr 2014
MARLENE HABIB
Special to The Globe and Mail

Saving energy costs wasn’t the driving reason for Alberta mechanical engineer Robert Pugh’s move into a solar-heated community that was conceived a dozen years ago as the first of its kind in North America, where it remains unique in how it heats an entire subdivision in the winter.

You could say owning one of the 52 homes in the Drake Landing Solar Community (DLSC) in Okotoks, Alta., has proved to be an ethical ray of sunshine for residents, including Mr. Pugh, his wife Dana and their two young children.

Eight years after the completion of the DLSC, which is the brainchild of Natural Resources Canada and was developed in partnership with governmental organizations and private interests, Okotoks remains a shining example of how an entire community living much of the year in freezing weather can use the sun to drastically reduce dependency on fossil fuels.

Mr. Pugh, one of the first owners of a solar-heated home in Okotoks, a town of about 27,000 just south of Calgary, says he bought into the subdivision more for ideological reasons .

“I am extremely concerned about our carbon emissions and want to try to adjust my behaviour as much as I can,” Mr. Pugh says.

Drake Landing is the first – and according to Natural Resources Canada’s Doug McClenahan, still the only – large-scale, masterplanned community in North America to use borehole thermal energy storage (BTES). The technology stores solar energy in the ground in the summer to save it for winter, and acts as a large underground heat exchanger.

The 52 homes remain the largest subdivision of R-2000 singlefamily homes in Canada.

From the street, the homes don’t stand out as an example of cutting-edge green technology. Most of the solar magic happens at the back of the properties.

Mounted on the detached double garages located behind the homes are 800 flat-plate solar panels, which were manufactured by Enerworks, a Canadian solar equipment manufacturer. Glycol is used as the heat transfer fluid to move the thermal energy from the solar collectors through a network of insulated pipes to an Energy Centre, a 2,500-squarefoot building located in the corner of the community park, that houses short-term storage tanks .

The heat exchanger, using 144 boreholes drilled 37 metres into the earth, extracts the thermal energy from the solar collector loop that is stored in two 125,000litre steel tanks and transfers it to the surrounding soil. Heat is then recovered from the soil during the winter and transferred into a district energy network that is connected to each home, which has a low-temperature air handler that blows air across a warm fan coil.

4/21/2014 @ 9:35AM 3,797 views
Falling Solar Energy Costs Are Poised To Reshape The World's Economy

Jeremy Rifkin recently published a book called The Zero Marginal Cost Society. As an industry analyst it is my job to stay on top of technologies that have the chance to transform industry. Indeed, when MHI went through a very throrough research project to identify megatrends that will reshape industry through 2025, all the trends they identified, but one, are things that my company ARC has been paying close attention to.

Mr. Rifkin discusses the Internet of Things (IoT), advances in automation and robotics, 3D Printers, and the fundamental changes to our economy these things will drive. I’ve linked to just the most recent articles we have written on the topics of IoT and robotics transforming supply chains. ARC is less convinced that 3D Printers are transformative.

But Mr. Rifkind has identified one transformative trend ARC has clearly not paid enough attention to: the exponential price decline in solar power! I was somewhat doubtful this could be true, but a search of the Internet brings up research by Ramaz Naam, who published an article in Scientific American in 2011 on this topic. In a recent blog Mr. Naam states “the price decline in solar cost per watt has, if anything, accelerated since then!”

Exponential curves matter. Humans have a hard time comprehending exponential growth. Would you rather have one million dollars or be given one dollar on day one, two dollars on day two, four dollars on day three and so on for a one month period? Almost everyone would instantly say “I’ll take the million bucks.” Do the math, you’ll be surprised!

It is another exponential curve that is at the heart of the computer revolution, Moore’s Law. Moore’s law is the observation that, over the history of computing hardware, the number of transistors on integrated circuits doubles approximately every two years. This explains why while computers get so much more powerful, costs continue to decline. This will give you a sense of my age, but I can remember the first time I saw a spreadsheet and being astounded by the power of it. And I have continued to be amazed by one computer advance after another.

Over the last few years, there has been much focus on shale oil technologies. And truly, shale oil is proving to be a boon for the U.S. But remember the power of exponential curves! If these results are correct, we are in for a green energy future every bit as dramatic as the computer revolution.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/steveban...orlds-economy/

Samoa sets sights on largest solar array in the Pacific
23. April 2014 | Applications & Installations, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends | By: Ian Clover

The tiny South Pacific country announces plans to build a 2.2 MW solar plant, with financial assistance from the Asia Development Bank and neighboring New Zealand.

Construction of the largest solar power array in the Pacific is expected to commence soon after New Zealand foreign minister Murray McCully announced this week details of a 2.2 MW plant for Samoa.

Commissioned as part of the European Union-New Zealand Energy Access Partnership, which was launched at the Pacific Energy Summit last year, the plant will be located in Samoa’s capital city, Apia, and will be financed via support from the Asia Development Bank.

"New Zealand is working in partnership with the government of Samoa, the European Union and the Asia Development Bank to increase the generation of renewable energy in Samoa," said McMully during a visit to the South Pacific island in which the minister toured further possible sites for renewable energy projects with EU Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.

"The 2.2 MW array at the Apia Sports Complex will provide the highest electrical output from a single installation in the Pacific, and is a major part of a larger renewable energy program funded by New Zealand," added the minister. "Renewable energy is a strong focus of New Zealand’s support to developing countries. The investments in Samoa reflect commitments made at the Pacific Energy Summit in Auckland last year."

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...fic_100014877/

Wind and solar generation half the cost of nuclear
By Sophie Vorrath on 23 April 2014

New-build wind and solar energy systems can generate electricity for up to 50 per cent cheaper than new nuclear power plants, a German study has found.

The research, commissioned by German think tank Agora Energiewende, compares feed-in tariffs for new nuclear in the UK with FiTs for renewables in Germany, and finds that nuclear and carbon capture and storage (CSS) – a technology not yet available in Europe – are both more expensive than wind and solar as energy strategies for preventing climate change.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/wind...-nuclear-95493

Oklahoma utilities hit homes using solar with extra fee
By Bobby Magill on 23 April 2014
Climate Central

Anyone living in Oklahoma planning to power their home using a rooftop solar panel will soon be charged a fee for the right to do that while still being connected to the local power grid.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin signed the “solar surcharge” bill into law on Monday, permitting utilities to charge an extra fee to any customer using distributed power generation, such as rooftop solar or a small wind turbine.

Distributed generation is seen in many parts of the country as a way for cities and homeowners to modernize their power system and become more resilient in the face of extreme weather, brought about in part by climate change. Rooftop solar and wind turbines generate clean energy to help to keep homes’ lights on when the power grid fails.

Oklahoma’s new law states that it is aiming to prevent the majority of utility customers from “subsidizing” those with solar panels on their homes who offset the cost of electricity and grid maintenance costs by generating their own power and feeding it onto the grid and receiving credit for the power they generate.

The practice of utility customers providing home-generated power to the grid and receiving credits for the power they produce is called “net metering,” and is legal in most states. But, it is something the electric power industry considers a threat to traditional utilities, which use centralized power sources that distribute electricity to customers via the power grid.

“Right now, a distributed generation customer is really paying less for the maintenance of the infrastructure than our other customers,” despite the up-front costs of installing solar panels on a roof, said Kathleen O’Shea, spokeswoman for Oklahoma Gas and Electric, or OGE, one of the state’s largest utilities.

Of OGE’s 800,000 customers, between 200 and 400 of them use rooftop solar or wind, she said.

“As solar prices come down and this becomes more popular, we want to make sure everybody who’s using the grid is paying their fair share,” she said, adding that it’s unfair for the utility’s traditional customers — roughly 799,600 of them — to foot the bill for grid maintenance when several hundred people end up saving money by using their own solar panels to provide power to the utility while not paying the grid maintenance surcharge.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/okla...xtra-fee-78468

New York Solar Spreads like Wildfire, and is Only Getting Hotter
Posted on April 23 2014 by Guest Author

New York is a big state — almost 55,000 square miles of city, river, pasture, suburb, mountaintop, forest and coast. Yet, in the past few years solar power has been spreading like wildfire from one corner to the next. Throughout the state — on factory rooftops, schools, farms, homes, fire stations and stores — you can see solar panels glinting in the sun. They’re producing clean electricity, creating new jobs, and saving consumers money on their energy bills. And they’re doing all that while helping to combat climate change and cut other harmful air pollution that can cause and exacerbate asthma, lung cancer and heart disease.

In fact, after years as a solar pipsqueak — left in the dust by states like New Jersey to the south — New York is now rocketing up the solar ranks. By the end of 2013, we were 9th in the nation in total installed solar capacity with over 247 MW of solar power installed — that’s enough electricity to power 40,000 homes. And, better still, we’re now 5th in the nation in solar jobs: with now more than 5,000 good-paying positions in everything from solar installation and maintenance, to business development, sales, manufacturing and component supply.

http://solarenergy.net/News/new-york...etting-hotter/

Contact: University of Malaya Institution: University of Malaya
Malaysian and Taiwanese researchers make major advances in dye sensitized solar cells
Two groups of researchers have recently advanced the field of solar cells with a cheaper and efficient replacement for platinum and better synthesis of zinc oxide.

Working on dye-sensitized solar cells - researchers from University Malaya (UM) and National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) have achieved an efficiency of 1.12 %, at a fraction of the cost compared to those used by platinum devices.

This work has been accepted for publication in the journal, Nanoscale published by the Royal Society of Chemistry and has been selected for the front cover of the issue.

The study carried out in Taiwan took on the challenge of making the technology behind dye-sensitized solar cells more affordable by replacing the costly platinum counter-electrodes with bismuth telluride (Bi2Te3) nanosheet arrays.

Using a novel electrolysis process, the group managed to closely manipulate the spacing between individual nanosheets and hence control the thermal and electrical conductivity parameters to achieve the high efficiency of 1.12%, which is comparable to platinum devices, but at only at a fraction of the cost.

The research was led by Prof. Yu-Lun Chueh of the Nanoscience & Nanodevices Laboratory, NTHU, and Alireza Yaghoubi, UM HIR Young Scientist. “In light of the recent report by the United Nations about the irreversible effects of fossil fuels on climate change and as we gradually run out of economically recoverable oil reserves, we think it is necessary to look for a sustainable, yet practical source of energy” Yaghoubi stated.

Meanwhile at University Malaya, Dr. Wee Siong Chiu and colleagues were working on controlling the secondary nucleation and self-assembly in zinc oxide (ZnO), a material which is currently being scrutinized for its potential applications in dye-sensitized solar cells as well as photocatalytic reactions to generate clean electricity by splitting water under sunlight.

In this work, Dr. Chiu and Alireza Yaghoubi demonstrated a new route for synthesis of various zinc oxide nanostructures using the lipophilic interactions between a novel precursor and a number of fatty acids. They are hoping to further use this method to increase the efficiency of photocatalysts in the visible regime where most of the sunlight energy lies.

According to the researchers, if this approach is successful, generating electricity is as easy as pouring some bioinert nanomaterials into a lake and fusing the split oxygen and hydrogen atoms back into water in a photoelectrochemical cell.

http://www.researchsea.com/html/arti...lar_cells.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0422120759.htm

[amor de cosmos]

Solar Power is Now as Cheap as Buying From the Grid - in Europe
by Nicole Jewell, 04/24/14

Although solar power’s return on investment has been debated endlessly, it now looks like solar power has officially become as cheap as buying off the grid. At least, that’s the current reality in some European countries. Renewable energy consulting firm Eclareon has released a report confirming that the price of solar power in Germany, Italy and Spain has finally reached what is referred to as “grid parity.” While grid parity has quite a few variables, it means that, over the course of the equipment’s lifetime, the total cost of installing solar panels is now on par with the costs associated with buying from the country’s grid system.

Here in the US, this gives us all reason to believe that solar power is moving in the right direction and can soon be an attainable and affordable resource for private homeowners as well as large and small commercial properties. Of course, there are still quite a few hurdles to be overcome. At the moment, the US offers a 30 percent federal tax credit for installing a solar panel system. Unfortunately, that tax break is set to expire at the end of 2016 and will be replaced with a production credit, limiting the upfront incentives for homeowners.

Also complicating the road to grid parity here in the US is the inclusion of “soft costs” such as financing and maintenance fees that occur in the full-cycle solar installation process. These soft costs are considered obstacles to grid parity because they swell the overall manufacturing and installation costs, affecting the competitivity of solar power in comparison to buying from the grid. Grid parity is a measurement of the true market competiveness of solar energy generation regardless of tax benefits and extra costs associated with installation and financing procedures.

http://inhabitat.com/solar-power-is-...rid-in-europe/

Google puts another $100m into solar generation
Search giant sets up third deal to finance domestic solar installations in the US as it continues to clean up its own energy supply
By Lem Bingley
24 Apr 2014

Internet search behemoth Google has agreed to plough up to $100m into a new funding partnership with California-based SunPower, the second largest solar company in the US.

SunPower itself is providing up to $150m, and the combined $250m pool of cash will be used to fund thousands of domestic solar panel installations. These will be leased to homeowners in the US, allowing families to spread the cost of adopting renewable energy. In turn, Google and SunPower will recoup their investment over subsequent years.

SunPower offers leased installations of solar arrays with monthly payments over periods of 15 to 20 years, after which the customer can take out a new lease or purchase the installation for its residual value.

In a blog posting, Google said that a customer's monthly lease costs will typically be lower than existing electricity bills. "By participating in this programme, you don't just help the environment - you can also save money," it argued. Naturally, the actual benefits reaped by leaseholders will vary according to future changes in the price of electricity.

The involvement of a household name like Google may encourage more families to consider installing a photovoltaic array. Chuck Boynton, chief financial officer at SunPower, said, "Google's leadership is helping take solar mainstream."

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news...lar-generation
http://www.utilitydive.com/news/goog...r-fund/255043/

A Polluted Superfund Site Is Now Home To 36,000 Solar Panels
By Climate Progress | Wed, 23 April 2014 20:27

A 43-acre solar farm is now generating power at a Superfund site in Indiana, making it the nation’s largest solar farm built on a Superfund site.

The Maywood Solar Farm, which is made up of 36,000 solar panels, started producing power last month. It’s one of 85 renewable energy projects that the EPA has helped install on Superfund sites, landfills and old mining sites in the U.S., projects which together produce 507 megawatts of power. The solar farm is located on the site of a former coal tar refinery plant, which dealt with hazardous chemicals until its closing in 1972. In the 1980s officials found that the groundwater underneath the site was contaminated with benzene and ammonia, and afterwards the area was designated as a Superfund site.

“This innovative solar project demonstrates that Superfund sites can be redeveloped,” EPA Regional Administrator Susan Hedman said in a statement. “The Maywood Solar Farm project has transformed a site with a long history of contamination into a source of renewable energy.”

The solar farm was created as part of the EPA’s Superfund Redevelopment Program, which aims to re-purpose polluted sites into parks or areas that can support renewable energy. The agency has done this sort of thing before — in 2009, it helped turn the site of a former ammunition plant in Texas into an area that’s now part of a wildlife refuge. It also led an effort that turned a former Apache Nitrogen Products site into a wetlands system that has treated the ground water underneath the site to remove the lingering nitrogen, a project that has utilized solar and wind energy to help power the water circulation. The EPA also spearheaded a project similar to the Maywood farm, which turned a Superfund site near Sacramento, CA into a 40-acre solar farm.

http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Ener...ar-Panels.html

Marubeni mega-solar plant goes online in Japan
24. April 2014 | Applications & Installations, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends | By: Edgar Meza

The company also has two other large-scale power plants in the works with a combined capacity of more than 77 MW in the country.

Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corporation has begun operation of its 82 MW solar power plant in the Japanese city of Oita.

Built in a coastal industrial area in the city, the mega-solar plant will generate power for Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc., which has a 20-year agreement with Marubeni.

According to Marubeni, commercial operation was advanced by 50 days, commencing on March 12. Construction on the project began in March 2012.

The plant has a total power capacity of 82.02 MW, which Marubeni said was the largest in Japan among individual company projects at a single location.

The company expects annual power generation to reach 87 million kilowatt hours, corresponding to the annual power consumption of 30,000 average homes and the reduction of 35,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...pan_100014894/

PV installations grow dramatically in Japan
24. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Markets & Trends, Industry & Suppliers, Applications & Installations | By: Edgar Meza

As of January 2014, Japan had a cumulative installed PV capacity of more than 13 GW.

Japan installed more than 5.7 GW of solar capacity as part of the country's feed-in (FIT) program from April 2013 through January 2014.

According to the latest report from Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE), part of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the country installed 5,741 MW in the period. Large-scale PV systems made up 4,608 MW of that capacity, while residential PV installations accounted for 1,133 MW.

The level of growth in the PV installations built through the country's FIT program rose dramatically from the previous seven-month period recorded by ANRE. From July 2012 through March 2013, Japan installed a total of 1,673 MW of PV capacity, including 969 MW of residential projects and 704 MW of large-scale systems.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...pan_100014896/

The next PV capacity expansion phase is under way
By Mark Osborne - 24 April 2014, 12:13
In Editors' Blog

It’s hard to believe that after more than two years of chronic overcapacity up and down the supply chain the PV industry has entered the next capacity expansion phase. The industry became burdened with a nameplate capacity of over 60GW by 2011, while global end demand was just over 30GW in that year, according to European Photovoltaics Industry Association data.

Burdened with such a significant level of overcapacity and end-market demand that barely expanded (to just 31GW) in 2012, the consequences were biblical in nature: plummeting prices across the supply chain resulted in very low production utilisation rates at best, closures, bankruptcies and exits from the industry at worst.

Since then the industry has experienced over two years of profitless prosperity and capital expenditure (capex) budgets were slashed to facility and equipment maintenance levels only.

However, strong growth recovery in global end markets in 2013 meant installations topped over 36GW, according to NPD Solarbuzz. The market research firm’s latest PV Equipment Quarterly predicts the freeze in spending by equipment suppliers over the past two years will finally thaw by early 2015 as a rebalancing of supply and demand.

Solarbuzz said the overcapacity in the sector led to PV equipment spending falling to an eight-year low of US$1.73 billion in 2013, down from US$13 billion in 2011. This means equipment suppliers in 2013 saw bookings of less than US$1 billion.

But Solarbuzz predicts that over the next six months PV end-market demand will catch up with the 45GW of “effective capacity” within the industry.

The market research firm expects 49GW of end-market demand in 2014 would push production utilisation rates well above 90% for tier-one manufacturers, while pushing many to increase production outsourcing from wafers, cells and through to modules.

However, the new real growth phase for equipment manufacturers will be driven primarily by a small number of tier-one manufacturers – a reflection of how the recent shakeout has consolidated the supply chain.

But a key will be technology-driven spending, as China based manufacturers are being pushed by government polices to push module cell/module efficiencies beyond 20%.

*snip*

Major c-Si capacity expansion plans

Since the fourth quarter of 2013, there have been a growing number of planned capacity expansions, some which are at the gigawatt level.

Canadian Solar

Canadian Solar has already increased module assembly capacity at its plant in Ontario, Canada from 330MW at the end of 2013 to 530MW of as of 31 January 2014. Total nameplate capacity at module production plants in China and Canada currently stands at 2.6GW, up from 2.4GW in 2013.

Canadian Solar has typically used a flexible, vertically integrated manufacturing model but has significantly smaller capacity in ingot/wafers (200MW) and solar cells (1,500MW) than module assembly (2.6GW).

However, the company recently raise around US$200 million, for further expansion of manufacturing capacity to 3GW to meet growing demand.
JinkoSolar

JinkoSolar added several hundred megawatts of module capacity in 2013. The company had 1.5GW of annual nameplate capacity for silicon ingots, wafers and solar cells and approximately 2.0 GW for solar modules.

However, this year, Jinko Solar recently announced it was acquiring Topoint, which would provide the company with 500MW of cell and 500MW of wafer capacity plus 100MW of module capacity, bringing its total nameplate module capacity to 2GW plus.

Trina Solar

Trina Solar has also followed the acquisition route to gaining new capacity with the purchase of a majority shareholding in Hubei Hongyuan PV Science and Technology, a small solar cell producer, as well as taking over operations of tier-two module manufacturer, NESL Solartech.

The deal was struck with Chinese conglomerate Yabang Investment Holding Group, owners of NESL Solartech. The new joint venture will be called Changzhou Trina Yabang Solar Energy Co., Ltd. Trina Solar will hold a 51% stake and Yabang Group will have a 49% interest. The facility will be managed by Trina Solar management, according to a statement.

Trina Solar said that the total investment by both companies would be approximately US$45 million, a sum that will be used for capital expenditure and working capital requirements.

*snip*

Let the expansions begin

With end-market demand set for strong growth over the next two years, it is clear that major capacity expansions are already underway in 2014.

As the ‘effective’ 45GW plus of capacity is expected to become exhausted in 2014, PV manufacturers could announce the next significant next wave of capacity additions later in the year, with many having to be greenfield sites.

much more
http://www.pv-tech.org/editors_blog/...e_is_under_way

Atomic switcheroo explains origins of thin-film solar cell mystery

OAK RIDGE, Tenn., April 23, 2014—Treating cadmium-telluride (CdTe) solar cell materials with cadmium-chloride improves their efficiency, but researchers have not fully understood why. Now, an atomic-scale examination of the thin-film solar cells led by the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has answered this decades-long debate about the materials’ photovoltaic efficiency increase after treatment.

A research team from ORNL, the University of Toledo and DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory used electron microscopy and computational simulations to explore the physical origins of the unexplained treatment process. The results are published in Physical Review Letters (PRL).

Thin-film CdTe solar cells are considered a potential rival to silicon-based photovoltaic systems because of their theoretically low cost per power output and ease of fabrication. Their comparatively low historical efficiency in converting sunlight into energy, however, has limited the technology’s widespread use, especially for home systems.

Research in the 1980s showed that treating CdTe thin films with cadmium-chloride significantly raises the cell’s efficiency, but scientists have been unable to determine the underlying causes. ORNL’s Chen Li, first author on the PRL study, explains that the answer lay in investigating the material at an atomic level.

“We knew that chlorine was responsible for this magical effect, but we needed to find out where it went in the material’s structure,” Li said. “Only by understanding the structure can we understand what’s wrong in this solar cell -- why the efficiency is not high enough, and how can we push it further.”

By comparing the solar cells before and after chlorine treatment, the researchers realized that atom-scale grain boundaries were implicated in the enhanced performance. Grain boundaries are tiny defects that that normally act as roadblocks to efficiency, because they inhibit carrier collection which greatly reduces the solar cell power.

Using state of the art electron microscopy techniques to study the thin films’ structure and chemical composition after treatment, the researchers found that chlorine atoms replaced tellurium atoms within the grain boundaries. This atomic substitution creates local electric fields at the grain boundaries that boost the material’s photovoltaic performance instead of damaging it.

The research team’s finding, in addition to providing a long-awaited explanation, could be used to guide engineering of higher-efficiency CdTe solar cells. Controlling the grain boundary structure, says Li, is a new direction that could help raise the cell efficiencies closer to the theoretical maximum of 32 percent light-to-energy conversion. Currently, the record CdTe cell efficiency is only 20.4 percent.

http://www.ornl.gov/ornl/news/news-r...cell-mystery--
http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/04/at...r-cell-mystery
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0423150937.htm

Unlocking Solar Energy's Value as an Asset Class
2014 is predicted to be a breakout year for solar financing, as the industry eagerly pursues finance innovations. Many of these methods aren't really new to other industries, but they are potentially game-changing when applied in the solar industry.
James Montgomery, Associate Editor, RenewableEnergyWorld.com
April 24, 2014 | 0 Comments

New Hampshire, USA -- Not all options are ready to step into the spotlight, though. Master limited partnerships (MLP) and real estate investment trusts (REIT) promise more attractive tax treatment than securitizations or yieldcos, but they require some heavy lifting and difficult decisions at the highest levels: MLPs need an act of Congress even for an infinitesimal language tweak to remove a legislative exclusion to solar and wind, while REITs involve a touchy reclassification of assets from the IRS that could have broader and undesirable tax consequences. Yet another model gaining traction is a more institutionalized version of crowdfunding, led by Mosaic (technically they call it "crowdsourcing"), but crowdfunding is awaiting more clarity from the Securities and Exchange Commission about what rules must apply.

And so, while patiently waiting for Paleozoic movement out of Washington, the industry is turning its attention and anticipation toward ushering in two other new financing models: securitizations (converting an asset into something that is tradable, i.e., a security) and “yieldcos" (publicly traded companies created specifically around energy operating assets to produce cash flow and income). Their build-up actually began last year: in the fall SolarCity finally launched the first securitization of distributed-generation solar energy assets, with a pledge to do more and significantly larger ones in the coming quarters, and throughout 2013 several companies (NRG, Pattern, Transalta, Hannon Armstrong) spun off yieldcos with varying levels of renewable energy assets in their portfolios.

Just weeks into 2014 we're already seeing an uptick in activity. While the industry awaits SolarCity's next securitization move, in the meantime the company has acquired Common Assets, which had been building up a Web-based platform for managing financial products (most especially renewable energy investments) for individual and institutional investors; the first SolarCity-backed products are expected to start rolling out by this summer. We're also hearing rumors of up to half a dozen other securitization deals working through the pipeline, referencing unidentified large players with long histories of building out projects — some names frequently invoked as potentially fitting those criteria include familiar residential-solar companies such as Vivint, Sunrun, Sungevity, and several others.

On the yieldco front, in mid-February SunEdison announced plans for its own "yieldco" IPO aimed at unlocking more value within its solar energy assets. Pricing wasn't announced at press time, but earlier reports suggested it could generate a $300 million payday. SunPower also recently has been talking about doing a yieldco in a 2015 timeframe, likely to feature its 135-MW Quinto project and possibly its 120-MW Henrietta project. Others reportedly eyeing the yieldco model include Canadian Solar, Jinko Solar, and First Solar.

What Capital Markets Can Do For Solar Companies

What's coming together to bring these two financial innovations into the arena right now? Put simply, it's the confluence of plunging PV prices and blistering installation growth which are achieving a scale and maturity that outstrips the capacity of traditional tax-equity sources -- but it also means they can now entertain large-scale financial instruments, explains Joshua M. Pearce, Associate Professor at the Michigan Technological University's Open Sustainability Technology Lab, who recently published a study of solar securitizations. Look at it from a macro level: even conservative growth estimates for U.S. solar energy capacity additions point to 20 GW coming online by the time the investment tax credit (ITC) is planned to run out in 2017, notes NREL energy analyst Travis Lowder, author of another recent report. At an average of $3/W that's $60 billion in assets, of which a third or even half could generate securitizable cash streams for solar developers. Spin that equation around: a single $100 million securitization deal could support 72 MW of residential solar assets, 100 MW of small commercial solar, or 133 MW of larger commercial/industrial projects.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...an-asset-class

Three New Finance Models for Non-Profits to Go Solar
Daryl Zeis, REC Solar
April 23, 2014 | 1 Comments

Financing Option #1: Solar Power Purchase Agreements (Solar PPAs) for Non-Profits

Financing Option #2: Commercial PACE Tailored for Non-Profits

Financing Option #3: Crowd Funding for Solar Projects

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...ng-to-go-solar

Solar-Electric Generating Capacity Up 418%
April 23, 2014 Michelle DiFrangia : 0 Comments

Glenn McGrath / Principal Contributor / U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Analyst

U.S. solar capacity increased significantly in the last 4 years. In 2010, the total solar capacity was 2,326 MW, which accounted for a comparatively small fraction (0.22%) of the total U.S. electric generating capacity. By February 2014, this capacity increased 418% to 12,057 MW, a 9,731 MW gain, and now accounts for almost 1.13% of total U.S. capacity. Reported planned solar capacity additions indicate continued growth.

EIA tracks three principal types of solar-electric generating capacity:

1. Residential and commercial rooftop and other PV capacity reported by distribution utilities as net-metered.

2. Utility level (>= 1 MW) solar photovoltaic capacity reported by generation operators.

3. Utility level (>= 1 MW) solar thermal capacity reported by generation operators.

Net-metered applications, which are generally intended to displace retail purchased power to lower the overall energy bill for a host site, have increased each year since 2010 at an annual rate of about 1,100 MW and now total 5,251 MW. Although sunny California has the largest net-metered solar capacity (38% of the total), abundant sunshine is not the only growth factor for this sector. Net-metered applications are typically incentivized through various state level programs. New Jersey and Massachusetts together represent an additional 21% of the total net-metered solar capacity. Overall, the national growth in net-metered PV capacity is fairly evenly split between residential and commercial applications.

http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com...-capacity-418/

NPD Solarbuzz: Middle East and Africa solar PV demand to triple to 4.4 GW by 2018

NPD Solarbuzz (Santa Clara, California, U.S.) has released a new report where it predicts that solar photovoltaic (PV) demand to grow 50% in the Middle East and Africa in 2014 to 1.6 GW.

It also finds that demand will nearly triple to 4.4 GW by 2018, with an upside potential of 10 GW, and expects that ground-mounted PV plants will represent 70% of this market. Solarbuzz estimates that PV demand in the region grew 670% in 2013 to more than 1 GW.

“Solar PV represents an ideal renewable energy type across much of the Middle East and Africa,” notes NPD Solarbuzz Analyst Susanne von Aichberger. “Even so, market drivers and constraints differ greatly between the two regions.”

Saudi Arabia to become the largest PV market in the Middle East

NPD Solarbuzz notes that in most of the Middle East PV is seen as a means to preserve oil and gas reserves. The company estimates that Middle East PV demand will reach 2.2 GW on 2018.

While Israel will remaining the largest Middle Eastern PV market in 2014, by 2018 NDP Solarbuzz expects Saudi Arabia to be a larger market.

The company notes that in Africa PV demand is driven by the need to stimulate social and economic development. It expects South Africa to remain the region's largest market, stimulated by the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme. REIPPP.

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...w-by-2014.html

IHS: UK to install 13 GW of solar PV over the next five years

Citing the release of the nation's Solar Strategy and good invest- ment conditions for ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) plants, IHS Technology (London) has increased its near-term UK PV market forecast, predicting that the nation will install 2.5–3 GW annually until 2018.

The company expects the UK to install 2.4 GW of PV in 2014, including 1.5 GW of utility-scale plants. IHS estimates that the nation has already installed 922 MW of utility-scale PV in the first quarter of 2014.

Document unclear on exact support systems

But while IHS states that the UK Solar Strategy is causing “optimism” by UK market participants, it also finds that the document is unclear on exact support measures for the commercial rooftop segment, which will be key in the attempt to shift the market from utility-scale to rooftop PV.

The strategy also finds that some barriers are inherent in the UK real estate sector, including details of the financial relationship between tenants and owners.

UK PV market more concentrated

IHS also found that the UK PV market is less fragmented than other European markets, with the top five system integrators installing 46% of the utility-scale PV in the first quarter of 2014.

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...ive-years.html

Xcel calls for 100 MW of big solar
By Herman K. Trabish
April 24, 2014

Dive Brief:

• Xcel Energy’s request for proposals (RFP) for 100 megawatts of new solar will dramatically increase Minnesota’s installed solar capacity over from its present twelve megawatts at about 730 rooftop sites.
• The RFP, for commercial-industrial and utility scale installations of five megawatts and over, will move the Xcel about one-third of the way toward compliance with the Minnesota's Solar Energy Standard mandating its utilities get 1.5% of their power from solar by 2020.
• The proposals must be submitted to Xcel and reviewed in time for regulatory approval of the twenty year power purchase agreements this fall so construction can be completed before the 30% federal investment tax credit drops to 10% after December 31, 2016.

Dive Insight:

This new round of solar development will be an opportunity for Xcel to demonstrate if it will use Minnesota’s newly instituted Value of Solar Tariff or revert to the familiar net energy metering policy.

The RFP is expected to drive competition between Minnesota developers, including Sunrise Energy, Ecos Energy, and Geronimo Energy. Ecos Energy last year interconnected a two megawatt installation through Xcel, which is presently the state’s biggest project.

In keeping with its resistance to rooftop solar, Xcel expects larger central station projects to provide about two-thirds of the solar standard-mandated 270 to 300 megawatts of capacity.

http://www.utilitydive.com/news/xcel...-solar/255063/

100 MW Solar Power Plant Tender Opened In Dubai, UAE

The state utility company of Dubai, the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), has officially opened a tender for a solar power plant 100 MW in size. The tender is for the second phase of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

The first phase of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park was opened in October 2013 and was only 13 MW in size, so this second phase is a big jump forward. However, it doesn’t amount to even one-fifth of the project’s planned size, which is 1,000 MW (1 GW).

The completion date for the entire 1 GW is targeted for the summer of 2017. Dubai aims to have 1% of its power needs supplied by solar by 2020. Neighboring emirate Abu Dhabi has a goal of 7% renewable energy in its electricity mix by 2020. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has plans to get 54 GW from renewable energy, 41 GW from solar, by 2032 (5.1 GW of renewables by 2018 & 23.9 GW by 2020). It is expected to launch a 1 GW tender by the end of 2014.

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/24/...ned-dubai-uae/

Solar Roadways Launches IndieGoGo Campaign To Find Funding

Harnessing the power of the sun, the Solar Roadways project wants to replace asphalt streets with solar-powered panels the light up and melt snow. While the project has received plenty of press, and even funding from the Department of Transportation, the family behind Solar Roadways has turned to crowdfunding site IndieGoGo in an attempt to raise one MILLION dollars.

From computer rendering to award-winning prototype, Solar Roadways founders Scott and Julie Brusaw have come a long way since the idea first surfaced in 2006. The concept is simple; harnessing solar power by day, at night the LED-embedded roadways can provide lane markers, replace street lamps, and warn motorists of traffic or accident situations. It seems totally sci-fi, but the Brusaw’s have built a working prototype next to their North Idaho workship, and it reportedly stayed free of snow and ice all winter long. The Brusaw’s want to take the next step towards production.

http://gas2.org/2014/04/23/solar-roa...-find-funding/

• Video Link

April 21, 2014
Solar Fuels: A grand challenge of 21st century chemistry
Solar army commander leads research group on quest for affordable solar fuels

Solar panels are becoming a familiar site in communities across the United States, but what about solar fuels? A solar fuel is produced from sunlight through artificial photosynthesis, mimicking what Mother Nature has been doing for billions of years. Many chemists and chemical engineers are working to make solar fuels a viable option in the future. In fact, there's even a worldwide "Solar Army" on the job, and California Institute of Technology chemistry professor Harry Gray is known as their commanding general!

Gray is director of the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Center for Chemical Innovation in Solar Fuels (CCI Solar). His troops are hundreds of senior researchers and eager students who are on a mission to find a metal oxide catalyst that can activate sunlight's energy by deconstructing and transforming water molecules into hydrogen fuel--on a large scale and affordably.

Up until now, the most effective catalysts have required pricy, precious metals, such as platinum. But, these chemists hope to identify new, much less expensive catalysts, which would make solar fuels a more affordable renewable energy option.

"Understanding the science behind the conversion of sunlight to a chemical fuel is a grand challenge for chemists. This team of chemists and chemical engineers is enhancing our understanding of fundamental chemical processes and inspiring the next generation of scientists," says Jacquelyn Gervay-Hague, director of the Division of Chemistry within NSF's Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_repo...solarfuels.jsp
http://www.technology.org/2014/04/24...ury-chemistry/

• Video Link

• Video Link

[amor de cosmos]

Middle East and Africa Solar PV Demand to Grow by 50 Percent in 2014, According to NPD Solarbuzz

Saudi Arabia to become leading PV country in 2016, driving the MEA market to 4.4 GW by 2018

Santa Clara, Calif., April 24, 2014—Solar photovoltaic (PV) demand from the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is set to grow 50 percent year-over-year in 2014. Between 2014 and 2018, annual PV demand will nearly triple as the MEA region becomes a key market for the global industry, according to findings in the latest NPD Solarbuzz Emerging PV Markets Report: Middle East and Africa. By 2018, annual PV demand in the MEA region is expected to reach 4.4 GW, with an upside potential of 10 GW.

PV demand from the MEA region in 2013 grew by 670 percent, compared to 2012 when the region added approximately 140 MW. Previously, the region had a substantial share of small off-grid PV systems; however, in 2013, the on-grid segment became the main factor driving growth to more than 1 GW, with 1.6 GW forecast for 2014. In 2018, ground-mount systems will account for over 70 percent of the market.

Until now, PV growth in the MEA region has been predominantly driven by a small number of economically prosperous countries, in particular South Africa and Israel. Along with Saudi Arabia, these three countries are expected to offer stable demand levels within the MEA region over the next few years.

“Solar PV represents an ideal renewable energy type across much of the Middle East and Africa,” noted Susanne von Aichberger, analyst at NPD Solarbuzz. “Even so, market drivers and constraints differ greatly between the two regions.”

http://www.solarbuzz.com/news/recent...ding-npd-solar

SunPower’s PV project pipeline tops 7.5GW as demand exceeds supply
By Mark Osborne - 25 April 2014, 12:07
In News, Fab & Facilities, Power Generation, Finance

Major PV energy provider SunPower has said that demand for its PV modules exceeded supply and that its PV project pipeline has topped 7.5GW, boosted by around 300MW of secured projects through its majority shareholder, the oil giant Total.

SunPower noted that its project pipeline included 4GW in the Americas, 1.7GW in the MENA region, 1.45GW in the APAC region, notably Japan and China, and 500MW across Europe. SunPower’s project pipeline has increased by 1.5GW since May, 2013.

The company noted that its global distributed generation (DG) business deployments in the first quarter of 2014 totalled 108MW, which included 52MW in the APAC region, 35MW in North America and 21MW in Europe, and that demand continued to exceed supply.

The company also noted that it was establishing a 'hold co' and 'yield co' strategy in relation to both ground-mount projects and its distributed lease/finance residential rooftop businesses, with at least 517MW set to be included in its new asset pipeline through 2016.

Production capacity update

Having been capacity constrained for several quarters and running production lines at full utilisation, management said in an earnings call to discuss first quarter results that its 350MW Fab 4 construction in the Philippines remained on-track to produce 50-100MW in 2014 and 250MW in 2016.

Significantly, management noted that Fab 4 technology and processes would not only produce its highest cell efficiencies but would also enable module production costs to be reduced by up to 35%, without providing further details.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/sunpower...exceeds_supply

04/24/2014 09:31 AM
Battle Between Fossil Fuels & Solar Intensifies
SustainableBusiness.com News

Last month we reported that Kansas managed to evade ALEC's solar-killing bills that are now under consideration in numerous states.

Kansas ended up diluting the net-metering law and rejected attempts to purge the Renewable Portfolio Standard. Koch-backed groups funded the attack, claiming that renewable energy was expensive and would destroy local economies.

Oklahoma, the deepest of the red states, passed the legislation handily though, by 83-5 in the House without any debate. Going forward, anyone who installs solar or small wind will pay a monthly surcharge, discouraging more people to install solar systems.

"We knew nothing about it and all of a sudden it's attached to some other bill," Ctaci Gary, owner of Sun City Oklahoma, told ThinkProgress. "It just appeared out of nowhere."

The amount of the surcharge has yet to be determined, but people are already rushing to get their systems up before the law takes effect, Gary told ThinkProgress.

Now all eyes are on Ohio, where Senate Bill 310 would freeze the Renewable Portfolio Standard at current levels and eliminate its successful Energy Efficiency Resource Standard.

Businesses are lined up for and against the bill: Utility FirstEnergy, steelmaker Timken Co. and Marathon Petroleum favor it and Honda, Whirlpool and Owens Corning oppose it, reports The Columbus Dispatch. Proponents view renewable energy as a drag on the economy while opponents believe efficiency and renewable energy attract economic investment and encourage growth.

Since Arizona's utility added a monthly surcharge of $5 (down from their $50-$100 per month proposal), the number of new solar systems have plummeted.

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/i...splay/id/25670

Tuning Any Semiconductor for More Efficient Photovoltaics
Written by Sandra Henderson 25 April 2014

Researchers at Georgia State University (US) have discovered a way to tune existing semiconductors that may solve the problem of detecting electromagnetic radiation outside the visible range, even well into the infrared range. The breakthrough could open the door to novel device concepts like more efficient photovoltaics and dual or multiband photodetectors.

“Exceeding the wavelength limit generally associated with the energy gap is intriguing,” says Unil Perera, Regents' Professor of Physics and head of the Semiconductor Optoelectronics Laboratory at Georgia State. “Application of this idea in to various materials will provide limitless possibilities.”

The new method adds an extra light source that primes any semiconductor with energy. By exciting hot carriers in the injector across a barrier in to the absorber, a low-energy, long-wavelength beam pushes the material over the top, causing a detectable reaction. When the injected hot carriers interact with the original cold carriers of the absorber, the cold carriers are excited into higher energy states. “By absorbing lower energy photons, these thermalised cold carriers will contribute to a longer wavelength response, which is broader than that without the hot-carrier effect.”

*snip*

For applications in solar cells, this method for tuning a semiconductor material through varying the degree of hot-hole (high-energy carriers) injection can enhance the absorption wavelength range (e.g., GaAs can absorb light extended to the infrared range).

http://www.solarnovus.com/tuning-any...ics_N7673.html

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stresses transmission, pushes solar PV and wind along with conventional energy

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang mentioned the importance of advancing wind and solar alongside the development of conventional energy sources in his address to the first meeting of a new session of China's National Energy Commission, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Li stressed the need to advance electricity transmission and distribution projects in tandem with renewable energy development, including mention of a high-voltage transmission channel from the East of the nation to the West in order to optimize distribution of resources.

Additionally, the premier mentioned the expansion of electrical cars and clean-energy vehicles.

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...al-energy.html

Oxford professor recognised by Materials Research Society for solar cell work
By Peter Bennett | 25 April 2014, 13:00 Updated: 25 April 2014, 11:48

Professor Henry Snaith has been awarded the Outstanding Young Investigator Award for his work with perovskite-based solar cells by the Materials Research Society.

Snaith, a professor of physics at Oxford University, has been recognised for his work on developing a new generation of thin-film photovoltaics that can be used in non-traditional applications like the glass facades of buildings.

Speaking about the award, Professor Snaith said: “I am delighted to be held in such esteem by the Materials Research Society. It is a great honour to receive the award and recognition such as this really helps to raise the profile of the exciting developments we are making in solar technology which we believe will result in a transformational change across the world.”

Last year, Nature Magazine named Professor Snaith in its annual list of ten people who have made a difference to science – the only UK scientist to be included. Professor Snaith’s perovskite-based solar cells recently achieved conversion efficiencies of 17%.

http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne...for_solar_3309

The Rise of Solar Co-ops
Apr 22, 2014
Laurie Guevara-​Stone
Writer / Editor

While many people associate cooperatives with a place for hippies to buy organic food, the cooperative movement has actually grown far and wide, creating sustainable enterprises that generate jobs and strengthen local economies. Today, there are nearly 30,000 cooperatives in the United States, with more than 100 million members. From day care centers to hardware stores, cooperatives seem to be permeating every sector of society. So it’s no surprise that cooperatives are making their way into the renewable energy field as well.

A cooperative is a group of people acting together to meet the common needs and aspirations of its members, sharing ownership and making decisions democratically. Co-ops can be owned by workers, residents, consumers, farmers, the community, or any combination of the above. What they have in common is that they are not about making big profits for shareholders, but rather circulating the benefits back to their member-owners, and these benefits ripple out to the broader community.

Solar cooperatives are helping independently-owned solar integrators share best practices, allowing homeowners to install PV systems more economically, and giving renters or people living in apartments a simple way to join the solar revolution.

Small businesses banding together

Consumers pooling their purchasing power

Community solar

http://blog.rmi.org/blog_2014_04_22_...of_solar_coops

• Video Link

Apr 24, 2014
Rooftops, Empty Lots Offer Japan Space for Solar Panels

April 25 (Bloomberg) — Developers of solar projects in Japan are looking to rooftops, empty lots and industrial parks in response to constraints limiting connections to the grid and difficulties finding suitable land.

Government approvals for smaller-sized projects of less than 1 megawatt have outnumbered larger projects every month since May 2013, according to data compiled by Bloomberg New Energy Finance based on official figures.

The pattern of approvals reverses the trend set when Japan first began offering incentives for clean-energy in July 2012. Developers initially favored “mega” projects built on large patches of open land.

“This was somewhat expected as less land is becoming available for large-scale projects,” said Takehiro Kawahara, a Tokyo-based analyst for BNEF. “There are also grid connection issues,” he said, referring to some areas in Japan where congestion on electric transmission lines is forcing developers to review plans.

From May 2013 through January — the latest available figures provided by the government — Japan approved 6,500 megawatts of solar projects in the 10-kilowatt to 1-megawatt category. That’s double the approvals for larger projects. A solar plant with 1 megawatt of capacity can generate enough electricity for about 316 typical Japanese homes.

Projects of less than 1 megawatt are usually found on rooftops, unused land, or in industrial areas, the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies said in a report in March. The segment accounted for about a half of Japan’s solar capacity added after the introduction of inducements designed to boost clean-energy development, according to the report.

Small-Scale Solar

Government Support

http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/roof...-solar-panels/

[amor de cosmos]

Copper nanowires could become basis for new solar cells
6 hours ago by Beth Miller

(Phys.org) —By looking at a piece of material in cross section, Washington University in St. Louis engineer Parag Banerjee, PhD, and his team discovered how copper sprouts grass-like nanowires that could one day be made into solar cells.

Banerjee, assistant professor of materials science and an expert in working with nanomaterials, Fei Wu, graduate research assistant, and Yoon Myung, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate, also took a step toward making solar cells and more cost-effective.

Banerjee and his team worked with copper foil, a simple material similar to household aluminum foil. When most metals are heated, they form a thick metal oxide film. However, a few metals, such as copper, iron and zinc, grow grass-like structures known as nanowires, which are long, cylindrical structures a few hundred nanometers wide by many microns tall. They set out to determine how the nanowires grow.

"Other researchers look at these wires from the top down," Banerjee says. "We wanted to do something different, so we broke our sample and looked at it from the side view to see if we got different information, and we did."

Results of the research were recently published in CrystEngComm. Washington University's International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy & Sustainability (I-CARES) and the McDonnell Academy Global Energy and Environment Partnership (MAGEEP) provided funding for the research.

The team used Raman spectroscopy, a technique that uses light from a laser beam to interact with molecular vibrations or other movements. They found an underlying thick film made up of two different copper oxides (CuO and Cu2O) that had narrow, vertical columns of grains running through them. In between these columns, they found grain boundaries that acted as arteries through which the copper from the underlying layer was being pushed through when heat was applied, creating the nanowires.

"We're now playing with this ionic transport mechanism, turning it on and off and seeing if we can get some different forms of wires," says Banerjee, who runs the Laboratory for Emerging and Applied Nanomaterials (L.E.A.N.).

http://phys.org/news/2014-04-copper-...lar-cells.html

Turkish solar market gathering pace
25. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends | By: Hans-Christoph Neidlein

The impression cast by the 20th International Energy and Environment Fair and Conference in Istanbul suggest a domestic market that is rapidly gaining ground.

The first day of the 20th International Energy and Environment Fair and Conference (ICCI) began yesterday and gave the unmistakable impression of a domestic solar PV industry flowing with confidence.

Invited along to attend a shoulder event of the ICCI fair, pv magazine discovered that a number of exciting projects are in the pipeline, the largest of which – a 30 MW pv plant – is scheduled to begin construction soon.

A spokesperson for Istanbul-based EPC Tekno Ray Solar confirmed to pv magazine that Chinese solar company Yingli will play an active part in the plant's development, while inverters are to be supplied by the Turkish distribution partner of Danfoss, Zenit (Izmir). Expect an official announcement and further details soon.

Once unveiled, such a project will go some way in confirming Turkey as a solar market to watch. During the ICCI event, Zenit CEO Can Sözen, and Danfoss Solar sales director Bruno Bach Jensen revealed to pv magazine that the former company is expecting to sell a total of 38 MW worth of Danfoss inverters and components for forthcoming domestic PV projects.

Furthermore, a keen emphasis is being placed on training and educating local Turkish nationals to enable the country to develop a more rounded domestic PV industry. The University of Izmir is set to team with Zenit to deliver a three-year training course designed for engineers and installers, said Sözen, who expects as many as 1,000 participants to enroll this year alone. This project is also backed by the city of Izmir, confirmed the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture for Izmir University, Salih Okur.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ace_100014917/

SunEdison Closes $104 Million To Build Utility Projects In Ontario
April 25, 2014 Frank Andorka

SunEdison, a solar technology manufacturer and provider of solar energy services, closed on financing for two solar power plants to be built in Ontario, Canada.

Deutsche Bank Securities is providing construction financing. The plants will provide employment for skilled manufacturing and construction workers in Ontario.

SunEdison will manage the construction of the two plants, which are both planned to be operational by the end of 2014. The solar power plants will be composed of over 100,000 SunEdison Silvantis Photovoltaic Solar Modules, which will be manufactured in the province of Ontario.

Silvantis Modules are built using SunEdison polysilicon and wafers to ensure maximum reliability and performance. Once operational, the plants will be managed by the SunEdison Renewable Operation Center (ROC), which provides global 24/7 asset management, monitoring, field dispatch and reporting services.

http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com...jects-ontario/

“Revolutionary” Advanced Battery Leaps Theoretical Maxiumum Boundary

Just when you thought you knew everything about the theoretical maximum capacity of batteries, along comes the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to throw you for a loop. A team of researchers at ORNL has developed a pathway for “unprecedented energy density” in a battery that has already demonstrated a 26 percent increase over its theoretical maximum.

The ORNL team tested its concept on a lithium-carbon fluoride battery, which is considered “one of the best” batteries in the single-use (non-rechargeable) class for its high energy density.

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/26/...umum-boundary/

[amor de cosmos]

California, Roy L Hales, Solar, FIT, Solar, Rooftop
Los Angeles’ Solar Promise
April 26, 2014
By Roy L Hales

A new Report Shows how to Harness LA’s FIT to Create Jobs and Build Social Equity

Las Angeles has the potential to become the largest per capita provider of rooftop solar in California. Over 40% of the areas where solar could be installed are also in need of significant socioeconomic and environmental investment. A new report from the LABC Institute discusses how this can be done.

The first step would be to scale up the FiT program from its current 100 MW to 600 MW.
This is half half way to the 1,200 MW that the city hopes to have installed by 2020, in order to achieve its part in California’s goal toobtain 1/3 of its energy from renewable sources by 2020.

“The CLEAN LA Solar FIT program is paving the way to secure our city’s future as a statewide and national leader in solar production, helping our environment and economy alike,” Mayor Garcetti said.

Environment California, Mayor Eric Garcetti, numerous politicians, non-profits and businesses (including SolarCity, Sunrun and Sungevity) all support this goal.

Prior studies commissioned by the LABC Institute have shown that Los Angeles has 10,000 acres of rooftop solar potential, which could support a far larger FIT than is being discussed.

The report suggests “that the program should encourage solar job creation in high-need areas, and that disadvantaged worker credits and local business preferences be built into the program.” There are already a number of local and student programs in low-income areas in the San Fernando Valley, Downtown and East Los Angeles. Some target disadvantaged and at-risk youth, including Homeboy Industries’ Solar Installation Training and Certification Program, which works with ex-offenders and former gang members, and the Los Angeles Conversation Corps’ ) Green Job Training Program, which serves low-income youth.

http://www.theecoreport.com/green-bl...solar-promise/

Passive solar greenhouses: A solar powered greenhouse that makes sense in Canada's climate

A passive solar greenhouse in Invermere B.C. is making people across the continent sit up and takes notice. What is a passive solar greenhouse? Don’t they already use the sun’s energy? Well yes but with the traditional Dutch glass box greenhouse design all that heat leaves once the sun goes down. These uninsulated buildings don’t store any of that heat and as a result use a ton of energy to either heat the building at night or move excess heat out during the day. Energy wise, they just don’t make sense for most of Canada.

We wanted to see it in action and that’s why we visited the Groundswell Network Society’s community passive solar greenhouse in Invermere, B.C.

The first thing they did was to get rid of the north-facing glass wall that loses heat and doesn’t bring in light. That north facing wall and the back half of the building was replaced with a roof and a thermally massive concrete wall and floor structure designed to keep the heat in and store heat captured from the sun and release it overnight. On the front of the building, facing south is the only glass this greenhouse has - a large curved, glass wall. The roof has solar PV panels to generate electricity and it also has a solar thermal hot water system that heats an in-floor concrete heating system. And finally it has an annualized geo-solar system where hot air is collected from the ceiling and pumped underneath the building.

But does it blend?

Does the design work? When we visited in early March it was -1C outside and a pretty grim, grey day. Inside the greenhouse the temperature was already approaching 20C. It’s been in operation since 2009 producing a ton of delicious veggies and herbs. The building has no furnace and it acts as a season extender. They can start plants in February and still be harvesting the last of the tomatoes in November.

“I think why greenhouses aren't all like this is because we live in an era of very inexpensive energy. And what we've tried to demonstrate here is to anticipate the change in that reality that many in the food sector believe is coming,” says Bill Swan, the executive director of the Groundswell Community Network.

http://www.greenenergyfutures.ca/blo...anadas-climate

• Video Link

[amor de cosmos]

Apr 28, 2014
Solar Wind Wins Approval for $1.5 Billion Power Tower

April 28 (Bloomberg) — Solar Wind Energy Tower Inc. won approval from an Arizona city to develop a $1.5 billion project that would use ambient desert heat to create a draft to generate electricity, in a concrete colossus that would be the tallest structure in North America.

The 2,250-feet (686-meter) project, which resembles a nuclear plant’s cooling tower, would be capable of generating at a average rate of about 435 megawatt-hours over the course of a year, Ron Pickett, chief executive officer of the three-year-old Annapolis, Maryland-based company, said in a phone interview today. In July and August, the Southwest’s hottest and driest months, the plant could produce more than 1,200 megawatt-hours.

The project, which doesn’t yet have financing or a customer for its electricity output, would use technology created by Solar Wind. In the dry desert air, water would be injected in a mist near the top of tower, causing the air to cool and gain density. The draft created by the sinking air would exceed 50 miles per hour as it’s forced through a ring of turbines at the tower’s base, generating electricity.

“This is a game-changer in certain areas — hot, dry climates,” Pickett said. The company is proposing this project near the Mexico border to prove the concept, with the goal of licensing the process to developers. The technology would work in Africa, Australia and “you can throw a dart in the Mideast, and it works there,” he said.

http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/sola...n-power-tower/

Could 'solar-powered' kerosene hold key to greener jet fuel?
EU-backed research project produces first kerosene derived from solar-powered syngas
By Jessica Shankleman
29 Apr 2014

Plans to start powering aeroplanes on "renewable" kerosene have made a major breakthrough, after researchers in Switzerland produced the first drops of a new fuel that was produced using solar power.

The Solar-Jet project, backed by €2.2m of funding from the European Commission, aims to use concentrated light from the sun to power the production of syngas, which can then be turned into kerosene.

Project partner Shell already converts syngas into kerosene for fuel. However, it is seeking a cleaner source to make the syngas in the first place.

Solar-Jet aims to commercialise a process whereby carbon dioxide and water are converted to syngas in a high temperature solar reactor, potentially creating a "carbon neutral" aviation fuel.

Yesterday, the European Commission revealed that the first "glassful" of solar-powered kerosene had been produced at the laboratory in ETH Zürich, marking a major breakthrough in the four-year research programme.

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news...eener-jet-fuel

3 Solar Integration Questions Utility Executives Must Confront
And one question advanced grid power electronics vendors should be asking
Mike Munsell
April 28, 2014

As noted in the most recent U.S. Solar Market Insight report, more solar has been installed in the United States in the last eighteen months than was installed in the prior 30 years. Of the nearly 5 gigawatts installed in 2013, 40 percent was of the distributed variety. Solar's exponential growth is already impacting utility business models and infrastructure in high-penetration markets like Germany and Hawaii.

While there is currently no silver bullet to address the effects of distributed solar, GTM Research identifies technologies and strategies that can be applied to help mitigate PV integration challenges in its most recent report, Advanced Grid Power Electronics for High Penetration PV Integration 2014.



At what saturation point does PV begin to cause serious stability problems?

What technologies can be used to mitigate the effects of instability due to high PV penetration?

Which vendors offer power electronic products for the secondary level of the distribution grid?

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...pv-integration

More Than 120 Large-Scale Solar PV Farms Approved for Construction in the UK, According to NPD Solarbuzz
Investment firms rush to accumulate PV assets based on UK’s growing solar farm capacity

Santa Clara, Calif., April 28, 2014—The United Kingdom is forecast to be the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) market in Europe in 2014, fuelled by the rapid growth in ground-mounted solar PV farms. More than 120 large-scale solar PV farms in the UK have recently received project-planning approval, and many of them are targeting completion within the next 12 months, according to the new NPD Solarbuzz UK Deal Tracker report.

“In the past six months, the Department of Energy and Climate Change released the United Kingdom’s ‘Solar PV Roadmap’ and ‘Solar PV Strategy’ reports, restating aspirations to hit 20 gigawatts (GW) of cumulative capacity by 2020,” noted Finlay Colville, vice-president at NPD Solarbuzz. “While reaching the long-term goal is expected to involve a blend of rooftop and ground-mounted systems, solar PV farms above 10 megawatts will provide the dominant contribution in 2014.”

By the end of April 2014, more than 325 solar PV farms in the megawatt (MW) class will have been completed within the UK, with more than 60 different sites having an installed capacity in excess of 10 MW.

An additional 444 large-scale ground-mounted solar PV farms are currently at various stages of planning in the UK, with 124 having planning applications approved and seeking to be installed before the level of support under the Renewable Obligation scheme is reduced in April 2015.

“With the UK projected to be the largest solar PV market in Europe in 2014, global component suppliers and project developers need to quickly understand the dynamics of the UK solar PV industry,” added Colville. “Aligning with suitable partners and choosing the most attractive PV projects in the pipeline will ultimately determine the winners and losers over the next 12 months.”

http://www.solarbuzz.com/news/recent...cording-npd-so

UK to become Europe's biggest PV market in 2014
28. April 2014 | Top News, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends | By: Edgar Meza

With more than 120 large-scale PV farms approved for construction, the U.K. is fast becoming a hugely attractive market for project developers and component suppliers, says NPD Solarbuzz.

Fueled by the rapid growth in ground-mounted solar PV farms, the United Kingdom is in line to become the largest solar market in Europe this year.

More than 120 large-scale solar PV farms in the U.K. have recently received project-planning approval and many are scheduled to be completed in the next 12 months, according to the new NPD Solarbuzz UK Deal Tracker report.

"In the past six months, the Department of Energy and Climate Change released the United Kingdom's Solar PV Roadmap and Solar PV Strategy reports, restating aspirations to hit 20 GW of cumulative capacity by 2020," says NPD Solarbuzz Vice President Finlay Colville.

Speaking to pv magazine about the amount of new PV capacity NPD Solarbuzz expects in the U.K. this year, Colville says: "We are forecasting the U.K. at 2.875 GW for 2014, so this means about 1.72 GW being added during [the second to the fourth quarter of 2014].

By comparison, Germany, until now Europe's PV heavyweight, "is forecast below this figure. Germany is forecast at 2.6 GW during 2014," Colville adds.

Reaching the long-term goal will involve a mix of rooftop and ground-mounted systems, according to Colville, who predicts solar PV farms above 10 MW will provide the dominant contribution in 2014.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...014_100014927/

Russia to invest $4.2 billion in solar sector by 2020
28. April 2014 | Markets & Trends, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Panorama | By: Eugene Gerden

The state-owned tech investment giant Rusnano and Russian conglomerate Renova are key players in the country's burgioning solar sector.

The Russian Ministry of Energy is expecting state and private investment in the development of the country’s solar industry to reach RUB 150 billion (US$ 4.2 billion) by 2020.

Anton Usachev, corporate affairs director at Hevel Solar, one of Russia’s largest producers of solar modules, predicts solar power plants will be established in the southern and southwestern Russian regions of Altai, Bashkortostan, Orenburg, Samara and Omsk in the next six years.

Usachev reckons that by 2020, about 1.5 GW of solar power plants will be built in Russia.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...020_100014925/

BIPV sector to reach 1.15 GW by 2019, says report
28. April 2014 | Applications & Installations, Investor news, Markets & Trends, Global PV markets | By: Ian Clover

The building integrated photovoltaics market will grow by 18.7% between now and 2019, according to Transparency Market Research's latest findings.

Key product advances in the building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) sector will help the industry reach 1.15 GW of installed global capacity by 2019, according to a recent report from Transparency Market Research.

The analysts' Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 – 2019 report found that in 2012, 343.1 MW of BIPV capacity was added worldwide, and forecasts a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.7% until 2019.

The BIPV sector has been driven in recent years by key product segments, chiefly rooftop, curtain wall and BIPV window installations. In 2012, rooftop BIPV applications accounted for 67% of the market, with the use of curtain wall technologies growing rapidly thanks to BIPV’s emergence in the commercial sector. In fact, Transparency Market Research expect curtain wall to be the sector's fastest-growing product segment between now and 2019.

Improvements in transparent, insulated and colored BIPV window products over the next few years will also help this segment grow, buoyed by advances in organic photovoltaics (OPV). Equally, C-Si technology received substantial demand in 2012, accounting for more than 60% of the market share, while the thin film segment is forecast to enjoy a CAGR of 19.1% by 2019, say the analysts.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ort_100014922/

Arizona utility breaks ground on US army’s largest solar array
By Andy Colthorpe - 28 April 2014, 10:42
In News, Power Generation, Project Focus

A US army base in Arizona will have up to one quarter of its electricity use supplied by an 18MW solar array, scheduled to go online later this year.

Utility company Tucson Electric Power has committed to developing the project at Fort Huachuca, Sierra Vista, Arizona and will also own and operate it. Capable of providing enough electricity to meet the demands of over 3,000 households, the array will prevent the release of 58,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, TUC said. The utility has contracted E.On Climate and Renewables to construct the system.

A ground-breaking ceremony was held for the array at the end of last week. According to TEP, the system will be the largest PV plant located at a US army base to date. TEP also claims that it will be built with future upgrades in mind, such as the addition of energy storage.

The Fort Huachuca plant will be based on a single interconnection via an existing substation. Excess power generated by the system will be put back into the grid for use by other TEP customers.

Tucson Electric Power claims it will have 200MW of solar power generation in its portfolio by the end of this year, including around 80MW of distributed generation solar.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/arizona_...st_solar_array

Tesla unveils plans for solar-powered EV charging network in China
By James Ayre on 28 April 2014
Clean Technica

Plans for Tesla’s supercharger network in China appear to be coming along nicely, based on what was seen at the recent delivery ceremony for Tesla’s first batch of orders in the populous country.

At the ceremony, Tesla showcased the first two solar PV charging systems designed specifically for the country’s network — requested by Tesla, but designed and manufactured by Hanergy Solar Group, the first of these systems will soon be rolled out in large cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

Hanergy was apparently Tesla’s first choice for the first PV Supercharger station in China. Commenting on that, Tesla’s founder Elon Musk had this to say: “In the future, Tesla will work with partners to build supercharger network. The first charging station in Beijing was built in cooperation with Hanergy Solar Group. Tesla will continue to invest in the construction of superchargers in China, aiming to quickly expand the network.”

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/tesl...rk-china-96578

[amor de cosmos]

Apr 29, 2014
LDK Solar to Supply 850 Megawatts of Wafers to Gintech Energy

April 29 (Bloomberg) — LDK Solar Co., the Chinese solar manufacturer that defaulted on a bond that matured in February, agreed to provide 850 megawatts of wafers over four years to Gintech Energy Corp.

The company’s Jiangxi LDK Solar Hi-Tech unit will begin shipments this month, Xinyu, China-based LDK said today in a statement. Terms weren’t disclosed.

A majority of bondholders last month agreed to a restructuring deal after the company missed a semi-annual payment in August for its 1.7 billion yuan notes ($272 million) that matured Feb. 28.

http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/ldk-...intech-energy/

Largest Solar PV Power Plant In Japan Now Online

The largest utility-scale solar PV power plant yet constructed in Japan, the 82 MW Oita Solar Project, is now online. Commercial operations at the plant are now ongoing, helping to notably boost the country’s, and region’s, renewable energy capacity.

The new, nearly 100 MW solar plant is located in southern Japan, in Oita City, and was constructed by the noted conglomerate Marubeni. Electricity from the new plant is set to be sold to Kyushu Electric Power Company under a 20-year power purchase agreement. Annual output for the plant is expected to be somewhere around 87 million kWh.

The solar modules used for the Oita project were provided by manufacturer Hanwha Q Cells.

There are currently a number of other large utility-scale projects in the works in Japan. While most of them won’t rival or supersede the Oita project, it is good to see such projects becoming more common.

For example, the aforementioned Marubeni conglomerate is currently working on several other (relatively) large projects — including a 49 MW project near the Mei and Aichi prefectures, and a 28 MW project in the prefecture of Miyagi.

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/29/...an-now-online/

Agua Caliente, World's Largest Solar Photovoltaic Plant, Helps Advance America's Solar Leadership
April 29, 2014 - 8:40am

The United States has long been known for building at a scale previously never achieved: Hoover Dam was the world’s largest dam when it was completed, Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) was the world’s tallest building for decades and the Library of Congress remains the largest library in the world.

Today we add another innovation to that list, thanks in part to the Department’s Loan Programs Office. The Agua Caliente solar project, owned by NRG Energy, has come online and is now the world’s largest photovoltaic (PV) power plant. This facility has the capacity to generate 290 megawatts (MW) of solar electricity in Yuma County, Arizona. The Department provided a $967 million loan guarantee to the project.

The completion of Agua Caliente represents a series of recent achievements for LPO in bringing large-scale solar energy to Americans. In February, Secretary Moniz and I attended the dedication of Ivanpah, the world’s largest concentrating solar power plant (CSP), which was built with the help of a $1.6 billion Energy Department loan guarantee. Last fall, supported in part by a $1.4 billion loan guarantee, the Solana concentrating solar power plant started delivering “night-time solar” to Arizona homes and businesses as the world’s largest solar facility with thermal storage. And just last week the 250 MW Genesis CSP project, which was issued a $852 million loan guarantee, came online in Riverside County, CA.

These records are even more impressive when compared to where we were prior to 2009. At that time, the largest PV plant in the U.S. was a 14 MW installation at Nellis Air Force Base. A commercial-scale CSP plant had not been built in the U.S. in two decades. But in just five short years, we have increased the scale that PV plants can achieve by twentyfold and we have also made tremendous technological advances in concentrating solar power and thermal storage.

Despite the strong and consistent public demand for greater development of solar energy, these achievements seemed more aspirational than attainable in 2009, given the state of financial markets at the time. However, with the help of loan guarantees, these projects were able to move forward.

http://www.energy.gov/articles/agua-...americas-solar
http://www.solarnovus.com/agua-calie...ete_N7688.html

Huge Regional Price Variations in Chinese-Produced Solar Modules
GTM Research shares module prices and drivers in solar’s biggest markets.
Jade Jones
April 29, 2014

Solar module suppliers will finally receive some bottom-line comfort as global prices stabilize or even rise, following two years of tumbling prices and a year of promising recovery.

The global blended average selling price for top Chinese suppliers increased by 9 percent, from 64 cents per watt in Q1 2013 to 70 cents per watt in Q1 2014. This was primarily due to significant improvement in supply-demand balance, with robust demand growth in China, Japan and the U.S. coming into contact with a fitter, leaner supply chain.

*snip*

United States: Chinese module prices will rise above 75 cents per watt

Europe: China import price floor lowered, selling prices to follow

China: Average selling prices will increase in the second half of 2014

Japan: Stronger focus on the utility-scale market will drive lower ASPs

Mexico: Talks of cutting the 15 percent import tax on solar modules

Brazil: Cut of 30% to 40% import tax on solar modules under review

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...-Solar-Modules

Egypt embraces solar, announces $1 billion investment
29. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends, Panorama, Top News | By: Edgar Meza

The Egyptian government has announced plans to invest significantly in solar power development in order to increase the share of green energy in the country and to spur job creation.

The Egyptian government has announced plans to invest up to $1 billion to develop several major solar energy projects.

While details of the initiative remain scarce, pv magazine has learned that the investment is aimed at several solar projects.

Local and Administrative Development Minister Adel Labib revealed the plans on Saturday at a conference in Alexandria organized by the city’s Chamber of Commerce, saying Egypt was in need of establishing development projects in order to offer more job opportunities for young people. Labib added that Egypt had natural mineral resources that have yet to be exploited.

Egypt’s State Information Service reported the news on its website but provided no further details about the project.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ent_100014935/
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/egypt_mi...o_solar_energy

Semprius claims new CPV cell offers ‘pathway to 50% efficiency’
By Andy Colthorpe - 29 April 2014, 11:02
In News, Thin Film, III-V

North Carolina-based high-efficiency concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) manufacturer Semprius claims it has developed a new stacked solar cell that brings closer the promise of 50% conversion efficiency.

Its latest stacked four-junction, four-terminal solar cell using Sempius' micro transfer process can reach efficiencies of 43.9%, according to the company.

Using high-speed micro transfer, a three-junction microcell is stacked onto a single-junction germanium microcell, enabling thousands of stacked microcells with very high yields to be simultaneously formed.

Semprius claims that due to the four junctions created, the cell can tap light from across a broader portion of the solar spectrum and therefore achieve higher efficiencies than conventional silicon and thin-film single-junction solar cells. The company believes that the new cell provides a “near term pathway” to CPV solar cells of 50% efficiency.

Semprius attributes much of the improvement to a new interfacial material used between the top and bottom layers of the cell. The material minimises optical losses within the stack to optimise conversion efficiency. The four terminals also mean that the cell has reduced spectral dependence and increased yield under normal conditions.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/semprius..._50_efficiency

Solar-powered laptop hits market for $350
29. April 2014 | Applications & Installations, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends | By: Ian Clover

The Ubuntu Sol laptop is the world's first solar-powered personal computer, boasting a 10-hour battery life from just two hours of sunlight.

Canadian technology company WeWi Telecommunications has brought to the market a device that it claims is the world's first solar-powered laptop (in 2011 Samsung launched its NC215S solar netbook, which - although powered by sunlight - is not technically a laptop computer).

The Sol laptop is set to retail for just US$350, boasting the usual roll-call of specs (built-in GPS, Bluetooth 4.0, WIFI, 3G/4G LTE capabilities) and an impressive 10-hour battery life that can be fully charged after just two to three hours of exposure to sunlight.

To charge, the Sol laptop undergoes a rather striking transformation. While in normal mode the laptop appears little different than many others in this price range (if a little bulkier), the case unfolds to reveal a detachable solar array comprising four solar panels attached to a power cable.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...350_100014934/

Multilayer, microscale solar cells enable ultra-high efficiency power generation
Rick Kubetz, Engineering Communications Office

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign use a printing process to assemble tiny cells into multilayer stacks for extraordinary levels of photovoltaic conversion efficiency.

As an energy source, the Sun has always been a dependable provider. Although it freely shines on everyone, the ability to capture and convert the Sun’s abundant energy is anything but free. However, new technologies aimed at achieving “full spectrum” operation in utility-scale photovoltaics may soon make solar energy a viable option.

“A few simple ideas in materials science and device assembly allow us to bypass many of the limitations of traditional photovoltaic technologies,” explained John Rogers, whose research group is developing these concepts. As a result of these new efficiencies, external industry experts project solar energy electricity generation costs that can reach, without subsidies, levels that are lower than coal, natural gas, and nuclear.

A Swanlund Chair and professor of materials science and engineering, Rogers is a pioneer in semiconductor devices and manufacturing techniques. A printing approach, developed by Rogers and colleagues at Illinois, allows manipulation of ultrathin, small semiconductor elements that can be stacked on top of one another to yield an unusual type of solar cell capable of operating across the entire solar spectrum at exceptionally high efficiency.

“The strategy involves high-speed, printing-based manipulation of thin, microscale solar cells and new interface materials to bond them into multilayer stacks,” Rogers said. “Quadruple-junction, four-terminal solar cells that we can build in this way have individually measured efficiencies of 43.9 percent.”

“This is a high-throughput, parallel assembly process that allows for simultaneous formation of arrays of stacked multi-junction cells in a fully automated step-and-repeat mode with high yields—greater than 95 percent—and accurate overlay registration. A newly developed interfacial material for these stacks enables ideal optical, electrical, and thermal properties. ” stated Xing Sheng, a postdoctoral fellow with Rogers’ research group and first author of the paper, “Printing-based assembly of quadruple-junction four-terminal microscale solar cells allows realization of extremely high-efficiency modules,” published this week in the journal Nature Materials.

http://engineering.illinois.edu/news/article/7958
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0428121118.htm

[amor de cosmos]

China Fuels Highest Solar Silicon Demand Since 2011
By Stefan Nicola and Marc Roca Apr 30, 2014 2:43 AM PT

The polysilicon industry is headed for its biggest boom since a price war started three years ago. It can thank a burst of solar-panel orders in China and Japan.

Demand for the commodity used to make photovoltaic cells will jump 15 percent this year, the most since 2011, Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecasts. The price of the material, made from super-heated silicon particles and sliced into wafers, has reached its highest since the middle of 2012. Global sales may top $6 billion at that price.

Manufacturers led by GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. (3800) of China and Wacker Chemie AG in Germany are expanding production, anticipating higher revenue will restore their margins. They’re benefiting from a renaissance in the renewable energy industry, which last year rivaled fossil fuels for new power generation capacity added worldwide.

“We are seeing a massive recovery in the entire solar industry, also in polysilicon,” said Stefan De Haan, a solar analyst at IHS Inc. “2013 was the year of the turnaround, and the situation will further improve in 2014.”

Factories producing the material will be at their busiest in at least two years, according to IHS. All that is an about-face for manufacturers who for the last two years had to idle capacity or post losses as poly prices plunged.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...ince-2011.html

Smart Wind and Solar Power
Big data and artificial intelligence are producing ultra-accurate forecasts that will make it feasible to integrate much more renewable energy into the grid.

Wind power is booming on the open plains of eastern Colorado. Travel seven miles north of the town of Limon on Highway 71 and then head east on County Road 3p, a swath of dusty gravel running alongside new power lines: within minutes you’ll be surrounded by towering wind turbines in rows stretching for miles. Three large wind farms have been built in the area since 2011. A new one is going up this year.

Every few seconds, almost every one of the hundreds of turbines records the wind speed and its own power output. Every five minutes they dispatch data to high-performance computers 100 miles away at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder. There artificial-intelligence-based software crunches the numbers, along with data from weather satellites, weather stations, and other wind farms in the state. The result: wind power forecasts of unprecedented accuracy that are making it possible for Colorado to use far more renewable energy, at lower cost, than utilities ever thought possible.

The forecasts are helping power companies deal with one of the biggest challenges of wind power: its intermittency. Using small amounts of wind power is no problem for utilities. They are accustomed to dealing with variability—after all, demand for electricity changes from season to season, even from minute to minute. However, a utility that wants to use a lot of wind power needs backup power to protect against a sudden loss of wind. These backup plants, which typically burn fossil fuels, are expensive and dirty. But with more accurate forecasts, utilities can cut the amount of power that needs to be held in reserve, minimizing their role.

Before the forecasts were developed, Xcel Energy, which supplies much of Colorado’s power, ran ads opposing a proposal that it use renewable sources for a modest 10 percent of its power. It mailed flyers to its customers claiming that such a mandate would increase electricity costs by as much as $1.5 billion over 20 years.

But thanks in large part to the improved forecasts, Xcel, one of the country’s largest utilities, has made an about-face.

http://www.technologyreview.com/feat...d-solar-power/

Morocco turns to US in effort to kick start US$12 billion solar plans
By John Parnell - 30 April 2014, 11:36
In News, Power Generation, Market Watch

Senior Moroccan officials will tour the US this June as they look to kick start the North African country’s ambitious US$12.4 billion solar plans.

A delegation that will include the Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (MASEN) and the Moroccan National Agency for the Development of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ADEREE) will hold meetings during an 11-day visit.

US businesses have been invited by the US Trade and Development Agency to meet with the officials in San Francisco and Denver.

Morocco has a target to install 6GW of renewable energy by 2020 with a US$12.4 billion set aside for utility-scale solar, both PV and concentrating solar power (CSP).

Major PV manufacturers and developers such as SunEdison and First Solar have already worked on large projects overseas.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/morocco_...on_solar_plans

Environmentally friendly production method for transparent conductive films
29 april 2014

In a commanding position – and now cheaper

Transparent conductive films are now an integral part of our everyday lives. Whether in smartphones, tablets, laptops, flat screens or (on a larger scale) in solar cells. Yet they are expensive and complex to manufacture. Now, researchers at Empa have succeeded in developing a method of producing such TCO films, as they are known, that is not only cheaper, but also simpler and more environmentally friendly.

It is a requirement of the touchscreens for all our everyday gadgets that they are transparent and at the same time electrically conductive. Solar cells are also unable to operate without such a film, which allows sunlight to pass through it, but can also conduct the current generated. Conventional "transparent conductive oxide" (TCO) films consist of a mixture of indium and tin oxide. Indium in very much in demand in the electronics industry, but is rare, and therefore expensive.

A cheaper option (at least in terms of the materials used) employs zinc oxide mixed with aluminium, which is usually applied to the substrate in a high vacuum by means of plasma sputtering. However, the manufacturing process is complex, making it similarly expensive. In addition, it is energy-intensive and therefore not ideal from an ecological perspective. Empa researchers at the Laboratory for Thin Films and Photovoltaics have now developed a water-based method of applying a TCO film made of aluminium and zinc salts onto a substrate – without a vacuum.

http://www.empa.ch/plugin/template/e...146969/---/l=2
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0429085334.htm

[amor de cosmos]

Roy L Hales, Solar, Technnology
The Toxic Issue of Solar Panels
April 18, 2014
By Roy L Hales

Last year Robert Lundahl and I co-wrote an article about a California PV solar factory that is not disposing of their solar panels once their lifespan expires. We could not name the company, as our source still works there, but they use a known carcinogenic called gallium arsenide. This is not believed to be a problem as long as the panels are intact. However if they end up in a landfill the panels will be broken and the toxins can leech into the soil. Environment California recently directed me to a study that puts this problem in context and suggests areas where the industry can improve.

Amy Galland’s “Clean and Green” was inspired by companies that are not complying with environmental health and safety codes, but she found PV manufacturers actually do more than what is required.

Some beat standards set for emissions, have excellent procedural methods and reduce waste by recycling materials. Suntech’s panels, for example, (p 17) are 100% recyclable because 85% of the components are recycled materials. (p 18) Both Abound Solar and First Solar claim and recycle their semiconductor materials at-end of life. SolarWorld established a joint venture, SolarCycle, that deals with recycled solar materials.

Another article I’m researching deals with a company whose panels are exceeding their expected performance. A recent Kyocera news release cites tests proving that 10 year old modules still retain 95% of their original capacity. An installation made 30 years still has 90.4% capacity! As a result of these tests, Kyocera now guarantees that their solar panels will retain 80% capacity for 25 years.

Galland devoted a large portion of her study to correctly handling solar panels, from the manufacturing stage to final disposal. She suggested (19) the ends of some panels should be encapsulated, for added protection and longer life.

One of the carcinogenic’s she identified was cadmium (CdTe). More than 63% of the CdTe found in our bodies is attributed to the fertilizers used for plants, never-the-less it is also in solar panels. Solar companies need to protect their workers during the manufacturing stage and used panels need to be handled properly. (p 23) Galland notes that First Solar recycles up to 95% of the CdTe from used panels.

http://www.theecoreport.com/green-bl...-solar-panels/

Clean Technica, First Nations, Prairies, Solar, utility scale, Wind Energy
Alberta First Nations Community Hit Hard By Fossil Fuel Industry Asks It For Solar Panels
April 30, 2014

Via Clean Technica. By: James Ayre, April-30-14 9:10:49 AM

The First Nations community of Fort Chipewyan in Alberta, Canada, has been hit quite hard in recent years by the lingering effects of decades of fossil fuel industry extraction in the region. The inhabitants can no longer practice their traditions, or, for that matter, even provide a livelihood for themselves except through involvement with said industry — hunting, fishing, and various other traditional means of living are no longer viable because of the extensive pollution.

So, what to do? A partial solution, according to the Fort Chipewyan Renewable Energy Society, is for the community to transition from one reliant upon fossil fuels for energy to one that is powered 100% by renewable energy, something that is entirely possible, according to a recent energy audit study performed by the Pembina Insitute.

That study — which was funded with a $7500 dollar grant from the Alberta Ecotrust Foundation — found that the Fort Chipewyan community could be powered 100% by solar energy, and/or 71% by wind energy.

“Solar is the least expensive and easiest option,” stated Mike Mercredi of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations (ACFN), one of the First Nations groups that lives in the area.

Mercredi came to that line of thinking several years back now, and soon afterwords created the Fort Chipewyan Renewable Energy Society to advance it. Part of the catalyst for this creative act was a conversation that he had with elder Matthew Lepine — who had previously successfully installed a solar panel on his cabin in the area. Interactions with the solar-energy-using T’Sou-ke First Nation in British Columbia also contributed to his actions, he said.

http://www.theecoreport.com/green-bl...-solar-panels/

IHS reveals top 15 PV module suppliers of 2013
By Mark Osborne - 01 May 2014, 12:18
In News, PV Modules, Power Generation, Market Watch

Market research firm, IHS has published its PV module supplier rankings for 2013, highlighting the continued dominance of Chinese producers but resurgence from two major Japanese firms.

Not surprisingly, seven of the world’s top 10 solar module suppliers were China-based, with Yingli Green again asserting its leadership position having continued to add production capacity throughout the two year period of industry overcapacity, albeit at a huge cost as it reported substantial losses during the period.

“The year 2013 marked the turnaround of global PV markets and the recovery of leading players in the photovoltaic industry,” said Jessica Jin, analyst for the solar supply chain at IHS. “Chinese and Japanese PV module suppliers benefited from the surge in demand in their domestic markets, with China in particular accounting for more than a quarter of global installations in 2013 and becoming the leading region in the process.”

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/ihs_reve...pliers_of_2013

Surge in rooftop solar PV displaces more fossil fuels
By Giles Parkinson on 1 May 2014

The ability of rooftop solar PV and solar hot water to displace fossil fuel generation has been underlined by the latest annual review by the Clean Energy Regulator, the body that oversees the federal renewable energy target.

The report says that more than two million installations of rooftop solar PV and solar hot water across the country has the capacity to generate or displace around 6,882 gigawatt hours of electricity a year.

By way of comparison, that is equivalent to a 1,000MW coal-fired power station operating full-pelt, although the impact on generators is far greater than that because solar steals revenue during the day-time period, the most profitable time of generation for fossil fuel plants, and so has caused much more than this to be closed or mothballed.

As this graph below highlights, the contribution in generation from small‐scale rooftop solar PV has trebled in the past three years to 3,766GWh. Combined with other small scale generation such as wind and hydro, this adds up to 4,182GWh. Solar hot water systems have displaced a further 2,700GWh of otherwise required generation.

The CER said this had reduced emissions by 20 million tonnes over the past decade. It is forecast that if the RET stays in place, then it would likely displace 100 million tonnes of CO2-e in the current decade.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/surg...il-fuels-68520

News & Analysis
Energy Technology
Perovskite Solar Cells Keep On Surging
Robert F. Service

Researchers from three research groups reported last week that they beat the previous efficiency record for converting the energy in sunlight to electricity in solar cells called perovskites. Though perovskite solar cells are only 5 years old, their efficiency has skyrocketed from 3.8% to 19.3%. Ultimately, engineers may be able to layer perovskite solar cells atop conventional photovoltaics made from crystalline silicon, creating cells that are up to 32% efficient. That could make solar electricity as cheap as power produced from fossil fuels.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/34....summary?rss=1

Washington University in St. Louis Goes Solar in a Big Way
Published on 30 April 2014

Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri (US) is adding a total of 379 kilowatts (kw) of solar on university-owned property throughout the region. Prior to this installation, the university had 33 kw that were installed as demonstration projects.

Based on the carbon intensity of grid electricity in Missouri, which is among the highest in the US, this will reduce the university’s output the equivalent of 385 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year.

Most of the solar arrays are being installed on flat roofs, but there is also one 50 kw ground-mounted array, and a 4-kw solar carport will be installed over an electric vehicle charging station. The carport will power the car chargers and be used in battery storage researchWash by the School of Engineering & Applied Science.

http://www.solarnovus.com/washington...way_N7696.html

Ontario’s Grasshopper Solar Raises $100 Million To Expand Its Residential Solar Program
April 30, 2014 Steven Bushong : 0 Comments

Grasshopper Solar, an award-winning solar energy company with one of the largest solar install bases in Ontario, announced that it has secured $100 million from institutional investors to expand its FREE Solar Program.

Grasshopper Solar will aggressively expand its operations across Ontario, aiming to build 5,000 FREE Solar systems for homeowners on qualifying properties over the next 3 years.

The program lets homeowners get a solar system on their house with no money down, no credit checks and no maintenance while earning a guaranteed income for 20 years.

“We are excited to expand our program and have more homeowners benefit from solar power in Ontario,” said Azeem Qureshi, CEO of Grasshopper Solar. “Solar will play a key role in our future energy mix and programs like this are essential to ensure that we are able to achieve that goal.”

http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com...solar-program/

[amor de cosmos]

May 2, 2014
Canadian Solar Gets $105 Million From National Bank of Canada

May 2 (Bloomberg) — Canadian Solar Inc., the best-performing solar maker in the past year, received a C$115.5 million ($105 million) loan from National Bank of Canada to build three solar plants in Ontario.

The company expects to repay the short-term construction financing when it completes and sells the Sparkle Light, Good Light and Lunar Light projects, Guelph, Ontario-based Canadian Solar said today in a statement. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Construction on Lunar Light will begin in July and the others are already being built. The Ontario Power Authority agreed to buy electricity from the three plants under a 20-year contract.

Canadian Solar more than quadrupled in the past year, the most in the 17-member Bloomberg Industries Global Large Solar Energy Index.

http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/cana...ank-of-canada/

True Green nets $130m for solar portfolio
Asset management firm says deal shows "immense potential" in distributed solar power
By BusinessGreen staff
02 May 2014

True Green Capital (TGC) has closed credit facilities worth $130m to support the development of a pipeline of solar power assets.

The institutional asset manager currently owns and operates 20.6MW of solar projects and also has around 39.4MW under construction or in advanced stages of development.

In a statement, True Green said the credit facilities provide it with debt capital for its operational and construction-ready portfolio through June 2015 and refinances existing standalone financings.

The deal was completed with Investec and KeyBanc Capital Markets and follows Investec Power & Infrastructure Finance providing a $50m credit facility to Rockland Capital for its Rockland Power Partners Fund, a fund that invests in assets including natural gas, solar, wind and flywheel generation projects.

Panos Ninios, managing partner of True Green Capital, said: "The collaboration between True Green Capital, Investec and KeyBanc Capital Markets proves that there is immense potential in the sub utility scale distributed generation solar space and underscores TGC's ability to aggregate, finance and operate portfolios of high quality, bankable assets."

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news...olar-portfolio

Opponents trying to shut US solar down ‘state-by-state’
By Andy Colthorpe - 02 May 2014, 13:26
In News, Power Generation

An interpretation of property law that could come into effect in Arizona, taxing homeowners for leased solar panels fitted to their property is another manifestation of resistance to solar, according to an analyst from Lux Research.

Following reports that claimed property tax laws in the US state could be freshly interpreted to remove exemptions for solar panels that are currently in place, if they are leased from a third party company, Matt Feinstein, analyst at Lux, told PV Tech it was the latest tactic to place obstacles in front of solar at the local level.

Arizona-based news website AZ Central reported that the Arizona Department of Revenue, which is responsible for administering tax laws in the state, is considering approval of a reinterpretation of the Energy Equipment Property Tax Exemption that at present “does not consider renewable energy equipment to add value to property".

Under new rules, while solar panels owned by the householder would remain exempt, systems leased through companies such as SolarCity and SunRun would be liable for taxation. If the changes go through, leased PV systems could be taxed from October 2015. Arizona has been the focus of a number of high profile battles between solar companies and utilities recently, with accusations of ‘dark money’ being thrown into the mix by various lobbying groups.

“As the industry grows in volume you kind of expect more resistance and this could be an example of that resistance. It’s not surprising to me that one state has started down this path. There’s all these little manipulations to the codes that can be proposed that just might work in some states because of their politics – when you’ve lived here long enough, nothing surprises you,” added Feinstein.

PV Tech asked if this new development was another tactic to resist the increased deployment of solar, Feinstein agreed.

“They’ve already had a net metering fight in Arizona…I wouldn’t be surprised if other states, if they keep resisting, the next logical step there could be property tax exemption and revoking that. It’s just one other method.”

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/opponent...state_by_state

Chinese suppliers solidify module dominance, finds IHS
02. May 2014 | Markets & Trends, Investor news, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers | By: Ian Clover

World's leading makers of PV modules strengthened their position at the apex of the market last year, with Yingli Green Energy leading the way.

Research from IHS' PV Integrated Market Tracker – Q1 2014 report has revealed that the world's leading solar module suppliers extended their dominance of the market in 2013, with Chinese companies once again leading the pack.

Of the world's top ten solar PV module suppliers last year, seven had their headquarters or bulk of their manufacturing operations in China, with Yingli Green Energy shipping 3.25 GW of solar modules in 2013, topping the charts. Following was Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, Sharp and Jinko Solar, according to IHS’ examination of 150 PV component manufacturers.

"The year 2013 marked the turnaround of global PV markets and the recovery of leading players in the PV industry," said IHS analyst for the solar supply chain, Jessica Jin. "Chinese and Japanese PV module suppliers benefited from the surge in demand in their markets, with China in particular accounting for more than a quarter of global installations in 2013 and becoming the leading region in the process."

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...hs-_100014960/

New York Commits Another $1 Billion to Solar Projects — Here’s What You Need to Know
Jessica Robbins, Sol Systems
May 02, 2014 | 1 Comments

Will New York join Massachusetts and California as an enduring solar state?

Last Thursday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced an additional $1 billion in funding for the NY-Sun initiative, making good on his promise to extend the program through 2023. The funding announcement includes an overhaul of New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) current incentive program, previously doled out through Program Opportunity Notices (PONs) with varying availability for different project sizes and geographies. The new program will take effect June 1st.

New York Solar Incentives Explained

The NY-Sun initiative, founded in 2011, coordinates programs between the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA, now PSEG Long Island), the New York Power Authority (NYPA), and NYSERDA. The new program, called “Megawatt Block”, will break out MW capacity allocations to specific regions of the state, and then further break down target capacities in each block. Incentives will be awarded on a per watt basis for residential PV (up to 25 kW), small PV (non-residential up to 200 kW), and large PV (over 200 kW). Similar to the popular California Solar Initiative rebates, prices will step down as capacity blocks in each region and sector are filled, allowing the market to grow at a steady pace and eventually stand on its own. If the geographic preference follows the earlier program, we can expect to see preference given to areas downstate near New York City.

Solar incentives on Long Island will total $60 million in available grants, more than double the originally proposed allocation. NYSERDA will work through PSEG Long Island, which took over LIPA in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. This announcement comes on the heels of PSEG Long Island’s announced results for their Clean Solar Initiative (CSI) feed-in tariff (FIT) II. Projects with capacities totaling 100 MW will receive contracts for $0.1688/kWh for 20 years.

New York, the New Solar Stalwart

Is solar here to stay in the Empire State? We think so. The funding and sustained political commitment bodes well for the state’s future as a top solar market. Governor Cuomo estimates that the expanded NY-Sun initiative will grow the New York solar industry by 3 GW over the next decade, ten times its current installed capacity.

We expect for the New York market’s strength to rival that of New Jersey and Massachusetts, both excellent role models for states with sustained commitments to solar (though they may not have the solar insolation of mega-leaders California and Arizona). New York’s approximately 3 GW of commitment rivals Massachusetts’ recently-expanded 1.6-GW cap established in the state’s solar carve-out program and New Jersey’s solar carve-out requirement equal to 4.1 percent of the total electricity load by Energy Year 2028. The New York solar market currently ranks 9th among all states in terms of annual PV capacity additions and in cumulative solar electric capacity as of 2013. Together with some of the highest electricity prices in the country, New York’s renewed commitment to solar should catapult them higher in the rankings.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...u-need-to-know

[amor de cosmos]

Solar power breakthrough hints at cheaper panels for more roofs
Two sets of scientists have reported promising results from a new recipe for solar cells, which could result in panels for solar power that are easier and cheaper to make.
By Pete Spotts, Staff writer / May 5, 2014

Efforts to bring a new class of solar cells to market may have received a significant boost from a new recipe for making the cells, developed independently by two teams of scientists.

The recipe involves solar cells that use the mineral perovskite as a key ingredient. Until now, researchers had been working with a semiconductor built around a blend of lead and perovskite. The new recipe blends tin with perovskite, an approach that uses cheaper materials than many of today's generation of solar cells and carries far less environmental and regulatory baggage.

During the past few days, two independent groups have reported encouraging results from their initial experiments with this new tin-pervoskite solar cell.

On May 1, a team led by Oxford University researcher Henry Snaith reported producing a tin-perovskite cell that converted more than 6 percent of the sunlight it receives into electricity. A formal description of the work appeared online, published by the journal Energy and Environmental Science.

Three days later, a team led by Northwestern University researchers Robert Chang and Mercouri Kanatzidis reported similar results at a slightly lower efficiency – 5.73 percent – in the journal Nature Photonics.

These figures are low compared with the top performing photovoltaic cells made today, which boast efficiencies of up to 35 percent. But these high-efficiency cells are expensive to produce and tend to be used for the most demanding applications, such as solar panels for satellites. Even lower-cost versions still require expensive, energy-hungry machines in clean-room environments to make them.

The perovskite blends require not much more than bench-top, wet-chemistry techniques that are well within the industry's ability to use, researchers say.

Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have suggested that the maximum theoretical efficiency individual perovskite cells can achieve is around 31 percent, or higher if the cells are stacked together to form multi-junction cells.

So far, the lead-perovskite predecessors to these new solar cells have reached efficiencies of up to 15 percent.

But "I don't think we have to go that far," says Northwestern 's University's Dr. Kanatzidis. As long as efficiencies top 10 percent, the tin-perovskite recipe "is quite viable" commercially. At around 6 percent, these new cells are within hailing distance of that goal.

Another potential contributor to the tin-perovskite solar cells' lower cost is the ability of a single cell to operate effectively over a broader range of visible wavelengths than cells currently in use. To achieve the same effective "bandwidth," today's cells have to be stacked, with each layer sensitive to a particular portion of visible wavelengths.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment...for-more-roofs

Solar Energy’s Quiet Invasion Into Professional Sports (List of Solar Teams & Stadiums)

In the past, we’ve written about solar beginning to reach the MLB and the NFL. But since then, more and more professional sports teams are realizing the amazing power of solar energy. In an effort to both reduce their carbon footprint and save money, sports teams across the country are allowing solar power systems to take over their stadiums.

There are so many reasons why going solar is a great idea for anyone from the owner of a large stadium to the owner of a modest residential home. We are optimistic that in the near future every professional sports stadium in the country will be powered by clean, renewable solar energy. Right now, sports fans can follow in the footsteps of their favorite team and go solar themselves! The first step is getting an instant estimate of your property’s solar potential.

Below is a detailed list of the teams and stadiums that have made the switch to solar energy.

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/05/...eams-stadiums/

A ray of sunshine – breakthroughs on storage can change the game for solar power
May 4, 2014 1:57 pm by Nick Butler

Energy storage has long been regarded as something close to a holy grail. Of course, there are ways of storing some forms of energy – using pumped water or compressed air for instance. There are conventional batteries – and there have been advances in their capacity over the last few years. But the search for storage systems which are simultaneously economic and practical for use at scale in the modern energy market has long been a source of frustration.

Recent advances made by scientists in the US suggest, however, that real progress is now being made and that major breakthroughs are close. The whole of the energy sector should be watching because any such breakthrough could transform the economics of the whole industry.

The first advance is a metal free battery which uses the electrochemistry of readily available molecules called quinones. The battery could be linked to devices such as roof top solar panels to store and would then release energy as and when needed. The system could be applied at many different parts of the grid – for instance to manage the energy needed to meet peak demand.

The second uses azobenzenes – a different set of molecules which are capable of switching – first absorbing and then releasing the energy from sunlight – working in effect as rechargeable thermal batteries. Advances in managing the density at which these molecules can be packed together has increased the storage capacity and opened the prospect of using solar as a reliable, on demand, source of power for a range of uses including heating and cooking in areas away from the grid which currently rely on burning wood or dung.

The first project is based at Harvard. The second is a collaboration between Harvard and MIT. For those interested in the detailed science the programmes have been written up in the academic journals Nature and Nature Chemistry. Thanks to the always excellent Energy Collective blog for publicising the work.

In case you think these are arcane academic studies it is worth spelling out just what effective large scale storage systems could do to the existing energy sector.

First they would remove the burden of intermitency which bedevils solar and wind in particular and forces users to invest in back up capacity based on gas or coal. That would change the economics of the power sector particularly in countries committed to emissions reductions.

Second, and even more important, storage would radically improve the economics of solar in particular. Wind power carries high up front capital costs. Solar construction costs are much lower. But if the efficiency of solar was improved by the ability to capture and store a much greater proportion of the available power the industry could begin to compete with traditional fuels without subsidies.

Thirdly, the advances could help open up new markets. As well as the off grid possibilities which would offer clean energy for the first time to villagers in India or Africa, a radical reduction in costs would encourage a further wave of electrification – for industrial and domestic use. Electricity is already the fastest growth element of final energy demand – but it could become predominant.

Fourthly, storage would transform the geography of energy trade. Both solar and wind are essentially local supplies which can be harnessed in most countries around the world. Forget peak oil – think about the possibility of peak trade.

http://blogs.ft.com/nick-butler/2014...r-solar-power/

May 05, 2014
From the German Zugspitze to Israel’s Negev Desert
Fraunhofer ISE Investigates Aging of Solar Collectors in Extreme Climates
Press Release 09/14, May 5, 2014

For project developers and investors, it is strategically important that solar collectors are reliable even under extreme climate conditions. When entering new markets, product quality plays an extremely important role for the German industry. Researchers at Fraunhofer ISE support industry by developing tests to demonstrate the performance of solar collectors and components under extreme climate conditions. The first results from the “SpeedColl” project will be presented at the 24th Symposium Thermische Solarenergie from 7–9 May 2014 in Bad Staffelstein.

Of all components in solar thermal systems, solar collectors experience the highest climatic and mechanical stress. They are subjected to high temperatures and, depending on the location, variable and extreme weather conditions. Just as coastal and sun-rich regions offer large potential for solar energy use, the systems installed in these areas are exposed to especially high levels of UV radiation, humidity and salt air. As a result, the collectors age and degrade faster. “Performing comprehensive R&D investigations at an early development stage is our expertise, with which we can assist the industry in ensuring the durability of solar collectors and their components over long periods of time,” explains Karl-Anders Weiß, Group Head of “Service Life Analysis” at Fraunhofer ISE. Jointly with the Institute of Thermodynamics and Thermal Engineering (ITW) at the University of Stuttgart and notable solar collector and component manufacturers, Fraunhofer ISE is developing accelerated aging tests for solar collectors and components in the “SpeedColl” project, which is sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) and the support by participating industry partners.

http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/pres...e-wueste-negev

How Big Data Is Driving the Secondary Solar Market in the US
Securitization gets a boost from the surge in solar performance data.
Christos Georgopoulos
May 5, 2014

In the tech world, big data means opportunity. For solar, it’s no different.

With solar securitization dominating the news, it’s hard to imagine that only a few years ago, the PV industry experienced a major upheaval on its way to maturity.

2010 began with a clash of the titans as big solar players like SunPower, First Solar, and SunEdison clung to survival, riding out market saturation, panel price drops and the resulting margin squeeze.

This survival-of-the-fittest bloodbath, while ugly, was the sign of healthy market maturation as PV struggled to break into the mainstream. After all, similar shakeouts have occurred in every emerging technology market from color televisions to automobiles to penicillin. With PV panel prices now projected to increase in 2014, we may be seeing the leveling of the market.

In the U.S., a secondary market is emerging as surviving developers sell PV projects to secondary investors such as pension funds that had been waiting for risk profiles to decrease, as was also the case in Europe after solar saturation.

Some areas of the market are evolving quickly. Asset-backed securitization, the process of bundling multiple projects and structuring a relatively illiquid asset into a liquid and tradable one (i.e., a security), by investment bankers, capital providers, REITs, MLPs, and most importantly the emerging class of YieldCos, has even allowed some solar assets to become investment vehicles.

What does this industry consolidation and securitization mean for secondary owners and operators? As mainstream investors group solar assets into large portfolios with geographically dispersed plants totaling thousands of megawatts across the globe, scale will become the new currency. And key to the scale game is big data, high-performance processing and powerful analytics.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...olar-market-in

The entire production path of “solar” kerosene
28.04.2014

With the first ever production of synthesized “solar” jet fuel, the EU-funded SOLAR-JET project has successfully demonstrated the entire production chain for renewable kerosene obtained directly from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide (CO2), therein potentially revolutionizing the future of aviation. This process has also the potential to produce any other type of fuel for transport applications, such as diesel, gasoline or pure hydrogen in a more sustainable way.

Several notable research organizations from academia through to industry (ETH Zürich, Bauhaus Luftfahrt, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), ARTTIC and Shell Global Solutions) have explored a thermochemical pathway driven by concentrated solar energy. A new solar reactor technology has been pioneered to produce liquid hydrocarbon fuels suitable for more sustainable transportation.

“Increasing environmental and supply security issues are leading the aviation sector to seek alternative fuels which can be used interchangeably with today’s jet fuel, so-called drop-in solutions”, states Dr. Andreas Sizmann, the project coordinator at Bauhaus Luftfahrt. “With this first-ever proof-of-concept for ‘solar’ kerosene, the SOLAR-JET project has made a major step towards truly sustainable fuels with virtually unlimited feedstocks in the future.

The SOLAR-JET project demonstrated an innovative process technology using concentrated sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water to a so-called synthesis gas (syngas). This is accomplished by means of a redox cycle with metal-oxide based materials at high temperatures. The syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, is finally converted into kerosene by using commercial Fischer-Tropsch technology.

“The solar reactor technology features enhanced radiative heat transfer and fast reaction kinetics, which are crucial for maximizing the solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency” said Professor Aldo Steinfeld, leading the fundamental research and development of the solar reactor at ETH Zürich.

https://www.ethz.ch/en/news-and-even.../solarjet.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0503184918.htm

Taking the lead out of a promising solar cell

Environmentally friendly solar cell pushes forward the 'next big thing in photovoltaics'

Northwestern University researchers are the first to develop a new solar cell with good efficiency that uses tin instead of lead perovskite as the harvester of light. The low-cost, environmentally friendly solar cell can be made easily using "bench" chemistry -- no fancy equipment or hazardous materials.

"This is a breakthrough in taking the lead out of a very promising type of solar cell, called a perovskite," said Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, an inorganic chemist with expertise in dealing with tin. "Tin is a very viable material, and we have shown the material does work as an efficient solar cell."

Kanatzidis, who led the research, is the Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences.

The new solar cell uses a structure called a perovskite but with tin instead of lead as the light-absorbing material. Lead perovskite has achieved 15 percent efficiency, and tin perovskite should be able to match -- and possibly surpass -- that. Perovskite solar cells are being touted as the "next big thing in photovoltaics" and have reenergized the field.

Kanatzidis developed, synthesized and analyzed the material. He then turned to Northwestern collaborator and nanoscientist Robert P. H. Chang to help him engineer a solar cell that worked well.

"Our tin-based perovskite layer acts as an efficient sunlight absorber that is sandwiched between two electric charge transport layers for conducting electricity to the outside world," said Chang, a professor of materials science and engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Details of the lead-free solar cell will be published May 4 by the journal Nature Photonics. Kanatzidis and Chang are the two senior authors of the paper.

Their solid-state tin solar cell has an efficiency of just below 6 percent, which is a very good starting point, Kanatzidis said. Two things make the material special: it can absorb most of the visible light spectrum, and the perovskite salt can be dissolved, and it will reform upon solvent removal without heating.

"Other scientists will see what we have done and improve on our methods," Kanatzidis said. "There is no reason this new material can't reach an efficiency better than 15 percent, which is what the lead perovskite solar cell offers. Tin and lead are in the same group in the periodic table, so we expect similar results."

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-ttl050214.php
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0504133211.htm

[amor de cosmos]

First Solar Is Jumping After Earnings
Rob Wile
May 6, 2014, 4:20 PM

First Solar shares are up nearly 4% after-hours after announcing higher guidance 2014 guidance for earnings, margins and operating income.

Q1 earnings for the Tempe-based solar systems provider came in at $1.10, a 66% increase from Q1 2013. Net sales hit $950 million, a 26% increase from Q1 2013.

The firm also announced improved new bookings. Here's the full guidance update:

http://www.businessinsider.com/first...arnings-2014-5

China Enters UK Solar Boom
Doug Young
May 06, 2014 | 1 Comments

China’s plan to add up to 35 gigawatts of new solar power capacity by 2015 may be getting off to a slow start, but the nation looks quite happy to fund new plants in other countries to help its struggling solar panel makers. That’s my initial assessment, following reports that state-run giant Aviation Industry Corp of China (AVIC) plans to build up solar power plants with up to 300 megawatts of capacity in Britain.

It’s interesting that AVIC has chosen the U.K. for its solar experiment, since Beijing is pressuring such big state-owned firms to construct new solar plants at home to boost local panel makers and reduce pollution from conventional power sources. But it’s also not a complete surprise that AVIC is making this kind of move, for reasons I’ll explain shortly. The bottom line could be good news for China’s struggling solar panel makers, though I suspect AVIC will also come under pressure to buy some of the solar panels for these new plants from western manufacturers as well.

According to the latest headlines, AVIC recently completed construction of its first solar plant in Britain, with a modest capacity of just 12 megawatts. The plant cost about $22 million and took a year to build, and has successfully linked to the UK’s power grid. Following completion of the project, AVIC has sold the plant to a local operator, Foresight Solar Fund.

With that accomplishment under its belt, AVIC is now undertaking 3 new projects with a total capacity of 25 megawatts, a company spokesman said. If those are successful, its next one will be a bit more ambitious with 50 megawatts of capacity. After that the company could keep building U.K.-based plants with a combined capacity of up to 300 megawatts, which would likely take at least three to five years.

This looks like one of the first cases of a big state-run enterprise building solar plants on a massive scale outside of China. The model isn’t new, and typically sees a third party take the risks of building and financing new solar plants. After their completion, plants are then sold to professional long-term operators. Such speculative plant building has often been funded by solar panel makers themselves, sometimes by setting up funds by themselves or with partners. We saw one such fund take shape just last month in a partnership between Yingli (NYSE: YGE) and a local Chinese financial company.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...-uk-solar-boom

Scientists Discover Method to Reduce Solar Panel Glare
The glare from solar farms could be a thing of the past, thanks to scientists at Loughborough University.
Chris Goddard, Loughborough University
May 06, 2014 | 1 Comments

Researchers have developed a multi-layer anti-reflection (AR) coating for glass surfaces, which reduces the sun’s reflection from photovoltaic panels while at the same time improving their efficiency.

The coating was developed by researchers at the Centre for Renewable Energy and Sustainable Technology (CREST) who believe it will be attractive to solar panel manufacturers.

It is applied using the same technology as that used for depositing anti-reflection coatings on spectacles.

Professor Michael Walls, one of three CREST members who came up with the multi-layer AR design, said: “We really want to see these AR coatings implemented by manufacturers.

“They improve the module power output by about four per cent and will be low cost if manufactured in high volume.

“It’s a great added value proposition for float glass manufacturers.”

Each glass surface reflects about four per cent of the incident light, representing a significant loss of light into the module.

The AR design, developed by Professor Walls, Dr Piotr Kaminski and Fabiana Lisco, reduces the reflection by more than 70 per cent across the wavelength range accepted by PV panels.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...ar-panel-glare

One of Australia’s biggest rooftop solar plants commissioned in Sydney
By Sophie Vorrath on 6 May 2014

Sydney now boasts one of Australia’s biggest rooftop solar installations, with the connection this week of a 284kWp solar PV array, installed on top of a major office building in the city’s CBD.

The PV plant, constructed by Photon Energy Australia – a subsidiary of Netherlands-based PV developer Photon Energy – is expected to provide the building’s main daytime power source, with the possibility to export surplus electricity to the grid.

The system uses all of the available roof surfaces and exposed facades to maximise solar output per square meter at the lowest cost per kWh. It is projected to produce 371,000kWh annually; cutting the building’s electricity bills and boosting its NABERS and Green Star Rating by saving 352 tonnes of CO2 each year.

In February 2013, Photon Australia commissioned two rooftop solar power plants in the ACT‘s Symonston and Fyshwick. With an installed capacity of 144kWp the Symonston plant was the largest of its kind in the ACT at the time of connection. The Fyshwick plant has an installed capacity of 140 kWp.

And in December, Photon Australia’s Dutch parent company announced plans to launch a commercial solar leasing model, giving Australian commercial customers the choice of two different financing offerings: a hire purchase agreement; or a power purchase agreement that could allow the user to buy the system at a later date.

“Solar energy is rapidly changing the way Australians look at energy consumption”, said Photon Australia managing director, Michael Gartner. “With new financing models available, such as solar leasing or power purchase agreements, customers can now have their own eco-building with a rooftop power plant with no upfront investment.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/one-...n-sydney-20407

UK will install 3 times more solar than Australia in 2014
By Giles Parkinson on 6 May 2014

The United Kingdom – cloudy, drizzly, better-put-the-covers-on-the-pitch England – is forecast to become the largest market for solar PV in Europe in 2014.

Conservative estimates put the installation rate for the current year at around 2,500MW, which is about three times more than the average forecast (800MW) for Australia. Some industry forecasts expect more than 3,000MW to be installed in the UK in 2014.

The driving force behind the UK solar boom, according to US-based industry analysts NPD Solarbuzz, is the rapid growth of megawatt-scale, ground mounted solar PV farms, and the release of a government-mandated target of 20GW for solar installs by 2020

According to NPD Solarbuzz, around 16 megawatt-scale solar farms are under construction, and more than 120 have recently received project-planning approval. Many of them are targeting completion within the next 12 months.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/uk-w...-in-2014-77674

Hawaii’s largest utility ordered to help customers install more solar
By Kiley Kroh on 6 May 2014
Climate Progress

Hawaii’s energy regulator got tough with the state’s largest investor-owned utility this week, putting forth a plan for Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) to reduce energy costs and connect more rooftop solar systems to the electric grid.

“It is now incumbent upon the Hawaiian Electric Companies to use this road map diligently and promptly to move forward,” said commissioner Lorraine Akiba of the Public Utilities Commission.

HECO has been the target of substantial criticism from Hawaiians lately as customers have grown weary of sky-high electricity bills and difficulty installing their own solar panels to mitigate those costs. A recent poll found that 94 percent of Hawaii residents support more rooftop solar, and 90 percent believe that HECO is slowing rooftop solar to protect its profits.

The PUC ruled that HECO was not moving fast enough to address key sources of customer frustration, namely challenges connecting solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to the electric grid. “The PUC is giving Hawaiian Electric up to 120 days to come up with a more comprehensive strategy that can lower energy costs and help connect more PV systems to the grid,” KHON2 News reported.

The rapid growth in rooftop solar is catching utilities off-guard across the U.S. and many are fighting back against the trend due to the threat it poses to their bottom line. Quite simply, more customers installing their own rooftop solar panels means they’re producing more of their own electricity and buying less from their utility company.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/hawa...re-solar-18828

NRG CEO: Distributed solar is a trillion dollar opportunity
By Davide Savenije
May 6, 2014

Dive Brief:

• NRG Energy announced a net loss of $56 million for Q1 2014, up from a net loss of $332 million in the same period last year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rose from $383 million in Q1 last year to $816 million in Q1 this year.
• Despite posting a net loss, NRG was very active positioning itself for future success in Q1 2014: The company closed the acquisition of Edison Mission Energy and its 7,700 MW generation fleet; the company purchased Dominion's retail business, expanding its "Northeast retail footprint" by 500,000 customers; and the company purchased Roof Diagnostics Solar, the 8th-largest solar installer in the U.S.

Dive Insight:

David Crane is not a man to mince words.

"Our industry is on the cusp of disruptive change," he warned during the earnings call. "New energy technologies now cost effective and available to be deployed at scale will transform the traditional power sector and the vertically integrated utilities which have dominated it since the 1930s."

While the "strength" of the company's financial performance "has been commonly attributed to the severe weather," CEO David Crane pointed to "the different financial outcomes experienced by the power companies active in our core markets that operated their businesses under the very same weather conditions."

"Plenty" of conventional power companies "performed well during the Polar Vortex" and boasted strong Q1 2014 earnings, Crane said, but "what is the long-term future for companies that depend exclusively on the sale of system power delivered over an increasingly obsolete and unreliable grid to a population of consumers and businesses that more and more will be relying less and less on grid delivered power for their energy needs?"

NRG Energy does not see itself as a "conventional" power company and is positioning itself to capitalize on the organic deregulation of the electric utility monopoly through technologies and services that empower the American energy consumer.

"Think of 50 million American homes each with a distributed solar system at $20,000 a pop on average," Crane said. "That represents a trillion dollar market opportunity."

http://www.utilitydive.com/news/nrg-...tunity/259673/

California sets meeting for BrightSource Palen solar power plant
Tue May 6, 2014 11:50am EDT

(Reuters) - California regulators said a committee will hold a meeting on May 7 on BrightSource Energy's proposed 500-megawatt Palen solar power plant, which could provide electricity for more than 200,000 homes.

Privately held California solar power company BrightSource and Spanish engineering firm Abengoa SA are developing the Palen project, which is estimated to cost about $2.6 billion.

The California Energy Commission said in a release late Monday the committee will take public comment at the meeting before closing the session for committee deliberations.

The Commission approved the Palen project in December 2010, but had to look at the project again in December 2012 when BrightSource, the new project owner, filed an amendment requesting to change the solar technology.

The Committee denied that amendment in December 2013 but later granted BrightSource's motion to offer further evidence on the benefits of the project.

The Commission did not say when it will make a final decision on the project.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0DM16E20140506

[amor de cosmos]

May 8, 2014
Armstrong Asset Mulls Investment in $600 Million of Clean Power

May 8 (Bloomberg) — Armstrong Asset Management, a private-equity company based in Singapore, expects to invest in two to three clean-energy developers by the end of the month in transactions that may be worth as much as $600 million.

The deals, each with a separate developer, offer a pipeline of about 15 separate wind, solar and small-hydropower projects with total investment of $150 million in equity and $450 million in debt, Managing Partner Andrew Affleck said by e-mail.

The projects, mostly still being developed, will have total capacity of more than 300 megawatts and span Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, according to Affleck.

http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/arms...f-clean-power/

SolarCity Shares Are Screaming Higher
Rob Wile
May 8, 2014, 11:50 AM

SolarCity shares were up as much as 20% Thursday after the solar services firm reported solid quarterly earnings and gave higher guidance for 2014.

Following the close of Wednesday's trading session, the Elon Musk-chaired firm raised its full-year 2014 forecast to 500-500 megawatts deployed versus a prior estimate of 475-525 megawatts. Management expects 2015 to basically double that, at 900-1,000 megawatts.

They also said they'd set a new quarterly record booking 136 megawatts-worth of projects, most of it residential, adding 17,664 customers in Q1. And they are sticking to their goal of 1 million customers in 2018.

Roth Capital Partners' Philip Shen upgraded the firm to "buy" this morning.

...The company continues to make material progress in nearly all aspects of its business (flow, asset yields, and financing costs). SCTY (1) continues to upside deployment expectations and drive scale; (2) has driven down installation costs by ~30% in two years, and we see improvements ahead; and (3) has pioneered the industry’s first DG solar ABS transactions, driving down its cost of financing materially.

http://www.businessinsider.com/solar...surging-2014-5
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...#axzz319CRdp9D

Wells Fargo Investing $100 Million To Build 9 New Solar PV Projects In North Carolina

One of the largest banks in the world, Wells Fargo, is investing $100 million of tax equity financing into nine new solar PV projects being developed by Strata Solar in North Carolina, according to recent announcements.

The projects will all be utility-scale and will sell electricity directly to the utility company Progress Energy Carolinas. Out of said projects, Strata Solar says that 3 of them will exceed 6 MW in capacity — the Bladenboro, Wagstaff and Nash 58 projects. Exact figures aren’t yet available, however.

North Carolina’s renewable energy tax credit — which is largely responsible for the growth of the industry in the state in recent years — will no doubt be utilized by all of the eligible projects involved in the investment deal.

Strata Solar’s CEO, Markus Wilhelm, commenting on the projects, stated: “These projects bring jobs, significant local spend, and an increase in the tax base without the requirement of county dollars which is typical of development projects. On a number of occasions we’ve witnessed these projects having an impact on attracting additional investors who are looking for business-friendly environments.”

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/08/...orth-carolina/

Grid-Scale Battery Storage Startup Gets $35 Million More In Funding

Ambri, a startup founded by MIT chemistry professor Dr. Donald Sadoway and David Bradwell, has received another $35 million in venture capital funding from KLP Enterprises, the family office of Karen Pritzker and Michael Vlock, and Building Insurance Bern, a Swiss insurance company, along with existing investors Khosla Ventures, Bill Gates, Total. Other than those three long-time investors, previous investors include the Deshpanded Center and the Chesonis Family Foundation. (The Office of Naval Research also has provided grants for their work.)

The company was founded in 2010 to commercialize the liquid metal battery invented by Sadoway, and was originally called the Liquid Metal Battery Corporation. He has about forty years of experience working with such technology.

Cost-effective energy storage is often referred to as the “holy grail” of the energy industry. It could help renewable energy grow faster, could prevent overall power overcapacity, and could also make the grid more secure and more reliable. Professor Sadoway’s technology is supposed to become a commercial, viable, grid-scale battery storage system. In a 2012 TED talk now with 1.4 million views, he explained, “electricity demand must be in constant balance with electricity supply,” which is challenging without good energy storage technology. He also said that a giant battery system would need to be:

• very high power
• uncommonly long-lived
• affordable.

His slogan about material selection is charming and illuminating: “If you want something that is dirt-cheap, make it out of dirt.” Initially he and his students used magnesium, antimony and salt. (Italian professor Alessandro Volta used copper, zinc and salt in his voltaic pile around the year 1800.)

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/07/...llion-funding/

News Release NR-1914
NREL Assembles Industry Group to Explore Solar Lending Potential
May 7, 2014

Increasingly, banks, credit unions, and other lenders are beginning to offer loan products to homeowners and businesses for the installation of rooftop solar systems. However, barriers to accessing this growing market still remain. The Energy Department’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently convened the Banking on Solar working group to engage lenders and other stakeholders to address these barriers.

Banking on Solar comprises more than 50 members representing the solar, banking, legal, regulatory, and financial industries, among others. The group’s principal efforts center on standardizing contracts and underwriting processes, as well as educating banks and regulators about the risks and rewards of the solar asset class. The goal is to reduce barriers to entry for banks that wish to diversify their asset base and invest in a market with high growth potential.

“There are many states where third-party finance is unavailable and there are solar customers who may prefer to own their systems over leasing them,” said NREL Analyst Travis Lowder. “A greater prevalence and diversity of loan products could enable higher rates of solar adoption in these markets.”

The working group has already begun developing standardized loan documents and underwriting criteria in the residential and commercial markets. Other solar debt markets, such as lending into tax equity capital structures, are also under consideration.

The Banking on Solar working group is operating in parallel with the SunShot Initiative-funded, NREL-led Solar Access to Public Capital (SAPC) working group. SAPC is designed to facilitate capital market investment via securitization.

“The two initiatives are complementary, as securitization offers banks an opportunity to free up their balance sheets and expand their loan activities,” Lowder said. “The knowledge gained from quantifying solar risks under the SAPC mock ratings process is highly relevant to solar lenders.”

http://www.nrel.gov/news/press/2014/10345.html

Getting more electricity out of solar cells
New MIT model can guide design of solar cells that produce less waste heat, more useful current.
Nancy W. Stauffer | MIT Energy Initiative
May 7, 2014

When sunlight shines on today’s solar cells, much of the incoming energy is given off as waste heat rather than electrical current. In a few materials, however, extra energy produces extra electrons — behavior that could significantly increase solar-cell efficiency.

An MIT team has now identified the mechanism by which that phenomenon happens, yielding new design guidelines for using those special materials to make high-efficiency solar cells. The results are reported in the journal Nature Chemistry by MIT alumni Shane R. Yost and Jiye Lee, and a dozen other co-authors, all led by MIT’s Troy Van Voorhis, professor of chemistry, and Marc Baldo, professor of electrical engineering.

In most photovoltaic (PV) materials, a photon (a packet of sunlight) delivers energy that excites a molecule, causing it to release one electron. But when high-energy photons provide more than enough energy, the molecule still releases just one electron — plus waste heat.

A few organic molecules don’t follow that rule. Instead, they generate more than one electron per high-energy photon. That phenomenon — known as singlet exciton fission — was first identified in the 1960s. However, achieving it in a functioning solar cell has proved difficult, and the exact mechanism involved has become the subject of intense controversy in the field.

For the past four years, Van Voorhis and Baldo have been pooling their theoretical and experimental expertise to investigate this problem. In 2013, they reported making the first solar cell that gives off extra electrons from high-energy visible light, which makes up almost half the sun’s electromagnetic radiation at the Earth’s surface. According to their estimates, applying their technology as an inexpensive coating on silicon solar cells could increase efficiency by as much as 25 percent.

While that’s encouraging, understanding the mechanism at work would enable them and others to do even better. Exciton fission has now been observed in a variety of materials, all discovered — like the original ones — by chance. “We can’t rationally design materials and devices that take advantage of exciton fission until we understand the fundamental mechanism at work — until we know what the electrons are actually doing,” Van Voorhis says.

To support his theoretical study of electron behavior within PVs, Van Voorhis used experimental data gathered in samples specially synthesized by Baldo and Timothy Swager, MIT’s John D. MacArthur Professor of Chemistry. The samples were made of four types of exciton fission molecules decorated with various sorts of “spinach” — bulky side groups of atoms that change the molecular spacing without altering the physics or chemistry. To detect fission rates — which are measured in femtoseconds (10-15 seconds) — the MIT team turned to experts including Moungi Bawendi, the Lester Wolfe Professor of Chemistry, and special equipment at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, under the direction of Richard Friend.

http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/getti...lar-cells-0507
http://phys.org/news/2014-05-electri...lar-cells.html
http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/05/ge...ut-solar-cells

Iran reveals 5 GW plans for solar and wind
08. May 2014 | Top News, Market & Trends, Investor news, Industry & Suppliers, Global PV markets | By: Ian Clover & Hans-Christoph Neidlein

At a gathering with delegates at the Iranian Embassy in Berlin, representatives of the Middle Eastern nation revealed bold ambitions to add 5 GW of wind and solar power by 2018.

The Iranian Energy Minister Hamid Chitchian today announced to an audience of renewable energy experts and delegates at the Iranian Embassy in Berlin, Germany, the country's bold plans to pursue a renewable energy (RE) future.

In an open and vibrant dialogue between representatives of the renewable energy sector and Iran's chief energy policy maker, Chitchian revealed that the country has embarked on a push to add 5 GW of renewable wind and solar capacity to the grid by 2018.

Since the program began in January this year, 400 MW of projects have already begun construction, and 900 MW of RE contracts have been signed, according to the Iranian Ambassador to Germany, Ali Reza Sheikh Attar, who spoke of Iran's "realistic aims and goals for a sustainable renewable energy future."

The bulk of the total 5 GW comprises wind power projects, but 500 MW has already been earmarked for solar PV, with some projects already permitted licenses to commence construction or enter into power purchase agreements (PPAs).

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ind_100015040/

Shunfeng, Greenfield to establish major beachhead in UK
08. May 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends, Panorama | By: Edgar Meza

Equipped with Suntech modules, the Chinese giant and its German partner aim to build 900 MW of PV plants by 2015 in what has become Europe's most dynamic solar market.

China’s Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Limited is partnering with German PV developer Greenfield Solar International GmbH & Co. KG to jointly develop solar farm projects in the United Kingdom.

The companies will use PV panels from Shunfeng’s recently acquired Wuxi Suntech for projects in the range of 10 MW to 40 MW. Shunfeng and Greenfield are aiming to achieve a combined capacity of up to 400 MW this year and 50 MW in 2015.

"This partnership highlights Shunfeng’s strategy to become the largest integrated clean energy supplier globally – integrated not only in terms of manufacturing but also in terms of developing and owning clean energy producing assets," said Shunfeng Chairman Zhang Yi. "Based on Suntech’s strong market presence in the solar cell and solar module market in Europe, the cooperation with Greenfield can strengthen the sales channel and secure orders for our solar products and entrench our market position in the global PV market."

Yi called the company’s plan to develop solar farms in Europe "a new milestone for the group" that he predicted would lead the Shunfeng "to become the leading clean energy enterprise in the world."

Shunfeng will also supply PV inverters for the projects, while Greenfield is set to provide EPC services. The companies will employ Suntech's 60 Cell polycrystalline modules for the utility-scale projects, which Shunfeng describes as "excellent for weak light performance markets such as the U.K."

Suntech CEO Eric Luo said, "The United Kingdom has a goal to generate at least 30% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020, but we cannot wait until 2020. Record pollution levels are hitting London and the south of England today. We are teaming with Greenfield to help the U.K. end its dependence on polluting fossil energy sources and are eager to help turn the U.K.’s aggressive renewable energy targets into a near-term reality. Solar is one of the fastest generation assets that you can build, which is why the U.K. is a prime market for Suntech products."

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...-uk_100015037/
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/shunfeng..._solar_modules
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne...s_by_2015_2356
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...in-the-uk.html

Japan reaches for stars to develop orbital solar
07. May 2014 | Applications & Installations, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends, Research & Development | By: Edgar Meza

"It would be difficult and expensive, but the payoff would be immense, and not just in economic terms," says Susumu Sasaki, professor emeritus at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency.

Researchers at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are aiming to develop a 1 GW space-based commercial solar power system by the 2030s.

In a recent report in IEEE Spectrum, the magazine published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Susumu Sasaki, a professor emeritus at JAXA who spent much of his 41-year career researching space-based solar power systems, examines the agency's technology road map for a series of ground and orbital demonstrations that could lead to the development of the 1 GW system (which would have about the same output as a typical nuclear power plant.

The JAXA plan foresees the creation of a series of geosynchronous-orbiting satellites that collect solar power and beam it back to Earth. The agency is currently working on different models. In one model, a one-sided PV panel measuring 2 kilometers per side with transmission antennas on its bottom would be suspended by 10-kilometer-long tether wires from a small bus, which would house the satellite’s controls and communication systems.

However, the problem with this solar power satellite (SPS) configuration would be an inconstant rate of power generation, Sasaki writes. "Because the photovoltaic panel’s orientation is fixed, the amount of sunlight that hits it varies greatly as the geosynchronous satellite and Earth spin."

JAXA's more advanced SPS concept solves the solar collection problem by employing two huge reflective mirrors positioned so that between the two of them, they would direct light onto two PV panels 24 hours a day.

"The two mirrors would be free flying, not tethered to the solar panels or the separate transmission unit, which means that we would have to master a sophisticated kind of formation flying to implement this system," Sasaki adds.

"Space agencies have some experience with formation flying, most notably in the docking maneuvers performed at the International Space Station, but coordinating a formation flight involving kilometer-scale structures is a big step from today’s docking procedures."

JAXA researchers are focusing on wireless power transmission, which can only be accomplished through laser or microwave beam, according to Sasaki.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ar-_100015001/

Solar Making Big Strides to Power the Developing World
Two companies working to bring solar energy to rural communities are celebrating big milestones thanks to technology and financing developments.
Meg Cichon, Associate Editor, RenewableEnergyWorld.com
May 07, 2014 | 1 Comments

New Hampshire, USA -- As we go about our daily lives using smartphones, computers and other technologies, it’s hard to believe that more than 2 billion people globally still live without electricity. According to the International Finance Corporation $37 billion is spent on fossil fuels to power the developing world each year. However, much of this population lives in areas where it is quite sunny, making solar energy an ideal solution. Several solar companies have developed affordable technology and essential financing mechanisms to bring renewable energy to those who need it most, and are now celebrating significant milestones.

Solar lighting manufacturer and distributor d.light, which won the Zayed Future Energy Prize in 2013, has been working to bring solar solutions to the developing world since 2006. It announced today that is celebrating the sale of 125,000 solar home systems. These systems include two hanging lamps and a portable lantern that can last up to 15 hours on one charge. Though the company has distributed more than 6 million solar-related products, it believes that these self-installed, upgradable systems hold significant opportunity for homes and small businesses.

Each system costs about $120 upfront, but customers can take advantage of a wide range of finance mechanisms that are making the systems much more affordable by eliminating high upfront costs. According to Donn Tice, chairman and CEO of d.light, the home system can be financed through micro-financing institutions. Customers can bring their systems home, install them, and then make weekly or monthly payments until they own the system.

Customers can also can take advantage of a “pay-as-you-go” system, where the customer can install the system, and then make payments as often as they can. They system will work for a designated amount of time with each payment, until they eventually own the system. “If they buy more credits sooner, they own the system sooner,” explained Tice. Payments are made through scratch cards, like buying minutes on a mobile phone. A special number is inputted into the system, which allows it to function. Depending on the location, system owners can even make payments through their mobile phones and activate the system via a microchip. According to Tice, financed systems ultimately cost around $150 to $160.

Also celebrating a major milestone, non-profit SolarAid sold its one-millionth solar light in April. The Africa-focused company, which Google awarded nearly $770,000 for its Global Impact Challenge last year, trains residents in rural communities to sell solar lighting, not only bringing power to the people, but also boosting jobs and local economies. According to the company, it has grown from selling 1,000 lights per month in 2010 to more than 50,000 per month as of March 2014.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...veloping-world

Missouri’s Got a Big Solar Problem: Too Many People Like It
Posted on May 7 2014 by Guest Author

Missouri has been heavily dependent on coal for decades, but the state is on the cusp of a solar revolution. The state had just 39 megawatts of solar installed at the end of 2013, putting it in 17th place nationally. But by mid-2014, as much as 110 megawatts of solar is expected to be online, potentially making Missouri a solar leader in the Midwest.

Unfortunately that could be the end of the solar story in Missouri. Just as the state is picking up serious momentum, the solar rebates that have helped propel the growth are abruptly ending, six years before the gradual phase-out that had been planned.

“We want off the solar coaster,” Heidi Schoen, executive director of the Missouri Solar Energy Industries Association told EnergyWire. “We don’t want to be in this boom-and-bust situation.”

Despite its enormous impact, Missouri’s solar rebate program is still relatively new. It came into being in 2008, with the passage of Proposition C, a ballot initiative that required investor-owned utilities to derive 15 percent of their electric generation from renewable resources by 2021 — including 2 percent from solar energy. To help jumpstart solar development in a state where 4 out of 5 homes are powered by coal, the successful ballot initiative required utilities to offer a $2-a-watt rebate for solar installations, with a maximum rebate of $50,000 per installation.

http://solarenergy.net/News/missouri...y-people-like/

SkyPower Global and FAS Energy to build 3,000 MW of solar power
May 8, 2014 Kathleen Zipp : 0 Comments

SkyPower FAS Energy signed agreements with both the Federal Republic of Nigeria Government and the Delta State of Nigeria Government for the development of 3,000 megawatts (MW) of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) projects within Nigeria and the Delta State of Nigeria to be built over the next five years.

These foundational agreements represent a monumental renewable energy milestone, which entails a multi-phase development and build schedule that will result in production of clean, sustainable, cost-effective energy to support the growing energy needs of Nigeria. SkyPower FAS Energy is committed to work closely with both governments for the planning, financing, and construction of 3,000 MW of utility-scale solar PV energy projects for the Nigerian power grid, which are expected to reach commercial operation in phases starting in 2015.

The agreements were signed at the World Economic Forum on Africa during a historic ceremony for a Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) between the Canadian and Nigerian governments. Representing the nations at the forum were the Honourable Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga, Minister of Trade and Investment for the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development for Canada.

“This is truly a proud moment for SkyPower FAS Energy. Global partnerships such as these are key to bringing together extensive expertise from around the world,” said proud Canadian Kerry Adler, President and Chief Executive Officer of SkyPower Global. “The signing of these landmark agreements demonstrates the shared vision of a partnership that will further stimulate the vibrant, fast-growing Nigerian economy and substantially impact the state and country’s GDPs, resulting in increased employment and skills training. We applaud the leadership of theDelta State and Federal Nigerian governments for embracing this initiative and demonstrating their continued commitment to reduce carbon emissions and harness the proven power of solar PV.”

“The signing of the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement marks a significant milestone. It sends a clear signal to Canadian businesses that they can work in Nigeria with confidence, and to Nigerians that they can do the same in Canada,” said the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of International Development forCanada. “Our government is looking to new approaches that deliver real results. The private sector has a crucial role to play in creating shared prosperity.”

http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com...w-solar-power/
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...n-nigeria.html

[amor de cosmos]

Obama Is About To Give A Huge Boost To Solar Power
Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian
May 9, 2014, 7:18 AM

Barack Obama will on Friday unveil several new initiatives intended to expand the deployment of solar power on Friday, as officials confirmed that a set of solar panels on the roof of the White House was now operational.

Obama will – once again – bypass a deadlocked Congress and use his executive authority to announce $2bn funding for energy-saving measures at federal government buildings, as well as new financing and training programmes for solar installations.

The announcements, to be made on a trip to California, cap a climate-focused week at the White House, following the release of an authoritative report on the growing threat posed by heat waves, severe downpours and sea-level rise.

White House officials told a conference call with reporters the initiatives were intended to add momentum to the solar industry, which has seen rapid expansion over the last two years.

“We are going to be doing everything we can, with the tools that we have to move forward,” said Dan Utech, special assistant to the president on energy and climate change.

In a largely symbolic move, the White House began installing a small set of solar panels on the roof last summer. The fit was now complete, officials said, releasing a video in which the panels were shown being installed. “The size of the array we established here is the typical size for the average American house, ” said James Doherty, the White House usher. Security concerns had prevented the whole roof being covered, he said.

The solar panels were part of a broader energy retrofit at the White House, demonstrating it was possible to introduce renewable energy even in historic buildings, officials claimed.

Solar panels were originally installed at the White House under Jimmy Carter, but Ronald Reagan ordered them dismantled in 1986. Obama brought in the latest solar technology as a sign of his commitment to renewable energy.

The panels will repay the costs of installation within eight years, officials said.

Solar power is the fastest-growing source of renewable energy in America. However, it still accounts for just 1% of overall electricity generation, according to the Energy Information Administration. The White House has been working to challenge companies such as Walmart and Ikea to expand their use of solar power.

http://www.businessinsider.com/obama...r-power-2014-5

With corporate help, Obama announces actions on renewable energy
WASHINGTON Fri May 9, 2014 9:36am EDT

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday will announce executive orders to increase the use of solar panels, boost energy efficiency in federal buildings and train more people to work in the renewable energy field, the White House said.

The president, who will make the announcement during a visit to Wal-Mart in Mountain View, California, will also highlight commitments by corporations to lift solar generation at their facilities. Wal-Mart, Apple Inc, Yahoo Inc, Google Inc and Ikea were among the companies making such commitments.

Several financial institutions, including Citigroup Inc and Goldman Sachs Group Inc, were announcing new plans for "large scale investment and innovative programs" to develop solar and renewable energy installations, the White House said.

Obama's executive actions would support efforts at community colleges so that 50,000 workers would join the solar industry by 2020, it said.

Another initiative would press for $2 billion in energy efficiency upgrades for federal buildings over the next three years, building on another $2 billion commitment from 2011.

Actions to strengthen building codes were also part of the mix.

"Investing in solar and efficiency makes sense to reduce our carbon emissions, but also for our pocketbooks and for our economy," said Dan Utech, an energy adviser to Obama, during a conference call on Monday to preview Obama's announcement.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0DP0YG20140509

[amor de cosmos]

Finance, Solar
Believe it or not, solar is getting hot … in Minnesota
By Ben Peters on May 09, 2014 at 4:00 PM

You might think that a northern state like Minnesota wouldn’t be a hot market for solar energy, but, in fact, solar can work well in northern and colder climates. To capture that solar potential, Minnesota recently enacted several policies and incentives to inspire more Minnesota businesses, municipalities, non-profits, and residents to install solar and reduce their energy costs.

The main driver behind Minnesota’s solar push is the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which requires the state’s investor owned utilities to generate around 30% of their total retail electricity sales from wind, solar, and other renewable sources by 2020. On top of that, 10% of utility retail electric sales are required to come from solar by the year 2030.

To meet these goals, the state and its major utilities have created several programs targeting both large and small installations:

Growing Community Solar Gardens

Taking Advantage of the Extra Made in Minnesota Solar Incentive

http://breakingenergy.com/2014/05/09...-in-minnesota/

Private Sector Investment in Solar Poised to Explode
Rhone Resch
May 09, 2014 | 3 Comments

Talk about the perfect Mother’s Day present for Mother Earth.

Today, President Obama announced at a Walmart in California that 300 leading U.S. companies have taken the “solar pledge,” committing to install nearly 1 gigawatt (GW) of new solar as part of their business plans. That’s a huge increase in the use of solar in the commercial sector.

For America’s solar energy industry, this is like getting a triple-A investment rating from Moody’s or Standard and Poor’s. Solar has become a ‘street-smart’ investment. These companies are expanding their use of solar because it makes sense from both a business and social responsibility viewpoint. Having worked closely with both the Administration and the private sector to increase the use of clean, reliable solar nationwide, SEIA applauds this exciting, new initiative, and we look forward to assisting commercial businesses, homebuilders, rural coops, governmental entities and America’s financial community in bringing these new solar installations online.

This bold initiative is part of a solar boom in America which is already taking place. Today, more than 30 utility-scale, clean energy projects are under construction, putting thousands of electricians, steelworkers and laborers to work, while helping to reduce dangerous carbon emissions. These facilities, along with rooftop solar on homes, businesses and schools, will help to generate clean, abundant energy for generations to come. What’s more, innovative solar heating and cooling systems are offering American consumers, businesses and schools cost-efficient, effective options for meeting their energy needs, in addition to reducing our nation’s overall energy consumption.

Clearly, the President sees solar as a critical technology for addressing climate change, and his speech today created a direct link between our need to address climate change and the positive impact that solar can have on reducing pollution. Here’s a breakdown on the commitments announced today:

• 27 multi-family and low income builders
• 30 homebuilders and home improvement leaders
• 199 rural electrical co-ops in 27 states
• Ten commercial companies, including Walmart, Yahoo, Google, Apple, Ikea, Kaiser Permanente, Clif Bar, Viridity Energy, Bonipak farms and Taylor Farms.
• Four financial institutions, including Citi and Goldman Sachs, have pledged to invest in solar and renewable energy programs.

President Obama also highlighted several executive actions, including:

• The Department of Energy will expand a program that supports solar- sector job training at community colleges. The program will help 50,000 workers enter the industry.
• The General Services Administration will expand the federal government procurement of solar and will provide innovative financing for solar deployment. This is the first step toward government-wide third party ownership as a mechanism for financing solar
• The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service will clarify “how rules regarding real property relate to renewable energy installations.”
• And many more

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...sed-to-explode

Indianapolis Power & Light Incentivizes Solar Installations
Posted on May 9 2014 by Kristine Wong

It might not seem like there’s a lot of common ground between a Superfund site, an airport and a federal government building. But in Indianapolis, they do. And later this year, property owned by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a sanitation plant and 140 acres of farmland will join the group.

What’s the common denominator? You guessed it. Each site is home to a solar installation in the city of Indianapolis that was catalyzed by the voluntary feed-in tariff (FIT) offered by electric utility Indianapolis Power & Light (IPL). Though the incentive stopped accepting applications this past March, three years after it launched, there are still some projects that have yet to be installed.

The push from the FIT was a big part of what landed the city in seventh place in Environment America’s recent “Shining Cities” (PDF) report for the total cumulative amount of solar capacity installed among major U.S. municipalities (all of which had to be located in the largest 50 metropolitan areas, or a state’s largest city). It was the only Midwestern city to make the report’s top 20 list.

So how did Indianapolis do it? And what’s behind the story of solar being deployed in such unlikely places—before a massive rooftop campaign the likes of what’s going on in Los Angeles?

As with many solar stories, the answer goes back to economics and policy. With cheap electricity rates, customers didn’t have an incentive to participate in distributed energy generation via net metering. And with no state Renewable Portfolio Standard on the books either, neither did the utilities.

“The real question we asked ourselves was, ‘What does it take to get investments in renewables?’” recalled John Haselden, principal engineer in the regulatory affairs department at IPL.

http://solarenergy.net/News/indianap...installations/