Solar Power Thread

[amor de cosmos]

The Age of Solar has Arrived
By Editorial Dept | Fri, 09 May 2014 17:56

Solar companies reported their first quarter earnings this past week and their stocks took a hammering. As the market closed on May 7, First Solar (NYSE: FSLR) saw its share price down 5.75%; SolarCity (NYSE: SCTY) was off by 9%; and SunPower Corp. (NYSE: SPWR) was down nearly 3%.

But the sell-off was short-lived. First Solar’s quarterly revenue of $950 million beat analysts’ estimates of $800-$900 million. That translated into an earnings per share of $1.10, far above the $0.50-$0.60 that Wall Street expected. The company offered a very upbeat analysis for the rest of the year.

And that reflects the trajectory for the industry as a whole – the future is very bright. To be sure, solar still makes up a small share of the electric power industry, accounting for less than 1% of generation last year. But, investing is about growth, and in the energy sector nothing is growing like solar.

Costs Go Down, Growth Goes Up

After years of stratospheric hype and little to show for it, solar is finally poised for a takeoff. The U.S. installed 4,751 megawatts in 2013, a 41% jump from the year before. The Solar Energy Industries Association predicts that the sector will expand by another 26% this year as well, adding another 6,000 megawatts of capacity. Put another way, solar grew 418% between 2010 and 2014. Try finding a growth rate like that elsewhere.

http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Ener...s-Arrived.html

[amor de cosmos]

Throwing Light on Value at SolarCity
By Liam Denning
Updated May 11, 2014 9:08 p.m. ET

Think of a number. Then double it. Maybe triple it if you are having a good day.

Valuing SolarCity isn't quite that arbitrary. But the assumptions underlying how much the solar-leasing firm is worth are so open to debate that the exact stock price looks about as solid as sunlight.

The result is the stock's wild ride this year, rising 55% to a peak in February, only to drop by almost half by last Wednesday, before first-quarter results gave it a 12% boost the next day. Overlooking continued losses, investors cheered sales growth and raised targets.

SolarCity is essentially a financing business. Customers lease, rather than buy, panels, signing long-term contracts to buy electricity at a cheaper rate than their traditional utility bill. Typically, SolarCity utilizes tax incentives to raise financing from third-party investors to cover the installation costs. Once this is paid off in the early years of a project's life, SolarCity should then reap the profits from the remaining years.

That model means big losses up front as revenue goes to pay financiers. In the absence of profits to put multiples to, SolarCity publishes its own metric used by analysts and others to set valuations: "retained value."

This is an estimate of the value of future income from the electricity that customers buy far into the future, net of costs. A discount rate is applied to those cash flows to take into account the risks involved and effect of inflation to calculate a value in today's money.

That fairly straightforward premise is actually a black box of assumptions. SolarCity's latest estimate of retained value is $1.56 per watt of solar capacity installed already or in backlog, adding up to $1.29 billion. The company's market capitalization is $4.8 billion, or 3.7 times retained value. At its February peak, that multiple was north of seven times.

Clearly, the market expects rapid growth. And SolarCity has expanded rapidly. It aims to have installed more than 2,000 megawatts of panels by the end of 2015, up from less than 200 at the end of 2011. Pavel Molchanov at Raymond James estimates the potential market for residential solar at about 76,000 megawatts, 33 times the level installed now.

The problem is SolarCity's retained value figure already implies blue-sky thinking. For example, it assumes 90% of customers extend their typical 20-year leases for another decade. Those 10 years matter: SolarCity estimates the resulting cash flows equate to 29% of a project's retained value.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...52234060157484

Obama takes triple-pronged approach to boost US solar
By John Parnell - 12 May 2014, 10:18
In News, Power Generation, Market Watch, Finance

President Obama has launched a triple-pronged approach to boost the solar energy sector in the US.

The plans, which will not require the approval of Congress, are designed to enable job creation, improve federal procurement plans and create new finance options for investors.

“Over the past few years, the cost of solar panels have fallen by 60%; solar installations have increased by 500%. Every four minutes, another American home or business goes solar, and every panel is pounded into place by a worker whose job cannot be overseas,” Obama told an audience in Mountain View, California on Friday 9 May.

“So today, no matter where you live or where you do business, solar is getting cheaper and is getting easier to use than before. And with more businesses and rural cooperatives and homes choosing solar, prices keep coming down, manufacturers keep getting more innovative, and more jobs are created. Last year, jobs in the solar industry increased by 20%.

“But we’ve got more work to do. And I want to work with Congress to do it. Unfortunately, Congress has not always been as visionary on these issues as we would like. It can be a little frustrating. But in this Year of Action, wherever I can go ahead and create my own opportunities for new jobs, I'm going to take it."

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/obama_ta...boost_us_solar

May 12, 2014
Jakson Says Solar to Match Diesel-Generator Sales by 2017

May 12 (Bloomberg) — Jakson Group, one of India’s biggest suppliers of diesel generators, expects about half of its sales to come from the solar business within three years as rising fuel costs make sun-based power more attractive.

Jakson, which assembles and sells Cummins Inc. generators in India, completed its first photovoltaic power plant in Bap, Rajasthan, about 25 percent below cost and ahead of schedule, Managing Director Sameer Gupta said in an interview.

“It’s no longer sustainable to use diesel generation as a continuous source of power” as the government unwinds subsidies for the fuel and its import-cost surges, Gupta said. “There’s no constraint on solar radiation in India. Sooner or later people will realize that.”

Factories, homes and businesses in India fire up diesel engines daily to combat chronic blackouts that can last eight hours in some areas. Those machines amount to an estimated 60 gigawatts of capacity, according to New Delhi-based consultant Bridge to India Energy Pvt. That’s roughly equal to Australia’s total power generation capacity and a quarter of India’s official capacity.

Jakson targets increasing group sales by 70 percent to 25 billion rupees ($418 million) in three years. Its solar and electrical contracting business will account for about half of revenue by then, up from a third today, Gupta said.

The New Delhi-based group plans to build another 80 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity for its own portfolio and also build plants for other companies, Gupta said. Jakson built a 10-megawatt solar project in Talcher, Odisha state, for NTPC Ltd., India’s largest generator.

http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/jaks...sales-by-2017/

1 May 2014
Renewable Energy Provides 6.5 Million Jobs Globally

Sector shows significant job growth over 2012, new IRENA review highlights

In 2013, approximately 6.5 million people were already employed in the renewable energy industry worldwide, a new study by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) reveals. ‘Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2014’ underlines the important role that renewables continue to play in employment creation and growth in the global economy.

The comprehensive annual review shows steady growth in the number of renewable energy jobs worldwide, which expanded from 5.7 million in 2012, according to IRENA.



“With 6.5 million people directly or indirectly employed in renewable energy, the sector is proving that it is no longer a niche, it has become a significant employer worldwide,” said IRENA Director-General Adnan Z. Amin. “The insights into shifts along segments of the value-chain revealed in the report are crucial to developing policy that strengthens job growth in this important sector of the economy.”

Renewable energy employment was shaped by regional shifts, industry realignments, growing competition and advances in technologies and manufacturing processes in 2013. The largest employers by country are China, Brazil, the United States, India, Germany, Spain and Bangladesh, while the largest employers by sector are solar photovoltaic, biofuels, wind, modern biomass and biogas.

http://www.irena.org/News/Descriptio...84&News_ID=360
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ent_100015061/

May 12, 2014
Fraunhofer ISE Team receives Innovation Award Laser Technology 2014
European photovoltaic research recognized for its innovative strength
Press Release 10/14, May 12 2014

A research team at Fraunhofer ISE was awarded the Innovation Award Laser Technology 2014 for its Laser Fired Contact (LFC) technology used for the production of highly efficient silicon solar cells. Dr. Ralf Preu, division director of Production Technology and Quality Assurance, Dr. Jan Nekarda and Martin Graf, all scientists at Fraunhofer ISE, accepted the award on May 7, 2014 at the festive Coronation Hall of Aachen’s city hall in Aachen, Germany. The European science award is bestowed every two years by the associations Arbeitskreis Lasertechnik e.V. (AKL) and the European Laser Institute (ELI). An international jury comprised of nine experts chose three finalists out of a total of 23 applicants.

“We are delighted to have received this honor that is not only a recognition of our work but also the innovative strength of photovoltaic research and industry throughout Europe,” says a pleased Ralf Preu.

The prize-winning LFC technology is a cost-efficient procedure for rear-side contacting and allows current collection to take place on the rear side of silicon solar cells. In less than a second, a pulsed laser drills several ten thousand contacts in an aluminum layer on the rear side of a solar cell. LFC combines high efficiency potential with low manufacturing costs, since it replaces the expensive and slower structurization steps previously necessary for the rear side passivation of solar cells. Fraunhofer ISE’s work on LFC technology began more than ten years ago under the direction of Ralf Preu and has led to patented procedures.

http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/pres...echnology-2014

[amor de cosmos]

May 13, 2014
Panasonic Targets Factory Rooftops for Solar Expansion in Japan

May 14 (Bloomberg) — Panasonic Corp. is aiming to sell more solar panels specifically designed for the rooftops of factories and warehouses, a market it sees ripe with potential as Japan introduces rules that threaten to stymie the development of larger solar farms built on open land.

Panasonic will start selling panels in June that are able to be installed more efficiently on corrugated factory roofing, Kazuhiro Yoshida, who heads the Osaka-based company’s solar division, said in an interview yesterday. The newer products are designed to more than double generation capacity by fitting more panels on a single rooftop, Yoshida said.

The Japanese electronics maker had been focusing on residential and small-size rooftops in Japan with its HIT-brand solar cells. The company is now adding a segment ranging from 50 kilowatts to 500 kilowatts in capacity, Yoshida said.

“Space is no longer left for mega-solar projects and you may encounter grid connection problems,” he said, referring to utility-scale solar projects typically of 1 megawatt or larger. “We expect middle-sized projects will expand rather than mega-solars,” he said. One megawatt equals 1,000 kilowatts.

A change announced earlier this year by Japan’s trade ministry may curb the expansion of utility-scale projects, Yoshida said. After finding hundreds of larger projects had been delayed, the ministry set a 6-month deadline for developers to secure land and equipment after getting approval, a requirement that is tougher for larger projects.

http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/pana...sion-in-japan/

Solar industry once again falls victim to its own success
Time after time the solar industry has been hit by policy changes designed to rein back investment, but it doesn't have to be this way
13 May 2014, 15:31

It will offer scant consolation to those solar developers facing the third major subsidy review in as many years, but any industry executive looking for a silver lining might reflect on the fact the latest proposed changes are a direct result of the sector's staggering success.

The drastic reduction in the cost of solar technologies - by some industry estimates solar farm costs have fallen over 30 per cent in two years - coupled with the breakneck speed with which solar panels can be installed presents a unique challenge to policymakers. A challenge Whitehall is still yet to get to grips with.

Following two previous reviews of solar subsidies necessitated by the manner in which new solar projects were being delivered so fast that Ministers' feared their clean energy subsidy budget, known as the Levy Control Framework (LCF), was being burnt through, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has again found itself in precisely the same position - proposing cuts to solar subsidies at surprisingly short notice in a desperate attempt to take some heat out of the market.

Solar developers who are angry at experiencing their very own renewable energy version of Groundhog Day may like to reflect that DECC does appear to be getting better at this exercise the more practice it gets. Today's consultation proposes changes that won't come into effect for 11 months and promises "grace periods" for projects already in the pipeline. Moreover, this time around Minister's don't appear to proposing illegal policy changes that breach their own consultation rules. I think we can call that progress of a sort.

http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/jame...ts-own-success

The US Military Could Drive Solar Energy Growth
Stephen O'Brien, The Motley Fool
May 13, 2014, 7:54 AM

Demand for solar energy is heating up across the United States, and the nation's military is becoming one of the sector's major customers. The Department of Defense wants renewable energy to make up at least one quarter of its total energy use by 2025, and solar energy is squarely within its sights.

The Military just recently began construction of a solar power plant at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, where solar panels will be installed over 68 acres, constituting the largest solar array of any military base in the U.S. According to the commanding general of the base, Maj. Gen. Robert Ashley, the project reflects the military's commitment to energy security.

Whether it be engaged in disaster relief, humanitarian missions or in military operations, the military needs reliable energy that is "off the grid," since public electrical utilities are vulnerable to adverse weather conditions and potential sabotage. The military also needs to be ready for possible disruptions to the oil supply, which could cripple it and the nation's economy.

Such risks to national security are turning the armed forces into a vast laboratory for the development of solar technology and the creation of "net-zero" environments, where energy consumption equals the energy created on-site. The military already used solar arrays at fixed-site locations in Afghanistan.

By moving to solar power, the military could also avoid the high costs of transporting gasoline to remote areas of the world. In the past, moving gasoline to bases in Afghanistan could cost up to $400 per gallon.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-u...-growth-2014-5

ENDLESS ELECTRICITY: Here's A Way Of Turning America's Roads Into Gigantic Solar Panels
Rob Wile
May 14, 2014, 4:32 AM

http://www.businessinsider.com/solar...profile-2014-5

• Video Link
http://www.energy.gov/articles/white...lar-s-progress

How Utilities Can Stop Losing Revenue and Start Making Money on Solar
North American Power joins forces with Clean Power Finance in the latest retail utility-solar partnership.
Herman K. Trabish
May 13, 2014

While some talk about the necessity of developing new utility business models, solar finance and installation leaders are actually making it happen by forging partnerships with retail electricity providers.

Clean Power Finance’s new partnership with North American Power demonstrates one of two ways in which a retail electricity provider (REP) can profit from selling solar in deregulated electricity markets, according to Sierra Peterson, CPF's director of business development. North American Power ranks among the top fifteen REPs in the U.S., serving more than 320,000 electricity and natural gas customers.

If a REP has capital and a tax-equity appetite, it can become a project finance investor and gain the advantage of the investment tax credit and accelerated depreciation while generating a long-term, secure revenue stream.

But many of the REPs now serving the region with more than 11 million electricity customers in thirteen states and Washington, D.C. are not in a strong cash position, Peterson said. Margins are “razor-thin, [amounting to] tenths of a cent per kilowatt-hour,” and the average customer contract of 36 months brings in only about $300 per customer in average lifetime value for the REP, Peterson added.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...Money-on-Solar

[amor de cosmos]

Solar PV Becoming Miners’ Friend
Dexter Gauntlett — May 12, 2014

At the Zwartkop Chrome Mine, near Thabazimbi, South Africa, mining company Cronimet Chrome SA has established a technological innovation – not below the ground, but above it. To help power the mine, Cronimet installed a hybrid solar-diesel system that includes 4,158 solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, producing 1.8 GWh of electricity – about 60% of the mine’s power. According to a report released by Carbon War Room in March, the Cronimet system will not only reduce fuel costs and carbon emissions for the mine, but also has the potential to “power local communities and improve the local economy.”

Like natural gas and wind power, solar PV and mining are becoming odd bedfellows – seemingly incongruent players in the energy landscape that are increasingly being paired to create win-win situations for each party. Solar PV is increasingly being utilized to reduce the costs and lower the environmental damage of extracting coal and other minerals. Chile, South Africa, and Australia are three of the leading countries where solar PV is being installed on mining operations, due to the remote location of the mining sites, unreliable (or nonexistent) electricity from the grid in the mining area, and the heavy use of diesel gensets in every aspect of mining operations. Navigant Research’s Renewable Energy in the Mining Industry report forecasts that renewable technologies will supply between 5% and 8% of the world’s mining industry power consumption by 2022.

http://www.navigantresearch.com/blog...-miners-friend

Midsummer reaches new efficiency record for CIGS solar cells
13. May 2014 | Applications & Installations, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends, Research & Development | By: Edgar Meza

The Swedish solar equipment manufacturer says the shift towards more rooftop installations make lightweight and flexible thin film solar cells ideal.

CIGS solar cell production line supplier Midsummer has increased the efficiency of its solar cells from a 15% to 16.2% aperture area of ​​a full 156×156 mm solar cell.

The Swedish company manufactured the cell in a regular production run and the process is already implemented in the production line.

"Considering that the solar cell is made on stainless steel, contains no cadmium and that the production process is an all-dry, all vacuum process where all layers (including the buffer layer) are deposited by sputtering, this achievement by our engineers is truly impressive," said Midsummer CEO Sven Lindstrom.

With the production system from Midsummer the solar cells are manufactured individually and then stringed together into modules like crystalline solar cells, making it possible to produce lightweight flexible modules in any size and shape, the company said.

Midsummer pointed out that a dry, all-vacuum process has less stringent requirements for clean-rooms. "Avoiding cadmium in the manufacturing process is desirable for the sake of the production staff and also makes it easier to commence low cost manufacturing of CIGS solar cells."

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...lls_100015078/

Germany’s storage subsidy yields 4,000 systems in first year
By Andy Colthorpe - 13 May 2014, 10:37
In News, Power Generation, Grid Connection, Market Watch

In the year that has passed since Germany began offering subsidies for lithium-ion battery systems for residential use, around 4,000 solar-plus-batteries have been installed, the country’s Federal Solar Industry Association (BSW Solar) has announced.

BSW Solar also said that it expects significantly higher demand this year. The association’s managing director Jorg Mayer said that German people were in increasing numbers looking to become independent of fossil fuels and to bring investments in their homes in line with Germany’s wider energy transition (‘Energiewende’).

Germany’s national development bank KfW reported the news of BSW Solar’s findings to the German media. Other statistics included the fact that close to €66 million (US$90.82 million) was given out in low interest loans by the development bank over the year, while around €10 million (US$13.76 million) was awarded in grants.

Mayer claimed that PV system owners could double the value of their system by storing in some of the energy produced by the panels and urged more people to consider the benefits of adding storage. He pointed out that it was also possible to gain subsidies for retrofits, provided the PV system was installed after December 2012. According to Mayer, more than double the amount of battery storage could be paid for each year in grants by redistributing the money saved by utilities in peak load shaving, for example.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/germanys..._in_first_year

On its 60th Birthday, Solar PV Has Become a Major Contender
Clint Wilder, Clean Edge
May 14, 2014 | 0 Comments

On April 25, 1954 in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, technicians at AT&T’s legendary Bell Labs publicly demonstrated a solar photovoltaic panel for the first time, capturing light to power the rotation of a miniature Ferris wheel. The New York Times called it “the beginning of a new era, eventually leading to the realization of one of mankind’s most cherished dreams.”

Well, “eventually” took a while, in no small part because of the estimated cost of that first PV panel: $286 per watt. Which meant that the average homeowner in 1954, if a rooftop solar array were available, could have installed one for a cool $1.43 million. (A 1954 Cadillac Eldorado, for comparison, cost less than $5,000). But without recounting 60 years of challenges and setbacks, let’s jump ahead to where solar energy deployment, by almost any measure, is today. It’s booming.

Propelled by the 80 percent drop in module prices in the past five years, and even more so by finance innovations like leasing and power-purchase agreements, residential and commercial solar installations are by far the hottest sector in clean-energy generation. Statistical evidence abounds, but here are a few of my favorite facts and figures:

• As Clean Edge noted in our recent Clean Energy Trends 2014 report, in 2013 the world installed more new gigawatts of solar PV (36.5 GW) than wind power (35.5 GW) for the first time.
• More Americans (143,000 in 2013) work in the solar industry than the coal industry. In Texas, there are more solar workers than ranchers, and in California, more solar employees than actors.
• Warren Buffett has invested an estimated $7 billion in solar generation facilities.
• More than 60 percent of U.S. homeowners say they’re interested in installing solar, and 73 percent say they would welcome clean energy provided by an entity other than their utility, according to the Solar City-Clean Edge poll released in March.
• Earlier this month, First Solar’s Agua Caliente plant in Yuma, Arizona became the world’s largest PV generation facility with capacity of 290 MW.
• Solar accounted for 28.7 percent of new U.S. generation capacity in 2013, trailing only natural gas (46 percent) among energy sources. “Solar is now sitting at the big kids’ table,” says GTM Research senior VP of research Shayle Kann.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...ajor-contender

$11 Billion Will Be Invested in Indian Solar Energy by 2017
Major corporations are currently investigating solar PV opportunities in the emerging market.
Natalie Obiko Pearson, Bloomberg
May 13, 2014 | 0 Comments

NEW DELHI -- Hindustan Powerprojects Pvt., an Indian generator backed by Blackstone Group LP, plans to sell shares in its solar unit as it prepares to double investment in photovoltaic projects to $2 billion by 2016.

“It’s a sensible business to take out to market,” said Ratul Puri, chairman of the New Delhi-based developer of coal, solar and hydropower plants, formerly known as Moser Baer Projects Pvt. The unit has a pipeline of projects that will require $1 billion of investment within the next two years, he said, although the company has “no immediate need for cash.”

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group AG have been appointed managers to the initial public offering, according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named because the information isn’t public. Puri declined to comment on the bankers.

Rising coal prices have pushed electricity rates in India up by 40 percent on average since 2010, making solar cheaper for commercial consumers in Delhi and Mumbai compared with electricity from the grid, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. India, which had virtually no solar powerthree years ago, plans to attract $11.7 billion of investment by 2017 into the industry to reduce costly fuel imports.

It may still be “too early” for solar developers to go to market, said Madhavan Nampoothiri, founder of Chennai-based RESolve Energy Consultants, without specifically referring to Hindustan Powerprojects. “We need more good quality projects on the ground to give confidence about the performance of plants and the expected long-term returns.”

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...energy-by-2017

[amor de cosmos]

Transforming Textiles Into Solar Cells
Written by Sandra Henderson 13 May 2014

A team of scientists from Fudan University and Tongii University in Shanghai, China, have discovered a unique method to integrate flexible solar cells into fabric that could be used to develop lighter, more efficient wearable electronics. The research shows that stacking electrodes into layers allows for longer, more efficient fabrics and could eliminate some of the development barriers this technology is facing.

Previous thread-like solar cells rely on twisting two electrically conducting fibres together as electrodes — a time-consuming method not conducive to practical applications, as it is difficult to create solar fabric longer than a few millimetres. Stacking the textile electrodes into layers, however, allowed the researchers to twist the material into a strong enough thread to be woven into a textile. “Our stacked method is an easy and useful method for wearable solar cells, and even for other wearable electronics,” says Shaowu Pan, doctoral student at Fudan and first author of the paper “Wearable Solar Cells by Stacking Textile Electrodes,” published in the international edition of Angewandte Chemie. “I think the day of wearable electronics is coming soon.”

http://www.solarnovus.com/transformi...lls_N7733.html

German solar PV meets 3.8% of demand during Q1 2014

Electricity generation from Germany's solar photovoltaic (PV) plants increased nearly 70% year-over-year to roughly 5.7 terawatt-hours (TWh) in the first quarter of 2014, according to the nation's Federal Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW).

This means that PV met roughly 3.8% of the nation's electricity demand during the winter months. Overall electricity generation from renewables rose to 40.2 TWh, or 27% of demand, which was mostly due to high wind output.

Despite a more than 50% reduction in capacity deployed to 3.3 GW, Germany remained Europe's largest PV market in 2013. At the end of March 2014, the nation had installed more than 36 GW of PV.

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...g-q1-2014.html

• Video Link

[amor de cosmos]

China targets 70 GW of solar by 2017
16. May 2014 | Applications & Installations, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Investor news, Markets & Trends, Top News | By: Max Hall

The country has announced plans to triple solar capacity within three years. Renewables ambitions also include a 150 GW target for wind power by 2017.

The Chinese government has announced plans to triple the amount of installed solar capacity to 70 GW by 2017, according to breaking news being reported by the Power Engineering International website.

According to the report, the country's National Development and Reform Commission has stated its intent to reach the 70 GW target – up from 20 GW at the end of 2013 – within three years and has also committed to installing 150 GW of wind power over the same period.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...017_100015117/
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...-coal-reliance

New York Launches New Incentive Round for Large Solar Projects
Jessica Robbins, Sol Systems
May 16, 2014 | 1 Comments

New York is in a solar state of mind. On the heels of the recent announcement to commit an additional $1 billion to New York solar incentives over the next decade, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) unveiled the next anticipated funding program for large solar systems, over 200 kW in size. This round of funding closely resembles previous offerings, and does not appear to be part of the “megawatt block” structure highlighted in the April announcement. PON 2956 (short for Program Opportunity Notice) went live this week, promising $60 million in available incentives or more, to be awarded at NYSERDA’s discretion. Applications are due July 17th, 2014 and all systems must come online by April of 2016.

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

[amor de cosmos]

Canadian Solar teams with GCL-Poly to build new 1.2GW solar cell facility
By Mark Osborne - 18 May 2014, 06:00
In News, Fab & Facilities, Cell Processing, Finance

Major tier-1 PV manufacturer and downstream PV energy provider (PVEP) Canadian Solar has started construction of a new 1.2GW solar cell manufacturing facility in partnership with its long-standing ingot/wafer supplier, GCL-Poly in Funning, Jiangsu Province, China.

Groundbreaking for the new facility started on May 17, with construction completed and an initial 60MW of solar cell production online by the end of 2014.

Canadian Solar had highlighted in March, 2014 that capacity expansion options for solar cells were under consideration with “external supply partners” for an initial capacity increase of 600MW and a targeted internal cell capacity to meet around 75% of its internal module capacity requirements, which had been raised to 3GW earlier this year.

“The announcement from Canadian Solar for the proposed 1.2GW cell factory in Funing is likely to be the first major new factory build from a leading c-Si cell/module producer in China since the major expansions that took place between 2010 to 2012,” said Finlay Colville, VP of market research firm, NPD Solarbuzz to PV Tech. “While the initial plans to reach 60MW of cell capacity by the end of 2014 are somewhat cautious, the underlying intentions are ambitious and highlight the overall confidence in long-term industry growth.”

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/canadian..._cell_facility

[amor de cosmos]

Modi to Use Solar to Bring Power to Every Home by 2019
By Rakteem Katakey and Debjit Chakraborty May 19, 2014 3:44 AM PT

India’s new government led by Narendra Modi plans to harness solar power to enable every home to run at least one light bulb by 2019, a party official said.

“We look upon solar as having the potential to completely transform the way we look at the energy space,” said Narendra Taneja, convener of the energy division at Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which swept to power on May 16 in the biggest electoral win in three decades.

About 400 million people in India lack access to electricity, more than the combined population of the U.S. and Canada. The outgoing government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh missed a 2012 target to provide electricity to all households.

The five-year goal will require the cooperation of state-level administrations with which the central government shares control over the power industry, Taneja said. If successful, solar panels could allow every home to have enough power to run two bulbs, a solar cooker and a television, he said.

Expanding clean-power generation will be the administration’s top energy-related priority, especially solar because it has the potential to create jobs and supply millions of scattered households not connected to the grid, he said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...e-by-2019.html

Solar energy prospects are bright for Scotland, experts say
University of Edinburgh

Installing state-of-the-art solar panels on a quarter of a million roofs could meet one-sixth of Scotland's electricity demands, experts say.

Scientists say the strategy could ease the plight of one in three Scottish households, which currently struggle to provide themselves with adequate heat and hot water.

Researchers, business leaders and public sector experts have contributed to a report which sets out how Scotland could benefit from solar power.

They say harnessing energy from the sun on the roofs of south-facing buildings could have significant economic, environmental and social impacts.

The project - involving researchers at the University of Edinburgh - provides the most comprehensive assessment yet of Scotland's solar energy potential.

Findings from the project reveal that solar power could help Scotland meet renewable energy targets, create jobs and ensure the energy needs of people in cities and rural areas are met.

Experts are holding an event at the Scottish Parliament today (Monday 19 May) to raise awareness of solar technology and its benefits. Organisers will call for government, industry and academia to work together on solar energy strategies.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-sep051914.php

Cumulative US PV Market to Approach 20 GW by the End of 2014
Posted by Michael Barker in Solarbuzz, Solar on May 19, 2014

Cumulative solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in the United States hit the 10 GW level in mid-2013 and are on course to double by early 2015, approaching the 20 GW figure by the end of 2014.

Continuing cost declines – and a push by project developers to move projects towards completion before a reduction in the federal investment tax credit (ITC) – are helping to drive growth in the US PV industry.

Along with this, new capital continues to flow into the sector, and novel business models are opening up markets where solar is competitive with retail electricity rates.

On the global level, stabilizing component prices (and the knowledge that policy support is decreasing over time) means that downstream players are eager to move projects forward rapidly, rather than wait for further cost declines or new support mechanisms.

According to new research featured in the NPD Solarbuzz North America PV Markets Quarterly report, by the end of 2014, cumulative PV installs in the US market will approach 20 GW. This would represent a doubling of cumulative solar PV capacity within two years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) above 50% since 2006.

http://www.displaysearchblog.com/201...e-end-of-2014/

Stronger black solar coating that retains original color and absorption properties
May 16, 2014 by Sandy Evangelista

(Phys.org) —Solar thermal panels developed at EPFL are are dressed up in unique and patented new materials. Researchers created a stronger black coating that retains its original color and thereby its absorption properties much longer than traditional panels.

Like most elements of a building, the lifespan of a solar thermal panel is between 25 and 30 years. To slow the aging process and maintain their performance, a team of researchers from EPFL have, in rapid succession, improved the black coating used for thermal sensors and developed an original and patented method for depositing the coating.

The color black is at the key element of thermal panels because it can absorb up to 90% of the energy it receives. However, over time, the effects of light and heat deteriorate the black, and the panel becomes less efficient. Engineers have developed an innovative process that deposits thin layers of 3 different materials that are more resistant, more selective and less toxic than the chromium used thus far. As such this new material provides high durability in the open air at temperatures of 300° C to 400° C, thus avoiding the use of glass vacuum tubes, which are expensive.

http://phys.org/news/2014-05-stronge...g-retains.html

Austin Energy Switches From SunEdison to Recurrent for 5-Cent Solar
A new developer wins with an unprecedentedly low price for a large solar project.
Eric Wesoff
May 16, 2014

In a surprising move, Austin Energy has closed its negotiations with SunEdison and signed a power purchase agreement for 150 megawatts with Recurrent Energy instead.

The new PPA, signed last week, has a term of twenty years, compared to the 25-year term proposed by SunEdison. Recurrent has confirmed that it was "awarded a 150-megawatt contract by Austin Energy" for the largest single solar power plant in Texas, due to be completed in 2016.

In March, we reported that city-owned Austin Energy was about to sign a 25-year PPA with SunEdison for 150 megawatts of solar power at "just below" 5 cents per kilowatt-hour. The power was to come from two West Texas solar facilities. But that news was premature.

This was one of the lowest, if not the very lowest, reported prices for large-scale contracted solar that we had seen in what we understood to be a very competitive bidding process. The news website Austin Monitor quotes Austin Energy officials as saying that the new contract was "under better pricing terms and more favorable contract conditions than the SunEdison proposal."

“The Texas market represents one of the most exciting opportunities for the solar industry,” said Arno Harris, CEO of Recurrent Energy, in a release. “The industry’s growing scale and decreasing costs are enabling us to successfully compete against conventional energy in deregulated markets like ERCOT." Recurrent now has a contracted portfolio of more than 1 gigawatt, according to the firm, with more than 2 gigawatts of solar projects in development in North America.

GTM Solar Analyst Cory Honeyman called the 5-cent price "an unprecedented low for large-scale projects." Austin Energy's net sub-five-cent price does not include any state PTC.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...r-5-Cent-Solar
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/aust...nt-solar-20943

The 3 Challenges Solar Energy Needs to Overcome to Continue its Growth
Posted on May 19 2014 by Guest Author

Not surprisingly, fossil-fuel generated energy makes up the bulk of electricity generation in the United States. Although solar power makes up less than 1 percent of the nation’s total energy consumption it’s quickly gaining ground. Even the White House just finished a solar panel installation.

Despite its growth, the solar energy industry still has some major hurdles to jump before it could replace fossil fuels.

1. The power grid

2. Inefficiency

3. Investments

http://solarenergy.net/News/3-challe...ntinue-growth/

[amor de cosmos]

Solar and Storage Are Pushing the Market for Distributed Resource Management Tools
From battery controls to grid-scale systems, control systems could unlock the potential of the grid edge.
Katherine Tweed
May 20, 2014

Consolidated Edison is one of the distribution utilities that will be acutely affected if New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision, or REV, proposal becomes a reality in the coming years.

The utility is not necessarily fighting the changes happening at the grid edge. It already has a "utility of the future" group, explained Andrew Reid, a senior engineer at Consolidated Edison. However, Reid and his fellow engineers know that developing an entirely new system for operating the grid won't be simple.

“They call for plug-and-play distributed energy, but you need a distributed architecture for that,” said Reid, speaking at a Clean Energy Connections panel in New York City last week. That means utilities will need to make additional investments in the software and control systems to manage all that distributed energy.

At a recent Greentech Media webinar, Omar Saadeh, senior grid analyst with GTM Research, outlined the drivers for distributed energy resource management systems, commonly referred to as DERMS. “It’s essentially the controls system to give visibility into [the utility’s] distributed resources,” he said.

Currently, the growth of DERMS is coming from utilities looking to manage large demand-response-driven projects, said Saadeh. But the growth of distributed solar will change that in the next few years.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...right-controls

Solar PV Module Shipments to Grow 30% in 2014, According to NPD Solarbuzz

Module supply to support PV industry reaching 50 GW in 2014

Santa Clara, Calif., May 20, 2014— The top 20 module suppliers to the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry are guiding an increase in annual shipments of more than 30% in 2014, according to the latest NPD Solarbuzz Module Tracker Quarterly report. Leading Chinese module suppliers Trina Solar, Canadian Solar, ReneSola, and Jinko Solar are forecasting the most aggressive growth in shipments during 2014, with the upper-end of guidance exceeding 40%.

“The top 20 module suppliers to the PV industry account for two-thirds of global shipments, and they provide the leading indicators of industry growth and pricing trends,” noted Ray Lian, senior analyst at NPD Solarbuzz. “Assuming the leading suppliers achieve the forecasted growth rates, end-market demand in 2014 will approach 50 GW.”

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

The Army to Get 90MW of Solar for Less Than the ‘Avoided Cost’ of Fossil Fuels
“That’s a big deal, especially deep in coal country.”
Herman K. Trabish
May 19, 2014

Georgia Power, the state’s biggest electricity supplier, is planning to build three 30-megawatt PV solar installations for the U.S. Army for a remarkably low cost.

The Army’s Georgia 3x30 initiative will build installations at Fort Stewart, Fort Gordon and Fort Benning. The forts will supply land for the arrays and distribution lines. The Army will be the offtaker through an existing contract with Georgia Power.

The utility will work with the U.S. Army Energy Initiatives Task Force to get the solar into commercial operation before the end of 2016. The projects will bring the renewables share of the Army’s Georgia energy consumption to 18 percent.

More importantly, the utility sees the projects as “cost-effective,” according to Renewable Development VP Norrie McKenzie. “The three projects will be brought on-line at or below the company’s avoided cost, the amount it is estimated to cost the company to generate comparable energy from other sources.”

“That’s a big deal, especially deep in coal country,” said Vote Solar Executive Director Adam Browning.

Solar advocates see this partnership between Georgia Power and the Army as particularly important given the Georgia Public Service Commission's recent approval of the Georgia Power Advanced Solar Initiative. In that proceeding, commissioners accepted a levelized avoided cost for solar of $0.09 per kilowatt-hour over a 20-year term.

“This validates the solar value proposition in Georgia,” said Jason Rooks, director of government affairs for the Georgia Solar Energy Industries Association. "And, because it will put no upward pressure on rates, there will not be the cost-shift or cross-subsidy that solar opponents are always talking about."

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...ost-of-other-s
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/army...il-fuels-49101

Energy Department Announces New Prize Challenge To Drive Down Solar Costs
May 20, 2014 Steven Bushong

To kick off the SunShot Initiative’s Grand Challenge Summit and Peer Review, the Energy Department has announced SunShot Catalyst, a new prize competition to spur the rapid creation and development of products and solutions that address near-term challenges in the U.S. solar marketplace.

Intended to tackle market barriers and address technical problems that can be solved through automation, algorithms, data and software, SunShot Catalyst will leverage the reach and power of online crowdsourcing to generate ideas, spur business innovations and develop prototypes.

The competition will also enable American entrepreneurs to launch cutting-edge solar companies that can address some of the most relevant and time-sensitive market challenges by encouraging teams to engage and forge partnerships across the nation’s growing networks of technology mentors, incubators and accelerators.

http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com...e-solar-costs/

• Video Link

Chemists Challenge Conventional Understanding of How Photocatalysis Works
New model proposed by UC Riverside researchers could help identify better promoters for photocatalysis
By Iqbal Pittalwala on May 19, 2014

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Photocatalysis—catalysis assisted by light—is a promising route to convert solar energy into chemical fuels. Particularly appealing is the possibility to use photocatalysis to split water molecules into molecular hydrogen. Although photocatalysis has been around for many years, the search for viable photocatalysts to facilitate the splitting of water molecules continues to date.

Photocatalysts are most often semiconductors, with metals such as platinum or gold added to promote their activity. However, these metals (or “promoters”) are expensive. There is a need, therefore, to find more economical alternatives.

Now a team of chemists at the University of California, Riverside has come up with a model to explain this promoting effect that could shift the focus in the search for substitutes of the metals and help identify better promoters for photocatalysis in the near future.

Study results appear online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The conventional understanding is that the production of hydrogen from water is promoted due to a fast transfer of excited electrons from the semiconductor to the metal. The UC Riverside researchers report experimental evidence that challenges this well-established explanation.

They note in their paper that electron transfer from the semiconductor to the metal may not play a significant role in photocatalysis. Instead, their data support a model where the excited electron promotes the reduction of hydrogen atoms on the surface of the semiconductor, not the metal, and where the reduced atomic hydrogen then migrates from the semiconductor to the metal to recombine and yield molecular hydrogen. In effect, the metal acts as a regular catalyst for the recombination of hydrogen atoms.

“The idea that the function of the metal is to act as a chemical rather than an electronic agent, by recombining hydrogen atoms rather than trapping electrons, is somewhat radical, and has not been proposed before—as far as we know,” said Francisco Zaera, a distinguished professor of chemistry, who led the research. “Our results lead us to argue that what is needed is a good atomic hydrogen recombination catalyst.”

http://ucrtoday.ucr.edu/22567
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0519160708.htm

[amor de cosmos]

Solar Power to Provide HP's HQ with 20% of its Electricity
A new solar power project will provide HP's Palo Alto headquarters with 20% of its power and save it $1 million over the next 20 years.
By Lucas Mearian
Tue, May 20, 2014

Computerworld — HP's Palo Alto campus is about to be outfitted with more than 4,000 solar panels, enough to offset about 20% of the facility's current electricity usage.

The solar power project is HP's largest to date; the company estimated it will save $1 million in energy expenses over the next two decades.

HP would not disclose the cost of the project.

A typical solar power plant.

An HP spokesperson said the new solar installation is one part of "a broad commitment to protecting the environment."

HP said it has set an "aggressive goal" to reduce emissions from facilities and vehicles (known as "scope one" or owned emissions), and emissions from outside power sources from which it purchases energy (known as "scope two" emissions).

The company hopes to reduce these emissions by 20% before 2020, as compared to its 2010 baseline.

http://www.cio.com/article/753045/So...ts_Electricity

Solar-Powered Pump System Could Bring Clean Water to 800 Million People
By EcoWatch Editor's Pick, Featured, Green Living May 20, 2014

An Austrian company hopes to play a large role in ending the water crisis with a technology powered by renewable energy.

Pumpmakers created the NSP Solar Pump system with hopes of brining clean and safe drinking water to the nearly 800 million people around the world without it. The United Nations estimates that 6 to 8 million people die each year from water-related diseases. That’s equal to about 10,000 deaths per day, with most under age 5.

“There are two main obstacles faced by the communities in this crisis—either communities have no access to clean drinking water at all or they have to rely on water pump systems that require a lot of maintenance, which in many cases is simply not available locally,” Dr. Birgit Stuck, field researcher for Pumpmakers, said in a promotional video.

Pumpmakers’ inexpensive system incurs no running costs while using solar energy to pump water from as deep as 300 feet, even on cloudy days. The company, which began working on the project in 2011, used “maintenance-free” materials to make it easy to construct and use.

http://earthtechling.com/2014/05/sol...illion-people/

China's New Private Equity Investment Giant Eyes Solar
Doug Young
May 20, 2014 | 0 Comments

Following reports last month of the imminent formation of a major new private equity investor, media are now saying the company, China Minsheng Investment, has formally registered and is gearing up to make its first investments. The new company certainly has the resources and connections to quickly become a major player on both the domestic and global private equity scenes, with an initial 50 billion ($8 billion) in registered capital. Now it appears the company will start by helping to consolidate China’s embattled solar panel-making sector, which will become its first focus area.

According to the latest reports, Minsheng Investment formally completed its registration on May 9 in Shanghai, which is where several of its founding members are based. One of its founders is Dong Wenbiao, chairman of Minsheng Bank (HKEx: 1988; Shanghai: 600016), China’s first privately funded bank. Previous reports said other Minsheng Bank officials would also invest in the new company. Another partner is Lu Zhiqiang, chairman of Beijing-based China Oceanwide, one of the country’s earliest conglomerates set up back in 1985.

Dong Wenbiao will act as chairman of the new company, while another Minsheng executive Li Huaizhen will be the general manager. The report adds that many of the new company’s other top executives will also come from Minsheng Bank. That’s a positive sign since Minsheng is considered one of China’s more entrepreneurial banks due to its private status, meaning it’s less likely to make decisions based on political considerations.

*snip*

Bottom line: Newly formed Minsheng Investment could become a consolidator for China’s smaller money-losing solar panel makers, assembling a new asset for eventual sale to one of the bigger remaining players.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...ant-eyes-solar

PV dominates as China opens 80 infrastructure projects to private investment
By John Parnell - 21 May 2014, 12:17
In News, Power Generation, Finance

The Chinese government has issued a list of 80 infrastructure projects for which it is seeking private investment, with 31 of them PV plants.

The list includes intercity rail links, oil pipelines and mobile phone networks.

Items 33-62 are for “large-scale distributed PV”. The list was published by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/pv_domin...vate_investmen

Trina Solar forecasts higher shipments as China demand improves
Wed May 21, 2014 12:02pm EDT

• 1st-quarter revenue up 71 pct at $444.8 mln
• Forecasts 2nd-quarter shipments of 950-1,010 MW
• Shares up 27 pct, shares of rivals also rise (Adds details from conference call, analyst comment, share movement)

May 21 (Reuters) - Trina Solar Ltd forecast higher solar panel shipments for the second quarter, helped by improving demand from China, sending its shares up as much as 27 percent in morning trade.

Investors had feared that China would not be able to meet its ambitious target of installing 14.5 gigawatts of solar generating capacity this year, held back by a lack of funds to build smaller projects.

Trina, however, said it expects China to help meet about three-quarters of its 400-500 MW solar project target in 2014.

The company's shares rose to $13.15, making them the top percentage gainer on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares of a bunch of rival solar companies also rose, with Yingli Green Energy Inc and ReneSola Ltd each up as much as up 7 percent.

"I think the company helped alleviate some of the concerns about China demands in the second half of the year," Angelo Zino, an analyst with S&P Capital IQ, told Reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0O734X20140521

May 20, 2014
Planting the “SEEDS” of solar technology in the home
Data-rich predictive models help determine which consumers buy solar equipment and why

LIVERMORE, Calif. — In an effort to better understand what persuades people to buy photovoltaic (PV) systems for their homes, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are gathering data on consumer motivations that can feed sophisticated computer models and thus lead to greater use of solar energy.

A primary goal of the project is to help increase the nation’s share of solar energy in the electricity market from its current share of less than .05 percent to at least 14 percent by 2030. This is the second year of a three-year effort.

“If we can develop effective and accurate predictive models, we can help identify policy variables that could increase purchases of residential PV systems and ultimately help advance the mission of the SunShot Initiative,” said Kiran Lakkaraju, Sandia’s project lead. Specifically, he said, an effective model of solar purchase dynamics can be used to predict and even influence consumer purchasing decisions.

Computer models predict homeowners’ likelihood to buy, invest in PV systems

Experiments analyze effectiveness of incentives, framing of messages

Consumer data models will help identify likely solar buyers

https://share.sandia.gov/news/resour.../#.U3zTsHamU1I
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0520094903.htm

NREL Launches Two Projects to Expand Solar Financing Opportunities
Posted on May 21 2014 by Garrett Hering

On the sidelines of a recent event focused on energy technology innovation, Dan Arvizu, director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), called for more financial innovation in solar energy markets.

“Bankability shouldn’t be an issue today like it was in the past because solar doesn’t have the same risks as previously,” Arvizu told SolarEnergy last week at the World Energy Innovation Forum, hosted by Tesla Motors at its factory in Fremont, Calif.

“We are confident about the technology, but we need to increase the access to capital,” said the NREL director.

Earlier this month, NREL convened two separate but related initiatives aimed at bringing together lenders, regulators, solar companies and other solar industry stakeholders to address the lack of options that homeowners and businesses often encounter when seeking loans for rooftop solar systems to and expand the options for solar financing.

http://solarenergy.net/News/nrel-lau...opportunities/

Canada's Bendygo Partners with Pure Energies in Solar Panel Installation
Published on 21 May 2014

Bendygo, a Canadian developer, builder, owner, and operator of solar and energy-saving solutions for residential and commercial power generation, is announcing it is partnering with Pure Energies to provide solar panel installation all across Ontario.

Bendygo will provide Pure Energies with solar panel installation expertise in an effort to help it keep up with increased business demand. In this capacity, Bendygo will be installing its MicroFIT solar panel solution.

http://www.solarnovus.com/canada-s-b...ion_N7757.html

[amor de cosmos]

Energy Department Announces Projects to Advance Cost-Effective Concentrating Solar Power Systems
May 21, 2014 - 12:18pm

The Energy Department today announced $10 million for six new research and development projects that will advance innovative concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies. The projects will develop thermochemical energy storage systems to enable more efficient storage of solar energy while using less storage material, cutting the cost for utility-scale CSP electricity generation as a result. Also today, the Department released a new report highlighting the progress of five major CSP deployment projects that are already producing clean, renewable energy.

“By improving energy storage technologies for concentrating solar power systems, we can enhance our ability to provide clean and reliable solar power, even when the sun is not shining,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

Concentrating solar power technologies use mirrors to focus and concentrate sunlight onto a receiver from which a heat transfer fluid carries the intense thermal energy to a power block to generate electricity. The research and development projects announced today will explore and develop novel thermochemical energy storage systems, which could store the sun's energy at high densities and temperatures in the form of chemical bonds. The chemical compounds used to store the chemical energy are later broken down to release energy when needed. Six teams from universities, national laboratories and research institutes, working with industrial partners, will test different chemical processes for CSP thermochemical energy storage that could further advance CSP technology, helping the industry step closer to meeting the SunShot Initiative’s technical and cost targets for CSP and moving the U.S. toward its clean energy future.

http://www.energy.gov/articles/energ...ng-solar-power

From: Click Green Staff, ClickGreen, More from this Affiliate
Published May 21, 2014 10:00 AM
Technology reducing cost of solar panels by half

A world expert on solar panels will today outline how his pioneering work is set to significantly improve the performance of solar panels whilst simultaneously contributing to their cost being reduced by half. The technology will be commercialized within the next five years.

Professor Stuart Wenham, from the University of New South Wales (UNSW Australia), receive the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize of £300,000 in recognition of his work. He was chosen from high caliber candidates from across the world to be awarded the IET's biggest prize, which will enable the continuation of his groundbreaking work.

Professor Wenham's research has uncovered a mechanism to control hydrogen atoms to correct deficiencies in silicon — the most costly part of a solar cell. His process allows lower-quality silicon to outperform solar cells made from better quality materials.

Professor Wenham said: "It is a great honor to receive the A F Harvey Engineering Prize and the international recognition that it brings to our breakthrough technology. Our research team at UNSW, which has held the world record in silicon solar cell efficiency for many years, has discovered how to control the charge state of hydrogen atoms in silicon and we will be working with the world’s biggest manufacturers to commercialize this low-cost technology. This generous prize will go a long way to helping us take this research to the next stage."

http://www.enn.com/sustainability/article/47413

May 22, 2014
Organic PV Modules Pass Stress Test
Fraunhofer ISE presents its flexible, large-area PV module at the LOPEC conference
Press Release 11/14, May 22, 2014

A completely flexible solar PV module of circa 90 square centimeters is the centerpiece of Fraunhofer ISE’s booth at the upcoming LOPEC – the International Exhibition and Conference for Printed Electronics. Because this PV module is produced without indium-tin-oxide (ITO), an expensive compound normally used in organic photovoltaics, it also saves costs. A barrier layer in the module serves as a durable encapsulation, and the module-integrated solar cells have successfully passed the accelerated humidity-temperature test for thin-film photovoltaics. The LOPEC takes place from 26-28 May in Munich.

Using roll-to-roll manufacturing, the Freiburg researchers are working on a process to cost-effectively fabricate large area foils of organic photovoltaic solar cells. All of the layers, except the metal electrodes, are manufactured on the machine at Fraunhofer ISE. Depositing the silver grid lines for the front side contacts is carried out by a screen printing process, in cooperation with and in the technical laboratory of the industry partner Thieme. The module is sealed with a special barrier foil, allowing it to be completely flexible.

http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/pres...ss-stress-test

Trina Solar Becomes First Solar PV Module Supplier to Guide 1GW of Quarterly Shipments
Posted by Ray Lian in Solarbuzz, Solar on May 22, 2014 | 0 Comments

On 21 May 2014, Trina Solar released its Q1 2014 financial results, revealing improved profitability and remarkable module shipment guidance for Q2’14.

Trina Solar is guiding between 950 MW and 1,010 MW of module shipments for this quarter (Q2’14). This is the first time a solar PV company has guided over 1 GW of module shipments within one quarter.

Looking back, Yingli Green Energy was close to this benchmark during Q4’13, with record industry shipments then of more than 900 MW. In early June, Yingli will release its guidance for Q2’14, and may also provide data which approaches – or even exceeds – the 1GW level for quarterly shipment guidance.

As shown in the figure, both Yingli and Trina have been able to increase quarterly module shipments considerably in the past few years. However, both companies missed guidance for Q1’14, allowing Sharp Solar to become the largest module supplier globally by shipment volume.

The eventual winner of the Q2’14 shipment race will not be known for a few months, when either Yingli or Trina is expected to return to pole position for quarterly solar PV module shipment volumes. Whether either, or both, companies break through the GW barrier will be closely monitored as a leading indicator going into 2H’14.

http://www.displaysearchblog.com/201...rly-shipments/

Proposed UK Policy Changes Cause 215 Solar PV Farm Prospects to Be Re-Evaluated, According to NPD Solarbuzz

Santa Clara, California, May 21, 2014—The outcome of proposals for 215 ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) farms in the United Kingdom, with capacities in excess of 5 megawatts (MW), are now being re-evaluated, according to findings in the NPD Solarbuzz UK Deal Tracker. This re-evaluation follows new, and unexpected, proposals from the U.K. government to adjust incentive mechanisms for ground-mounted solar PV farms beginning in April 2015.

“Ground-mounted solar PV capacity deployed in the U.K. has exceeded 2 gigawatts during the past two years,” noted Finlay Colville, vice president at NPD Solarbuzz. “While there was no official cap placed on ground-mounted PV solar farms, recent installation rates appear to be well above the levels the government was expecting.”

The proposed changes from the U.K.’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) include restricting Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) to new solar PV farms below 5 MW in size, beginning in April 2015. Previously, the U.K. industry assumed ROCs would be available to any size of ground-mounted solar PV farm, until March 2017.

“If the proposed changes by the DECC go ahead, it will force investors and developers of large-scale solar farms in the U.K. to shift to the Contracts for Difference scheme, two years earlier than expected,” added Colville. “Combined with the threat that ground-mounted solar farms that remain on ROCs could have a capacity-based degression mechanism imposed, the prospects for U.K. solar farms can now be divided into three new size categories.”

http://www.solarbuzz.com/news/recent...e-evaluated-ac

Interest In Solar Energy Rises, Even In Saudi Arabia
By Andy Tully | Wed, 21 May 2014 21:00

Countries around the world are showing increased interest in developing solar energy but perhaps none is more unusual than Saudi Arabia, which exports more oil than any other nation.

At a recent petrochemical conference in Bahrain, Khalid Al-Falih, the CEO of the Saudi Arabian Oil Co., or Aramco, noted that demand for crude oil in Saudi Arabia has risen “to the point where volumes meant for exports may fall to unacceptably low levels in the coming two decades.”

Al-Falih said his company has made preliminary plans to develop facilities that would generate 300 megawatts of solar power in remote areas of his country, where diesel fuel is currently used to generate power.

The Aramco CEO also pointed to the company’s move to set up a small solar-power generator in Saudi Arabia’s Farasan Island in the southern Red Sea, not only to avoid burning diesel fuel, but also because of the steep cost of shipping the fuel there.

Until now, Saudi Arabia’s renewable energy initiative has been under the control of the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, or KaCare, a government agency. Two years ago, KaCare announced that it was seeking $109 billion in investments to establish a solar energy industry by 2032.

But progress on that initiative is too slow, according to Gasem al-Shaikh, who runs the energy unit at Saudi Binladin Group, and that is why Aramco is taking over Saudi Arabia’s effort to establish a solar energy industry.

“The government solar plan is moving very slow, and we are hearing about it for some time, but it’s not maturing as fast as it should,” al-Shaikh said in an interview with Bloomberg News in Manama, Bahrain’s capital. “The country can’t wait. We are burning more [fossil fuels] every year, and that’s why Saudi Aramco now is taking the lead.”

http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-Ne...di-Arabia.html

PV installations in China to reach 13.5 GW, including 4 GW of rooftop, says IHS
22. May 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends, Trade show | By: Edgar Meza

Despite some lower estimates by industry sources, IHS is standing by its earlier forecast for distributed PV installations in China this year.

Market research group IHS is sticking with its previous forecast of distributed PV (DPV) power in China this year despite some industry estimates at this year’s SNEC PV Power Expo in Shanghai of a markedly smaller rollout.

Speaking to pv magazine, Ash Sharma, senior director of Solar Research at IHS Technology, agrees that "there are concerns over China's ability to install distributed PV and so far this year, demand has been weak in China. However we do still expect around 4 GW of distributed PV to be installed this year and total installations to reach approximately 13.5 GW."

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ihs_100015164/

World’s biggest solar PV tracking plant completed in US
By Sophie Vorrath on 22 May 2014

Construction of the world’s largest single-axis tracking solar PV plants – the 206 MW Mount Signal Solar farm in south east California – has been completed and is ready to generate enough electricity to power 72,000 households in San Diego and surrounds.

The project – constructed and commissioned in a record 16 months by Spanish multinational Abengoa, for Silver Ridge Power – covers 801 hectares and includes more than three million photovoltaic modules that will rotate on a north-south axis, following the path of the sun. This will help lift the output from the plant.

Based in Virginia US, Silver Ridge Power (formerly AES Solar) is one of the world’s largest photovoltaic owner-operators, with a stake in 51 utility-scale PV plants totalling around 522MW in operation or under construction in seven different countries around the world.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/aben...lifornia-64379

Middle Eastern Money Oils Wheels of Solar Expansion
Next time you fill your gas tank, be reassured that some of the profits, at least, are going towards developing and expanding renewables in the developing world.
Jeremy Bowden, International Correspondent
May 22, 2014 | 0 Comments

“The bottom line now is the opportunity cost of burning oil”, said Khan. “That is the key driver of renewable development here, as countries see domestic consumption from power generation and industrial uses diverting oil production and eating into export earnings…For example, if the world’s biggest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, does not bring on alternatives — and that means renewables — it will be an oil importer by 2035.”

“Every dollar spent on renewable generation here, means more oil is kept available for export, and we also plan to deliver this renewable technology to the wider developing world. Renewable energy has been ignored in Asia and Africa, now it is moving centre stage here, too. I expect the global share of renewables to rise more quickly in coming years.”

Enertech is the branch of Kuwait’s National Technology Enterprises Company, (NTEC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund), responsible for strategic investment in renewables and clean technology. Its mandate is to pick and introduce suitable renewable technologies to Kuwait, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and wider developing world. Unsurprisingly, given the region’s intense year-round sunshine, the company is especially active in solar energy.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...olar-expansion

• Video Link

[amor de cosmos]

GCL-Poly inks contracts for 4.15 GW of solar projects
23. May 2014 | Applications & Installations, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers | By: Ian Clover

The Chinese renewable energy company will partner with Guodian and Huanghe on a series of solar farms that, combined, will add 4.15 GW to GCL's PV portfolio.

GCL New Energy Holdings Ltd (GCL-Poly) has announced ambitious plans to partner with three Chinese companies on the creation of 4.15 GW of solar PV projects.

In a statement released to the Hong Kong stock exchange, GCL-Poly announced its intentions to add 800 MW of solar PV capacity this year, and 3 GW by 2016. In order to achieve such lofty goals, the Chinese solar company has signed partnerships with three prominent companies in the country.
Guodian unit GD Solar Co. will work with GCL-Poly to develop 3 GW of PV capacity, and have already entered into an agreement to help GCL-Poly buy 255 MW of solar PV projects that Guodian already owns.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...cts_100015175/

Graph of the Day: US plots a path to 6c/kWh solar
By Giles Parkinson on 23 May 2014

This graph is striking. It is the latest pathway mapped out by the US Department of Energy to bring down the cost of solar to 6c/kWh by 2020, part of its “Sunshot” initiative launched a couple of years ago.

Progress is well ahead of planned. The cost of modules is already just about there, so in the US they are now focusing on the “soft costs” and technology enablers – integration into the grid, storage, access to capital, local manufacturing and a well-trained workforce. If it makes 6c/kWh – some projects already are with the help of tax credits – then the game is pretty much over for fossil fuel generation.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/grap...wh-solar-83687

[amor de cosmos]

Massive Multi-Family Apartment Complex Solar Installation Completed in California
by Josh Marks, 05/23/14

One of the largest multi-family apartment complex solar thermal and solar photovoltaic projects of the decade was just completed in California. Los Angeles-based solar company ReGreen retrofitted 34 apartment complexes across the state for real estate company Goldrich & Kest Industries. The three megawatts of installed solar capacity include 1,200 Heliodyne solar thermal panels and 1,664 ecoSolargy solar PV panels.

http://inhabitat.com/massive-multi-f...in-california/

Smoothing the Flow of Renewable Solar Energy in California’s Central Valley
May 23, 2014 - 3:21pm

Yesterday, an almond grove in California’s Central Valley hosted the opening of the world’s largest iron-chromium redox flow battery. Originally pioneered by NASA, these flow batteries are emerging as a promising way to store many hours of energy that can be discharged into the power grid when needed.

Traditionally, electric generation follows the demands of the daily load cycle. But as more sources of renewable generation such as solar and wind are integrated into the power grid, balancing demand and generation becomes more complicated. With energy storage, we can create a buffer that allows us to even out rapid fluctuations and provide electricity when needed without having to generate it at that moment.

Unlike other types of batteries, which are packaged in small modules, iron-chromium flow batteries consist of two large tanks that store liquids (called electrolytes) containing the metals. During discharge, the electrolytes are pumped through an electrochemical reaction cell and power becomes available. To store energy, the process is reversed. With Recovery Act funding from the Department’s Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, California energy storage company EnerVault has optimized the system to create a more efficient battery.

This pilot project in Turlock, California, can provide 250kW over a four-hour period, helping to ensure the almond trees stay irrigated and the farm is able to save money on its electrical bills.

This is how the system works: The almond trees are most thirsty between noon and 6 p.m. The farm uses nearly 225 kW of electricity to power the pumps that get the water to the trees. Onsite solar photovoltaic panels can supply 186kW at peak power, not quite enough energy for watering the trees throughout the day. The balance could be taken from the grid, but grid electricity is most expensive from noon to 6 p.m.

http://www.energy.gov/articles/smoot...central-valley

[amor de cosmos]

May 23, 2014, 11:45 A.M. ET
Barclays Downgrades Electric Utility Bonds, Sees Viable Solar Competition
By Michael Aneiro

Barclays this week downgrades the entire electric sector of the U.S. high-grade corporate bond market to underweight, saying it sees long-term challenges to electric utilities from solar energy, and that the electric sector of the bond market isn’t pricing in these challenges right now. It’s a noteworthy downgrade since electric utilities which make up nearly 7.5% of Barclays’ U.S. Corporate Index by market value. From Barclays credit strategy team:

Electric utilities… are seen by many investors as a sturdy and defensive subset of the investment grade universe. Over the next few years, however, we believe that a confluence of declining cost trends in distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation and residential-scale power storage is likely to disrupt the status quo. Based on our analysis, the cost of solar + storage for residential consumers of electricity is already competitive with the price of utility grid power in Hawaii. Of the other major markets, California could follow in 2017, New York and Arizona in 2018, and many other states soon after.

In the 100+ year history of the electric utility industry, there has never before been a truly cost-competitive substitute available for grid power. We believe that solar + storage could reconfigure the organization and regulation of the electric power business over the coming decade. We see near-term risks to credit from regulators and utilities falling behind the solar + storage adoption curve and long-term risks from a comprehensive re-imagining of the role utilities play in providing electric power.

http://blogs.barrons.com/incomeinves...r-competition/
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/24/...from-barclays/

[amor de cosmos]

Organic Photovoltaic Modules by the Meter
EU project partners present six meter foil at LOPEC in Munich
Press Release 12/14, May 26, 2014

A solar module, six meters long and 50 cm wide, consisting of flexible organic solar cells is the result of the European research project “FabriGen,” a joint effort between six partners from four different countries. This novel power producing foil is on exhibit at the upcoming LOPEC from 27th-28th May in Munich. The module is manufactured exclusively with a roll-to-roll process. The organic solar cells do not contain the customary indium-tin-oxide and therefore have the potential to be particularly economical. The project idea targeted applications in the field of membrane architecture, which incorporates tensile membrane structures as roofs, for example, in the architectural design.

“FabriGen, fabric structures for solar power generation” is an EU-sponsored project. Its project partners from Germany, Great Britain, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria had the mutual goal of developing fabric structures which are integrated with organic solar cells. The project was initiated by Robert Carpenter, Managing Director of Inside2Outside (I2O), a medium-sized company in Great Britain. For his special fabric structures with organic solar cells, he has a variety of different uses in mind, especially in the field of architecture. Applications include shading systems for pedestrian zones and bus stops as well as shed and carport roofs. The focus lies in cost-effectively covering large areas with flexible polymer constructions which cost markedly less than glass. By making use of complex structures through membrane design, the area in question can be made as large as possible, thus maximizing the solar gain. At the same time, transport and installation costs are kept low due to the light weight of the structure.

“We are pleased to have produced this successful prototype with our partners within the short time span of six months,” says Dr. Birger Zimmermann, Team Leader of Production Technology for Organic Solar Cells at Fraunhofer ISE. “Manufacturing the textile structure equipped with organic photovoltaic modules was a real joint effort,” remembers the project coordinator Robert Carpenter, I2O. “From vacuum processing the metal electrode at CPI, followed by coating the organic semiconductor at Fraunhofer ISE through to printing the silver contacts and the lamination at Coatema and lastly the high frequency welding of the solar foil on the fabric membrane at I2O, a range of expertise was involved.” The solar cell structure and the module design were developed at Fraunhofer ISE. The Freiburg researchers were also involved in the encapsulation development under the leadership of CPI in Great Britain. All project partners contributed their input to integrating the photovoltaics into a fabric membrane, above all, CPI and the project coordinator Inside2Outside Ltd. Coatema Coating Machinery GmbH was responsible for the process development of the large area lamination.

http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/pres...s-by-the-meter

Solar Point of View: SunShot is Proof that Venture Capital is Missing Out
by Yann Brandt, Managing Editor of SolarWakeup

On a day when the Wall Street Journal sings the praise of how much capital is flowing to solar companies like SunRun and Sungevity, Minh Le, director of the Solar Energy Technologies Office, stands before a group of over 800 participants of the SunShot Summit. As the Department of Energy helps solar companies across the country cross the proverbial valley of death, the success rate is remarkably high. So high in fact, it appears that the data is showing venture capital that early stage solar makes financial sense.

$1.8 billion dollars of direct corporate investment for SunShot award winners is the statistic and that does not include the project finance capital used to invest in projects which brings the total to over $3 billion. Regardless of the success of SunShot, there is little doubt that investors are not doing early stage investing in the space. A fact clearly pointed out by Rob Day of Black Coral Capital in his recent piece. Rob knows what he is talking about; his twitter handle is @cleantechvc.

Let’s point out the reasons that SunShot is having success and why there is much more room for VCs to participate in this market. Having the private market replacing the Department of Energy is a reality that top brass at SunShot are hoping for, they do not, in fact, want SunShot to be the early stage investor in the space if the private market is willing to take over.

http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...ssing-out.html

[amor de cosmos]

New solar-powered drone launched by Sunlight Photonics
27. May 2014 | Global PV markets, Markets & Trends, Applications & Installations | By: Ian Clover

The SUNLINK-5 is a small UAV (unmanned airborne vehicle) that has been designed for low to medium altitudes and day-long missions thanks to its solar-powered capability.

The world of unmanned aviation technology has entered a new phase of development and commerciality with the launch of the SUNLINK-5 – a solar-powered drone aircraft capable of flying all day long at low to medium altitudes.

Developed by Sunlight Photonics Inc., the SUNLINK-5 is being marketed as an ideal solution for wildlife monitoring, border patrol, surveillance, precision agriculture, land surveys and wireless communications, and has been made commercially available by its creators.

Powered exclusively by solar energy, the SUNLINK-5 UAV can fly for longer than any other drone aircraft in its weight class. It is distinct from previous solar-powered drones in that it is a durable aircraft designed for multiple flights, launches and landings, and is capable of flying through strong headwinds, turbulence and demanding weather conditions.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ics_100015208/

Shunfeng to raise $774 million through share offering
27. May 2014 | Applications & Installations, Industry & Suppliers, Global PV markets, Markets & Trends | By: Ian Clover

The Chinese solar cell manufacturer hopes to raise funds in order to construct more solar power stations.

China's Shunfeng Photovoltaic International has announced plans to issue HKD 6 billion (US$774 million) worth of new shares as the company seeks additional funds for the construction of new solar power stations.

In an announcement made to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the company has revealed that it intends to sell more than 600 million new shares in a move that would represent the flotation of 28.2% of its existing share capital. The shares are set to launch at HKD 10 a piece – an issue price that is estimated to be 8.9% below the stock’s previous closing price.

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ing_100015207/
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/shunfeng...ion_new_shares
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...-offering.html

Suntech says solar PV costs to match coal in China by 2016
By Giles Parkinson on 27 May 2014

Suntech Power predicts that the cost of building large scale solar PV plants could match the cost of coal-fired generation in China by 2016, a development that will “completely transform” the energy market in the world’s second biggest economy.

Eric Luo, the CEO of Suntech Power, which last month completed a buyout by Shunfeng Photovoltaic International, says that solar PV is rapidly catching up to the cost of coal-fired generation. (China is the world’s largest consumer of coal).

“The levellised cost of generation is still coming down,” Luo told RenewEconomy in a telephone interview from his headquarters in Wuxi in China this week.

“We are not far away from the cost of production for conventional energy. We are sure that by 2016 – or at the latest 2017 – the levellised cost of solar PV will be the same as coal-fired generation in China.”

“It is going to completely transform the energy market in China,” Luo added, noting that environmental concerns would also accelerate that transformation. “China is investing a lot of money into the environment to clean up the energy production process. This is a major opportunity.”

Luo predicted that the annual installation rate of solar PV in China would top 25GW by 2020. It could even be more, should the regulations and the modeling around distributed generation be resolved. This would involve leasing and other financing. Battery storage would also have a significant impact on the solar market. “If model is right, then it (distributed generation) will be flying in China,” Luo said.

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/sunt...a-by-2016-2016

Lighting Up University of Malaya – An innovative idea to provide outdoor lighting using wind-solar hybrid renewable energy sources

As an outcome from the continuous hybrid renewable energy research, an innovative outdoor lighting system powered by a shroud-augmented wind turbine and a solar panel was installed in the Kuala Lumpur campus of University of Malaya (UM).

As an outcome from the continuous hybrid renewable energy research, an innovative outdoor lighting system powered by a shroud-augmented wind turbine and a solar panel was installed in the KL campus of University of Malaya (UM). This hybrid green energy system is a compact design that harmoniously integrates a vertical-axis-wind-turbine (VAWT) with the novel omni-direction-guide-vane (ODGV), solar panel and LED lighting system. Consisting of several guide vanes, the ODGV is carefully designed and placed to surround the VAWT for wind power augmentation where the oncoming wind is guided through the ODGV. This will create a venturi effect that increases the wind speed before the wind-stream interacts with the turbine blades. Furthermore, the unique design of the ODGV that shrouds the wind turbine rotor provides a safer and more secure environment for maintenance workers and the public. Ultimately, the ODGV overcomes the low wind speed challenge in the tropics by guiding and increasing the speed of the wind from all directions radially through the guide-vanes before entering the VAWT at center portion. To harness power from the sun, a photovoltaic panel is mounted on the top surface of the ODGV for solar energy generation. The green energy generated from this wind-solar hybrid system is utilized to power the outdoor lighting system.

http://www.researchsea.com/html/arti...y_sources.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0525204734.htm

[amor de cosmos]

Solar power primed to meet US energy needs, says SEIA
28. May 2014 | Top News, Markets & Trends, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers | By: Ian Clover

New report from the Solar Energy Industries Association argues solar power is already in a position to be a real game changer in the U.S. energy mix.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has this week published a report titled Cutting Carbon Emissions Under §111(d): The case for expanding solar energy in America in preparation for the announcement in June by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of new air quality standards.

Taking a point-by-point analysis of the U.S. solar power industry, the SEIA report presents a detailed case arguing that clean solar energy is primed to enable the U.S. to meet clean air standards and slake the nation's thirst for energy.

The report follows an earlier publication this month of the National Climate Assessment report, which clearly outlined the dangers presented by unchecked climate change, both to the U.S. economy and the environment. Reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) is seen as the most direct, critical measure that states across the U.S. can take in order to comply with the forthcoming EPA emission standards, due June 2. From that date, every state will be required to present a compliance plan, approved by federal regulators, that details carbon-reduction proposals.

SEIA CEO and president, Rhone Resch, believes that solar can be a "real game-changer" for states struggling to reduce their carbon emissions. "We have a very simple message to state regulators: do the math,” Resch said.

"When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, the 13 GW of solar currently installed in the U.S. generates enough pollution-free electricity to displace 14.2 billion pounds (6.35 billion kg) of coal, or 1.5 billion gallons (5.6 billion liters) of gasoline. Put another way, it's the equivalent of taking 2.7 million passenger cars off U.S. highways each year."

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...eia_100015254/

Europe sitting on 7 GW large-scale PV pipeline, says IHS
28. May 2014 | Industry & Suppliers, Global PV markets, Markets & Trends | By: Ian Clover

The U.K. is set to dominate the ground-mount PV sector in Europe this year, accounting for 69% of all large-scale projects planned for installation by 2015.

Of 29,000 PV projects worldwide, the IHS PV Project Database has found that Europe has 7 GW of projects planned for installation in 2014 and 2015 – with 69% set to be located in the U.K.

Research from the analysts has revealed that the U.K. solar sector is primed for a spectacular PV push over the next 18 months, with the ground-mount sector set to grow by more than 4.8 GW.

Currently, IHS found, the U.K. has more than 130 MW of utility-scale PV capacity under construction across nine projects. However, an additional 681 MW exists in a further 71 projects of 5 MW or more that have been approved planning and financing and are ready to build. Further, 250 utility scale projects are in the pipeline but face a race to be approved permits and PPAs ahead of April 1 2015 – the date that many in the industry fear the U.K. government will completely withdraw its ROC support incentive.

"After July 7 2014, we will know the outcome of the consultation process to revise the support for large-scale PV plants in the U.K. that the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) opened in May," said IHS senior analyst, Josefin Berg. "If the result of the process is a sharp end to the ROC scheme for large-scale solar projects on April 1 2015, we expect a huge rush to beat the deadline and a surge in ground-mount PV installations in the U.K. over the nest nine months.

"Considering that there are more than 4.8 GW of planned projects, as much as 3 GW could be installed through Q1 2015. The U.K. has become the epicenter of Europe’s ground-mount PV activity."

http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...hs-_100015256/

How A Little-used NREL Tool Could Have Saved the US Solar Industry $6 Billion
Brad Mattson
May 27, 2014 | 2 Comments

Solar industry leaders gathered this past week at the Dept. of Energy’s SunShot Grand Challenge Summit to take stock of progress in achieving the challenge’s main goal – solar at less than $0.40 per watt by 2020.

The industry driving force, the almighty $/watt, has only half its outcome based on efficiency (the watt). The other half is all about the manufacturing cost (the dollar).

As an industry, we have spent far too much time focused on efficiency, and need to start focusing more on the “$”.

Efficiency reports are the most common update in solar, whereas manufacturing costs are almost never mentioned. Investors have funded almost every organization that has achieved a world record efficiency.

But if one looks at the data, almost no solar company has tanked for failing to hit its efficiency target. On the other hand, they have almost all failed because they did not hit their manufacturing cost targets. If you get the data from Solyndra, NanoSolar, SoloPower, I think you will concur that the problem is the “$” not the watt. So why doesn’t manufacturing cost get more attention in the United States? Maybe it’s a metric problem.

Efficiency is easy to measure and verify. The DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is a highly respected third party certification body whose efficiency measures no one questions. But on costs – how do you verify that? It is tough. During my time at a leading renewable energy venture capital firm, I looked at over 200 solar deals, and it was very difficult to assess manufacturing costs. When I did, costs were not what entrepreneurs said they were. In fact, you would not believe how far they were off. For instance, one company claimed they could hit $0.50/watt in four years. Four years and $150 million later, they arrived at a cost of closer to $7-8/watt. How is this possible? Why didn’t the investors do due diligence? Good questions. But without a standard measurement method, and without a third-party verification, lots of crazy things can happen, and did, and do.

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...stry-6-billion

South Korea looks to install 1MW in North Korea
By John Parnell - 28 May 2014, 10:44
In News, Power Generation, Project Focus

South Korea is hoping to install a 1MW solar array in North Korea, according to a government official.

The project would be built at an inter-Korean factory complex which uses technology from the South and labour from the North.

It is the first phase of a 20MW renewable energy plan at the site of the factory and talks are already underway, an official from South Korea’s unification ministry told news agency Yanhop.

The South hopes environmental cooperation can help reduce rising tensions amid the threat of fresh nuclear testing by the North.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/south_ko...in_north_korea

Scientists develop new hybrid energy transfer system
27 May 2014 Southampton, University of

Scientists from the University of Southampton, in collaboration with the Universities of Sheffield and Crete, have developed a new hybrid energy transfer system, which mimics the processes responsible for photosynthesis.

From photosynthesis to respiration, the processes of light absorption and its transfer into energy represent elementary and essential reactions that occur in any biological living system.

This energy transfer is known as Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), a radiationless transmission of energy that occurs on the nanometer scale from a donor molecule to an acceptor molecule. The donor molecule is the dye or chromophore that initially absorbs the energy and the acceptor is the chromophore to which the energy is subsequently transferred without any molecular collision. However, FRET is a strongly distance dependent process which occurs over a scale of typically 1 to 10 nm.

In a new study, published in the journal Nature Materials, the researchers demonstrate an alternate non-radiative, intermolecular energy transfer that exploits the intermediating role of light confined in an optical cavity. The advantage of this new technique which exploits the formation of quantum states admixture of light and matter, is the length over which the interaction takes places, that is in fact, considerably longer than conventional FRET-type processes.

Dr Niccolo Somaschi, from the University of Southampton's Hybrid Photonics group (which is led by Prof Lagoudakis) and co-author of the paper, says: "The possibility to transfer energy over distances comparable to the wavelength of light has the potential to be of both fundamental and applied interest. Our deep understanding of energy transfer elucidates the basic mechanisms behind the process of photosynthesis in biological systems and therefore gets us closer to the reproduction of fully synthetic systems which mimic biological functionalities. At the fundamental level, the present work suggests that the coherent coupling of molecules may be directly involved in the energy transfer process which occurs in the photosynthesis.

http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem...CultureCode=en
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0527124119.htm

[amor de cosmos]

U.S. Solar Power Rises 79% as Home Panels Beat Warehouses
By Ehren Goossens May 28, 2014 9:01 PM PT

Homeowners and developers installed 1.33 gigawatts of solar panels in the first quarter, the second-largest total on record, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

Installation increased 79 percent from the same quarter a year earlier with utility-scale projects making up almost two-thirds of the total and homeowner demand surging, the Washington-based trade group said today in a statement.

Total installations may reach 6.6 gigawatts this year, driven by residential rooftop systems and more than 12 gigawatts of utility projects under development, said Shayle Kann, vice president of research at Boston-based GTM Research, which publishes the quarterly market reports with SEIA. This was the first quarter when residential systems exceeded commercial and government solar.

Residential solar has “nowhere to go but up,” Kann said. Installation increased 38 percent to 232 megawatts as financing models such as leasing make it easier for homeowners to afford rooftop panels. “The economics just keep getting better.”

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

European Solar PV Demand Stabilizes at 10 GW in 2014, According to NPD Solarbuzz

European PV demand could decline to just 22% of global demand in 2014

Santa Clara, Calif., May 28, 2014—Solar photovoltaic (PV) demand from Europe is forecast to reach 10 gigawatts (GW) during 2014, down 7% Y/Y, according to the NPD Solarbuzz European PV Markets Quarterly report. This will be the third consecutive year that European solar PV demand has declined, after reaching a peak of 19.2 GW in 2011. During this period, Europe’s contribution to global PV demand has fallen rapidly from 70% in 2011 to just 22% in 2014.

Germany, Italy, and Greece had 71% of European demand in 2012, but these countries are now just 37% of the European market. “The decline in PV demand from Europe in 2014 is due mainly to the effects of major funding reductions in Germany, Italy, Greece, and Romania” said Susanne von Aichberger, analyst at NPD Solarbuzz. “In fact, for Europe to reach 10 gigawatts of demand in 2014, the United Kingdom would need to meet expectations of doubling in size.”

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

Local developer proposes 620MW of PV for North Carolina
By Andy Colthorpe - 29 May 2014, 11:31
In News, Power Generation

A developer has filed plans to install 620MW of PV generation capacity across 12 sites in the US state of North Carolina, with each power plant between 25MW and 80MW.

South Carolina news outlet The State reported that Innovative Solar Systems (ISS) has proposed the 12 new sites to utility Duke Energy. Under state rules, utilities must buy electricity generated by solar farms under 5MW capacity in size as a ‘standard offer’, at rates set by Duke Energy.

However ISS co-owner John Green told The State that the company wanted to build the power stations, most far larger than the 5MW ‘standard offer’ size, in order to benefit from economies of scale. Green pointed out that equipment could be sourced more cheaply while the company would enjoy fewer legal costs and soft costs.

If construction is to go ahead on the farms, according to the site, ISS will have to negotiate land leases, interconnections and power-purchase agreements (PPAs). In North Carolina, developers of power plants of over 5MW capacity need to negotiate PPAs with utilities over connection terms, unlike federal rules, which state utilities must buy electricity from power plants of up to 80MW.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/local_de...north_carolina

[amor de cosmos]

Solar panel manufacturing is greener in Europe than China, study says
By Louise Lerner • May 29, 2014

Solar panels made in China have a higher overall carbon footprint and are likely to use substantially more energy during manufacturing than those made in Europe, said a new study from Northwestern University and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. The report compared energy and greenhouse gas emissions that go into the manufacturing process of solar panels in Europe and China.

“We estimated that a solar panel’s carbon footprint is about twice as high when made in China and used in Europe, compared to those locally made and used in Europe,” said Fengqi You, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern and corresponding author on the paper.

“While it might be an economically attractive option to move solar panel manufacturing from Europe to China, it is actually less sustainable from the life cycle energy and environmental perspective—especially under the motivation of using solar panels for a more sustainable future,” he said.

The team performed a type of systematic evaluation called life cycle analysis to come up with these hard data. Life cycle analysis tallies up all the energy used to make a product—energy to mine raw materials, fuel to transport the materials and products, electricity to power the processing factory, and so forth. This provides a more accurate picture of the overall energy consumed and produced and the environmental impact of making and using a solar panel.

Assuming that a solar panel is made of silicon—by far the most common solar panel material—and is installed in sunny southern Europe, a solar panel made in China would take about 20 to 30 percent longer to produce enough energy to cancel out the energy used to make it. The carbon footprint is about twice as high.

The biggest reason is that China has fewer environmental and efficiency standards for its factories and plants and generates more electricity from coal and other non-renewable sources, the authors said.

“It takes a lot of energy to extract and process solar-grade silicon, and in China, that energy tends to come from dirtier and less efficient energy sources than it does in Europe,” said Argonne scientist and co-author Seth Darling. “This gap will likely close over time as China strengthens environmental regulations.”

http://www.anl.gov/articles/solar-pa...ina-study-says
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0529154151.htm
http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/05/st...r-europe-china

More sustainable thermosolar plants thanks to the hybridization with biomethane

The Hysol project aims to integrate biomethane in concentrating solar thermal power plants to achieve a better efficiency, productive capacity and a reduction in its carbon footprint.

The integration of biomethane in concentrating solar thermal power plants would facilitate the commercial introduction of concentrating solar power (CSP) technology in the energy market, reducing both financial and environmental costs. Researchers belong to the European consortium of the Hysol project, who is led by the ACS-Cobra company, with the participation of Universidad Politécnica de MadridUniversidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) researchers. Currently, they are studying the integration process of biomethane. In order to conduct the validation of this process, this project is expected to build a pre-industrial plant located at the cluster of thermosolar innovation of Manchasol.

Sun is a free, renewable energy resource that can be used for large-scale electricity production. When using CSP technology, extremely high temperatures (400-1000 ºC) are reached which can move thermodynamic cycles similar to that are used in conventional power plants.

Spain is a pioneering country in the technological and commercial development of CSP technology, with 48 operating plants of 2204 Wme of capacity. United States has 20 thermosolar plants (956 MWe) and other countries with access to optimal solar resources (China, India, Israel, Mexico, South Africa, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Australia, Chile, etc) have commercial plants or are under construction. The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects a large increase in the contribution of this technology for the worldwide electrical production with a capacity of 147 GW by 2020 and 1089 GW by 2050.

http://www.upm.es/internacional/UPM/...0009c7648aRCRD
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0527085514.htm

05/29/2014
JCAP Stabilizes Common Semiconductors For Solar Fuels Generation
Caltech researchers devise a method to protect the materials in a solar-fuel generator

Researchers around the world are trying to develop solar-driven generators that can split water, yielding hydrogen gas that could be used as clean fuel. Such a device requires efficient light-absorbing materials that attract and hold sunlight to drive the chemical reactions involved in water splitting. Semiconductors like silicon and gallium arsenide are excellent light absorbers—as is clear from their widespread use in solar panels. However, these materials rust when submerged in the type of water solutions found in such systems.

Now Caltech researchers at the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) have devised a method for protecting these common semiconductors from corrosion even as the materials continue to absorb light efficiently. The finding paves the way for the use of these materials in solar-fuel generators.

"For the better part of a half century, these materials have been considered off the table for this kind of use," says Nate Lewis, the George L. Argyros Professor and professor of chemistry at Caltech, and the principal investigator on the paper. "But we didn't give up on developing schemes by which we could protect them, and now these technologically important semiconductors are back on the table."

http://www.caltech.edu/content/jcap-...els-generation
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0529142352.htm

Fecha de publicación: 29/05/2014
The quantum mechanisms of organic devices for alternative solar panels are revealed
The research, in which the UPV/EHU Professor Angel Rubio is participating, is being published this week in the journal Science

Silicon panel-based technology requires a very costly, contaminating manufacturing process, while organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices have been positioned as one of the most attractive alternatives as a source of solar energy.

This research has made a ground-breaking discovery because it is the first time that the quantum mechanisms that trigger the photovoltaic function of these devices have been deciphered. Angel Rubio, Professor of Condensed Matter Physics at the Faculty of Chemistry of the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country, director of the Nano-Bio Spectroscopy Group, and associate researcher of the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), has participated in the research conducted in this field in collaboration with various centres in Germany, Italy and France. The research is being published in the prestigious journal Science.

These organic devices use a photosensitive polymer linked to a carbon nanostructure that functions as a current collector. When light falls on the device, the polymer traps the particles of light and induces the ultrafast transmission of electrons to the nanostructure through an electron impulse in the order of femtoseconds (fs), in other words, 10-15 seconds. Evidence was recently found to confirm this ultrafast transfer, but the research of Rubio and his team has gone a step further because it has succeeded in deciphering the element mechanism that unleashes the electron transfer between the polymer and the nanostructure. The first-principal simulations in a simplified model predicted that the coherent vibrations are the ones that dictate the periodic transfer of charge between the polymer and the fullerene.

http://www.ehu.es/p200-hmencont/en/c...info/info.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0530121701.htm

Quantum mechanics matters: First real time movies of the light-to-current conversion in an organic solar cell

Photovoltaic cells directly convert sun light into electricity and hence are key technological devices to meet one of the challenges that mankind has to face in this century: a sustainable and clean production of renewable energy. Organic solar cells, using polymeric materials to capture sun light, have particularly favorable properties. They are low-cost, light-weight and flexible, and their color can be adapted by varying the material composition. Such solar cells typically consist of nanostructured blends of conjugated polymers (long chains of carbon atoms), acting as light absorbers, and fullerenes (nanoscale carbon soccer balls), acting as electron acceptors. The primary and most elementary step in the light-to-current conversion process, the light-induced transfer of an electron from the polymer to the fullerene, occurs at such a staggering speed that it has previously proven difficult to follow it directly.

Now, a team of German and Italian researchers from Oldenburg, Modena and Milano reported the first real time movies of the light-to-current conversion process in an organic solar cell. In a report published in the May 30 issue of Science Magazine, the researchers show that the quantum-mechanical, wavelike nature of electrons and their coupling to the nuclei is of fundamental importance for the charge transfer in an organic photovoltaic device.

*snip*

Will the new results immediately lead to better solar cells? “Such ultrafast spectroscopic studies, and in particular their comparison with advanced theoretical modelling, provide impressive and most direct insight in the fundamental phenomena that initiate the organic photovoltaic process. They turn out to be very similar to the strategies developed by Nature in photosynthesis.”, says Lienau. “Recent studies indicate that quantum coherence apparently plays an important role in that case. Our new result provide evidence for similar phenomena in functional artificial photovoltaic devices: a conceptual advancement which could be used to guide the design of future artificial light-harvesting systems in an attempt to match the yet unrivalled efficiency of natural ones."

http://www.uno.uni-oldenburg.de/63472.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0530124431.htm

How solar power is challenging utilities
The solar industry has a bigger stake in the utility industry now more than ever. But what does this mean for the electric utility sector?
By Elias Hinckley, Guest blogger / May 29, 2014

This week Barclays downgraded the high-grade bond market for the entire electric utility sector because “we believe that a confluence of declining cost trends in distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation and residential-scale power storage is likely to disrupt the status quo.” While this is not the first statement about vulnerability of electric utilities to competition from new technology it is the most important to date.

Electric Utilities vs. Solar

Barclays Sees Technology Winning – Soon

Downgrading Utility Bonds is Really Really Big Deal

What Happens Next?

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment...ging-utilities

[amor de cosmos]

Solar modules embedded in glass
2 hours ago by Danny Krautz

Organic solar modules have advantages over silicon solar cells. However, one critical problem is their shorter operating life. Researchers are working on a promising solution: they are using flexible glass as a carrier substrate that better protects the components.

This approach is already being employed in electronic devices to some extent today: organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are embedded in film. These OPVs are a promising alternative to silicon-based solar cells. The materials can also be processed at atmospheric pressure. However, the main advantage is the modules can be manufactured using printing technology – this is faster and more efficient that the involved processes necessary for fabrication of inorganic components. A flexible type of substrate material is necessary for fabrication that uses a printing process. Polymer films that have certain serious disadvantages have been employed up to now. The films are somewhat permeable to humidity and oxygen. Both of these attack the sensitive solar modules and significantly reduce their operating life. Up to now, substrates with barrier layers have protected the OPV modules, depending on the application. For higher processing temperatures and longer operating life, different carrier substrates must be used.

Fracture-resistant and extremely strong

Production on rolls

http://phys.org/news/2014-06-solar-m...ded-glass.html

Scientists demonstrate rare chemical phenomenon that could be harnessed to harvest solar energy
3 hours ago

A team of international scientists led by Professor Jagadese J Vittal of the Department of Chemistry at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Faculty of Science has successfully unraveled the chemical reaction responsible for propelling microscopic crystals to leap distances up to hundreds of times their own size when they are exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light.

This popping effect, akin to the bursting of popcorn kernels at high temperatures, demonstrates the conversion of light into mechanical motion. It is the first instance of a "photosalient effect" driven by a photochemical reaction in solids to be reported. The rare phenomenon provides a new way to transfer light energy into mechanical motion, and potentially offers a fresh approach to harness solar energy to power light-driven actuators and mechanical devices.

These novel findings were published as the cover story in the English version of German scientific journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition on 2 June 2014.



Further research

The NUS research team is examining a series of new compounds to better understand the mechanism and enhance the efficiency of the photosalient effect. They are also conducting systematic studies to look into the effects of chemical modification on the photosalient effect.

The team hopes to eventually develop new materials that could convert solar energy effectively into mechanical energy. In addition, the team also hopes to leverage on the principle of the photosalient effect to create a new source of reversible chemical energy by controlling the shape and size of crystals used for energy conversion.

http://phys.org/news/2014-06-scienti...harnessed.html

Solar market to nearly triple by 2018 as Asia leads Europe-EPIA
Mon Jun 2, 2014 4:30am EDT

• 38.4 GW of solar capacity installed in 2013, up 28 pct
• Asia beats Europe as world's largest solar market
• Total global installations stand at 139 GW as per end-2013

By Christoph Steitz

FRANKFURT, June 2 (Reuters) - Globally installed solar capacity will nearly triple over the next four years, boosted by strong growth in Asia, which dethroned Europe as the world's biggest solar market last year, according to a major industry association.

Cumulative photovoltaic installations are seen rising to about 374 gigawatt (GW) in 2018, compared with 139 GW last year, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) said on Monday in its annual market report.

The figures are based on EPIA's "medium scenario", which it says depicts the most probable market development until 2018.

Asia is expected to account for more than 40 percent of the global total in 2018, up from about 29 percent in 2013, while Europe's share will diminish to about 35 percent, down from last year's 59 percent.

"Europe's role as the unquestioned leader in the PV market has come to an end," EPIA said. "For the first time in more than a decade, the European PV market was no longer the top regional PV market in the world."

The global shift in demand reflects plunging solar subsidies in Europe, where years of government support helped the sector to blossom, while Asian economies, most notably China, increasingly bank on photovoltaics as an energy source.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...0OD1OS20140602

Novel NIST Laser System Mimics Sunlight to Test Solar Cell Efficiency
From NIST Tech Beat: May 28, 2014
Laura Ost

Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a laser-based instrument that generates artificial sunlight to help test solar cell properties and find ways to boost their efficiency.

The novel NIST system simulates sunlight well across a broad spectrum of visible to infrared light. More flexible than conventional solar simulators such as xenon arc-lamps or light-emitting diodes, the laser instrument can be focused down to a small beam spot—with resolution approaching the theoretical limit—and shaped to match any desired spectral profile.

The new simulator is based on a white light laser that uses optical-fiber amplifier technology to boost the power and a photonic crystal fiber to broaden the spectrum. NIST researchers used the simulator to measure the efficiency of thin-film solar cells made of gallium-arsenide, crystalline silicon, amorphous silicon and copper-indium-gallium-selenide, and the results agreed with independent measurements.*

“We can focus the light down to a spot less than 2 micrometers in diameter, despite the wide spectral content. You can't do this with sunlight,” NIST researcher Tasshi Dennis says. “We then used this focused spot to scan across solar cell materials while monitoring the current the light generated. This allowed us to create spatial maps (images) of the response of a solar cell at the micrometer level.

http://www.nist.gov/pml/div686/solar...tor_052714.cfm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0530124424.htm
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/channel...018675.article

British Columbia Epitomizes State of Solar Power in Canada
Posted on June 2 2014 by Gary Hilson

If there is one word to describe the adoption of solar power in Canada, particular residential solar power, it would be “lagging.”

With the exception of Ontario, the country’s 10 provinces and three territories lack the infrastructure, incentives or policy to spur more use of solar power, according to Jose Etcheverry, co-chair at York University’s Sustainable Energy Initiative. “We’re one of the few OECD countries that don’t have a federal renewable energy strategy.”

Every country in Europe, he said, as well as the United States and Mexico, has a strategy in place to foster adoption of renewable energy, including solar power. Until 2006, Canada’s federal government did have some incentives in place, but those have since been scrapped, said Etcheverry, and the focus in the past few years has been on oil pipeline expansion. “I don’t think the federal government will have a change of heart.”

http://solarenergy.net/News/british-...wer-in-canada/

The Home Solar Market is Now Growing Faster than Commercial Solar
Posted on June 2 2014 by Guest Author

The first quarter of 2014 was another big one for the U.S. solar industry, with 74 percent of all new electricity generation across the country coming from solar power. The 1,330 megawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) installed last quarter bring the total in the U.S. up to 14.8 gigawatts of installed capacity — enough to power three million homes, according to GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

In addition to being the largest quarter ever for concentrating solar power, a method of large-scale solar generation that uses a unique “salt battery” to allow the solar plant to keep producing power even when the sun goes down, it was also the first time in the history of SEIA’s reports that residential solar installations surpassed commercial in the same time period. 232 MW of residential PV were installed in the first quarter, compared to 225 MW of commercial solar.

The remarkable growth of rooftop solar across the U.S. is sparking battles in multiple states as customers, utilities, and the solar industry wrestle with how solar customers should be compensated for the excess power they send back to the grid and whether they should be charged additional fees for maintenance and other costs incurred by the utility. And those fights will likely spread, considering more than one-third of the residential PV installations in the first quarter came online without any state incentive, another first.

http://solarenergy.net/News/home-sol...mercial-solar/