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  #421  
Old Posted Mar 29, 2014, 4:01 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Israel Debuts the World's First Self-Cleaning Solar Farm
by Kristine Lofgren, 03/28/14

One of the challenges with solar power is keeping the panels clean, since dust and dirt drastically reduce the efficiency of photovoltaics. That’s particularly challenging for large solar parks, and especially ones that are located in the desert, where there is little water. Israeli company Eccopia has addressed that challenge with a clever robot that cleans the solar panels every day, increasing efficiency by up to 35 percent. This week the Kibbutz Ketura solar park installed Eccopia’s robots, making it the world’s first self-cleaning photovoltaic array.
http://inhabitat.com/israel-debuts-t...ng-solar-park/

Quote:
The Case For A Solar Race
Originally published in Let the Sunshine In: A Solar Power Blog.



Knowing well the above history, this writer is amazed by the behavior of the US government and public in its response – or rather, non-response – to the swift ascendancy of so many rival countries in the area of solar power, in comparison with America’s relatively lackluster progress. Given the life-and-death importance of energy resources in the coming decades, and the vastly greater imperative (compared to that of putting a man on the moon) to develop viable sustainable sources of energy, America ought to see itself in the midst of a “Solar Crisis” far surpassing the Space Crisis of the mid-1950s. Yet, when news comes out about, say, cloudy Germany leading the world in solar, or South Africa investing over 5 billion dollars in renewable energy (mostly solar) development to end its dependence on coal, the reaction, if any, in America’s capital as well as on Main Street, is a shrug of indifference.

Where is the old competitive spirit of the Cold War years? Competition in the context of militaristic political conflicts – particularly war – seems to me invariably regrettable. But competition between nations for a technological goal may ultimately yield a positive result, if the goal itself is good. Few environmentally-aware persons would argue that a permanent transition to renewables, particularly solar, would not be a good goal for America. That’s why I’d like to call for a new Solar Race for the US, analogous to the Space Race of the ‘Fifties and ‘Sixties.

What would such a race be like? Obviously, it would mean lots and lots of federal and state funds – equaling and hopefully surpassing the superfluous subsidies currently thrown at the fossil fuel industry – to be invested both in technological development and incentives to consumers to go solar. But it would involve much more than that. A public awareness campaign would be created that would portray solar power in a worldwide context, and our national honor as dependent upon our ability to compete successfully with other nations in this arena. Making solar hip, therefore, would become a major national priority. Celebrities would be recruited to extol its virtues. Some of the excitement of the new that characterized the birth of the motorcar and of aviation in the early 20th Century (see my post on the flight of the Solar Impulse) could be experienced again, but with the knowledge that this time the result would not be traffic jams or jet fuel-polluted skies, but a much more livable planet. And the old American pioneer spirit, last seen in this country with the rise of hero astronauts like John Glenn and Neil Armstrong in the 1960s, would be revived for this campaign, including perhaps in an area (which I have previously discussed in another post) whose ultimate possibilities are as yet unknown: space-based solar power.
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/03/29/case-solar-race/

Quote:
Is Solar the Answer to Brazil’s Energy Crisis?
Leading module maker Yingli Green Energy talks about its fastest-growing market.

Herman K. Trabish
March 28, 2014

The newest project from world-leading solar module maker Yingli Green Energy is a 1-megawatt installation at Brazil's Arena Pernambuco soccer stadium, the site of five upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup matches.

Built by Brazilian solar pioneer Grupo Neoenergia, the net-metered system is in the solar-supportive state of Pernambuco’s capital, Recife. The 3,650 monocrystalline panels will generate more than 1,500 megawatt-hours of electricity annually. Power not consumed by the stadium will go to the local community.

Brazil’s solar market is “just taking off,” according to Adam James, GTM Research Solar Analyst for Global Demand. James is readying the 2Q 2014 update of GTM Research’s Latin America PV Playbook, which projects that Brazil’s 2013 installed capacity of 38.6 megawatts will nearly double to 72.6 megawatts this year.

“But unlike many of the other leading Latin American solar markets such as Mexico and Chile,” James said, “there appears to be no ceiling on Brazil’s potential growth over the long term. Companies like Yingli can think not just in terms of what they can do over the next five years, but what they can do over the next ten, twenty, or 30 years.”

The Latin American solar market does not represent a large percentage of Yingli’s global market share, said International Sales VP Jeff Barnett, “but it is the fastest-growing segment.”
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...-energy-crisis

Quote:
Peter Miller’s Blog
Celebrating a Solar Milestone with Big Clean Energy Implications
Peter Miller
Posted March 28, 2014 in Curbing Pollution, Living Sustainably, Solving Global Warming

California can feel good about the fact that it has more than half of all the solar rooftops in America, but now there’s even more to celebrate – the 100,000th such installation and the commitment it signifies.

This milestone demonstrates the substantial opportunity we have to make use of this ample and clean energy source – the sun – and the importance of this effort for all stakeholders to achieve California’s clean energy goals, which are among the most ambitious in the world.

Yesterday, I joined with Steve Malnight, vice president for customer energy solutions at PG&E, in writing an op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News laying out the enormous progress that’s occurring in solar in California and the way we see the future.

The high points:
  • NRDC and PG&E agree that solar is a key part of California’s energy future.
  • Government, utilities, researchers, advocates and individuals can work together and avoid divisiveness to exploit this ample and clean energy source.
  • An infrastructure is needed to support a surge in clean energy innovations.
  • The electric transmission grid needs to be modernized.
  • Policies and planning are needed to maximize the value of the grid.
  • Clear regulations and stable policies at the state level help create an investment climate for a thriving green economy.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/pm...milestone.html

Quote:
California, Roy L Hales, Solar, Rooftop, Utilities
The Politics of Batteries for Solar Power Storage in California
March 28, 2014
By Roy L Hales

SolarCity spokesperson Will Craven said that about 500 of their California customers have agreed to install batteries for power storage, but the state’s three biggest utilities have only connected 12 since 2011. He decided to go to the press after Southern California Edison (SCE) said they were going to charge $2,900 to install a meter, whereas SolarCity has found that an adequate meter can be purchased for between $75-150. The situation has greatly improved since Craven was interviewed by Bloomberg and PV Tech.

Craven says that SCE now says they will charge between $600 and $400 for that meter - which is still high, but better – and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) has dropped their price (for that same meter) from $600 to $495.

He said all three utility companies have been charging an $800 connection fee that is illegal under California net metering statutes. The California energy commission ruled that when battery storage when paired with solar is an ‘addition and/or an enhancement to solar’ and therefore falls under all prevailing net metering statutes and one of those statutes is that there may be no application fee charged.”

Hanan Eisenman, from San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), insisted the interconnection fee is assessed in compliance with California Utilities Commission rules. In addition, they need to install a new meter (the one Craven was talking about), which costs approximately $400, to accommodate this technology.

He added, “SDG&E’s position is that each customer should pay for the services they receive and not the ones they don’t. SDG&E incurs costs to be ready to provide standby service to energy storage customers to ensure that their peak demand can be met when their equipment fails to operate. SDG&E believes that energy storage customers should pay these costs rather than other customers who do not benefit from these investments.”
http://www.theecoreport.com/green-bl...in-california/

Quote:
France awards 380 MW of large solar PV projects, including CPV

The French Ministry of Energy, Ecology and Sustainable Development has awarded 121 solar photovoltaic (PV) projects totaling 380 MW in a a second solicitation for systems larger than 250 kW. The nation had opened the call for up to 400 MW of projects.


Projects awarded include 22 MW based on concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) technology and 81 MW of projects which feature at least 50% CPV. Also awarded were 103 MW of PV plants using tracking technology, 60 MW of parking canopy PV plants, and 114 MW of building-mounted projects.

CAP Solar came away with the most projects at 17 of the 121. URBA was also awarded 11 projects.

Priority given to plants on degraded sites

Several tranches allowed for PV plants up to 12 MW, and six projects of this size were awarded. This bidding process gave priority to PV projects on degraded sites and took into account the carbon balance of the projects.

The ministry states that the reason to favor PV projects on degraded sites is to avoid use conflicts with farmland. The solicitation also favors innovative projects, high-efficiency PV and PV plants with high added value.

France expects to launch a third solicitation for PV plants above 250 kW “soon”. A consultation on the terms of the associated costs for the third solicitation will be open through March 31st, 2014.
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...uding-cpv.html

Quote:
Nature | News
Images of the Month: March 2014
Pictures from the world of science, selected by Nature’s art team.

Daniel Cressey
28 March 2014


http://www.nature.com/news/images-of...h-2014-1.14920

Last edited by amor de cosmos; Mar 29, 2014 at 4:35 PM.
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  #422  
Old Posted Mar 30, 2014, 4:22 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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http://www.designboom.com/design/sol...es-03-30-2014/

Quote:
Rainbow-catching waveguide could revolutionize energy technologies
By slowing and absorbing certain wavelengths of light, engineers open new possibilities in solar power, thermal energy recycling and stealth technology

By Cory Nealon
Release Date: March 28, 2014

BUFFALO, N.Y. – More efficient photovoltaic cells. Improved radar and stealth technology. A new way to recycle waste heat generated by machines into energy.

All may be possible due to breakthrough photonics research at the University at Buffalo.

The work, published March 28 in the journal Scientific Reports, explores the use of a nanoscale microchip component called a “multilayered waveguide taper array” that improves the chip’s ability to trap and absorb light.

Unlike current chips, the waveguide tapers (the thimble-shaped structures pictured above) slow and ultimately absorb each frequency of light at different places vertically to catch a “rainbow” of wavelengths, or broadband light.

The paper, “Broadband absorption engineering of hyperbolic metafilm patterns,” is here: http://bit.ly/1g72Is5.

“We previously predicted the multilayered waveguide tapers would more efficiently absorb light, and now we’ve proved it with these experiments,” says lead researcher Qiaoqiang Gan, PhD, UB assistant professor of electrical engineering. “This advancement could prove invaluable for thin-film solar technology, as well as recycling waste thermal energy that is a byproduct of industry and everyday electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops.”

Each multilayered waveguide taper is made of ultrathin layers of metal, semiconductors and/or insulators. The tapers absorb light in metal dielectric layer pairs, the so-called hyperbolic metamaterial. By adjusting the thickness of the layers and other geometric parameters, the tapers can be tuned to different frequencies including visible, near-infrared, mid-infrared, terahertz and microwaves.

The structure could lead to advancements in an array of fields.

For example, there is a relatively new field of advanced computing research called on-chip optical communication. In this field, there is a phenomenon known as crosstalk, in which an optical signal transmitted on one waveguide channel creates an undesired scattering or coupling effect on another waveguide channel. The multilayered waveguide taper structure array could potentially prevent this.

It could also improve thin-film photovoltaic cells, which are a promising because they are less expensive and more flexible that traditional solar cells. The drawback, however, is that they don’t absorb as much light as traditional cells. Because the multilayered waveguide taper structure array can efficiently absorb the visible spectrum, as well as the infrared spectrum, it could potentially boost the amount of energy that thin-film solar cells generate.
http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2014/03/049.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0328121027.htm
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  #423  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2014, 3:55 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Quote:
First Solar Close to Agreements to Supply Mines in Australia
By James Paton Mar 30, 2014 9:28 PM PT

First Solar Inc. (FSLR), the largest U.S. solar-panel maker, is close to announcing agreements to supply its technology to remote mining projects in Australia to help resources companies save on fuel costs.

The company expects to develop as much as 200 megawatts of capacity for the mining industry over the next three years, Jack Curtis, First Solar’s Sydney-based vice president of business development for the Asia-Pacific, said in a phone interview. The Tempe, Arizona-based company plans to combine solar power with diesel, he said.

“In an environment where profitability isn’t what it used to be, with the mining industry focused on cost control, the electricity that powers the mines is becoming a bigger line item, and the ability to put a dent in that and hedge against fuel price volatility is something that solars offers,” Curtis said March 28. “We expect fairly shortly to announce some pretty exciting projects in that space.”

The U.S. company is increasing efforts to install solar systems at industrial sites and warehouses as utilities demand smaller projects, and is seeking deals in other regions including Saudi Arabia, India and South America. The world’s largest mining companies, including BHP Billiton Ltd. and Rio Tinto Group, at the same time are reining in spending as a decade-long boom in metal prices wanes.

Mining Sites

First Solar will target mining sites in Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia and seek to expand as the solar industry proves that it can provide reliable supply, Curtis said, declining to name any companies.

Operators of Australian mines facing high diesel fuel costs should grow more comfortable using solar technology to generate some of their power, said Nathan Lim, who oversees A$127 million ($117 million) in assets and owns First Solar shares as manager of the Australian Ethical International Equities Trust. (AUSEIET)

“The high cost of energy at a facility in the middle of nowhere has always made it interesting to anyone offering an alternative solution,” Lim said today by phone. “The difference between today and five to 10 years ago is the reliability, and that the cost of solar has come down. It’s becoming a no-brainer for people in remote locations.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...-industry.html

Quote:
Mar 31, 2014
NTPC Boosts Solar Power Capacity to 75 Megawatts

March 31 (Bloomberg) — NTPC Ltd. more than doubled its solar capacity to 75 megawatts as India’s largest electricity generator seeks to diversify its portfolio of conventional power plants to help overcome fuel shortages.

Three new solar plants comprising 45 megawatts of capacity are ready for commercial operation, the company said today in a filing. The projects are at Faridabad in Haryana state, Unchahar in Uttar Pradesh and Rajgarh in Madhya Pradesh.

The utility, which has 43,000 megawatts of mostly coal-fired capacity, has been forced to increase its purchases of expensive coal imports due to domestic fuel shortages. It plans to develop 1,000 megawatts of renewables by 2017.
http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/ntpc...lant-in-india/

Quote:
California, Roy L Hales, Solar, Rooftop
Borrego To Install Solar Panels at San Diego International Airport
March 31, 2014
By Roy L Hales

Someone from Borrego Solar is either flying out from San Diego International Airport (SDIA), or coming through it, two or three times a week. Seventy company employees will be taking off for a meeting in May. Borrego has witnessed the transformation that started in 2008, when San Diego became the first US airport to adopt a formal sustainability policy. Now they will have a part in it. Borrego Solar Systems, Inc. and the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority will develop a 3.3-megawatt (MW) solar system featuring solar panel arrays on the roof of the newly expanded Terminal 2 West.

Borrego Solar will finance and build the system through a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA), which is expected to save the Airport Authority between $3 million and $8 million over the contract period.

“A private investor will pay for the installation and sell the energy it produces to San Diego International Airport at a competitive rate,” a spokesperson from Borrego said. “That is typically less than what they pay per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to their local utility. The SDIA pays nothing up front, they’ll see savings on their energy bill, they’re ‘greening’ their energy mix, and they’ll have insight into what the cost per kWh is over the term of the PPA. To a certain degree, that insulates them from the volatility of the energy market as the cost of electricity trends upwards.”

“PPAs sound too good to be true,” he continued, “but they are indeed a win-win for all parties involved. The system owner/investor gets a return on the investment. San Diego airport obtains solar without making the capital investment. Borrego Solar is paid to design, construct, operate and maintain the project. How is this possible? Because the initial commodity (IE: the energy) that sets this transaction in motion is available for free from the sun!”
http://www.theecoreport.com/green-bl...ional-airport/

Quote:
Mar 31, 2014
Efficient Solar Power through Industry Oriented Research
Fraunhofer ISE Develops Technologies for Solar Tower Power Plants

Press Release 8/14, March 31, 2014

The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE develops new technologies for more cost-efficient solar tower power plants using solar thermal energy. Within the cooperation project ”HelioPack”, Fraunhofer researchers together with the industrial partner Solar Tower Technologies AG (STT) of Starnberg develop solutions that allow for significant cost reductions in solar thermal power generation. The project partners aim at cost savings and efficiency gains from an optimised construction of heliostats as well as an improved tracking and control to achieve a more precise concentration of solar beam radiation onto a newly developed receiver.

In solar tower power plants, solar beam radiation is redirected by a multitude of tracked mirrors (heliostats) onto a central receiver mounted at the top of a tower. Therefore, the technology sometimes is referred to as central receiver technology. The extreme concentration of radiation generates very high temperatures at the receiver unit where the thermal energy is transferred to a heat transfer fluid. The thermal energy is used to drive a turbine and generate electricity in a power block. As an alternative, the energy may be completely or partly stored in a thermal storage, to be used for electricity generation at a later time. In this way, solar tower power plants can generate dispatchable power around the clock and thus can contribute significantly to grid stabilization in regions of high direct solar irradiation. Besides other technologies for solar thermal power like parabolic trough or linear Fresnel collectors, which have been under investigation at Fraunhofer ISE for some time now, power towers are particularly suited for the combination with thermal storage due to the potentially very high temperatures and the low distance between receiver and storage.

“In the project HelioPack we will cooperate closely with our industrial partner to develop technologies contributing to cost reductions. With the know-how generated in this project, we will be able to offer future customers R&D services to further improve components for solar power towers or to manufacture them at reduced cost,” emphasizes Dr. Peter Nitz, project manager of “HelioPack” at Fraunhofer ISE.
http://www.ise.fraunhofer.de/en/pres...ented-research

Quote:
In Bid Against Gas, Minnesota Regulators Say Solar Can Proceed
A solar proposal competes with natural gas bids—and wins.

Midwest Energy News, Dan Haugen
March 31, 2014

A proposed $250 million distributed solar project appears to have held its own in a Minnesota regulatory process that put it in competition with three natural gas options.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission on Thursday ordered Xcel Energy to pursue a power purchase agreement with a Twin Cities solar developer to meet part of its projected generation shortfall later this decade.

Geronimo Energy’s 100-megawatt solar proposal will be paired with one or more natural gas projects, to be determined later, to provide up to 500 megawatts of new generation that Xcel expects to need by 2019.

The agreements would be subject to further review by the PUC.

“It’s a big win for us,” said Betsy Engelking, a vice president at Geronimo Energy. “We participated in an RFP against natural gas and we were selected.”

The decision is also being touted as a landmark victory for solar, one that validates advocates’ claims that solar can be cost-competitive with fossil fuels in certain situations.

That position was bolstered in December when a judge who reviewed the competing bids concluded the most “reasonable and prudent” option was to include Geronimo’s solar project.

“Notwithstanding the statutory preference, it seemed that nonrenewable energy sources always won the head-to-head cost comparisons. Not anymore,” Judge Eric Lipman wrote.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...ar-can-proceed

Quote:
GE throws weight behind 230 MW Japanese PV plant
31. March 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends, Investor news | By: Ian Clover

The U.S. conglomerate will invest in the Setouchi-based solar power project, which will cost an estimated $777 million and become Japan’s largest once complete.

The energy arm of U.S. conglomerate General Electric (GE) has revealed that it plans to make a grand entrance into the Japanese solar market with an investment in a $777 million PV project that promises to become the country's largest solar installation.

GE Energy Financial Services will invest in the running of the plant, which is being planned for the city of Setouchi, Okayama Province, and will boast a generation capacity of 230 MW.

Early reports from the Japanese Nikkei (Tokyo Stock Exchange) suggest that GE is planning to invest between JPY 10-20 billion yen, taking a majority stake in the company that will operate the plant, Tokyo's Kuni Umi Asset Management.

The plant is penciled in to begin operation in 2018, and will deliver more than triple the daily output of the current largest solar PV installation in the country – a 70 MW installation on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu – and will also dwarf a 110 MW plant currently being planned by mobile phone provider, Softbank.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ant_100014667/
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/ge_to_in...rgest_pv_plant

Quote:
Iowa votes to triple solar incentive
31. March 2014 | Investor news, Markets & Trends, Financial & Legal Affairs, Global PV markets | By: Ian Clover

The Senate of the U.S. state voted unanimously 46-0 to boost state tax credits for solar PV installations.

Decision-makers in the U.S. state of Iowa have voted overwhelmingly in favor of tripling state tax incentives for solar power.

The Iowa Senate displayed its unanimous support for the state's growing solar sector on Friday last week, voting 46-0 in favor of the proposal, which is an amendment on an earlier bill introduced in 2012 to initially support farmers, homeowners and small businesses to back solar.

Since then, solar's growth in the state has been rapid, and this latest ruling is bound to see the sector continue its encouraging evolution.

"This is a bill to build on the success of Iowa's growing solar power industry," said Senator Rob Hogg, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids. "We need to triple the credits so that we can respond to the continually growing demand for solar power and make sure that we maximize the benefit for Iowans of the federal solar energy tax credits, which are set to expire at the end of 2016."
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ive_100014660/

Quote:
GCL-Poly China PV plans get US$800 million boost
By Ben Willis - 31 March 2014, 12:18
In News, Power Generation, Finance

Polysilicon producer GCL-Poly’s move into PV project development has received a boost in the form of a CNY5 billion (US$805 million) credit line from the China Development Bank.

The news follows an announcement last week that GCL’s holding company would be changing its name to GCL New Energy to reflect the company’s increasing involvement in downstream business.

GCL-Poly said the credit line would be available to enable the company to build up its solar farm business in China.

Zhu Gongshan, chairman of GCL-Poly said: “Expanding green energy business is our unalterable direction. Our investments have to be safe and we want to bring clean energy to millions of households in order to fulfil our social mission as a responsible clean energy enterprise.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/gcl_poly..._million_boost

Quote:
Rooftop solar wins in California net metering battle
By Kathy Larsen
March 30, 2014

Dive Brief:
  • Californians with solar power systems on their homes under the state’s current net metering program will be able to stay under the program’s terms for 20 years, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) ruled. That’s much longer than the six years the state’s big-three utilities had sought and not as long as solar interests would like, but longer than might have been under a state law enacted last year.
  • Enrollment in the current net metering program will end when utilities’ 5% participation caps are reached or by July 1, 2017, whichever comes first. In the meantime, customers in the current program will continue to be paid full retail price for the megawatt-hours they don’t use at their own homes and flow into the utility’s system.
  • Last year’s law, AB 327, required an end date for customer net metering and directed the PUC to set terms for a new program to start in 2017. The PUC is to issue final rules for that program by the end of 2015.

Dive Insight:

This decision is huge for California, which has more than 2 GW of installed rooftop solar, according to the Vote Solar Initiative. Utilities, unsuccessful in getting a short cutoff time for the current program, might try even harder now to get favorable terms in the net metering policy the commission plans to develop for the post-July 2017 era.

California’s utilities, like others throughout the country, call full-price net metering policies business model killers that also shift costs to other customers. But it’s hard to imagine that the state would stifle expansion of rooftop solar, though, especially with the growth of third-party installers and the recent launch of the country’s biggest Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program, under which homeowners can repay solar costs through their property tax bills.
http://www.utilitydive.com/news/roof...battle/245076/
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  #424  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2014, 4:07 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Hong Kong Property Tycoon Makes $533 Million Bet on Solar
By Bloomberg News Mar 31, 2014 4:01 PM PT

A Hong Kong real-estate tycoon has spent the past year accumulating stakes in failing solar companies, piecing together what may become the biggest collection of photovoltaic factories in the world.

Zheng Jianming, also known in Cantonese as Cheng Kin Ming, has spent or pledged about $533 million to buy assets that at their peak were worth almost $20 billion, according to regulatory filings in the U.S. and Hong Kong, where he has a home and office.

The transactions, if completed, would transform Zheng, a newcomer to the solar industry, into one of its most powerful leaders. Another Zheng solar investment in 2012, a 30 percent stake in Shunfeng Photovoltaic International Ltd. (1165), has surged more than 2,900 percent and is now worth more than $745 million.

“He’s a bit mysterious and not really well documented in the industry,” said Andrew Klump, managing director at the Shanghai-based consulting company Clean Energy Associates. “If he wanted to be more high-profile he would be. He’s probably going to continue to stay under the radar.”

Zheng declined to comment when contacted at home and through companies he owns, Faithsmart Ltd. and Fulai Investments Ltd. He didn’t respond to questions left in writing at his office and home in Hong Kong. Apple Daily said in December that he’s 48, and his age couldn’t be verified in company records.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...-on-solar.html

Quote:
Apr 1, 2014
Canadian Solar Gets $46 Million From Manulife for Mighty Project

April 1 (Bloomberg) — Canadian Solar Inc., the best-performing solar maker last year, received a C$51 million ($46 million) loan from Manulife Financial Corp. for its Mighty project in Ontario.

The 10-megawatt solar farm is expected to begin producing power in the second quarter, Guelph, Ontario-based Canadian Solar said today in a statement. The project will be acquired by Concord Green Energy Inc. after it begins operation, according to the statement. BowMont Capital & Advisory Ltd. advised the project sale. Terms weren’t disclosed.

The Ontario Power Authority has agreed to a 20-year contract to purchase electricity from the solar farm.

Canadian Solar increased more than eightfold in 2013, the most in the Bloomberg Industries Global Large Solar Energy Index.
http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/cana...ighty-project/


http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/01/...gy-motherload/

Quote:
Is the SolarCity Model the Only Way to Scale Residential Solar?
Deconstructing the latest wave of activity in the residential market

Nicole Litvak
March 31, 2014

The U.S. residential solar market is growing rapidly and undergoing a major transformation at the same time. A new acquisition, partnership, or project fund seems to be announced every week.

But what is the underlying trend here? For a while, many of us simply boiled it down to industry consolidation. The most recent developments, however, point to something even more specific: vertical integration.

Follow the leader

SolarCity and Vivint Solar, the top two residential installers in the U.S., installed more than one-third of all residential systems in 2013 and raised more than half of the $2.3 billion in project funds announced last year. (We’ll discuss more finance trends in an upcoming update to last year’s U.S. Residential Solar PV Financing report.) The two companies have very different strategies, especially when it comes to acquiring customers. Vivint is known for selling exclusively door-to-door, while SolarCity has a diversified approach that includes retail partnerships, cold calling, advertising, and anything else you could think of.

However, there are two key similarities between these installers: they both primarily offer third-party owned solar (leases and PPAs), and they are the only two national, completely vertically integrated residential solar companies. Across these and other finance providers, the TPO model has proven easy to scale given the large addressable market of consumers who can afford a lease but not the purchase of a system. But does having control of both the project funding and installation give SolarCity and Vivint an additional advantage over their competitors?

Recent moves from several of their competitors suggests that it does:
  • Sunrun and NRG Residential Solar Solutions are -- or rather, were -- two of a number of finance and service providers which own and operate systems but work with partners for installation. Each of these companies recently acquired one of their installation partners (Sunrun bought the residential division of REC Solar and NRG picked up Roof Diagnostics Solar), and while both plan to retain their existing partner networks, this is clearly a move in the direction of the SolarCity model. Having an internal installation team not only removes the installer profit margin, but also gives the finance providers visibility into the strategies of their competitors.
  • On the opposite end of the spectrum, RGS Energy (formerly Real Goods Solar) is a leading national installer that uses companies like Sunrun for financing. However, last month RGS announced that it will develop an in-house leasing program for residential solar, noting that this will help the company “accelerate growth while benefiting from the long-term ownership of the solar assets.”
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...idential-solar

Quote:
China to Install More Solar than Europe in 2014 as Asia Drives Global PV Installations to 46 GW, IHS Predicts
Category: Design & Supply Chain, Design & Supply Chain Media
Tuesday, April 1, 2014 5:00 am EDT

China to Install More Solar than Europe in 2014 as Asia Drives Global PV Installations to 46 GW, IHS Predicts

London (April 1, 2014)—Global solar photovoltaic (PV) installations will grow by a robust 22 percent in 2014, largely as a result of recent policy changes in the two largest markets, China and Japan, according to IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS).

Worldwide installations in 2014 will rise to 46 GW (gigawatts), 5 GW higher than had been predicted in October 2013, based on a quarterly review of PV installations in more than 100 countries conducted by the IHS PV Demand Tracker Service.

IHS increased its forecast in light of recent policy changes in China and Japan.

Figure 1 (below) presents the current forecast and the October prediction.

The recent announcement by the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) that it would increase its target for ground-mount PV projects, as well as its total installation goal, was a key factor in driving up the forecast.

“IHS previously expressed its doubts about the Chinese government’s capability to reach an ambitious target of 8 GW worth of rooftop solar projects in 2014,” said Ash Sharma, senior director of solar research at IHS. “While IHS still predicts this goal will not be met, China’s recent announcement that it will shift its focus to ground-mount projects and increase its installation target for this segment to 6 GW has led us to raise our forecast for 2014.”

IHS predicts that China will install 4.8 GW of rooftop projects and 8 GW of ground-mount projects in 2014—some 2 GW higher than the NRDC’s target. Total installations in China will amount to 13 GW this year, compared to 10 GW in 2013.

*snip*

China to install more PV than Europe

Europe’s decline is anticipated to continue in 2014. China this year for the first time will install more PV capacity than the whole of Europe, based on the latest IHS forecast.

European PV installations in 2014 will fall to 9.7 GW, marking the third annual decline from the peak year of 2011, when the total amounted to 19 GW. IHS slashed its forecast for European installations in 2014 by nearly 700 megawatts (MW) due to reductions in Germany and also Ukraine—the latter as a result of the political uncertainty in Crimea.

“Despite the continued reduction of government support for PV in Europe, worldwide growth is continuing as conditions elsewhere around the globe continue to improve,” Sharma added. “The long-term IHS outlook for worldwide PV installations remains largely unchanged, with double-digit annual growth predicted for the next five years and total installed capacity exceeding 400 GW at the end of 2018. IHS has identified 32 countries that will install more than 100 MW this year, and seven of these surpassing 1 GW.”
http://press.ihs.com/press-release/d...bal-pv-install
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...an-demand.html

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Utilities Enter the Era of Distributed Generation
Mackinnon Lawrence — March 31, 2014

From the “Internet of energy” to the “utility death spiral,” the causes and effects related to the distributed generation (DG) transformation go by many names. Faced with what is increasingly recognized as DG’s inevitability, utilities and the companies that supply DG technologies are faced with the difficult challenge of defining viable business models in a multi-dimensional technology landscape.

Former Energy Secretary Steven Chu and outspoken NRG CEO David Crane have loudly pointed out the futility of business-as-usual thinking in the face of DG’s advance. It’s a mistake to think the power sector is oblivious to the changes enveloping it, though: most utilities do not actually have their heads in the sand, as recent headlines suggest. According to Utility Dive’s 2014 State of the Electric Utility survey, 67% of U.S. utility professionals believe their company should take a direct role in supplying DG to their customers ‑ either by owning and leasing distributed assets or by partnering with established DG companies. At the same time, key suppliers like GE, recognizing a dawning opportunity, are positioning themselves for growth.

Tip of the Iceberg

Although solar PV has provided a blueprint of sorts, a suite of technologies – collectively called distributed energy resources (DER) – is primed to usher in a reimagining of DG’s value proposition. Composed of renewable and fossil-based generation, diverse fuel sources like the sun and biogas, power generation and storage assets, and applications from microgrids to combined heat and power (CHP), DG’s multi-dimensionality suggests that existing business models are just scratching the surface. An estimated 37 million homes in the United States, for example, now have natural gas lines running directly to them, which opens up the possibility of micro-combined heat and power and fuel switching.

For utilities, the challenge is fairly straightforward. Demand-side generation is leading to death by a thousand cuts, as the cost of maintaining and operating the grid is spread over a gradually declining revenue base due to eroding customer demand.

In its widely-cited Disruptive Challenges report, published in 2013, Edison Electric Institute lists the financial risks created by DG: declining utility revenues, increasing costs, and lower profitability potential. Simply charging higher rates – one solution offered by the most entrenched utilities – risks accelerating the revenue ”death spiral,” as rising rates make it increasingly attractive to adopt otherwise expensive DG technologies. Recent experiences across Europe have demonstrated that utilities must adapt (see RWE) or risk obsolescence, at least in the traditional revenue sense.
http://www.navigantresearch.com/blog...ted-generation

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Support for Solar Energy Has Climbed to Nearly 80 Percent of Americans
March 31, 2014

Favorability reaches highest levels since 2009, survey finds

Since 2009, Navigant Research has conducted an annual national consumer survey to gauge public perceptions of energy and environmental concepts. Between 2009 and 2012, there were steady declines in favorability for some concepts, particularly the ones with most favorable rankings in the past, such as solar energy, wind energy, hybrid vehicles, and electric cars. Click to tweet: According to the most recent consumer survey from Navigant Research, however, consumer favorability for a number of these concepts has rebounded. In particular, positive overall impressions of solar energy have now reached 79 percent of Americans – a level close to the results of 2009, when 81 percent of the respondents had a favorable view of solar energy.

The average favorability rating for the 10 concepts, which fall under the categories of clean energy, clean transportation, smart grid, and building efficiency, also rose, to 51 percent, the highest level seen in Navigant Research’s survey since 2010.

The survey results are summarized in a free white paper, which is available for download on the Navigant Research website.

“Solar energy is one of the most popular and least controversial green technologies in the eyes of consumers,” says Clint Wheelock, managing director with Navigant Research. “But it is followed closely by wind energy, which gained a favorable response from 72 percent of Americans.”
http://www.navigantresearch.com/news...t-of-americans

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Engineers design ‘living materials’
Hybrid materials combine bacterial cells with nonliving elements that can conduct electricity or emit light.

Anne Trafton, MIT News Office
March 23, 2014

Inspired by natural materials such as bone — a matrix of minerals and other substances, including living cells — MIT engineers have coaxed bacterial cells to produce biofilms that can incorporate nonliving materials, such as gold nanoparticles and quantum dots.

These “living materials” combine the advantages of live cells, which respond to their environment, produce complex biological molecules, and span multiple length scales, with the benefits of nonliving materials, which add functions such as conducting electricity or emitting light.

The new materials represent a simple demonstration of the power of this approach, which could one day be used to design more complex devices such as solar cells, self-healing materials, or diagnostic sensors, says Timothy Lu, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and biological engineering. Lu is the senior author of a paper describing the living functional materials in the March 23 issue of Nature Materials.

“Our idea is to put the living and the nonliving worlds together to make hybrid materials that have living cells in them and are functional,” Lu says. “It’s an interesting way of thinking about materials synthesis, which is very different from what people do now, which is usually a top-down approach.”

The paper’s lead author is Allen Chen, an MIT-Harvard MD-PhD student. Other authors are postdocs Zhengtao Deng, Amanda Billings, Urartu Seker, and Bijan Zakeri; recent MIT graduate Michelle Lu; and graduate student Robert Citorik.
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/engin...ving-materials
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-Ge...aic-Cells.html

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Researchers develop simple method for light control based on direction
English.news.cn
2014-03-28 06:10:43

WASHINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Researchers from the United States and China said Thursday they have developed a simple method for filtering light waves based on direction, a finding that could ultimately lead to advances in solar photovoltaics, detectors for telescopes and microscopes, and privacy filters for display screens.

Light waves can be defined by three fundamental characteristics: their color, or wavelength, polarization, and direction. While it has long been possible to selectively filter light according to its color or polarization, selectivity based on the direction of propagation has remained elusive.

In a paper published in the U.S. journal Science, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Zhejiang University, however, reported a system that allows light of any color to pass through only if it is coming from one specific angle while reflecting all light coming from other directions.

The researchers said they "are excited" because it represents " a very fundamental building block" in the efforts to control light.

According to Yichen Shen of the MIT, lead author of the study, the structure of the system consists of a stack of ultrathin layers of two alternating materials where the thickness of each layer is precisely controlled.

"When you have two materials, then generally at the interface between them you will have some reflections," Shen said. "But at these interfaces, there is this magical angle called the Brewster angle, and when you come in at exactly that angle and the appropriate polarization, there is no reflection at all."

While the amount of light reflected at each of these interfaces is small, by combining many layers with the same properties, most of the light can be reflected away except for that coming in at precisely the right angle and polarization, he explained.

Using a stack of about 80 alternating layers of precise thickness, Shen said they are able to reflect light at most of the angles over a broad range of wavelengths.

The new findings could have great applications in energy, and especially in solar thermophotovoltaics, by ways of selectively controlling light reflections to improve its efficiency, Shen said.

The findings could also prove useful in optical systems, such as microscopes and telescopes, for viewing faint objects that are close to brighter objects, for example, a faint planet next to a bright star.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sc..._126325646.htm

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SunEdison announces financial close on largest merchant solar project in Latin America
By Lucy Woods - 01 April 2014, 12:21
In News, PV Modules, Power Generation, Grid Connection, Market Watch, Finance, Project Focus

SunEdison has announced financial close on a 50MW solar plant in Chile, which it claims is Latin America’s largest operational PV plant and also one of the biggest PV projects in the world operating without subsidies.

An investment consortium led by EverStream Energy Capital Management and financial services firm Claro Y Asociados, confirmed financial close of the 50.7MW 'San Andres' power plant.

"As one of Latin America's first merchant solar plants, the San Andres merchant PV plant demonstrates that solar PV is already a competitive energy source in countries like Chile," said Jose Perez, SunEdison vice president and head of Europe and Latin America.

Set in the desert conditions of the Atacama region, near the city of Copiapo the San Andres project is grid connected to the Central Interconnected System (SIC), and has no set power purchase agreement (PPA). Prices are determined by the spot market, often used by mining facilities in Chile to meet extra demand. Due to high solar radiance in the Atacama region, and pricing on the spot market, the 50MW solar power project is economically competitive with fossil fuels, with no subsidies.

"As one of the largest solar merchant power plants in the world, this project will bring advanced solar generation technologies and advanced operation and management practices to Chile, while having a significant positive impact on the environment, local businesses and people,” said PJ Lee, managing partner of EverStream.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/financia...oject_in_chile

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Solar Supporters: It’s Open Season on the Utilities’ Duck
| Written by John Farrell | 1 Comment | Updated on Mar 25, 2014

The rapid changes to the electricity system being wrought by distributed solar have utilities crying out, and they’ve poured much of their distributed solar angst into a chart being shared throughout the energy nerdocracy – the duck.



The duck is the perfect vehicle for utility complaints because it casts the growth of distributed solar as a major technical problem (an area where most policy makers defer to utilities) rather than an economic one, where utility complaints can be contrasted with their customer’s desires for more local control over their energy use and costs.

The utility companies crying “fowl” highlight a particular part of the duck chart: the dramatic ramp up in power generation on the light-green 2020 curve that happens in the late afternoon, as energy produced from solar wanes but energy demand rises. In the traditional grid operating model, accommodating this ramp-up in energy use requires a lot of standby power from expensive to operate, rapid-response power plants.

Evidence suggests utilities are crying “wolf,” with several experts poking large holes in the utility argument. The Clean Coalition and Regulatory Assistance Project have both offered numerous strategies utilities can use to “flatten the duck” or “teach it to fly:”
  • Target energy efficiency measures for the “ramp up” period
  • Orient solar panels to the west to catch more late evening sun
  • Substitute some solar thermal with storage for solar PV [I'd suggest adding storage to PV also works]
  • Allow the grid operator more demand management via electric water heating [already done extensively by rural cooperatives in Minnesota]
  • Require large new air conditioners to have two hours of thermal storage accessible to the utility
  • Retire inflexible generating plants (read: coal and nuclear) that need to run constantly in off-peak periods
  • Concentrate utility demand charges on the ramp up period.
  • Deploy electricity storage into targeted areas, including electric vehicle-to-grid
  • Implement aggressive demand response programs (subscribing more businesses and homes into programs to shed their energy demand at key periods)
  • Use inter-regional power transactions
  • Selectively curtail a small portion of solar power generation

In other words, the technical challenges of the duck are manageable, largely with existing technology.

The economic problems for utilities – stemming from an outdated business model – may not be so manageable.
http://www.ilsr.org/solar-supporters...tilities-duck/
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/sola...ies-duck-28229

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California Celebrates a Solar Milestone with Big Clean Energy Implications
Peter Miller
April 01, 2014 | 0 Comments

California can feel good about the fact that it has more than half of all the solar rooftops in America, but now there’s even more to celebrate — the 100,000th such installation and the commitment it signifies.

This milestone demonstrates the substantial opportunity we have to make use of this ample and clean energy source — the sun — and the importance of this effort for all stakeholders to achieve California’s clean energy goals, which are among the most ambitious in the world.

Yesterday, I joined with Steve Malnight, vice president for customer energy solutions at PG&E, in writing an op-ed in the San Jose Mercury News laying out the enormous progress that’s occurring in solar in California and the way we see the future.

The high points:
  • NRDC and PG&E agree that solar is a key part of California’s energy future.
  • Government, utilities, researchers, advocates and individuals can work together and avoid divisiveness to exploit this ample and clean energy source.
  • An infrastructure is needed to support a surge in clean energy innovations.
  • The electric transmission grid needs to be modernized.
  • Policies and planning are needed to maximize the value of the grid.
  • Clear regulations and stable policies at the state level help create an investment climate for a thriving green economy.

The California Way

NRDC and PG&E often have different views on energy policy, but progress in the solar arena has brought us together as demand for solar grows.

In some states, thorny issues have pitted utilities against solar power companies and solar customers against non-solar. In California, we’re proud to do things differently. We’re committed to working with all stakeholders to strike a balance that enables us to succeed.

Malnight and I are convinced it’s possible to speed the deployment of solar power, energy efficiency, energy storage, electric vehicles, and other locally generated resources while improving the resiliency of the electric transmission grid and providing opportunities for all to enjoy the benefits of such technologies.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...y-implications

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Solar Decathlon Houses Make Up a Solar Village to Test Microgrid Technology
A new project at Missouri Science and Technology will be used as a test ground for innovative research on advancing renewable energy, energy storage and microgrid technology.

Jennifer Runyon, Chief Editor, RenewableEnergyWorld.com
March 31, 2014 | 3 Comments

New Hampshire, USA -- In yet one more example of the rising interest in how microgrids that incorporate renewable energy and energy storage will change the energy landscape, Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST) has created what it says is the first “Solar Village” in the U.S.

Consisting of a grouping of Solar Decathlon houses that students at MST built for competitions between 2002 and 2009, the solar village is a project created in collaboration with Missouri S&T students, faculty and staff, along with members of the university’s microgrid advisory board (Investor-owned utility Ameren, City Utilities of Springfield, Rolla Municipal Utilities and Electric Power Research Institute), several Missouri manufacturers (Milbank and Ford Motor Company) and the Army Corps of Engineers. The engineer-of-record and installer for the project was Microgrid Solar, a U.S. and Caribbean solar developer, installer, and engineering company based in St. Louis, MO.

The project has been in the works for two years and is expected to be complete by the end of next month. A utility grant and the DOE Sunshot Initiative contributed funding for the project.

Project Specs

There are four former Solar Decathlon houses in the microgrid. The buildings each have 5- to 10-kW PV systems and there is a mix of crystalline silicon PV and thin film. The buildings also have solar thermal systems for hot water. The energy storage components consist of two 100 kW / 100 kWh lithium-ion iron nano-phosphate battery racks that were donated by A123 Systems. There is also a fuel cell and a heat recovery unit as part of the microgrid.

Graduate students currently live and work in the houses, which also include electric vehicle charging stations. The microgrid is built so that it can island from the utility grid indefinitely.

Even though the military has been designing microgrids for ten years now, the project is a first “from the perspective of testing new designs and new equipment in a very closely monitored research setting,” according to Marc Lopata, PE, the Principal Engineer on this project and President of Microgrid Solar. “We have the capability to power any of the houses independently from the grid or the central plant,” he said. “And we have the capability to plug in new equipment for testing and do graduate level experimentation.”

Tony Arnold, Assistant Director of the Office of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engagement at MST said in a statement that the solar village will be used “as a research tool and testing center for microgrid technology, battery technology and system communications.” He believes that projects like the solar village need to be “scalable, replicable and flexible, so that we have the opportunity to test as many different scenarios as possible.” According to Arnold, major utilities, companies and the U.S. Army’s Prime Power School have expressed interest in the project.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...rid-technology

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California Farm Chooses the Sustainable Option with Solar
Published on 1 April 2014

REC Solar, a specialist in commercial solar electric system design and installation, today announced the completion of a 1MW solar energy system for Vignolo Farms. Located in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

Vignolo Farms will offset 75% of its energy use at its cold storage facility with the four-acre array while significantly reducing its carbon footprint.

The installation of the solar energy system is the capstone in the farm’s comprehensive sustainability portfolio, which includes on-site recycling of growing materials, drop irrigation to preserve water, and composting to enrich crops and reduce waste. Vignolo Farms, a third-generation, family-run farm that produces wine grapes and organic potatoes, is a leader in sustainable agricultural practices.
http://www.solarnovus.com/california...lar_N7614.html

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German Energy Cooperative Moves to a Direct Market Model
Written by Andreas Breyer 1 April 2014

Energy cooperatives are nothing new in the German landscape of renewables. Several hundred of them are active throughout the country; a lot are dealing with wind power, many others with PV energy and some with a mix of both or even with a share of biogas. So far, however, these cooperatives have only produced and not actively sold their energy because the German FiT was profitable and the goal was to feed as much power into the grid as possible. As an interesting side effect of this situation, there has never been a real link between the suppliers of the various eco-tariffs for consumers and the producers of clean energy. The green power just vanished in the grid and was mixed up there with energy from nuclear and fossil fuels.

This is changing, since the FiT rates for new installations are constantly decreasing. A pioneer in active commercialization of the produced green power is the energy cooperative EG Rittersdorf in Thuringia, which has built a 1.5MW solar plant and wants to become successively independent from FiT rates. For this, the cooperative has partnered with Grünstromwerk to market their solar power directly and in the very region where it is being produced. The Hamburg-based utility Grünstromwerk has specialized in PV energy and a decentralized power supply, and it has created an electricity tariff for end consumers that includes 25% solar power produced from the PV plant in Rittersdorf.
Regional tariffs can both strengthen the influence of ecologic thinking end consumers and the influence of energy cooperatives on the German Energiewende
The basic concept is as follows: Currently the PV plant mostly financed on the regular FiT rates. Grünstromwerk now offers to buy the solar power at a slightly better rate than the FiT from the cooperative. Through mixed calculation with 75% of cheaper water power, the utility can create a competitive tariff for end consumers. The more customers that opt to choose this tariff in the region, the more independent the PV plant becomes from all subsidies, as the produced power is marketed directly.
http://www.solarnovus.com/german-ene...del_N7608.html

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IEA: Solar PV meets more than 1% of electric demand in 15 nations

The International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power System Programme (IEA PVPS) has released a report which finds that PV is now meeting more than 1% of electricity demand in 15 nations. Globally, PV represents 0.85% of electricity production, and is expected to reach 1% in 2014.


This is led by Italy, where IEA estimates that PV is already meeting 7.8% of annual electric demand, compared to 3% in Europe overall. The report finds that PV is meeting 6.2% of German electric demand, and 5.8% of demand in Greece.

Nations crossing the 1% threshold in 2013 include Australia, Israel and Japan, however China and the United States have not yet reached this benchmark.

“PV has become a major source of electricity extremely rapidly in several countries all over the world,” notes IEA PVPS. “The speed of its development stems from its unique ability to cover most market segments; from the very small individual systems for rural electrification to utility-size power plants (today above 250 MW).”

“PV finds its way, from the built environment to large ground-mounted installations, depending on various criteria that make it suitable for most environments.”

134 GW deployed globally

“Snapshot of Global PV in 1992-2013” is the second annual edition of a report looking at the rise of solar photovoltaic (PV) technology over the last 21 years, finding that 134 GW of PV has now been installed globally.

The report estimates that PV deployed in 2013 grew 26% to at least 36.9 GW, however the agency notes that with additional installations not yet reported this number could be above 38 GW.

Europe and Asia trade places

This is after only 0.6% market growth in 2012, but 2013 growth occurred in different locations. The agency estimates that the Asia Pacific region grew to 59% of the global PV market in 2013, compared to Europe which fell from 59% of the global total in 2012 to 28% in 2013.

This is the first time in more than 10 years that Asia has been the largest PV market, instead of Europe. It also finds that more than 5 GW was deployed in the Americas for the first time in 2013, including 4.75 GW in the United States as the third-largest market.
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...5-nations.html
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Old Posted Apr 2, 2014, 3:45 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Apr 2, 2014
India to Award 1 Gigawatt of Solar Permits by 2015

April 2 (Bloomberg) — India plans to award licenses for an additional 1,000 megawatts of solar power plants in the next year, about 30 percent more than originally targeted and equivalent to about half the capacity built so far.

The government, however, scaled back its ambitions for an alternative technology called solar-thermal, which uses mirrors to focus sunlight to produce steam for conventional turbines.

India plans to set up only 100 megawatts of solar-thermal capacity, down from the 1,080 megawatts targeted in a December 2012 policy document, according to an agreement signed by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the state-run Solar Energy Corp. of India.

Projects using photovoltaic technology, which use panels to convert sunlight directly into electricity, have benefited from a more than 60 percent decline in equipment costs since 2010.

In contrast, solar-thermal plants in India have struggled with cost overruns and delays. Of eight projects that were supposed to be completed by May last year, only one owned by Godawari Power & Ispat Ltd. has been completed.
http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/indi...rmits-by-2015/
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...ermits-by-2015

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Apr 1, 2014
Dominion Quadruples Solar Power With 139 Megawatts in California

April 1 (Bloomberg) — Dominion Resources Inc., the third-largest U.S. utility owner, is buying 139 megawatts of solar capacity in California from Sharp Corp.’s Recurrent Energy, more than quadrupling its solar operations.

The six utility-scale projects will be in Fresno, Kern and Kings counties, and they all have long-term power-purchase agreements, Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion said in a statement today.

Dominion owns 41 megawatts of solar power spread among Georgia, Connecticut and Indiana, according to the statement. The California projects are expected to go into operation in late 2014 or early 2015. Terms of the sale weren’t disclosed.
http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/domi...in-california/

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Utility Exelon Wants to Kill Wind and Solar Subsidies While Keeping Nukes
Exelon is fighting renewables because they beat nuclear at new market needs. Xcel and NextEra back renewables.

Herman K. Trabish
April 1, 2014

Exelon, the biggest owner of U.S. nuclear power, has renewed its fight to kill wind’s production tax credit -- and if Exelon gets its way, solar’s investment tax credit may be next.

Sources say renewal of wind’s $0.023 per kilowatt-hour production tax credit (PTC), which expired at the end of 2013, will fight its way into the revision of the upcoming Senate Finance Committee’s tax extenders package.

The solar industry is already pushing for the Senate to revise its investment tax credit (ITC), which will drop from its present 30 percent level to 10 percent after December 31, 2016.

According to some sources, Exelon’s lobbying effort may make the PTC too controversial for some legislators to back in this election year, compelling some to ignore the ITC for as long as possible.

“This year, it’s the wind industry. Next year, it will be the solar industry,” said Joseph Dominguez, Exelon's Sr. VP of Policy and Regulatory Affairs. “We’re just handling these subsidies piecemeal instead of looking at the problem more holistically.”
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...-Keeping-Nukes

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Italy helps Egypt develop solar power
02. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends, Panorama | By: Edgar Meza

As part of the two countries' cooperation on environmental protection and sustainable development, Italy is providing aid for the development of solar facilities in El Fayoum.

Italy has provided Egypt with a EGP 3.5 million ($502,159) grant to develop solar power in the Wadi Al-Hitan region of El Fayoum Governorate's Wadi Al-Rayan wildlife reserve, according to Egyptian newspaper Daily News Egypt.

Citing a statement from the Ministry of Environment, the paper reported that the grant was offered as part of Egypt and Italy's cooperation in the fields of environmental protection and sustainable development.

Solar arrays built in the area are currently generating electricity for 19 buildings, said Mohamed Talaat, the head of the central administration for natural reserves, an affiliate of the Ministry of Environment.

Igor Marcialis, manager of the Commodity Aid Programme at the Italian Foreign Ministry’s Italian Cooperation, said the units’ production capacity currently stood at 43 kW per hour, adding that batteries could supply energy for three days while being separated from the station.

"The Italian side will provide the periodic maintenance of the units for two years," Talaat said, adding that workers in the Wadi Al-Hitan region have been trained to operate the solar energy units and perform periodic maintenance in the future.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...wer_100014691/

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Outlook for solar industry good despite current troubles, according to analysts
02. April 2014 | Markets & Trends, Investor news, Panorama | By: Peter Carvill

The solar industry is liable to have a great future despite currently being cowed by a faltering world economy and competition from Asia, according to a new report by management consultants McKinsey.

The Disruptive Potential of Solar Power outlines that despite the current hardships of the industry, solar power has a “disruptive potential” to adversely affect other areas of the market.

In the introduction, the authors state, “The bottom line [is that] the financial crisis, cheap natural gas, subsidy cuts by cash-strapped governments, and a flood of imports from Chinese solar-panel manufacturers have profoundly challenged the industry’s short-term performance. But they haven’t undermined its potential; indeed, global installations have continued to rise—by over 50% a year, on average, since 2006. The industry is poised to assume a bigger role in global energy markets; as it evolves, its impact on businesses and consumers will be significant and widespread. Utilities will probably be the first, but far from the only, major sector to feel solar’s disruptive potential.”

The report looks at four areas - Economic Fundamentals, Business Consumption and Investment, Disruptive Potential, and Broader Management Implications - in its analysis.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...sts_100014689/

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Global PV demand to exceed 50GW in next 12 months, says NPD Solarbuzz
By Mark Osborne - 02 April 2014, 13:17
In News, Power Generation, Market Watch

According to NPD Solarbuzz, global PV demand in the first quarter of 2014 set a new record high, the fifth year in a row that a quarterly record was set in the first quarter.

The market research firm said that demand in the quarter increased by 35% to over 9GW, compared to the previous first-quarter record set in 2013. End-market demand was said to have been driven by Japan and the UK, which combined accounted for more than one-third of demand as well as setting new quarterly records for PV deployed.

“The record demand added by the PV industry is the fifth straight year that a quarterly record has been set at the start of the year,” said Michael Barker, senior analyst at NPD Solarbuzz. “While demand during the first quarter typically sets the low point for the year, deployment levels during this quarter provide an excellent means of benchmarking demand for the rest of the coming year.”

As a result, the research firm said that the trailing 12-month demand indicates that the PV market is almost at the 40GW level and poised to go beyond the 50GW level in the next 12 months.

“Purely on a pro-rata basis, the first quarter of 2014 provides strong confidence that 2014 solar PV demand will indeed reach, and possibly even surpass, NPD Solarbuzz’s 2014 full-year forecast of 49GW,” Barker noted.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/global_p..._npd_solarbuzz
http://www.solarnovus.com/global-sol...014_N7618.html

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Hanergy Solar planning 400MW PV power plant in Ghana
By Mark Osborne - 02 April 2014, 11:05
In News, Thin Film, CIGS, Silicon TF, Power Generation, Project Focus

Hanergy Solar said it was in the early stages of developing a 400MW PV power plant in the Northern Region of Ghana at an estimated cost of approximately US$1.1 billion.

The company said that Savanna Solar, in which Hanergy Solar has a 70% equity holding, had secured a 25 year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the relevant authority in Ghana in June 2013.

Hanergy Solar also noted that an investment holding company, Savanna Pride, which the thin-film firm had a 30% stake in, was also partnering on the project. The grid connection agreement as well as the transfer of land use rights from Savanna Pride were said to be pending, though such matters were expected to be completed in May 2014.

Hanergy Power Group was said to have been responsible for the investments in Savanna Solar and Savanna Pride.

The company said that the project would be one of the largest thin-film solar power projects in the world and the first large-scale project by Hanergy Solar in Africa.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/hanergy_...plant_in_ghana

Quote:
Solar set for ‘disruptive’ future as costs fall, says McKinsey
By Ben Willis - 02 April 2014, 12:24
In News, Power Generation, Market Watch

A report by influential consultancy McKinsey has painted an upbeat assessment of solar’s future prospects despite recent problems from overcapacity, subsidy cuts and a global financial crash.

The report ‘The disruptive power of solar’ said the economics of solar were “improving” even in the face of pressures such as competing resources such as cheap gas, government support cuts, competition and an economic downturn.

These factors had “profoundly challenged the industry’s short-term performance”, the report said. “But they haven’t undermined its potential; indeed global installations have continued to rise – by over 50% a year, on average, since 2006,” the report added.

As a result, McKinsey said solar was “poised to assume a bigger role in global energy markets; as it evolves, its impact on businesses and consumers will be significant and widespread”.

McKinsay said utility companies would “probably be the first, but far from the only” major sector to feel solar’s disruptive potential.

In its analysis of solar’s economic fundamentals, McKinsey highlighted how ongoing improvements in technology and in falling ‘soft’ costs would result in costs to consumers falling to US$1.6/watt by 2020.

This would put solar within eceonomic “striking distance” of traditional generation technologies.

“That’s true not just for residential and commercial segments, where it is already cost competitive in many (though not all) geographies, but also, eventually, for industrial and wholesale markets,” the report said.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/solar_se..._says_mckinsey

Quote:
Tiny crystals to boost solar

A new approach to studying solar panel absorber materials has been developed by researchers in France, [Lafond et al. (2014). Acta Cryst. (2014). B70, 390–394]. The technique could accelerate the development of non-toxic and readily available alternatives to current absorbers in thin film based solar cells.

The development of solar panel materials that are both non-toxic and made from readily available elements rather than rare and precious metals is a priority in developing a sustainable technology. Sulfide materials containing the relatively common metals copper, tin and zinc, so called kesterites, have been proposed as solar cell absorber materials because they comply with these two demands. Experimental solar cells using Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) have demonstrated energy conversion efficiencies of 8.4% and 12% for a seleno-sulfide analogue. New structural information is crucial to improving on these figures still further.

Unfortunately, kesterites are not amenable to conventional X-ray diffraction because copper and zinc ions are indistinguishable. Now, Alain Lafond and his colleagues at Nantes University and Pierre Fertey from Soleil synchrotron have demonstrated that it is possible to carry out resonant diffraction of a single crystal of the semiconductor CZTS.

The powdered precursor was prepared using a ceramic synthesis at a high temperature (1023 K) from the corresponding element Cu, Zn, Sn and S. The product is heated for a further 96 hours to anneal it before it is plunged into ice-water to lock in the chemical structure present at that elevated temperature, a process known as quenching. Tiny single crystals of sufficient quality for X-ray diffraction were picked out of the powder. The researchers used laboratory powder X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyses to test the purity of their product. They then carried out high-performance resonant diffraction on the CRISTAL beamline at the Soleil French synchrotron, which gives them the possibility to adjust the radiation wavelength in order to enhance the contrast between copper and zinc.
http://www.iucr.org/news/research-ne...to-boost-solar

Quote:
GeS nanosheets and nanowires

Researchers in China, [J. Appl. Cryst. (2014). 47, 527-531] have found a convenient way to selectively prepare germanium sulfide nanostructures, including nanosheets and nanowires, that are more active than their bulk counterparts and could open the way to lower cost and safer optoelectronics, solar energy conversion and faster computer circuitry.

Germanium monosulfide, GeS, is emerging as one of the most important "IV–VI" semiconductor materials with potential in opto-electronics applications for telecommunications and computing, and as an absorber of light for use in solar energy conversion. One important property is its much lower toxicity and environmental impact when compared to other semiconductors made with cadmium, lead and mercury. It is less costly than other materials made with rare and noble metal elements. Indeed, glassy GeS has been used in lasers, fibre optic devices and infrared lenses as well as rewritable optical discs and non-volatile memory devices for several years. It is also used extensively as a solid electrolyte in conductive bridging random access memory (RAM) devices.

The repertoire of this material might be extended much further with the extra control that its use as nanostructured systems might allow. Liang Shi and Yumei Dai of the University of Science and Technology of China, in Hefei, point out that research in this area has lagged behind that with other IV-VI semiconductors. They hope to change that and have focused on how nanosheets and nanowires of GeS might be readily formed. They have used X-ray powder diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry and scanning electron microscopy to investigate the structure, morphology, composition and optical absorption properties of their samples.

The team used simple "wet" chemistry to synthesis their products using germanium dichloride-dioxane complex, thiourea and oleylamine (OLA) as starting materials. The ingredients were mixed in a sealed reaction flask, blasted with ultrasound to exclude air and then stirred and heated. The team was able to make nanosheets of GeS this way if the process was carried out for several hours at 593 Kelvin. At higher temperature, 613 Kelvin, they found that the sheets wind up into nanowires. Indeed, the precise heating time and temperature allowed them to control the structure of the final product. The team suggests that the rolling up of the nanosheets into nanowires is driven by the surface tension between the sheet and the OLA molecules during the heating.
http://www.iucr.org/news/research-ne...-and-nanowires
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-nan040114.php
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0401102912.htm

Quote:
Solar Frontier sets new world record for thin-film solar PV with 20.9% efficient CIGS cell

Solar Frontier KK (Tokyo) has achieved a 20.9% conversion efficiency with a 0.5 square centimeter copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS or CIS) solar photovoltaic (PV) cell, as verified by the Fraunhofer Institute.


This narrowly beats the CIGS PV record of 20.8% efficiency set by the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden – Württemberg (ZSW, Stuttgart, Germany) in October 2013. Solar Frontier's 20.9% cell sets a new world record not only for CIGS PV technology but for all single-junction thin-film PV technologies.

“Solar Frontier’s new 20.9% efficiency record resulted from a CIS cell cut from a 30cm by 30cm substrate produced using a sputtering-selenization formation method - the same method we use in our factories,” notes Solar Frontier Chief Technology Officer Satoru Kuriyagawa.

“The significance is twofold: it ensures we can transfer our latest achievement into mass production faster, and it proves the long-term conversion efficiency potential of Solar Frontier’s proprietary CIS technology. Solar Frontier has entered into the next phase in the development of CIS technology, and we look forward to building on this achievement and driving our efficiency even higher.”
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...cigs-cell.html

Quote:
U.S. DOE identifies initiatives to advance solar technologies for reducing building energy use

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released a report which lists 15 priority initiatives to advance solar thermal and other building-integrated solar technologies, in an effort to support its goals for reducing energy consumption in residential and commercial buildings.


Many of the research and development needs identified by DOE's Building Technology Office (BTO) involve controls and software, including tools to compare the benefits of solar thermal and other renewable energy technologies in a given installation. BTO also is looking to evaluate optimal configurations for solar photovoltaic (PV)-driven electric water heating.

Greatest energy savings potential found for space heating & cooling

The study by Navigant Consulting (Chicago) analyzes a range of BIST, including multiple solar thermal technologies and building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV). It does not look at utility-scale PV or traditional rooftop PV.

Among solar thermal technologies, the report found the greatest energy savings in solar water heating at 60% and solar space cooling at 40%. However, as these represent only a part of building energy use, the overall savings potential was highest for solar space cooling and solar space heating at 6% each.

BTO aims to reduce energy use in residential and commercial buildings 50% by 2030.
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...nergy-use.html

Quote:
03/27/2014 05:01 PM
Crowdfunding for Solar, Wind Reaching Fevered Pitch
SustainableBusiness.com News

"We can't leave this kind of clean investment up to governments, which are cutting their own debts and are only worried about winning the next election," British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood told Bloomberg. "Nor can we leave it up to investment banks, with their short-term profit motivations."

She's referring to people investing directly in wind and solar through crowdfunding on the web.

In the US, Mosaic is making a hit, but interest is just as strong in Europe. In the UK, such projects raised 51.2 million pounds last year, almost 7% of all crowdfunding projects, according to the UK Crowd Funding Association, reports Bloomberg.

UK clean energy crowdfunding platforms Trillion and Abundance Generation started up last year and are projecting returns of 6-9% for investors.

Solar and wind are ideal crowdfunding targets because once they are installed they produce reliable, long term returns.

SolarCity made news when it recently announced it will launch an online marketplace where everyone can invest in its solar portfolio.

While banks now lend to big solar projects, they still aren't much interested in the small ones - which are the vast majority.
http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/i...splay/id/25612
http://www.greenvc.org/crowdfunding.html

Quote:
Utilities, solar advocates work together on South Carolina bill
By Kathy Larsen
April 1, 2014

Dive Brief:
  • South Carolina, which has no significant renewable power program, is making one for itself. But reports about it will have to forego use of the war vocabulary that characterizes renewables negotiations elsewhere – apparently, there are no battle lines.
  • Instead, lawmakers, green energy advocates and utilities speak of collaborating on provisions of a solar power package they all can live with. The bill would allow solar leasing companies to sell rooftop solar systems and the electricity from them.
  • The state Senate hopes to act on the bill by May 1 so it can get House examination and passage before the legislative session ends June 5. After marathon drafting meetings, the compromise measure is being passed around now for perusal.
  • But no one is saying that it has been a simple negotiation. Utilities in South Carolina have the same concerns utilities elsewhere have been raising alarms about, among them the worry that net metering rates for rooftop solar are too high. Green power advocates argue that paltry incentives will stifle development, so details of the legislation matter a great deal.

Dive Insight:

This degree of apparently collegial collaboration is far from the norm. What also appears unusual is the goal of writing a bill that will last, instead of one that everyone expects to overhaul next year. There may need to be tweaks, but the goal is to make something that will stand for years. Some suggested that the reason South Carolina is buckling down to do this is due to the worry that it has fallen behind on the green power front, which makes it look behind the times and could also hurt its ability to draw businesses that care about such things.
http://www.utilitydive.com/news/util...a-bill/246145/

Quote:
RENEWABLES: S.C. takes 'deliberate' steps toward solar
Kristi E. Swartz, E&E reporter
EnergyWire: Tuesday, April 1, 2014

South Carolina has laid the groundwork to significantly expand its use of solar.

There are no lofty renewable goals or thousands of megawatts of rooftop solar systems and farms under contract.

But the framework is there to loosen restrictions on net metering, create financing arrangements for solar panels and encourage utilities to add more solar to their electricity mix.

The fanfare behind the new renewable energy proposal isn't in the legislation, now sitting in a Senate committee, according to those involved in the process. It may be more that the measure came together without anyone publicly using words like "battle" or "fight."

Instead, utilities and environmental advocates interviewed by EnergyWire have called the process "collaborative" and consider the draft legislation an opportunity for South Carolina. More importantly, they say it could be a blueprint for other Southeastern states.

"Across the South, states like North Carolina and Georgia have already moved to take advantage of local, affordable solar power, and this compromise legislation is what South Carolinians have been waiting for," said Katie Ottenweller, leader of Southern Environmental Law Center's Solar Initiative, in a statement. "With smart, forward-looking policies in place, the state's solar market can and will grow rapidly, bringing enormous benefits to the people of South Carolina."

The bill amends a 2013 measure (S.B. 536) that would open the door for solar companies, such as SunRun and SolarCity, to sell solar panels as well as the electricity at a fixed rate over a 10- or 20-year time frame. Doing so would let a homeowner or business finance the panels and alleviate pricey upfront costs, making solar more economical right away.

Other state legislatures have taken up similar proposals. And, as the utilities have in those states, the South Carolina electric companies stepped in, arguing that those private solar companies would be illegally operating as utilities.

Companies shouldn't be selling electricity if they are not regulated by the state's Public Service Commission, the utilities said.

Other Southeastern states, including Georgia, Florida and North Carolina, prohibit third-party sales for solar and other renewables. Leasing solar panels is OK, however, the utilities in those states say.

Such laws in those states and in South Carolina are vague, according to the solar industry and others. Clearing up that gray area in South Carolina was a key driver for amending S.B. 536, said Hamilton Davis, energy and climate director for the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League.

"Our key leaders in the Legislature basically said, 'If you guys, the utilities, don't want this, then bring us something you can live with, because we need to move forward with solar in South Carolina,'" said Davis, one of the dozens who had a key role in drafting the new legislation.
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059997059
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  #426  
Old Posted Apr 3, 2014, 4:36 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Quote:
Solar Power Plant In A Box — Panasonic’s Power Supply Container

Providing dependable electricity to remote areas of the world will increase the opportunity for improved life and education possibilities for many people. Panasonic has demonstrated commitment to this endeavor with a new development, an expandable, portable, self-contained photovoltaic system with batteries.

http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/03/...ply-container/

Quote:
Why It’s Still Too Early to Bet on Residential Energy Storage in the United States
Sam Jaffe — April 1, 2014

SolarCity announced recently that it is discontinuing the residential energy storage product that it rolled out in California 2 years ago. The company put the blame on the shoulders of utilities, which SolarCity said were stalling permitting of its new units. But, in fact, SolarCity has only itself to blame for the failure of its product.

That’s because the company never stopped to ask why a residential customer would want a battery storage system. In some cases, such as with off-grid homeowners and homeowners (such as indoor horticulture enthusiasts) with very expensive equipment that needs reserve power, batteries are a requirement. But the typical homeowner gets no financial advantage from shifting power from one point in the day to another. Rates that would allow such an advantage, known as time-of-use rates, are rarely offered by utilities to residential ratepayers. Because residential photovoltaic power is usually net-metered, meaning that homeowners can receive credit for putting energy back onto the grid, there’s no reason why a solar homeowner would receive a financial advantage from storing energy.
http://www.navigantresearch.com/blog...-united-states

Quote:
Record-Breaking Demand for Global Solar PV Industry in Q1’14, According to NPD Solarbuzz
Solar PV industry poised to exceed 50 GW within a 12-month period for the first time


Santa Clara, Calif., April 2, 2014—New solar photovoltaic (PV) demand added during Q1’14 exceeded 9 GW, which was 35% more than the previous first-quarter record, set last year. In fact, every quarter in 2014 is forecast to reach new highs, with trailing 12-month demand at the end of Q1’15 forecast to exceed 50 GW for the first time, according to findings in the latest NPD Solarbuzz Quarterly report.

The record level of demand achieved in the first quarter was driven by strong growth in Japan and the United Kingdom. These two countries combined accounted for more than one-third of global solar PV demand in Q1’14 and set new quarterly records for PV deployed.

“This is the fifth straight year that a quarterly record has been set at the start of the year,” said Michael Barker, senior analyst at NPD Solarbuzz. “While demand during the first quarter typically sets the low point for the year, deployment levels during this quarter provide an excellent means of benchmarking demand for the rest of the coming year.”

Solar PV demand during the first quarter typically accounts for up to 20% of annual demand. For example, Q1'13 demand for nearly 7 GW was followed by full-year demand above 37 GW. “Purely on a pro-rata basis, Q1’14 provides strong confidence that 2014 solar PV demand will indeed reach, and possibly even surpass, the NPD Solarbuzz full-year forecast of 49 GW in 2014,” Barker noted.

With Q1’14 now closed, the trailing 12-month demand suggests that the true size of the industry today is almost 40 GW. By the end of Q1’15, the PV industry will likely break through the pivotal 50 GW barrier, bringing the industry much closer to rational supply and demand levels.
http://www.solarbuzz.com/news/recent...-npd-solarbuzz
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...pan_100014725/
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/soar...-2014-15-28055

Quote:
Romania adds 850 MW in past eight months despite incentive cuts
03. April 2014 | Markets & Trends, Panorama, Industry & Suppliers, Global PV markets, Top News | By: Ilias Tsagas

The country is also increasingly working with Turkey on a number of ambitious energy projects, including a plans to build 1 GW of capacity and a 450-kilometer-long submarine electricity line connecting the two countries.

The cumulative solar PV capacity in Romania reached 1,054.621 MW at the beginning of March, according to Transelectrica, Romania's transmission company and electricity system operator.

Of these, 834 MW of new photovoltaic capacity were installed in 2013, namely 175.5 MW in the first six months and 658.5 MW in the second half of the year, Transelectrica told pv magazine.

An additional 192.621 MW of solar PV capacity were installed in January and February this year, Transelectrica said.

The dramatic growth is seen as a huge success for solar energy in Romania given that PV capacity at the end of 2012 was only 28 MW in the country.

In July, Transelectrica CEO Stefan-Doru Bucataru told pv magazine there were a further 4.6 GW of solar PV projects with either a technical connection or connection contracts and that according to investor data provided to the electricity operator in 2013, about 2.7 GW would begin operation.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...uts_100014724/

Quote:
Mexican president inaugurates one of Latin America's largest solar farms
03. April 2014 | Markets & Trends, Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers | By: Peter Carvill

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto dedicated the 39 MW Aura Solar I farm on 26 March. The plant is slated to produce 82 GWh per year, which should fulfill the energy needs of 65% of the households in the city of La Paz.

The project is part of the Latin American country's move towards having 35% of its energy come from clean sources by 2024. In supplying power to Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), Mexico's national grid, under a two-decade PPA, it will quadruple the installed solar capacity in the country.

Gauss Energia was the developer of Aura Solar I. Hector Olea, its president and CEO, said, “Aura Solar is an important platform to encourage the installation of more solar facilities in Mexico. We are confident that this will trigger a new solar industry in the country.”

The site has an operational life of three decades and has been built with an upfront investment of $100 million, three-quarters of which came through debt financing via the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Mexico's Nacional Financiera. Technological backing for the programme has come from Martifer. The IFC also contributed financial structuring to the project. An additional loan of $10 million was provided by Nacional Financiera as a separate value added tax facility.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...rms_100014731/

Quote:
New York's Long Island to add 100 MW of solar generation
03. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends, Panorama | By: Edgar Meza

As part of a new auction, PSEG Long Island has set the final bid price of $0.1688 per kilowatt hour for PV systems of various sizes that are expected to be constructed across Long Island.

Utilities group PSEG Long Island in the U.S. state of New York has announced the results for the second Clean Solar Initiative in Long Island.

The feed-in-tariff program builds upon the Long Island Power Authority's first feed-in tariff for solar energy and is designed to bring an additional 100 MW of solar energy to Long Island, part of the New York metropolitan area that comprises the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens as well as the state counties of Nassau, and Suffolk.

*snip*

PSEG Long Island said the decline in price reflected a number of important factors:
  • Increased consumer awareness, understanding, availability and demand for solar energy
  • Competition among a growing solar industry on Long Island
  • Ongoing decline in costs of manufacturing and installing solar
  • Federal, state and local tax incentives

The company said the success of the feed-in-tariff program ensured continued growth and diversification of Long Island's renewable energy portfolio.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ion_100014727/

Quote:
String Inverters Increasingly Used in Megawatt-Scale PV Projects; Chinese Products and Microinverters Gaining Acceptance
Category: Design & Supply Chain, Design & Supply Chain Media
Thursday, April 3, 2014 5:00 am EDT

String Inverters Increasingly Used in Megawatt-Scale PV Projects; Chinese Products and Microinverters Gaining Acceptance

London (April 3, 2014)—In a sign of their growing acceptance, string inverters are increasingly being considered in megawatt (MW)-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems, with over 40 percent of inverter buyers regarding them as suitable for use in systems larger than 1 MW, according to a new report from IHS Technology (NYSE: IHS).

In an IHS survey, more than 300 solar installers, distributors and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies were asked about their preferences and opinions on PV inverters, in order to help suppliers better understand the needs and requirements of their customers.

Of the more than 200 purchasers of PV string inverters that completed the survey, 80 percent indicated they might use string inverters in systems larger than 100 kilowatts (kW). All told, nearly half reported they would consider using the inverters in systems larger than 1 MW, as shown in the attached figure. This marks a huge increase from the previous year’s survey when only 17 percent considered using string inverters in systems larger than 1 MW.

“The survey confirmed that the acceptance of string inverters in large systems has accelerated over the last year, mirroring the IHS forecast that these products will gain share in several key PV markets,” said Cormac Gilligan, senior PV market analyst at IHS. “The most common reasons given for solar purchasers preferring string inverters increasingly over central inverters in large systems were better system design flexibility, minimizing losses in the case of failure and lower lifetime system costs.”

IHS predicts that low power three-phase inverter shipments will increase by 14 percent a year on average for the next four years, with annual shipments of nearly 20 gigawatts (GW) in 2017.

PV inverters convert the direct current (DC) electricity produced by solar panels into alternating current (AC). In the past, the use of string inverters has been limited to small-scale PV installations.
http://press.ihs.com/press-release/d...-projects-chin

Quote:
European Investment Bank earmarks €750 million for French renewables projects
By Ben Willis - 03 April 2014, 12:00
In News, Power Generation, Finance

The European Investment Bank is to provide €750 million (US$1 billion) to support renewable energy development in France over the next two years.

EIB will cover 50% of the funding needed for selected solar, wind and other renewable energy projects with a capital cost of €50 million (US$68.8 million) or less.

The EIB will deliver the programme through partner banks, Société Générale, Credit Agricole and BPCE, which will be responsible for choosing projects and structuring their financing.

Public or private entities will be able to take advantage of the funding.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/european...wables_project

Quote:
Exclusive: Lightsource connects 227MW of solar in March alone
By Peter Bennett | 03 April 2014, 8:55 Updated: 03 April 2014, 10:56

Lightsource Renewable Energy has revealed that it connected 26 solar farms across the UK in March.

The solar farms totalled 227MW of capacity added to the grid before the available renewable obligation rate dropped in April.

Nick Boyle, CEO of Lightsource, describes his company's record-breaking to Solar Power Portal, including how Lightsource managed to connect 16 projects in one weekend by helicoptering technicians between individual sites:
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne...rch_alone_2356

Video Link


Quote:
National Solar Schools Consortium Aims to Put Solar on Every School in the US
Published on 3 April 2014

Nonprofit organizations and solar companies from across the nation today announced the launch of the National Solar Schools Consortium at the widely-attended National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Conference, which began today in Boston, Massachusetts (US).

The goal of the Consortium is to act as a unified voice for the growing solar schools movement, promoting the use of solar energy on K-12 and post-secondary schools, consolidating and coordinating current and future solar curriculum and resource development, and providing tools designed to help schools explore solar energy options both on campus and in the surrounding community.

The stated goals include solar on 20,000 schools and universities; 200 school districts with solar schools initiatives; and 2000 member organizations.

To kick off its efforts, Consortium representatives will be presenting at several workshops at the NSTA Conference, held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. During these presentations, teachers and other education professionals will be encouraged to share their needs for expanding access to solar energy and related educational resources for their schools. Interested stakeholders can also communicate these needs by completing a brief form on the Consortium website.
http://www.solarnovus.com/national-s...-us_N7620.html

Video Link


Quote:
Solar industry is here to stay – and grow
3 Apr 2014
The Globe and Mail (Ottawa/Quebec Edition)
BRIAN MILNER

Solar power has long been dismissed as too expensive, unreliable and dependent on un-economic state subsidies to become anything more than a minor contributor to energy capacity in major markets. But the evidence points to a brightening outlook for the survivors of the solar wars, even as subsidies begin to fade and solar’s share of electricity output remains minuscule.

The costs of capital, equipment and installation are falling dramatically and capacity is growing at a steady pace, while electricity prices in general are rising, McKinsey & Co. says in a report highlighting solar’s “disruptive potential.” All of this is putting solar on a more competitive footing with other energy sources and enticing more key markets such as Japan, where the government hopes solar can replace a big chunk of its nuclear capacity. Even oil kingpin Saudi Arabia intends to ratchet up its solar capacity, though the kingdom is motivated more by the opportunity to create jobs than by any concerns about the depletion of non-renewable resources.

All of this is paving the way for major changes in the way utilities and other key sectors of the economy operate. Their old business models will soon be turned on their heads.

“The industry is poised to assume a bigger role in global energy markets,” the McKinsey report says. As the industry evolves, “its impact on businesses and consumers will be significant and widespread.”

*snip*

It’s too early to predict the winners from these coming fundamental shifts in the marketplace. But it’s a safe bet that the stronger solar performers will be those that have followed the path blazed by previous energy innovators, who sought to control all the revenue-producing aspects of their business.

As the collapse of dozens of solar-panel makers has shown, putting all your eggs in manufacturing – a part of the business ripe for commoditization – isn’t the ideal growth strategy. Look instead to the consolidators that amass sizeable footprints in development, financing, installation and servicing.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...ticle17779989/

Last edited by amor de cosmos; Apr 3, 2014 at 6:44 PM.
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  #427  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2014, 4:41 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Apr 4, 2014
Solar Cheaper Than LNG in Asia for Power, Bernstein Says

April 4 (Bloomberg) — Solar power is cheaper in many parts of Asia than electricity from liquefied natural gas, meaning photovoltaics don’t need subsidies to compete with fossil fuels.

The Middle East will consume less oil, off-grid areas in developing markets will reduce kerosene and diesel demand, while Asia, the U.S. and Europe will burn less gas as the adoption of solar accelerates, according to a report by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

The market for costly plants built to supply electricity at peak daytime hours could collapse, while distribution utilities which shut out rooftop solar projects that reduce demand for grid power will drive consumers to start storing energy in batteries, according to the report. The rise of solar may begin to depress fossil-fuel prices within the decade.

“All of the above eats away – at the margin – at oil and gas demand,” analysts Michael W. Parker and Flora Chang said in the report. “It competes with oil, kerosene, diesel and LNG in developing markets.”

Solar’s penetration into the $5 trillion global energy trade is still too small for it to disturb pricing in any market, they said. However, it’s a technology that’s set to get bigger and cheaper, whereas fossil-fuel extraction costs will keep rising, according to the report.

Solar accounted for only 0.17 percent of energy in 2012. Within a decade, it may begin to displace a significant share of oil and gas supply and start to depress prices, according to the report.

“Global energy deflation would become inevitable,” they said. “Technology with a falling cost structure would be driving prices in the energy space.”

If oil and gas producers start to expect a world of deflating energy prices, they may be less inclined to sit on large reserves and may begin pumping faster, according to the report.
http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/sola...ernstein-says/

Quote:
Apr 4, 2014
Boeing-Built Guam Solar Plant to Generate Cheapest Power

April 4 (Bloomberg) — Boeing Co. is building Guam’s first solar plant, which will help the Pacific island generate electricity more cheaply than from the imported fuel oil and diesel it currently burns.

Boeing, the world’s largest planemaker, is handling engineering, procurement and construction of the 25-megawatt project for the plant’s owner, Princeton, New Jersey-based NRG Energy Inc., NRG spokesman Jeff Holland said in an e-mail. Three Boeing spokesmen didn’t immediately respond to e-mailed questions after hours.

The solar plant is expected to save Guam, a Pacific U.S. territory, $300 million in fuel costs and will produce power at the lowest cost on average than any other generation source on the island at present, according to NRG.
http://about.bnef.com/bnef-news/boei...heapest-power/

Quote:
Jaguar Land Rover flicks switch on UK's largest rooftop solar system
More than 21,000 panels set to provide 30 per cent of new Engine Manufacturing Centre's energy requirements

By BusinessGreen staff
04 Apr 2014

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has completed the UK's largest rooftop solar array at its £500m Engine Manufacturing Centre in the West Midlands.

The 5.8MW system consists of more than 21,000 photovoltaic (PV) panels and the company plans to extend this to 6.3MW by the end of the year.

It estimates the array will generate more than 30 per cent of the Engine Manufacturing Centre's energy requirements and reduce the plant's CO2 footprint by around 2,400 tonnes per year.

The site has achieved a BREEAM ‘Excellent' rating through a range of efficiency measures, including heating and lighting systems designed to minimise energy demand, insulated cladding, maximising daylight through the roof design and harnessing natural ventilation via an automatic louver.
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news...p-solar-system

Quote:
Solar sector beats floods to install 1GW before April subsidy cuts
News comes as Greg Barker and Michael Gove launch campaign to encourage more schools to fit solar arrays

By Jessica Shankleman
03 Apr 2014

The UK solar sector has installed around 1GW of new capacity across rooftops and land since the start of this year, despite the record levels of flooding that threatened to prevent developers meeting a planned subsidy cut this week.

A number of developers this week confirmed they managed to complete large scale arrays ahead of the 1 April deadline, when support falls from from 1.6 to 1.4 Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) per MWh.

Paul Barwell, chief executive of the Solar Trade Association (STA), predicted large arrays accredited through the ROC system accounted for around three quarters of 1GW installed with the rest made up of smaller rooftop schemes registered under the feed-in tariff mechanism.

If the figures for latest installation figures are confirmed by Ofgem, it will mean the UK now has around 4GW of solar capacity installed, which is the equivalent electricity consumption of 1.2 million homes.
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/anal...l-subsidy-cuts

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Greg Barker: Solar energy should be default option for UK businesses
Energy and Climate Change Minister says new strategy will provide a major boost to commercial solar rooftop sector

By Will Nichols
04 Apr 2014

The government's new solar strategy will ensure producing their own energy becomes the "natural default" for companies across the UK, Greg Barker has today predicted.

The Energy and Climate Change Minister today announced a series of measures aimed at boosting the uptake of solar systems on commercial rooftops, as the government works towards meeting its non-binding goal of seeing 20GW of solar energy capacity deployed in the UK by the end of the decade.

The proposed reforms include easing planning requirements for larger systems, working with industry to drive down the cost of solar energy further, and establishing a group within the Cabinet Office to identify sites across the government estate for up to 1GW of solar capacity.

BusinessGreen understands the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) is also working on a new band within the feed-in tariff support scheme for commercial solar rooftop systems that is likely to be announced later this year and would help to make solar arrays on offices, factories, and supermarket roofs more financially attractive.

Jaguar Land Rover, Toyota, and Southend Airport are among the more high-profile solar rooftop systems unveiled in the UK in recent months, but the country is still some distance behind the rates of deployment seen in the US where companies such as IKEA, Walmart, Costco, and Apple have driven the deployment around 3.5GW of commercial solar capacity.

Barker told BusinessGreen there is "massive untapped potential" for solar systems on UK factories, supermarkets, retail parks, and other commercial buildings with an estimated 250,000 hectares of south facing commercial rooftops available.

"If you look at where deployment is we're seeing strong growth in domestic and in large-scale solar arrays, but where we're under-deploying is in mid-sized solar - and that's almost a mirror image of where growth has been in Europe to date," he said. "I want to make on-site generation the natural default for all UK businesses and solar is one of the most obvious technologies for any onsite generation to start with."
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/inte...-uk-businesses

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UK government unveils Solar Strategy
04. April 2014 | Markets & Trends | By: Max Hall

The U.K. government today unveiled the European Union's first dedicated national solar strategy in the English West Midlands. The government's strategy is a shift in emphasis away from solar farms into utilizing south-facing commercial rooftops.

Greg Barker, the United Kingdom's minister for energy and climate change, unveiled the strategy at the new Sunsolar factory in Oldbury near Birmingham. The Solar Strategy aims to double the number of U.K. solar homes to one million by next year, install 20 GW of solar by 2020, and implement 1 GW of solar on government-owned infrastructure.

Barker said, “There is massive potential to turn our large buildings into power stations and we must seize the opportunity this offers to boost our economy as part of our long term economic plan. Solar not only benefits the environment, it will see British job creation and deliver the clean and reliable energy supplies that the country needs at the lowest possible cost to consumers.”
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...egy_100014748/

Quote:
UK launches Europe’s first dedicated solar strategy
By Peter Bennett - 04 April 2014, 11:50
In News, PV Modules, Market Watch

The UK has become the first European government to publish a dedicated solar PV strategy.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) published the long-awaited Solar Strategy today, designed to enact a “further step change in deployment” for solar in the UK.

The strategy places particular emphasis on encouraging the deployment of rooftop solar, especially the underperforming commercial-scale sector. In addition, the strategy confirms that the government is targeting one million solar homes by 2015. There was potentially ominous news for the UK’s booming ground-mount sector however. The UK is set to overtake Germany for the first quarter of 2014 as the largest European market for PV deployment.

Launching the Solar Strategy, energy minister Greg Barker said: “We have managed to put ourselves among the world leaders on solar and this strategy will help us stay there. There is massive potential to turn our large buildings into power stations and we must seize the opportunity this offers to boost our economy.

“Solar not only benefits the environment, it has the potential to create thousands of jobs across the region and deliver the clean and reliable energy supplies that the country needs at the lowest possible cost to consumers.”

Chief executive for the UK's Solar Trade Association, Paul Barwell, praised the government’s move, he said: “Solar has not only been recognised by DECC as a key UK technology, but now has its own dedicated strategy – the first in Europe. Minister Greg Barker has championed solar power specifically because he knows it has the greatest potential to empower millions of people across the UK with low-cost green energy. Solar will also provide thousands of good quality local jobs.”

*snip*

Talking to PV Tech, Ray Noble, co-chair of the strategy commented: “The hard work has now been done in pulling together all of the facts, ensuring that all understand the issues, identifying barriers to future growth, and ensuring that the benefits of solar are fully understood. The Solar Strategy should provide the necessary comfort to all types of potential customers that solar in the UK makes total sense.

“We still have work to do in developing solutions to some of the barriers but working with government these will be sorted during 2014.

Noble concluded: “The message to the solar industry is full speed ahead, and the message to the minister is we will achieve your ambition of 20GW.”
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/uk_launc...solar_strategy

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Graphs of the Day: Australia’s plunging cost of solar
By Giles Parkinson on 4 April 2014

It’s a pretty consistent theme on RenewEconomy, but given the apparent ignorance in the mainstream media, it’s worth banging on about: solar energy is delivering cheap energy to Australia’s home and businesses.

Here a few graphs that bring some new insight into the falling cost of rooftop solar PV in Australia – both for households and for businesses.

They were prepared by Patrick Greene, the business development manager for solar developer Ingenero at the 2XEP conference in Sydney. Some will be surprised by their conclusions.

Greene fed his calculations into the NREL online calculator to come up with estimates for the levellised cost of energy for rooftop solar at commercial scale rooftops (100kW or more), and for smaller rooftop systems.

It gives three figures on LCOE, based on various estimates of the “discount rate” – the value of money over time – with around 7 per cent being about the standard. At this rate, and not including large scale renewable energy certificates, the LCOE of rooftop solar is 14.1c/kWh.

The second number shows what it means for smaller systems, which get another form of certificate, known as STCs, as an upfront payment. According to Greene’s calculations, the value of solar is now below 10c/kWh. To get the subsidy free price would require adding about 30 per cent back into the cost.

“People are told that solar is too expensive,” Greene says. “But we have seen a staggering reduction of the cost of solar in the last couple of years, so I hope that these graphs frame what the actual cost of solar is.”
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/grap...of-solar-82885

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Push for WA solar thermal as renewables stars align
By Sophie Vorrath on 4 April 2014

WA Greens Senator Scott Ludlam has renewed calls for the state to develop a 24-hour solar thermal power plant, buoyed by new research showing it would provide a cheaper source of energy than fossil fuels in the coming decade.

“In just 12 months, the cost of renewables has dropped so much it is now cheaper to deliver energy by renewables than by coal and gas,” Ludlam said on Thursday, at the release of the independent research.

An update of the WA Greens’ Energy 2029 study, originally released a year ago, has found it would now cost the same, or be cheaper, to reach 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2029 than to continue with business as usual (by Levelized Cost of Energy).

“Runaway advances in solar, wind and other clean energy technologies have caused costs to fall rapidly,” says the report. “The Greens believe Australia should invest in the next generation of clean, affordable energy infrastructure.”

One example of this next generation energy infrastructure Ludlam is particularly keen on for WA is concentrating solar power, or solar thermal. Last year, the Senator was successful in encouraging US CSP developer Solar Reserve to set up their first Australian office in Perth.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/push...rs-align-81441

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Energy breakthrough uses sun to create solar energy materials
04/03/2014

CORVALLIS, Ore. – In a recent advance in solar energy, researchers have discovered a way to tap the sun not only as a source of power, but also to directly produce the solar energy materials that make this possible.

This breakthrough by chemical engineers at Oregon State University could soon reduce the cost of solar energy, speed production processes, use environmentally benign materials, and make the sun almost a “one-stop shop” that produces both the materials for solar devices and the eternal energy to power them.

The findings were just published in RSC Advances, a journal of the Royal Society of Chemistry, in work supported by the National Science Foundation.

“This approach should work and is very environmentally conscious,” said Chih-Hung Chang, a professor of chemical engineering at Oregon State University, and lead author on the study.

“Several aspects of this system should continue to reduce the cost of solar energy, and when widely used, our carbon footprint,” Chang said. “It could produce solar energy materials anywhere there’s an adequate solar resource, and in this chemical manufacturing process, there would be zero energy impact.”

The work is based on the use of a “continuous flow” microreactor to produce nanoparticle inks that make solar cells by printing. Existing approaches based mostly on batch operations are more time-consuming and costly.
http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archiv...ergy-materials
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0403132353.htm
http://www.tgdaily.com/sustainabilit...ergy-materials

Quote:
British Solar Renewables connects 113MW ahead of 1.6ROC deadline
By Peter Bennett | 04 April 2014, 8:26

British Solar Renewables managed to connect 10 solar farms totalling 113MW of capacity before the renewable obligation rate dropped in April.

The company’s in-house EPC was in charge of site planning, design and construction with British Solar Renewables’ subsidiary Renewable Energy Connections handling grid connections.

British Solar Renewables’ business development director, Giles Frampton said: “In spite of the issues caused by the worst storms and flooding in the UK on record, which ran from December through to February, the British Solar Renewables team were able to construct and deliver the parks in time to hit the ROC deadline.”
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne..._deadline_2356

Quote:
UK launches Europe’s first dedicated solar strategy
By Peter Bennett | 04 April 2014, 10:18

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has published the long-awaited Solar Strategy today, designed to enact a “further step change in deployment” for solar in the UK.

The document is the first dedicated solar strategy released by any European government, signalling the remarkable growth of the UK PV sector over the last few years.

The strategy places particular emphasis on encouraging the deployment of rooftop solar, especially the underperforming commercial-scale sector. In addition, the strategy confirms that the government is targeting one million solar homes by 2015. There was potentially ominous news for the ground-mount sector however.

Launching the Solar Strategy at the opening of SunSolarEnergy’s new solar assembly line in Birmingham, energy minister Greg Barker said: “We have managed to put ourselves among the world leaders on solar and this strategy will help us stay there. There is massive potential to turn our large buildings into power stations and we must seize the opportunity this offers to boost our economy.

“Solar not only benefits the environment, it has the potential to create thousands of jobs across the region and deliver the clean and reliable energy supplies that the country needs at the lowest possible cost to consumers.”

Chief executive for the Solar Trade Association, Paul Barwell, praised the government’s move, he said: “Solar has not only been recognised by DECC as a key UK technology, but now has its own dedicated strategy – the first in Europe. Minister Greg Barker has championed solar power specifically because he knows it has the greatest potential to empower millions of people across the UK with low-cost green energy. Solar will also provide thousands of good quality local jobs.”
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne..._strategy_2356

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From stench to resource: Splitting hydrogen sulfide with solar energy
Apr 03, 2014

(Phys.org) —No one who has cracked open a rotten egg will forget its infernal stench. Biofuel plants, sewage treatment plants, and petroleum refineries can generate substantial amounts of foul-smelling hydrogen sulfide gas, which is highly toxic at higher concentrations. In the journal Angewandte Chemie, a team of Australian and Chinese researchers has now introduced an innovative photoelectrochemical process in which solar energy is used to split this undesirable by-product into sulfur and hydrogen, converting it to a source of raw materials.

A variety of techniques have been used to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S) from polluted exhaust gases and occasionally put it to further use. While sulfur can be extracted in some processes, the hydrogen cannot. This is unfortunate because hydrogen is actually an important energy source for future fuel-cell technology.

Unfortunately, it isn't possible to split H2S to gain hydrogen and sulfur simultaneously. Approaches using photochemical splitting seem particularly attractive because solar energy could be used to meet the high energy demand of this reaction. However, no ecologically and economically feasible process has been found to date. This could now change thanks to a new approach developed by a team headed by Lianzhou Wang (University of Queensland, Australia) and Can Li (Chinese Academy of Sciences and Dalian Laboratory for Clean Energy, China).

Their success lies in a photochemical–chemical loop whose reactions are coupled through a redox pair. A redox pair is a combination of the reduced and oxidized form of the same element that can easily be interconverted. For their process, the researchers used either divalent and trivalent iron ions (Fe2+/Fe3+) or the iodide/triiodide (I−/I3−) system.
http://phys.org/news/2014-04-stench-...ide-solar.html
http://www.technology.org/2014/04/04...-solar-energy/

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The UK’s coolest solar-powered buildings
Rebecca Cooke | 4 April 2014

It's time to shine for solar power in the UK. Cheesy puns aside, today marks the launch of the Government's second part of it's solar strategy – the blueprint for its plans to roll-out solar panels across the country and drive the sector towards grid parity. To celebrate solar's bright future – no more puns, honest – we've compiled a list of the UK's coolest solar-powered buildings and hope to see many more of them in the future.

1. Sol-Cinema

This little gem is the world’s smallest movie theatre in the cosy, intimate interior of a mobile caravan. You can have the cushiest cinema experience of your life all courtesy of the sun! But you've got to be quick to catch it, the Sol-Cinema is so in demand – it is based in Bristol it travels constantly – a bit like the sun itself.

2. Northampton Saints Stadium

We Brits love our Rugby: fact. The only thing that could make our little Isle's proud sport more glorious is some sparkly solar panels to power the stadiums. That is exactly what Northampton Saints did in 2013, becoming one of the first major sports clubs to adopt solar tech. Good one guys!

3) The Solar Home

This prime piece of property gold is the UK's first 100 per cent solar-powered home in Great Glen, Leicestershire although it looks as though it could be a movie-star's pad in the Hollywood hills and it costs as much at a market price of £1.2 million.

4) John Lewis

Now the UK's favourite high street giant, provider of quirky Christmas ads and purveyor of lavish home furnishings John Lewis has given us another reason to love 'um. They're bringing solar power to the high street and powering nearly 400 stores with renewable and solar energy. That's another excuse to shop then…

5) Crealy Great Adventure Park

Introducing the UK's first solar-powered theme park in Cornwall – for thrill seekers who care about their carbon footprint. The 100-acre theme park is the country's first to run its rides with electricity form solar panels.
http://www.trillionfund.com/the-uks-...red-buildings/

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UK solar booms: five new plants and UK’s largest solar farm
Rebecca Cooke | 4 April 2014

The UK solar power industry appears to be booming, with five new solar plants being grid connected and plans for the largest solar farm the UK has ever seen being approved.

On the eve of the most ambitious government-plan yet for the rapid growth of UK solar, Bluefield Solar Income Fund announced the opening of the five plants, which were acquired for an average price of £1.12 million per MWh and have a combined energy capacity of 69 MWp. The five plants are scattered across the country in Goosewillow and Hill Farm in Oxfordshire, Hall Farm in Norfolk, Saxley in Hampshire and Pentylands in Wiltshire. A further two solar plants were connected to the grid in 2013 Hardingham in Norfolk and North Beer in Cornwall, bringing Bluefield's total solar capacity to 91MW. The solar plants formed part of an Initial Public Offering, which ended in July 2013.

John Rennocks, chairman of Bluefield Solar said: “The announcement today is testament to the selection of the contractors made by Bluefield, our adviser, and to the quality of the contractors’ work. The Company has fully deployed the IPO proceeds and delivered a portfolio of high quality operational plants at an average price per MWp that is considerably more attractive than its direct peer group. The board has confidence that the sector leading returns targeted of 7 pence, rising with RPI, will be achieved due to the attractive acquisition prices combined with the cautious nature of the underlying assumptions such as a zero real energy price inflation and low levels of leverage”.
http://www.trillionfund.com/uk-solar...st-solar-farm/
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SolarCity Opts for an Outside Developer on Calif. Commercial-Scale Solar Projects
Solar’s biggest installer uses Mercatus’ deal assessment software to improve its commercial game.

Herman K. Trabish
April 4, 2014

A just-completed 4-megawatt project and a just-announced 2.4-megawatt project, both on land owned by the city of Lancaster, Calif., are among the first of SolarCity’s commercial projects to involve a partnership with an outside developer.

Topco is the kind of experienced developer that SolarCity’s in-house team saw as being capable of bringing in bankable commercial-scale opportunities.

Topco did all the initial work, according to Erik Fogelberg, SolarCity's VP of commercial development. It found the vacant land, made the deals with the city, created the initial array designs, and opened negotiations on the PPAs with Southern California Edison via SCE's CREST feed-in tariff program. Still, Fogelberg said, the SolarCity team had to vet every detail.

Fogelberg said that prior to the formation of the partnership, he had already begun to suspect that there had to be “a better process” by which to assess the viability of potential projects. Around the same time, he was approached by Mercatus COO Tim Buchner about that company's digital deal room.

“In my four-plus years at SolarCity, we have avoided working with third-party developers, because you can waste a lot of time on deals that will never happen,” Fogelberg said. “But there are also good ones out there.”

Fogelberg and his SolarCity development team, which has built over 1,000 commercial-scale projects in-house, agree that the Mercatus software “streamlined and optimized” the due diligence process. It also allowed them to find opportunities hidden among the many stranded projects in developers’ pipelines.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...olar-in-Lancas

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Fastest Quarterly Growth in Polysilicon Prices Since 2010
Blended prices have hit $21.60 per kilogram and are expected to keep rising.

Mike Munsell
April 4, 2014

Blended polysilicon pricing grew 8 percent quarter-over-quarter, increasing from $20 per kilogram in the final quarter of 2013 to an estimated $21.60 per kilogram in the first quarter of this year, according to the latest PV Pulse. This surpasses the comparatively incremental price increase of 4 percent seen from the third to the fourth quarter of 2013.

Accelerated polysilicon price growth in Q1 2014 was largely due to inventory restocking and low production levels during the Chinese New Year.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...ces-Since-2010

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Trina Solar to spend US$213 million to meet capacity expansion targets in 2014
By Mark Osborne - 03 April 2014, 21:51
In News, Fab & Facilities, Cell Processing, PV Modules, Finance

Major PV manufacturer Trina Solar is expecting capital expenditure to reach US$213 million in 2014 as it targets expansion of capacity from ingot/wafer through to 1GW of extra module capacity.

The company previously guided capacity expansions in its recent fourth quarter 2013 earnings call, which included increasing ingot/wafer production to 1.7GW, cell production to 3GW and module production to 3.8GW by the end of the year.

However, the company had also guided capital expenditure to reach between US$230 million to US$250 million in 2014, but in its 2013 Annual Report, Trina Solar said spending would be up to US$231 million to meet its expansion plans.

Although the planned spending is at the low point of guidance, Trina Solar spent only US$72.1 million on CapEx in 2013, down from US$141.1 million in 2012.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/trina_so..._targets_in_20

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Guess Who Is Buying Solar PV?
Jennifer Runyon
April 04, 2014

About six months ago, I had the pleasure of taking part in the unveiling of preliminary insights about who is driving the purchasing of solar PV in the home. At the time, researchers Raina Russo of #SolarChat and Glenna Wiseman of Identity3 had compiled some initial results from their survey of America women and mothers about solar power buying habits. Though the survey was still open at the time, Russo and Wiseman had already uncovered some pretty fascinating data, including the fact that the majority of the time, women are the main drivers behind the decision to go solar.

Its been widely documented that today about 80 percent of women are the bill-payers and the controllers of the family budget so the fact that women are the ones initiating the decision to investigate solar should not come as a big surprise. After all, putting solar PV on a home can often reduce utility bills from day one according to major solar leasing companies like Sunrun.

However, what is surprising is that according to the latest National Solar Jobs Census, women only represent 20 percent of the solar workforce. That could lead to a real disconnect, as far as Russo is concerned. “This is my personal opinion but it is based on my experience with this data and by talking to women all across the U.S.,” she explained. “We need more women in the solar workforce and we need to market to women.” Russo said that of course she doesn’t think that means that men cannot sell products and services to women, but asks “would it make a difference if a woman was at that kitchen table talking about the benefits of solar PV? Maybe.”
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...uying-solar-pv

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Sungevity Receives $70 Million from Investors for Global Rooftop Solar Expansion
Justin Doom, Bloomberg
April 04, 2014

NEW YORK -- Sungevity Inc., a closely held developer of rooftop systems, received $70 million from a group of investors including EON SE and General Electric Co. to expand in Europe and Australia.

Sungevity, based in Oakland, California, will also use the funds to improve its online customer-acquisition service, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Birch said in an interview.

Sungevity and competitors including SolarCity Corp. and Sunrun Inc. provide rooftop solar systems at little to no upfront cost. The business is threatening traditional utilities because solar customers buy less electricity from their local power companies. The investment shows that some utilities may be starting to adopt an if-you-can’t-beat-them-join-them attitude, Birch said.

“It could be a pivotal moment in the solar industry when you see one of the great utilities make an investment like this after years of centralized energy,” Birch said.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...olar-expansion
http://techcrunch.com/2014/04/04/sun...ness-globally/

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Solar Innovation: Two Big Steps Forward for Solar Efficiency Rates
Posted on April 4 2014 by Garrett Hering

Editor’s note: This is the latest in our monthly series on innovations in solar technology, as well as how and when — if ever — these new developments will shape the market.

This month’s roundup of leading solar innovations and breakthroughs in solar technology highlights two innovations at established solar equipment and module manufacturers that have real near-term potential to boost sunlight conversion efficiencies for crystalline solar cells – with albeit incremental gains. Also explored is a new record efficiency for an organic PV cell.
Merlin works his crystalline magic

Developer: GT Advanced Technologies

How it works: PV manufacturing equipment supplier GT Advanced Technologies in mid-March announced a new “flexible grid” metallization and interconnect technology targeted at solar cell producers. Marketed under the name “Merlin,” the production line add-on can be integrated into existing solar cell manufacturing lines, enabling producers to replace the traditional three silver bus bars on solar cells with thinner grid fingers. This produces less shading on a solar cell – meaning that more sunlight can be absorbed by the active crystalline-silicon semiconductor material and converted into electricity.

What it promises: According to GT, the manufacturing technology has the potential to cut expensive silicon paste used in the production of crystalline solar cells by up to 80 percent. It also can eliminate the need for cell stringing and tabbing machines used to produce modules – further reducing manufacturing costs. Eliminating shading has the potential to improve the efficiency of conventional crystalline PV cells. The New Hampshire-based company claims that modules made from cells relying on its Merlin technology will be more reliable and durable because the new flexible grid structure is more resistant to cell cracking.



Back-contact solar cells

Developers: Trina Solar Ltd. and the Australian National University (ANU)

How it works: Researchers from Chinese crystalline silicon producer Trina Solar and ANU’s Centre for Sustainable Energy Systems have developed a so-called interdigitated back-contact (IBC) silicon solar cell capable of converting an impressive 24.4 percent of sunlight into electricity. IBC cells are a type of rear-contact solar cell that achieves higher efficiency by putting both contacts on the back of the cell, thus eliminating shading.

What it promises: If successfully transferred from the laboratory into commercial production, this could mean that a larger percentage of higher-efficiency solar cells will become available – since Trina is one of the world’s largest PV manufacturers.



Record-efficiency organic PV

Developers: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, IMEC International, Fraunhofer ISE, Imperial College, Corning SAS and others

How it works: Funded by a grant from the European Union, Belgian research institute IMEC International in March presented its laboratory-scale organic solar cell with a sunlight conversion efficiency of 8.4 percent – a record for this type of solar cell. IMEC achieved the record efficiency by stacking three layers of active semiconductor materials that boosted the potential sunlight absorption spectrum. IMEC’s approach does not use fullerenes, which are the most common acceptor material in organic PV cells – which, however, aren’t common at all.

What it promises: IMEC’s laboratory achievement is a signal that perhaps organic PV cells shouldn’t be completely ignored in the wake of several commercial failures in recent years – which were in part the result of the technology’s disappointing, low single-digit efficiencies. IMEC is a member of the EU-funded ArtESun collaborative effort to develop high efficiency organic solar cells capable of converting more than 15 percent of sunlight into electricity, along with roll-to-roll manufacturing equipment for this flexible solar cell.
http://solarenergy.net/News/solar-in...iciency-rates/

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Solar Poll: 79% of Americans Want Solar to Replace Fossil Fuels
Posted on April 4 2014 by Scott Thill

Almost 80 percent of American consumers favor solar as their renewable energy champ, but 71 percent also have much love for wind power too.

That’s the major takeaway from Navigant Research‘s annual consumer survey, which in fall 2013 averaged 1,000 respondents’ favorability towards “clean energy, clean transportation, smart grid, and building efficiency.” With interesting timing, Navigant’s poll results hit the presses this week alongside the IPCC’s terrifying tale of two futures. That apocalyptic report warned that further dirty fuel consumption and investment will doom the world to planetary dystopia, while utopian renewables like solar and wind can save us, right now, from obsolete infrastructures and unsustainable habits.

The IPCC practically demanded an international pivot to renewables, which is no problem because “solar energy is one of the most popular and least controversial green technologies in the eyes of consumers,” Navigant managing director Clint Wheelock explained in a statement.

What Wheelock didn’t say but seems apparent is that previous declines in interest in alternative energy solutions from Americans over the last few years have predictably rebounded as our so-called natural gas boom has proven to be a climate change bust. This also explains why Navigant’s survey found that 67 percent of Americans favored hybrids and 61 percent favored electric cars, while only 54 percent were into natural gas vehicles.
http://solarenergy.net/News/solar-po...-fossil-fuels/

Quote:
New UK PV manufacturing plant opens
By Lucy Woods | 04 April 2014, 15:28

SunSolar Energy has officially opened its 75MW module manufacturing facility in Oldbury, Birmingham.

The company teamed up with toolmaker Meyer Burger to install a production line capable of building 60- and 72-cell modules.

The facility which currently employs 150 people will employ 600 by 2015.

Cutting the ribbon, climate change minister Greg Barker said that the facility was “sending a strong signal for manufacturing in Britain today”.

During the ribbon cutting Barker also announced the launch of the new “ambitious Solar Strategy” adding that solar in the UK is “increasingly mature”.

“The coalition is publishing a real testament to the huge leap forward solar has made, and recently deployed in the UK.”

Barker said the UK is “not just deploying but have a strategy to reach out, and build the UK supply chain”.

Reza Shaybani, BPVA chairman added: “We are delighted to see one of our members has set up a PV manufacturing here in the UK at such an exciting time in the industry. Now that the government is supporting the industry extremely well, it is time for the industry to also play its part and look forward to the future. As the UK has always been highly regarded for its manufacturing past we want to bring back manufacturing which will help grow the local and national economy, in turn creating more jobs.
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne...ant_opens_2356

Quote:
Exclusive: Time for solar investors to turn attention to rooftops, says Barker
By Lucy Woods | 04 April 2014, 14:46

Investors must focus their attention on rooftop projects, UK climate minister Greg Barker has told Solar Power Portal.

Speaking at the launch of the Solar Strategy at the SunSolar Energy module manufacturing facility opening in Birmingham today, the minister said it was time for a shift in priorities.

“New investor focus must be: onsite generation, whether domestic roofs - we’re aiming for one million – or industrial rooftops,” he said.

Barker confirmed there are no changes to the renewable obligation or feed-in tariff programmes on the immediate horizon.

“What we are announcing today and making the focus for growth going forward is for the mid size market and domestic,” he said.

The Solar Strategy included a reference to funding for the booming large-scale market which “has the potential to affect the financial incentives budget under the levy control framework”.

The minister moved to ease fears over cuts for existing ground mount projects: “If you are already invested, you are already invested – this is about where we go from here.”

Barker said the step away from ground mount solar is to “avoid solar becoming the new onshore wind – from pushing too many insensitively placed sites...[the strategy] is not to say that in the right place, large arrays can’t work, particularly Brownfield sites, but local planning must be respected”.

Barker also stressed that the Strategy is not just about deployment. He added that the UK is “not just deploying but [must] have a strategy to reach out, and build the UK supply chain.

“Clean energy is an essential part of our long term economic plan to play a part in the decades ahead for UK prosperity,” Barker said reiterating the government’s pledge to put solar on one million roofs by 2015.
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne...ops_says_barke

Quote:
Industry reacts to Solar Strategy
By Peter Bennett | 04 April 2014, 11:06

Below is a roundup of all the latest industry reaction to the new Solar Strategy published today:
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne..._strategy_2356

Quote:
Can New Jersey repower its solar market?
By Kathy Larsen
April 4, 2014

Dive Brief:
  • A report recommends that New Jersey look at a range of options for re-accelerating its solar power market -- from doing nothing to establishing a "green bank" to help finance new solar installations to promoting more competitive procurement of long-term contracts.
  • Once No. 2 in the country for solar installations, the state has slipped to No. 5, partly because its extremely favorable "solar credits" program created a rush of deployments that in turn led to a credit-price crash, and less deployment.
  • Credit prices have rebounded to some extent and solar installations are coming back. The concern is that a boom-bust cycle pattern will continue. The federal investment tax credit for solar is scheduled to drop from 30% to 10% in 2016, which could mean a deployment rush before that time.

Dive Insight:

There's no consensus among solar advocates yet about what should be done to revive the market, or even whether anything at all should be done. The matter of boom-bust cycles in solar credit prices may be inescapable unless a new regulatory intervention in that construct can be devised. The federal investment tax credit issue is out of New Jersey's hands. Some interests in Congress want to change the 2016 drop from 30% to 10%, but the effort won't be taken up until lawmakers address comprehensive tax reform, and its fate at that time is unreadable.
http://www.utilitydive.com/news/can-...market/247352/

Quote:
The Future Of Solar: Solar Power To Surge in 2014?
By David Glenn

The 2014 Annual National Solar Conference is being held July 6–10 at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco. There, established minds and up-and-coming experts will address new developments in the field of solar energy. But come on. The photovoltaic effect—the basic process that allows for the harnessing of solar radiation for electrical energy needs—has been old news for about 175 years, and the first commercial solar cells hit the market during the mid 1950s, is there really anything new about solar cells that will be worth discussing in 2014?

Well, yes, actually. And the thoughts that the experts bounce around will have the potential to really change the world, and not only for governments and corporations, but for everyday homeowners. See, solar power may be old news, but it’s news that residents around the world are finally starting to embrace. Below are three reasons that solar power is poised to become the next big thing in 2014 and beyond.

1. Decreased Costs

2. New Advances in Technology

3. Increased Awareness
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/05/...er-surge-2014/

Quote:
Energy Storage: Bank On It
Jane Weissman
April 04, 2014

Storage is cool. It's so ingrained in our daily lives that it's invisible. From the pantry closet and fridge storing our food to fuel tanks in our homes and cars, storage gives us the advantage to have something when we need it. It's there waiting to be used.

So, doesn't it make a lot of sense to store excess power from photovoltaics and other distributed generation resources to provide backup during outages? And, wouldn't storage change the intermittent nature of PV on cloudy days and at night into a more dispatchable resource? Couldn’t it also provide other grid services to help maintain power quality and reliability?

What's holding distributed storage back? Why can't a home with a solar roof keep its lights on during the storm that puts the rest of the street in the dark?

To get a handle on some of the issues on the table, I tapped the expertise of two very smart colleagues, Chris Cook and Sky Stanfield.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/.../04/bank-on-it

Last edited by amor de cosmos; Apr 5, 2014 at 6:00 PM.
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Old Posted Apr 6, 2014, 3:53 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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ALEC Defeated Again In Attacks On Solar, Net Metering Preserved In Kansas

Fresh on the heels of recent ALEC defeats in Utah and Washington, the solar industry today declares victory in Kansas. Across the country, many utilities are attacking the solar industry (and the utilities’ own customers) by attempting to eliminate net metering. Net metering allows rooftop solar customers to use clean solar energy they generate themselves, and then receive full retail credit for any excess electricity sent back to the grid. Utilities turn around and sell this energy to neighboring homes and businesses.

ALEC joined the fray at the end of 2013 by creating a template for model anti-net metering policies. In just the first few months of 2014, rooftop solar defeated utility-backed ALEC bills in Utah and Washington. It’s now time to add Kansas to the ALEC defeat list.

The three investor-owned Kansas utilities – Westar, KCP&L and Empire – supported a bill designed to eliminate net metering. Solar advocates and local industry groups defeated this attack on solar by ensuring that the current version of the bill preserves net metering. The bill, now headed to Governor’s desk for signature, also says that if the utilities want to change rates in the future, they have to do so through a rate case.
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/05/...served-kansas/
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Old Posted Apr 7, 2014, 4:48 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Chile Installs Record-Breaking 150MW of PV in Q1, 380MW Under Construction
Four major projects came on-line, giving Chile a promising start to the year.

Mike Munsell
April 7, 2014

According to GTM Research's Latin America PV Playbook, Q2 2014, released today, Chile installed 153 megawatts of utility-scale PV in the first quarter of this year. That's more than three times the amount that any Latin American country has ever before installed in a single quarter.

“The last quarter has been a testament to the real pipeline now emerging in Chile,” said GTM Research global solar analyst Adam James. “The market has strong fundamentals, and we are seeing that companies like SunEdison can leverage a variety of business models to execute deals on those fundamentals. Both the PPA and merchant markets in Chile have exciting near-term potential, and several companies have secured financing and have projects moving forward."
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...r-construction

Quote:
Capital Keeps Pouring Into Booming US Residential Solar Market
Sungevity’s $70 million in VC, SunPower’s $42 million in debt, SolarCity’s 4.59 percent note, Solar Universe’s security deal, and Verengo hits 1,000

Eric Wesoff
April 7, 2014

The residential solar installation and finance market is remaking itself through new alliances, vertical integration and hybrid sales channels, as well as with access to increasingly cheaper capital. We are in a post-CSI era and yet installation prices continue to fall.

The early winners in this high-growth and volatile market have emerged. But the landscape is still shifting.


http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...l-Solar-Market

Quote:
Organic Solar Cells More Efficient With Molecules Face-to-Face
Tracey Peake
Release Date: April 7, 2014

New research from North Carolina State University and UNC-Chapel Hill reveals that energy is transferred more efficiently inside of complex, three-dimensional organic solar cells when the donor molecules align face-on, rather than edge-on, relative to the acceptor. This finding may aid in the design and manufacture of more efficient and economically viable organic solar cell technology.

Organic solar cell efficiency depends upon the ease with which an exciton – the energy particle created when light is absorbed by the material – can find the interface between the donor and acceptor molecules within the cell. At the interface, the exciton is converted into charges that travel to the electrodes, creating power. While this sounds straightforward enough, the reality is that molecules within the donor and acceptor layers can mix, cluster into domains, or both, leading to variances in domain purity and size which can affect the power conversion process. Moreover, the donor and acceptor molecules have different shapes, and the way they are oriented relative to one another matters. This complexity makes it very difficult to measure the important characteristics of their structure.

NC State physicist Harald Ade, UNC-Chapel Hill chemist Wei You and collaborators from both institutions studied the molecular composition of solar cells in order to determine what aspects of the structures have the most impact on efficiency. In this project the team used advanced soft X-ray techniques to describe the orientation of molecules within the donor and acceptor materials. By manipulating this orientation in different solar cell polymers, they were able to show that a face-on alignment between donor and acceptor was much more efficient in generating power than an edge-on alignment.

“A face-on orientation is thought to allow favorable interactions for charge transfer and inhibit recombination, or charge loss, in organic solar cells,” Ade says, “though precisely what happens on the molecular level is still unclear.
http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/tp-adephotonics/

Quote:
Finding the Mix: Solar Cell Efficiency a Delicate Balance
Tracey Peake
Release Date: March 28, 2014

Research from North Carolina State University reveals that solar cell efficiency is based upon a delicate balance between the size and purity of the interior layers, or domains. These findings may lead to better designs and improved performance in organic solar cells.

Polymer-based solar cells are intended to have two domains, consisting of an electron acceptor and an electron donor material. Solar cell efficiency is based upon several factors: the ease with which excitons (the energy particles created by solar cells when light is absorbed) can travel to the interface of the donor and acceptor domains while retaining as much of the light’s energy as possible; and, once the charges are separated from the excitons, how efficiently separated charges travel to the device electrodes for collection.

In reality, however, these domains are not separate and pure, and there can end up being many more than two. Current processing methods create a complex, multi-domain structure, which impacts all of the factors involved in the solar cell’s efficiency.

NC State physicist Harald Ade and collaborators wanted to find out exactly how the solar cell’s complex structure impacts its performance. Using advanced soft X-ray techniques, Ade and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the domains mixed in unusual and sometimes contradictory ways.

“Picture the solar cell’s two domain materials as cake batter with one vanilla layer and one chocolate layer,” Ade says. “Initially, the interfacial area – where the layers touch – is as large as your cake pan. As you mix the layers by pulling a fork though the batter to make swirls, more of the vanilla touches the chocolate and you create even more interfacial area. In a solar cell, more interfacial area serves to increase performance by increasing charge separation.
http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/tp-adeadvmat/

Quote:
Indian solar capacity continues to sky-rocket
07. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Markets & Trends | By: Peter Carvill

The Indian government's heavy investment into the sector is paying off as total capacity for commissioned projects leaps by nearly 1.8 times.

The Indian solar capacity continues to rocket ahead, according to figures released by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) that show total capacity for commissioned projects at the end of March. The figures, which preclude private commissions, were released on 1 April.

The total capacity for projects commissioned under the country's National Solar Mission had reached nearly 2632 MW by the end of the first quarter, according to the data. This was an increase of 177.8% from its year-before sum of 947.5 MW. A little over a third of the total commissioned capacity in the country at present is in the Gujarat area.

Raj Prabhu, CEO and co-founder of Mercom Capital Group, told The Hindu, “The solar market potential remains as large as ever, even in a slower-growing economy. As power shortfalls continue, peak shortage is a critical problem that has stifled industrial growth, and back-up generation is becoming increasingly expensive. The diesel price hike of 50 paise a month since January 2013 has resulted in about 15% increase in diesel prices over the last 13 months, making solar a very attractive option.”
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ket_100014758/

Quote:
Duke Energy’s 300MW request for proposals ‘three times oversubscribed’
By Andy Colthorpe - 07 April 2014, 11:40
In News, Power Generation

A request for proposals (RfP) to build 300MW of solar power plants in North Carolina issued by US electric power holding company Duke Energy has been oversubscribed by almost three times.

The company, responsible for transmission, generation and distribution of electricity as well as natural gas, issued its RfP in mid-February for photovoltaic plants of over 5MW generation capacity. Only plants already in Duke Energy’s queue of projects for interconnection as of 13 February 2014 were considered.

Selected plants must be constructed and brought online by the end of 2015, to allow for full utilisation of state energy tax credit and federal Investment Tax Credit. Duke Energy says it hopes to select projects and complete negotiations with successful parties by 1 October this year.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/duke_ene...oversubscribed

Quote:
SolarCity offers $70M in solar-backed debt
By Davide Savenije
April 7, 2014

Dive Brief:
  • SolarCity is offering a private placement of $70.2 million of solar asset backed notes. This is the second such offering from the company.
  • SolarCity pioneered securitization for distributed solar when it offered $54 million in asset backed notes in November.

Dive Insight:

Right after the success of its first offering, SolarCity was already planning to offer another $200 million in securitized debt in 2014. It's no surprise as to why. The financing mechanism enables SolarCity to regularly convert "the revenue streams from future lease and power purchase agreement payments for upfront cash to expand its rapidly growing business," Utility Dive wrote in its analysis. "The increased access to the capital markets may also lower the cost to install rooftop systems, which will make SolarCity more competitive."

Expects others, like Sunrun, Vivint and OneRoof, to potentially follow suit.
http://www.utilitydive.com/news/sola...d-debt/247953/
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Old Posted Apr 8, 2014, 4:31 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Renewable Energy Installations to Rise 37% by 2015, BNEF Says
By Reed Landberg Apr 8, 2014 6:45 AM PT

Renewable energy installations are forecast to rise 37 percent in the next two years, driven by a drop in the cost of wind and solar power that cut the value of investment.

“What we’re seeing is clean energy competitive with what I call alternative energy -- fossil fuel energy,” Michael Liebreich, chairman of the advisory board of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said at the research group’s conference in New York today.

He said 80 percent of the drop in investment is attributable to falling prices for equipment. The rest is lower levels of activity. He estimated installations may rise to 112.4 gigawatts in 2015 from about 82 gigawatts in 2013.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...bnef-says.html

Quote:
India Ups 2014 Solar PV Target By 30% To 1,000 MW

India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has increased its faith in solar photovoltaic (PV) technology at the expense of concentrated solar power (CSP) technology. As a result, it has increased its target for installed solar PV capacity by 30% in FY2014-15 while slashing its CSP target by 90%.

The ministry is expected to auction 1,000 MW of solar photovoltaic capacity instead of the earlier planned 750 MW in FY2014-15. Of the 1,080 MW solar thermal power capacity initially planned for auction, only 100 MW would be offered to prospective project developers.

More Confidence In Solar PV

During the first phase of the National Solar Mission, the ministry had auctioned 470 MW of solar thermal power in seven different projects. These projects were supposed to be commissioned by the first half of 2012. Till this date, only one of these projects, with a generation capacity of 50 MW, has been commissioned.

The project developers have stated that they are facing issues during commissioning of the projects as the initial estimates about solar radiation were off the mark. The ministry has also admitted that the Indian market may not be ready to adopt solar thermal power technology yet. As a result, it has slashed the CSP targets in favour of greater solar PV targets.
http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/07/...et-30-1000-mw/

Quote:
Through Solar Jobs, Veterans Find a Continuation in Mission to Serve Nation and Environment
Pierre Bull
Posted April 7, 2014 in Green Enterprise, Solving Global Warming



We talked to veterans working at all levels of the solar industry and here's what they told us:

1. Veterans view climate change as a threat to national security. Working in solar is one way for them to continue in their service as defenders of our nation.

2. Energy independence — especially a reliance on clean, domestic sources of power — is vital for our country's security.

3. Working in solar allows veterans to continue their powerful experiences of service to the nation.

4. Solar and veterans are a good fit, because many skills vets learned in the military are just the skills they need to thrive in the solar industry.
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/pb...terans_fi.html

Quote:
Energy News
Cheap Solar Power—at Night
New solar thermal technologies could address solar power’s intermittency problem.

By Kevin Bullis on April 8, 2014

When the world’s largest solar thermal power plant—in Ivanpah, California—opened earlier this year, it was greeted with skepticism. The power plant is undeniably impressive. A collection of 300,000 mirrors, each the size of a garage door, focus sunlight on three 140-meter towers, generating high temperatures. That heat produces steam that drives the same kind of turbines used in fossil-fuel power plants. That heat can be stored (such as by heating up molten salts) and used when the sun goes down far more cheaply than it costs to store electricity in batteries (see “World’s Largest Solar Thermal Power Delivers Power for the First Time”).

But many experts—even some who invested in the plant—say it might be the last of its kind. David Crane, CEO of NRG Energy, one of three companies, including BrightSource Energy and Google, that funded the plant, says the economics looked good when the plant was first proposed six years ago. Since then, the price of conventional photovoltaic solar panels has plummeted. “Now we’re banking on solar photovoltaics,” he told a crowd of researchers and entrepreneurs at a conference earlier this year.

The allure of solar thermal technology is simple. Unlike conventional solar panels, it can generate power even when the sun isn’t shining. But in practice, it’s far more expensive than both fossil fuel power and electricity from solar panels. And that reality has sent researchers scrambling to find ways to make the technology more competitive.

One big challenge, says Philip Gleckman, chief technology officer of Areva Solar, is that the arrays of mirrors, as well as the motors and gearboxes used to aim them at the sun, are expensive. One fix, he says, comes from a San Francisco startup, Otherlab, which replaces the motors with pneumatics and actuators that can be made cheaply using the manufacturing equipment that’s currently used to make plastic water bottles.

The head of Otherlab’s solar efforts, Leila Madrone, says the technology could cut the cost of mirror fields for concentrating sunlight by 70 percent. But even this cost reduction, she says, won’t be enough to make the technology competitive with solar panels—even though the mirrors account for a third to a half of the overall cost of a solar thermal plant.

Getting overall costs down will require increasing the amount of power a solar thermal plant can generate, so it can sell more power for the same amount of investment. One approach to increasing power output is to increase the temperatures at which solar thermal power plants can operate, which would make them more efficient. They currently operate at 650 °C or less, but some researchers are developing ways to increase this to anywhere from 800 °C to 1,200 °C. That approach is being pursued by another startup, Halotechnics, which uses high-throughput screening processes to develop new materials—including new kinds of salt and glass—that can store heat at these high temperatures (see “Cheap Solar Power at Night”).
http://www.technologyreview.com/news...ower-at-night/

Quote:
Brazil to hold first PV auction this year
08. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends | By: Ilias Tsagas

The PV sector is heating up in Brazil, where developers remain excited about the country's growing electricity demand as solar becomes increasingly competitive with other sources of renewable energy.

Brazil looks set to hold its first energy auction specifically for solar PV later this year.

Altino Ventura Filho, secretary of Energy Planning and Development at Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, announced the news at a local conference in the capital city of Brasilia last month.

According to Brazilian news portal Jornal da Energia, Ventura made the comment during a speech at the 1st National Forum on Infrastructure, which took place March 27-28, although he did not specify the date of the auction nor the capacity to be auctioned, Jornal da Energia reported.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy has yet to officially confirmed the news but it has referred to Ventura's presentation, which it said highlighted the importance of diversification of renewable and other energy sources.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ear_100014770/

Quote:
UN report: Solar beats trend of falling renewables investment
By Lucy Woods - 08 April 2014, 12:29
In News, Power Generation, Market Watch, Finance

Solar bucked a trend of falling investment in renewables last year, accounting for nearly half of the US$11 billion total for all new investments for renewables in 2013, according to a United Nations report.

The report noted an overall 14% dip in investment in renewables in 2013, although overall it said renewable energy accounted for 44% of all new electricity generation installed globally.

“The [14%] drop masks the many positive signals of a dynamic market that is fast evolving and maturing," said Achim Steiner United Nations’ under-secretary-general and general director for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The report, ‘Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2014’, was published by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/UN_Repor...investment_dip

Quote:
Mercom: Solar attracted US$7 billion investment during ‘robust’ first quarter
By Andy Colthorpe - 08 April 2014, 11:16
In News, Power Generation, Market Watch, Finance

The global solar power industry has enjoyed a strong start to 2014 in terms of corporate funding, attracting US$7 billion in the first quarter alone, according to a new report by clean energy consultancy firm Mercom Capital.

The US$7 billion figure, including venture capital (VC), private equity (PE), debt financing and other equity financings raised by private companies, showed a growth of US$2 billion from the previous quarter.

Mercom Capital chief executive officer Raj Prabhu highlighted that strong capital markets continue to exist in solar. Prabhu also pointed out that VC deals including some involving investment platforms had performed strongly in the quarter, as well as success in attracting funding for third party residential and commercial companies.

According to Mercom and Prabhu, the period just elapsed has also seen corporate solar merger and acquisition (M&A) activity surge to "a record 38 transactions", up from 25 transactions in the final quarter of 2013. The most M&A activity came in the downstream sector.

“M&A activity was strong among installers, developers, and distributors, while third-party finance firms were actively making acquisitions as they vertically integrate their businesses,” said Prabhu.


http://www.pv-tech.org/news/mercom_s...er_performance

Quote:
New Findings to Help Extend High Efficiency Solar Cells’ Lifetime
7 Apr 2014

OIST’s Energy Materials and Surface Sciences Unit has made a surprising discovery about the degradation of solar cells that could help pave the way to creating a longer lifetime for these cells. Key factors for creating cost-efficient solar cells to compete with conventional energy sources like fossil fuels include fabrication cost, efficiency and lifetime of the cells. Professor Yabing Qi and members of his unit have investigated the cause of degradation of a high efficiency solar cell. This discovery, published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, can help move various forms of solar cell technology forward now that researchers know what is causing degradation and shortening the lifespan.

Solid state dye-sensitized solar cells have shown their potential in achieving high efficiency with a low cost of fabrication. Degradation of these cells, which shortens lifespan, is not well understood. To investigate the causes of degradation, Prof. Qi and colleagues focused on a material widely used in these solar cells, which is abbreviated spiro-MeOTAD. This material is used in the upper-most layer of the solar cell and comes into contact with the outside environment. Therefore, it is a likely candidate to be susceptible to degradation from many possible sources including air exposure, continuous light irradiation, elevated temperature and dust.

The most likely source of degradation was thought to be photo-oxidation, which is a chemical process caused by exposure to both air and light. Prof. Qi and colleagues tested whether this process was occurring. Surprisingly, they showed conclusively that there was no detectable photo-oxidation, or chemical degradation, of spiro-MeOTAD even after exposure for a few days. The researchers next looked at other possible degradation mechanisms due to exposure to air alone. Spiro-MeOTAD is an amorphous substance, which is the property that makes it useful in these solar cells. However, this property could also cause a problem in that molecules from the air may easily diffuse, or freely pass into, the spiro-MeOTAD. These air molecules would then become impurities in the solar cells, leading to degradation. After a detailed analysis, the researchers determined this was precisely what was occurring; foreign air molecules were causing degradation of the spiro-MeOTAD layer, resulting in a drop in solar cell efficiency.

The next step is to find a material to encapsulate and protect the spiro-MeOTAD layer from air exposure and prevent diffusion and the subsequent degradation from occurring. Prof. Qi says, “if we can find a method of low cost encapsulation, it is possible, for the first time, to achieve low cost, high efficiency and long lifespans in the same cell.” Since these solar cells are easy and cost-efficient to produce, adding this extra step can provide one more piece of the puzzle for an ideal solar cell.
http://www.oist.jp/news-center/news/...80%99-lifetime
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0407090521.htm

Quote:
Surging Solar in Germany Causes Drop in Electricity Rates
Published on 8 April 2014

Day-ahead electricity prices in continental Europe recorded a fifth consecutive monthly decline in March as surging German solar and wind output helped chase prices lower in neighboring countries, according to data just released by Platts, a global energy, petrochemicals and metals information provider.

The Platts Continental Power Index (CONTI) fell 8.4% in March to €35.06 per megawatt hour (/MWh) compared to the February level of €38.28/MWh. The index is down more than 39% since peaking at €50.50/MWh in November last year.

Outside of Germany's immediate influence, near-term power prices in the United Kingdom and Italy declined as natural gas prices weakened, aided by falling coal and CO2 prices.
http://www.solarnovus.com/surging-so...tes_N7633.html

Quote:
E.ON invests in residential solar, Sungevity raises $70M
By Davide Savenije
April 7, 2014

Dive Brief:
  • On Friday, residential solar company Sungevity announced it had raised $70 million in its latest round of funding.
  • Investors in the round included E.ON, one of the world's biggest utilities, Jetstream Ventures and GE Ventures.
  • Sungevity, which has raised over $200 million to date, plans to use the latest funding to expand its reach in international markets.

Dive Insight:

Utilities and residential solar companies don't usually get along, but this partnership looks like a good business opportunity for both parties.

With 35 million customers globally, a partnership with Sungevity would enable E.ON to bring rooftop solar to its European customers. The partnership would give Sungevity a good foothold in the European market.

“E.ON is in the business of servicing energy customers across several countries, and as new, more customer-centric solutions around residential solar arise, we want to provide our customers with the best solutions available,” said Susana Quintana-Plaza, E.ON VP of strategic co-investment.
http://www.utilitydive.com/news/eon-...es-70m/248266/

Quote:
April 8, 2014
Half of power plant capacity additions in 2013 came from natural gas



Solar. Solar photovoltaic (PV) added 2,193 MW of capacity in 2013, continuing the trend of the past few years of strong growth, helped in part by falling technology costs as well as aggressive state renewable portfolio standards (RPS) and continued federal investment tax credits. Nearly 75% of the capacity added was located in California, followed by roughly 10% in Arizona. (Note: these figures do not include distributed capacity under 1 MW. Distributed solar PV capacity additions also grew in 2013, with industry reports estimating nonutility additions of 1,900 MW. Most of this capacity was also located in California.)

After many years of little activity, the solar thermal industry completed several large-scale solar thermal plants in 2013 located in Arizona and California totaling 766 MW of capacity, more than doubling the total solar thermal capacity in the United States. A few more projects are expected to be completed in 2014-16; however, several other announced projectes have since been cancelled or suspended because of a number of challenges such as environmental impacts on desert wildlife and water resources, cost-competitiveness, and delays in transmission development.
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=15751

Last edited by amor de cosmos; Apr 8, 2014 at 5:46 PM.
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Old Posted Apr 9, 2014, 4:23 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Issue: 04/14/2014
Clouds Start To Lift From the Solar Sector
04/08/2014
By Thomas F. Armistead

When the $2.2-billion, 377-MW Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System in California's Mojave Desert commenced commercial operation in December 2013, the facility became the world's largest solar-thermal powerplant. At a stroke, it also doubled installed U.S. solar-thermal generation capacity.

But some industry pundits saw that milestone as the end of the road. During the 38 months the project was in construction, the ground shifted under the competitive playing field. The price of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels plummeted, making solar-generated electricity increasingly competitive with other generation; also, the price of natural gas fell to historic lows, increasing competitive pressure on all other generation.

BrightSource Energy Inc., Ivanpah's solar technology provider, declined to comment, but statistics show the solar-power market belongs to PV. According to the Solar Electric Industries Association (SEIA), of 5,725 MW of solar projects under construction, 24% consist of concentrating solar power, another name for thermal, but only 16% of the capacity of solar projects in development is CSP, portending a major loss of market share.

The Solar Star project near Rosamond, Calif., claims to be the world's largest permitted solar PV development. At 579 MW, the vast ground-mounted, single-axis PV project dwarfs Ivanpah. San Jose-based SunPower developed the project, sold it to Mid- American Solar, Phoenix, and now is the EPC lump-sum contractor, says Jorg Heinemann, SunPower's executive vice president of customer operations and engineering, procurement and construction. He pegs the construction value between $2 billion and $2.5 billion. Construction began in early 2013 and is on schedule for completion by the end of 2015.

Smaller plants also are proliferating. Mortenson Co., Minneapolis, was selected last year as EPC contractor to build five ground-mounted, dual-axis plants. They range from 6 to 100 MW, total 346 MW and will be built over three years for owner and developer OCI Solar Power, which has a 25-year power-purchase agreement with San Antonio's municipal utility, CPS Energy. Mortenson broke ground in January for the 40-MW first plant, near Brackettville, Texas, says Trent Mostaert, Mortenson's general manager, solar and emerging renewables group. The others will be in different locations near San Antonio.

Squeezing Out Costs

SEIA reports that PV installations increased a "record-shattering" 41% last year over 2012's level, helping make solar the second-largest source, after natural gas, of new generating capacity in the U.S. in 2013. The complaint about solar energy is that it needs subsidies, tax credits and renewables-portfolio standards to be viable. But market forces are driving down solar costs. "PV cells are a commodity," says Ric O'Connell, director of solar PV for Black & Veatch. Manufacturers are squeezing out costs with standard designs, and, in recent years, manufacturing has grown to 4,500 MW a year from 500 MW, O'Connell says. A PV-industry rule of thumb, called Swanson's Law, suggests PV-cell costs fall by 20% for each doubling of global manufacturing capacity or cumulative shipped volume. Chinese manufacturers have mastered this rule, provoking SolarWorld to petition for a tariff on imports of Chinese silicon panels.

Standardizing modules and processes has made PV installation almost as easy as building with TinkerToys. "There is much less work than on a gas-turbine combined-cycle plant," O'Connell says. "It's essentially like setting up a manufacturing facility in the field." The cost for an EPC solar project typically ranges from $1.50 per installed watt in a market such as Texas to $2.25 per watt in New England, says Mortenson's Mostaert. Larger jobs are less costly, and fixed tilts cost less than single- or double-axis trackers.
http://enr.construction.com/infrastr...lar-sector.asp

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Meet the Solar Impulse 2: The First Airplane to Attempt a Round-The-World Solar-Powered Flight!
by Beth Buczynski, 04/09/14

Inhabitat has followed the inspiring adventure of the Solar Impulse sun-powered airplane for years - from the news of its first night flight in 2010 to its first intercontinental journey, to the completion of its first cross-country trip. And in the latest breakthrough announcement, Swiss innovators André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard just announced the debut of the new and improved Solar Impulse 2 aircraft! In just over a year's time, this new and improved solar airplane will attempt what no plane has done before: a journey of five consecutive days and nights from one continent to the next without using a drop of fuel.
http://inhabitat.com/meet-the-solar-...owered-flight/

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Crowdfunding Seen Topping $5 Billion for Rooftop Solar
By Justin Doom Apr 8, 2014 8:59 AM PT

Crowdfunding may supply the rooftop solar projects with $5 billion of investment within five years, more than 50 times the amount raised to date.

That would represent more than a quarter of all annual investment in that segment of the solar industry, said Tim Newell, vice president of financial products for San Mateo, California-based SolarCity Corp. (SCTY), which is the biggest U.S. solar power provider by market value.

A growing number of rooftop solar developers are soliciting funds directly from retail investors, often through websites that tap a large number of small contributions. This so-called crowdfunding model has attracted almost $100 million in the U.S. to date, Newell said. It offers one of the few ways for individuals to back renewable energy projects, which give steady, long-term returns from selling electricity.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...top-solar.html

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Florida Installs 10kW Solar Panel Systems on 100 Emergency Shelter Schools

Thanks to the work of the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), more than 100 emergency shelter schools (Enhanced Hurricane Protection Area) now have solar panel systems of 10 kW in capacity installed on them.

The SunSmart E-Shelter Program, which has now added more than one MW of solar generating capacity to Florida, was brought about by partnerships with the US Department of Energy, the State of Florida, utility companies, the University of Central Florida, and companies in the state’s solar industry.
http://costofsolar.com/florida-insta...elter-schools/



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A Breakthrough for Utility-Scale Solar on Contaminated Lands?
Hanwha Q CELLS completes a record-breaking Superfund project with no additional subsidies.

Stephen Lacey
April 9, 2014

Supported by the stimulus package and the Department of the Interior, developers continue to set records for the biggest solar and wind projects on untouched public lands.

Since 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency has been waging its own less-known campaign to support projects on disturbed, polluted lands. And it now has a record-breaking project to claim.

Hanwha Q CELLS, a vertically integrated solar manufacturer and developer, has just completed a 10.8-megawatt solar PV project on a Superfund site in Indianapolis under EPA control. The Maywood Superfund project is the biggest on any EPA Superfund or brownfield site in the country.

According to the developer, it's not just the size that makes the installation unique -- it's the way it was constructed.

Hanwha Q CELLS said it was able to complete the project following EPA pollution-control guidelines without using any additional grants or incentives. The reason was a company-developed construction process that cut pollution risks, and thus, costs.

Starting in the 1950s, the 120-acre site was used for refining chemicals and treating wood products. According to the EPA, the soil is contaminated with benzene, ammonia, volatile organic compounds and carcinogenic tar deposits. While the land has been under some form of cleanup since 1994, the soil is still a threat to drinking water for the 5,200 people who live within 3 miles of the site.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...-solar-project

Quote:
Tapping Underserved Solar Markets: Can We Extend Solar Deployment into Customer Sectors with Lower or No Credit?
Submitted by Michael Mendelsohn on Tue, 04/08/2014 - 11:32am

Distributed solar deployment is often a game of off-taker credit. That is, behind-the-meter project success depends largely on whether the end-use customer has credit sufficient to support a long-term power contract or lease.
https://financere.nrel.gov/finance/c...ors-lower-or-n

Quote:
Solar Sector Keeping Investors Busy
In terms of investment dollars, corporate M&A, project funding and third-party capital, Q1 2014 was one of the strongest quarters on record.

Renewable Energy World Editors
April 08, 2014 | 0 Comments

New Hampshire, USA -- Highlighting once again that one of the key stories for renewable energy in 2014 will be renewable energy finance, Q1 2014 shows high growth for investments in solar. Total global corporate funding in the solar sector, including venture capital (VC), private equity (PE), debt financing, and other equity financings raised by public companies, came in at $7 billion, compared to $5 billion in Q4 2013, according to a report just released by Mercom Capital Group.

The report dives into venture capital funding, project funding, corporate mergers and acquisitions and third-party lease funding. All sectors showed an increase in the number of dollars invested and/or number of transactions showing just how favorably investors view solar.

Global VC funding, PE and corporate VC in Q1 2014 was almost double what it was in Q1 2013, totaling $251 million in 26 deals, up from $87 million in 24 deals in Q4 2013, mostly due to one large deal. Solar downstream companies attracted most of the VC funding this quarter, with $182 million in 13 deals.

Raj Prabhu, CEO of Mercom Capital Group, commented, “It was a robust quarter for solar as financing activity surged in almost all areas. The big story continues to be strong capital markets. VC funding was up with several funding deals involving investment “platforms,” while third-party residential/commercial funds continue to raise record amounts.”

The largest VC/PE deal in Q1 2014 was the $125 million raised in a Series C round by Renewable Energy Trust Capital, a finance platform established to acquire and own solar projects and provider of a single comprehensive equity capital source. Investors included BlueMountain Capital Management, and Global Cleantech Capital.



Project Funding

There were 43 large-scale project funding deals totaling $3.6 billion announced in Q1 2014, which break out as follows.
  • $942 million loan to China WindPower Group for a range of Chinese PV projects with a combined capacity of 800 MW;
  • $428 million project funding for Sempra Energy to develop the 250-MW Copper Mountain Solar 3 Project in Nevada;
  • $305 million loan to SoftBank and Mitsui for the 111-MW Tomatoh Abira Solar Project in Japan;
  • $250 million loan to Abengoa/Shikun & Binui Renewable Energy for the 110-MW Ashalim Thermo Solar Project in Israel; and
  • $250 million equity investment made by various groups for Japan Solar and Nippon Renewable Energy to develop Japanese solar projects totaling 157.5 MW.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...investors-busy

Quote:
Falling price of solar obscures rise in renewables generation share
9 April 2014

Renewable energy’s share of world electricity generation continued to climb in 2013 despite a 14 per cent drop in investments to $214.4bn, claims a new report.

According to Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2014 – produced by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre for Climate & Sustainable Energy Finance, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance — the investment drop of $35bn was partly down to the falling cost of solar photovoltaic systems. The other main cause was policy uncertainty in many countries, an issue that also depressed investment in fossil fuel generation in 2013.

Globally, renewables excluding large hydro accounted for 43.6 per cent of newly installed generating capacity in 2013.

‘A long-term shift in investment over the next few decades towards a cleaner energy portfolio is needed to avoid dangerous climate change, with the energy sector accounting for around two thirds of total greenhouse gas emissions,’ said Achim Steiner, UN under-secretary-general and executive director of UNEP. ‘The fact that renewable energy is gaining a bigger share of overall generation globally is encouraging. To support this further, we must re-evaluate investment priorities, shift incentives, build capacity and improve governance structures.’

‘While some may point to the fact that overall investment in renewables fell in 2013, the drop masks the many positive signals of a dynamic market that is fast evolving and maturing,’ Steiner said in a statement. ‘This should give governments the confidence to forge a new robust climate agreement to cut emissions at the 2015 climate change conference in Paris.’

The report points to the end of a four-and-a-half year 78 per cent decline in clean energy stocks, which were lowest in July 2012 but gained 54 per cent in 2013, an improvement that took place as many companies in the solar and wind manufacturing chains moved back towards profitability.
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/channel...018365.article

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Low-cost, solar-powered home designed by students at Stanford
Posted Today

In 2010, residential homes in the United States accounted for 22 percent of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions, and roughly the same percentage of total energy consumption. At a time when market and federal pressures are steering the automobile industry toward a greener future, the places we lay our heads each night deserve a careful look as well.

The home-building industry represents a ripe opportunity for green innovation, and Stanford’s Start.Home hits the mark with a clever interdisciplinary blend of civil engineering, computer science and behavioral design. Conceived, designed and built by a team of undergraduate and graduate students, the solar-powered Start.Home aims to leverage technology to make inexpensive, sustainable living available to the masses.

At the project’s heart is the Core, a module containing all of the home’s major appliances, electrical, plumbing and mechanical systems, and run by software that keeps the home in its most energy-efficient state. The students envision a future housing market in which the Cores are built in a factory to maximize performance and quality control while reducing costs. Cores would then be shipped to construction sites to be hooked up to a building of the owner’s design. “We want to inspire industry to think about houses that can be built more like cars,” says project manager Derek Ouyang, ’13, a double major in civil engineering and architectural design. “The Core is like an engine for homes, and you can build any shell you want around it.”

Sustainable living doesn’t stop with the purchase of a home; a green home must inspire green people. To that end, the Start.Home is fully integrated with systems to guide homeowners toward more energy-responsible behavior – such as redesigned touchpad light switches throughout the house that glow to remind you to turn off unused electronics – and other devices that encourage reduced water consumption. “Ignorance stops here,” says Ouyang. “It is time to change our culture and our values around energy, and do it from the comfort of our own home.”
http://www.technology.org/2014/04/09...ents-stanford/
http://news.stanford.edu/features/2014/starthome/

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Quote:
US Democrats call for better government investment in renewables
09. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Markets & Trends | By: Peter Carvill

Former President and Congressman posit that investing in solar and renewables is environmentally sound and economically expedient.

Investing in renewable energy is not only good for the environment but may also prove to be an economic boon, according to one US politician. The economic argument, argued Congressman Peter Welch yesterday, may be more persuasive than attempting to persuade sceptics of climate change.

Welch was speaking on Democracy Now about a bill to increase transparency for the U.S.'s intelligence agencies. As part of Democracy Now's current focus on the issue of climate change, anchor and executive producer Amy Goodman asked Welch about the subject, given that his home state of Vermont had suffered adverse weather in recent months.

Welch responded, saying that taking on the challenge of climate change was not only good for the environment but also created jobs. He added, “This is the one area where there is some bipartisan hope in Congress. I'm not going to win any arguments, I'm not going to persuade any of my colleagues that don't believe in the science of climate change, that it exists. But a lot of my colleague do agree on efficiency that if you can use less fuel, no matter the fuel source, you're going to save money, create jobs by retro-fitting homes and building. That's a promising area where we can do something good for the environment and also build the economy. But the real dilemma here is that the folks who are so against climate change as a challenge that we have to face, I think the possibility that in taking on that challenge and creating a strong economy eludes them. That is what we have to do because the middle-class is getting squeezed, they need jobs and we need to find a way to build our infrastructure and having a stronger energy policy that can help create jobs and increase wages.”

Welch's comments come five days after former President Bill Clinton met with Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti for a half-day conference on alternative energy and infrastructure improvements. The conference was hosted in part by the Clinton Global Initiative. Clinton, The Los Angeles Daily News reported, was “frustrated by the lack of available financing for alternative-energy projects such as solar, while coal plants can more easily obtain funding”.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...les_100014785/
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  #433  
Old Posted Apr 10, 2014, 4:36 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Federal cash still part of big solar gains
By Jeffrey Ryser

April 08, 2014 - The US Treasury Department's four and a half year old cash reimbursement program for renewable power generation passed a milestone in February, all the while helping to boost solar power generation in the US.

Treasury's 1603 program has now disbursed over $20 billion to almost 9,450 individual projects that have installed approximately 28,000 MW of mainly wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass projects.

The cash reimbursement program, which was established by a Democratic Party-controlled Congress in March 2009 and has been administered by the Treasury Department in conjunction with the Department of Energy, made its first disbursements in September 2009. The federal funds were seen as necessary as the financial panic of late 2008 led to the drying up of bank lending to the sector.

Under the 1603 program guidelines, developers of renewable projects that are eligible to receive production tax credits can elect instead to receive an investment tax credit or the 1603 cash grant that is equal to 30% of the cost of the construction of a renewable project. Initial projections were for an estimated $6 billion in taxpayer money to be paid out to developers to keep the building of renewable projects moving forward until the return of bank lending.

In the four and a half years, though, through February 1, 2014, the Treasury has reimbursed developers $20.32 billion under the 1603 program. That amount will continue to grow. The program is slated to run through the end of 2016, and big reimbursements are in the offing to the utility-scale solar projects that also received large government construction loans guaranteed by the DOE.

Moreover, developers, mainly of solar projects that began construction of their projects by January 2012 or filed a "placeholder application" by October 2012, are also eligible to receive 1603 cash through the end of 2016.

The 1603 program has, until now, significantly benefited the wind business, though the solar industry in the past year and a half has become the primary beneficiary.
http://www.platts.com/news-feature/2...ar-gains/index

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US adds 2.2 GW of PV in 2013
10. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends, Top News | By: Edgar Meza

Distributed solar PV capacity in the United States grew by an estimated 1.9 GW last year, most of which was located in California.

The United States added 2,193 MW of solar PV capacity last year, with the state of California accounting for 75 percent of that figure, according to a new report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The country’s solar sector continued the trend of strong growth, boosted in part by falling technology costs and aggressive state renewable portfolio standards (RPS) as well as continued federal investment tax credits.

Arizona followed California as the state with the most newly added PV capacity, making up 10 percent of the nation’s total last year, according to the report.

The EIA’s figures did not include distributed capacity under 1 MW. Distributed solar PV capacity additions also grew in 2013, with industry reports estimating non-utility additions of 1.9 GW, most of which was likewise located in California.

The EIA also looked at the solar thermal industry, adding that after many years of little activity, the sector completed several large-scale solar thermal plants last year in Arizona and California totaling 766 MW of capacity, more than doubling the total solar thermal capacity in the United States.

While a few more projects are expected to be completed between 2014 and 2016, several other announced projects have since been cancelled or suspended due to a number of challenges, including environmental impacts on desert wildlife and water resources, cost-competitiveness and delays in transmission development.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...013_100014796/

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Oxford PV appoints CTO to push commercialisation of Perovskite thin-film solar cells
By Mark Osborne - 09 April 2014, 17:17
In News, Thin Film, OPV/DSSC, Going Places

Perovskite thin-film solar cells could be closer to commercialisation than expected after Oxford Photovoltaics (Oxford PV) made a critical appointment of a veteran leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing technologist as its Chief Technology Officer, Dr. Chris Case.

Company co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Oxford PV, Kevin Arthur said: “To be able to attract someone of Chris’s calibre underlines the significant progress Oxford PV has made in the last 12 months and how serious we are about becoming a world leader in bringing to market this pioneering solar technology. With Chris as part of our team we will be looking to accelerate commercialisation as well as broaden the markets we are looking at. ”

Having started a distinguished career in PV thin-film technology, Dr. Case is returning to the field after a short foray running his own consultancy firm for global high-tech materials firms such as French speciality gasses company, Air Liquide.

Perovskite thin-film solar cells have received increasing attention by several start-up companies as well as a lot of attention at research institutes and universities around the world as several recent efficiency breakthroughs in lab environments show conversion efficiencies inline with current conventional c-Si solar cells but potentially a fraction of the cost.

However, taking novel materials form R&D laboratories to robust long-life high-volume manufacturing at a true low-cost is something very different.

Oxford PV is developing Perovskite thin-film solar cells initially to meet the BIPV market and has already raised £7 million in equity and grant funding.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/oxford_p...e_thin_film_so

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Rooftop solar may be ‘sleeping giant’ of Australian politics
By Giles Parkinson on 10 April 2014

The Greens have launched a new campaign to make rooftop solar a key election issue in the Victorian state poll later this year, describing it as a potential “sleeping giant” in Australian politics.

The launch of the Fair Go for Solar Saver campaign intends to tap into three key issues that have so far been ignored by the mainstream parties – the right to connect, the right to install a decent sized system, and to add to it, and the right to obtain a fair tariff for rooftop solar exports back to the grid.

The Greens have been buoyed by the recent success of the Vote Solar campaign from the Australian Solar Council in last week’s Senate re-run in Western Australia. They say that parts of the significant swing to Scott Ludlam can be sourced to areas where rooftop solar is an issue.

The Greens have been the first party to try to tap into the issue of rooftop solar – which now sits on more than 2 million homes (1.2 million solar PV, 800,000 solar hot water) in Australia. Victoria has more than 200,000 of these solar PV homes, hosting more than 540MW of capacity, and within two years more than half of these homes will be receiving little or no money for the power they export to the grid. In some key electorates, in the north-west regional areas and even within the Melbourne mortgage belt, the level of “solar penetration” is nearly 20 per cent.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/roof...politics-94927

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Solar plus storage should be centrepiece of booming western Sydney
By Craig Blanch on 10 April 2014

With expected reductions in costs associated with energy storage envisaged for the coming 12-18 months, it is time that the solar industry in NSW took action to showcase the potential of solar combined with storage for the residents of western Sydney.

Western Sydney, from Parramatta to the Blue Mountains, from Castle Hill to Campbelltown, is the fastest growing region of any capital city in Australia.

And with the impending fast tracking of Sydney’s second airport at Badgerys Creek, the construction of the North-West Rail Link, along with LandCom’s continual releases of land in western Sydney, the population of this area will increase significantly in a very short period. And this booming population will put a significant strain on the current electricity supply network.

What can be done to contain the cost of constructing this infrastructure demand and reduce costs for all electricity users?

We need to ensure solar combined with storage is implemented effectively on all new housing and encourage its take-up within the existing electricity market in western Sydney.

Instead of whinging and complaining about the removal of certificates and the winding back of feed in tariffs, the solar industry in NSW needs to focus on what they can do to energise the market and showcase what they can do for the residents of NSW as well as the taxpayer.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/sola...n-sydney-47499

Quote:
April 9, 2014
Stanford scientists model a win-win situation: growing crops on photovoltaic farms
A new model for solar farms that "co-locates" crops and solar panels could result in a harvest of valuable biofuel plants along with solar energy.

By Ker Than

Growing agave and other carefully chosen plants amid photovoltaic panels could allow solar farms not only to collect sunlight for electricity but also to produce crops for biofuels, according to new computer models by Stanford scientists.

This co-location approach could prove especially useful in sunny, arid regions such as the southwestern United States where water is scarce, said Sujith Ravi, who is conducting postdoctoral research with professors David Lobell and Chris Field, both on faculty in environmental Earth system science and senior fellows at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment. "Co-located solar-biofuel systems could be a novel strategy for generating two forms of energy from uncultivable lands: electricity from solar infrastructure and easily transportable liquid fuel from biofuel cultivation," said Ravi, the lead author of a new study published in a recent issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology that details the idea.

Photovoltaic (PV) solar farms run on sunlight, but water is required to remove dust and dirt from the panels to ensure they operate at maximum efficiency. Water is also used to dampen the ground to prevent the buildup and spread of dust. Crops planted beneath the solar panels would capture the runoff water used for cleaning the PV panels, thus helping to optimize the land. The plants' roots would also help anchor the soil and their foliage would help reduce the ability of wind to kick up dust.
http://news.stanford.edu/pr/2014/pr-...ps-040914.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0409143942.htm

Quote:
2014-04-09 [
Florian Aigner | Press Release 35/2014 ]
Tiny Step Edges, Big Step for Surface Science
Experiments at the Vienna University of Technology can explain the behaviour of electrons at tiny step edges on titanium oxide surfaces. This is important for solar cell technology and novel, more effective catalysts.


It can be found in toothpaste, solar cells, and it is useful for chemical catalysts: titanium dioxide (TiO2) is an extremely versatile material. Alhough it is used for so many different applications, the behaviour of titanium oxide surfaces still surprises. Professor Ulrike Diebold and her team at the Vienna University of Technology managed to find out why oxygen atoms attach so well to tiny step edges at titanium oxide surfaces. Electrons accumulate precisely at these edges, allowing the oxygen atoms to connect more strongly. In solar cells, this effect should be avoided, but for catalysts this can be highly desirable.

Microscope Pictures of Titanium Oxide Surfaces

Titanium oxide is Ulrike Diebold’s favourite material. In her latest publication, she and her team studied the behaviour of titanium oxide surfaces using scanning tunnelling microscopy and atomic force microscopy.

Titanium oxide can be used for solar cells. In the so-called Graetzel cell, an inexpensive but inefficient type of solar cell, it plays the central role. “In a solar cell, we want electrons to move freely and not attach to a particular atom”, says Martin Setvin, first author of the publication, which has now appeared in the journal “Angewandte”.

The opposite is true for catalysts: For catalytic processes, it is often important that electrons attach to surface atoms. Only at places where such an additional electron is located can oxygen molecules attach to the titanium oxide surface and then take part in chemical reactions.



Better Solar Cells, More Efficient Catalysts

Important conclusions for technology can be drawn from this: for photovoltaics, such step edges should be avoided, for catalysts this newly discovered effect yields great opportunities. Surfaces could be microstructured to exhibit many such edges, making them extremely effective catalysts.
http://www.tuwien.ac.at/en/news/news.../article/8732/
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0409093949.htm

Quote:
Engineers unveil round-the-world attempt solar aircraft
10 April 2014

The solar-powered aircraft designed for the first round-the-world flight attempt without any fuel was unveiled by engineers in Switzerland yesterday.

The team behind Solar Impulse 2 hope the 72m-wingspan single-seater aircraft will next year fly the approximately 35,000km (22,000 miles) route around the globe, broken into around 10 stages including a five consecutive day-and-night trip across the Pacific.

The flight attempt, spearheaded by engineer André Borschberg and psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard, will be the culmination of 12 years of design, engineering and testing that included the first 24-hour solar-powered flight in predecessor craft Solar Impulse 1.

‘With eight world records for Solar Impulse 1, the first solar aircraft capable of flying during the night, crossing two continents and flying over the United States, we have shown that clean technologies and renewable energies can accomplish the impossible,’ Piccard said in a statement.

Borschberg added: ‘Solar Impulse 2 will have virtually unlimited autonomy, and now we need to make sure the pilot is as sustainable as his aircraft. This is why the round-the-world flight will be as much a human as a technological feat.’

The 2.3 ton carbon-fibre aircraft uses over 17,000 solar cells to power four brushless motors and charge four batteries, which enable the craft to fly at speeds between 36kph (22mph) and 140kph (87mph) during both day and night.
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/aerospa...018376.article

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Energy storage needed in UK to offset cost of turning off wind turbines
10 April 2014

The UK needs to invest in energy storage technology in order to alleviate financial burdens brought upon on consumers when wind farm operators turn off their turbines.

The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) warns in a report published today that consumers will continue to pay increasing bills for constraint payments from the National Grid – essentially a payment to generators to turn off their wind turbines - unless the government works with energy companies and industry to develop a road map for the development, demonstration and deployment of energy storage technologies.

Recent figures from the Renewable Energy Foundation (REF) claim that £8.7m in constraint payments were made to wind farms in March, part of the £13,749,814 already paid out this year. In 2013, wind farms received £32,707,351.

Under existing market arrangements, if an energy company generating electricity is unable to supply its power to the grid because it is not required it is entitled to constraint payments.

In its new report Energy Storage: The missing link in the UK’s energy commitments, IMechE highlights energy storage technologies such as those based on Cryogenics (or so-called liquid air), flywheels, pumped heat and graphene super-capacitors as potential ways the UK can start making the best use of its renewable energy.

In a statement, Dr Tim Fox, head of Energy and Environment at IMechE said: ‘We know that energy bills are going to rise in future, but unless we invest in energy storage technology these constraint payments are set to become an unnecessary additional cost for the consumer.

’The issue of constraint payments has become a recurring concern of consumers, as they are effectively funding the non-supply of electricity from a range of generation technologies, and the fact that millions are currently handed out to wind farms has highlighted a potential challenge for the future.

‘At the moment constraint payments for renewable based electricity generation makes up a relatively small proportion of the total, but as the installed capacity of these technologies increases in the future the issue of such payments will likely become of growing public concern. Virtually any form of energy storage could help alleviate this problem, by allowing surplus generation from intermittent renewable sources to be stored by power providers until needed for use at a different time when demand exists.

‘But the need is not just for electricity generation, which only makes up around 26 per cent of UK energy demand, we also require storage for the bigger demands for heat and transport as they transition to renewable sources.

‘The intermittency challenge of renewable sources arises from the fact that the wind does not always blow, the sun does not always shine and the waves are not always in motion at times when consumers demand electricity. Equally, the converse is also true, in that consumer demand for power can be low when renewable energy sources are highly active.’
http://www.theengineer.co.uk/energy-...018374.article

Quote:
UK must invest in energy storage, warns Institution of Mechanical Engineers
By Andy Colthorpe | 10 April 2014, 11:46



The report assesses the various energy storage technologies and their appropriateness to the UK sector. It covers technologies including compressed air energy storage (CAES), pumped storage hydroelectric (PSHE), cryogenic energy storage (CES), hydrogen storage and flywheels as well as various electrical battery types. These include flow batteries for longer term applications, lithium-based, nickel-based and several other types.

In addition to advocating for the formulation of a roadmap for storage technology development, which IMechE argues should be done by the UK government in cooperation with the energy industry, the report highlights three key findings.
  1. At pre-launch events for the report, as well as in the report itself, the Institution's head of energy and environment, Dr Tim Fox stressed the importance of looking at energy storage not only in electricity, but also for transport and heat. According to the Institution, electricity only makes up around 26% of UK energy demand.
  2. Secondly, IMechE argues that "government must recognise that energy storage cannot be incentivised by conventional market mechanisms" – according to the Institution, long-term environmental and energy security objectives will not be met unless mechanisms to deploy storage are put in place.
  3. Finally and perhaps the biggest barrier if mainstream press coverage of energy issues in the UK is to be believed, the report argues strongly that while rapidly rising energy costs are a matter of deep concern, the UK "must reject its obsession with 'cheapness' in the sector. The Institution concludes that whatever the outcome and whichever technologies are deployed, energy costs are likely to continue to rise.
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne...ical_engineers
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Old Posted Apr 11, 2014, 4:12 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Sunlight generates hydrogen in new porous silicon
By A'ndrea Elyse Messer
April 10, 2014

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Porous silicon manufactured in a bottom up procedure using solar energy can be used to generate hydrogen from water, according to a team of Penn State mechanical engineers, who also see applications for batteries, biosensors and optical electronics as outlets for this new material.

The surface area of this porous silicon is high," said Donghai Wang, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. "It is widely used and has a lot of applications."

The standard method for manufacturing porous silicon is a subtraction method, similar to making a sculpture.

"Silicon is an important material because it is a semiconductor," said Wang. "Typically, porous silicon is produced by etching, a process in which lots of material is lost."

Wang's team uses a chemically based method that builds up the material rather than removing it. The researchers start with silicon tetrachloride, a very inexpensive source of silicon. They then treat the material with a sodium potassium alloy.

"The bonds between silicon and chlorine in silicon tetrachloride are very strong and require a highly reducing agent," said Wang. "Sodium potassium alloy is such an agent."

Once the bonds break, the chlorine binds with the sodium, potassium and silicon, potassium chloride and sodium chloride -- table salt -- become solid, forming a material composed of crystals of salt embedded in silicon. The material is then heat-treated and washed in water to dissolve the salt, leaving pores that range from 5 to 15 nanometers. The researchers report their results in today's (Apr. 10) issue of Nature Communications.
http://news.psu.edu/story/311330/201...porous-silicon
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0410111216.htm

Quote:
Solar power growth is like an escalator (charts)
Zachary Shahan
Technology / Solar Technology
April 10, 2014

Global solar power installations are breaking records quarter after quarter. Almost every quarter in the past three years broke the record for most solar power installed in a quarter. Quarter 1 of 2014 just broke the record again, but it will only hold onto it for a couple more months. Every quarter this year is projected to be considerably larger than the one before it.

What's the driving cause of this escalator growth? It's a few things, naturally, but probably nothing is more important than the tremendous drop in the cost of solar power that we've seen in recent years, which roughly looks like an escalator in the other direction. That helps to make solar competitive with other sources of power or, for consumers, with retail electricity.


http://www.treehugger.com/solar-tech...or-charts.html

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Better solar cells, better LED light and vast optical possibilities
11 April 2014 The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Changes at the atom level in nanowires offer vast possibilities for improvement of solar cells and LED light. NTNU-researchers have discovered that by tuning a small strain on single nanowires they can become more effective in LEDs and solar cells.

NTNU researchers Dheeraj Dasa and Helge Weman have, in cooperation with IBM, discovered that gallium arsenide can be tuned with a small strain to function efficiently as a single light-emitting diode or a photodetector. This is facilitated by the special hexagonal crystal structure, referred to as wurtzite, which the NTNU researchers have succeeded in growing in the MBE lab at NTNU. The results were published in Nature Communications this week.

The last few years have seen significant breakthroughs in nanowire and graphene research at NTNU. In 2010, Professors Helge Weman, Bjørn-Ove Fimland and Ton van Helvoort and their academic group went public with their first groundbreaking discoveries within the field.

The researchers, who specialise on growing nanowires, had succeeded in controlling a change in the crystal structure during nanowire growth. By altering the crystal structure in a substance, i.e. changing the positions of the atoms, the substance can gain entirely new properties. The NTNU researchers discovered how to alter the crystal structure in nanowires made of gallium arsenide and other semiconductors.

With that, the foundation was laid for more efficient solar cells and LEDs.



Highly effective solar cells

– Our goal is to create solar cells that are more effective than when they are made with thin film technology, Weman emphasises.

Thin film technology is a term from the solar cell technology. This technology develops super-thin solar cell panels, where the active layer converting sunlight to electricity has a thickness of no more than three micrometres, i.e. three thousands of a millimetre. The low weight allows easy transportation, installation and maintenance of the solar cells, and they can in practice be rolled out like roofing felt on most buildings.

Now, the combination of nanowires and graphene facilitates much broader and more flexible solar cells.

In thin films like gallium arsenide, the atoms are placed cubically in a fixed, predefined structure. When the researchers manipulate the atom structure inside the nanowire, they can grow both cubic and hexagonal crystal structures. The different structures have completely different properties, for example when it comes to optical properties.
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem...CultureCode=en

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Quote:
Distributed Energy’s Big Data Moment
Mackinnon Lawrence — April 9, 2014

As my colleague Noah Goldstein explained in a recent blog, the arrival of big data presents a multitude of challenges and opportunities across the cleantech landscape. Within the context of distributed energy resources (DER), among other things, big data is unlocking huge revenue opportunities around operations and maintenance (O&M) services.

As illustrated by large multinational equipment manufacturers like GE and Caterpillar, big data represents not only a potential key revenue source, but also an important brand differentiator within an increasingly crowded manufacturing marketplace. Experience shows, however, that capitalizing on this opportunity requires much more than integrating sensors into otherwise dumb machinery on the factory floor.

The recent tragedy of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 brought international focus to the concept of satellite pings whereby aircraft send maintenance alerts known as ACARS messages. These types of alerts highlight the degree to which O&M communication systems are already in place in modern machinery. But Malaysia Airlines reportedly did not subscribe to the level of service that would enable the transmission of key data to Boeing and Rolls Royce in this instance. Although data may be produced via a complex network of onboard sensors, it is not always collected in the first place.

The collection and utilization of big data is not necessarily as simple as subscribing to a service, however. Today, the sheer volume of data produced by industrial machinery is among the main challenges facing manufacturers of DER equipment.
http://www.navigantresearch.com/blog...ig-data-moment

Quote:
Panasonic breaks conversion efficiency record
11. April 2014 | Products | By: Peter Carvill

Panasonic's HIT module has broken the conversion efficiency record and is the first module to surpass the 25% barrier.

Panasonic has announced a conversion efficiency of 25.6% in its HIT solar cells, a feat which the company calls a “major increase” over the previous record of 24.7%. A statement from the company said that the conversion efficiency for practical size cells broke for the first time the 25% barrier.

Panasonic said the new record was made possible by its proprietary heterojunction technology and its adoption of a back-contact solar cell structure which allows more efficient utilisation of sunlight. Other factors for the increase in efficiency were given by Panasonic to be reductions in recombination and optical losses and a minimisation of resistance loss.

Going forward, Panasonic said it will continue to pursue technology development of its HIT solar cells aimed at realizing higher efficiency, a more efficient use of resources, and mass production.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ord_100014811/

Quote:
Solar’s dramatic cost fall may herald energy price deflation
By Giles Parkinson on 11 April 2014

We’ve seen and published many dramatic graphs about the fall in solar, such as this one tracing the fall over the past 30 years and this from Citigroup, but the following graph from investment bank Sanford Bernstein is quite stunning – not just for its simplicity but because it draws attention to the potential impact of solar to the $5 trillion global energy market.

As you can see, the cost of solar PV has come from – quite literally – off the charts less than a decade ago to a point where Bernstein says solar PV is now cheaper than oil and Asian LNG (liquefied natural gas). It does its calculations on an MMBTU basis. MMBTU is the standard unit of measure for liquid fuels, often referred to as one million British thermal units.



“For these (developing Asian economies) solar is just cheap, clean, convenient, reliable energy. And since it is a technology, it will get even cheaper over time,” Bernstein writes in a newly released report.

“Fossil fuel extraction costs will keep rising. There is a massive global market for cheap energy and that market is oblivious to policy changes” in China, Japan, the EU or the US, it writes.

This has potentially massive impacts for the oil, gas and LNG markets, and therefor the massive investments in the LNG plants in Queensland, Australia, where tens of billions of dollars have been invested by Australian and international energy majors on the assumption that the demand, and the price, of LNG will rise ever upwards.

As Bernstein notes in its report, the share of solar PV in the global energy market is currently so small (see graph to the right) that “the idea that oil and gas is the “loser” in this formulation is laughable … in 2014.”



But that’s not the case a decade hence. Solar is already eating away at the margins of oil and gas demand. Bernstein says the adoption of solar in off-grid areas in developing markets means less kerosene and diesel demand. The adoption of solar in the Middle East means less oil demand. The adoption of solar in China and developed Asia means less LNG demand. And distributed solar in the US, Europe and Australia means less natural gas demand.

And then Bernstein drops this bombshell – while solar has a fractional share of the market now, within one decade, solar PV (plus battery storage) may have such a share of the market that it becomes a trigger for energy price deflation, with huge consequences for the massive fossil fuel industry that relies on continued growth.

*snip*

“If the downward sloping forward curve is ever accepted as permanent, rational behavior from energy producers will guarantee it is so. Sitting on oil and gas reserves for the benefit of generations yet to come ceases to be a rational strategy if that reserve represents a depreciating rather than an appreciating asset.”

This, Bernstein says, is the hidden flaw with the idea that solar is “too small to matter”. Ultimately, it says, what may kill the energy market for equity investors is not the fact that renewable technology and battery storage will turn into behemoths, but the realisation of that future as inevitable.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/sola...eflation-76250
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Old Posted Apr 12, 2014, 3:59 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Are We Halfway to Market Dominance for Solar?
Solar is now around 1 percent of global electricity generation. But that might mean we’re further along than you’d think.

Tam Hunt
April 11, 2014

Solar power is on a tear. Cumulative solar photovoltaic electricity production is about to reach 1 percent of total global electricity production, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.

In just a decade, solar power has gone from being a fringe technology for greenies to an almost-mainstream source of power, due to its increasing cost-effectiveness in many countries around the world. This is a remarkable evolution and demonstrates well why CitiGroup recently stated that the “age of renewables” is upon us.

I’m going to go even further in this article, however, and argue, as I did recently with respect to electric vehicles, that this 1 percent of global solar penetration is far more important than you might think.

Only 1 percent, you say? That’s tiny. But that 1 percent is actually halfway to the goal of market dominance when we consider recent growth rates and the likely growth rate in the future. I’ll explain below.

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...ance-for-solar

Quote:
Solar, Sky Cameras and Hard Math: A New Way to Integrate PV on the Grid
Power Analytics’ new software offers a unique power flow platform for solar, storage and microgrids.

Jeff St. John
April 11, 2014

Insanely complex math, and never enough data -- that’s the conundrum in trying to model the ebb and flow of solar power and energy storage on the grid edge.

Large-scale transmission systems are well modeled. But the majority of the grid below the substation provides little to work with beyond original engineering specs -- and hopefully, up-to-date maintenance and replacement records -- to turn into useful data for software platforms.

That makes it very difficult to capture or predict voltage anomalies, reactive power problems and other disruptions coming from customer-side energy assets like rooftop solar. It also makes supply-demand forecasting to optimize the interplay of solar power, energy storage and grid interconnection requirements almost impossible. Even so, with smart meters, grid sensors and advanced inverters starting to populate the grid edge, there are new tools that could make this micro-scale grid modeling a truly useful tool.

Power Analytics, a supplier of complex power flow modeling software for customers like the U.S. Navy and the FAA, believes its new platform is ready to take on the challenge. It’s called Paladin PV (PDF), the newest piece of the San Diego, Calif.-based company’s Paladin software suite. According to Kevin Meagher, Power Analytics’ CTO, it has the “potential to significantly change the landscape” for distributed solar’s integration into the grid.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...cked-microgrid

Quote:
Could First Solar’s Thin Film Beat Silicon PV on Efficiency?
First Solar’s ambitious roadmap sees the company exceeding standard silicon panel efficiency by the end of 2015, according to GTM Research’s PV Pulse.

Mike Munsell
April 11, 2014

Conventional wisdom holds that thin-film PV module efficiencies will always be below those of crystalline-silicon technologies. That has been the case to this day.

However, according to GTM Research's newly launched monthly data service PV Pulse, successful execution of First Solar's ambitious roadmap for its thin-film cadmium-telluride (CdTe) technology could see it surpassing standard multicrystalline silicon (c-Si) module efficiencies by the end of 2015.

As the April 2014 edition of the Pulse shows, current average commercial module efficiencies for multi c-Si modules at the end of 2013 ranged from 15.0 percent to 15.2 percent, almost 2 percent higher than First Solar's fleet average efficiency of 13.4 percent. By the end of 2015, however, First Solar's roadmap sees average efficiencies of 16.2 percent, compared to 15.8 percent for multi c-Si.
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...-on-efficiency

Quote:
Advice for utilities: Don't cede power to clean energy
By Suzanne C. Shelton
Published April 11, 2014

I once read that when Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights legislation into law, he said something like, "I'm ceding the South to the Republican Party for the next 40 years." Listening to several utility CEOs talk at the WSJ ECO:nomics conference last week, it seemed like many were taking a parallel track: ceding electricity generation to the solar industry, perhaps forever.

The message from several utility CEOs was, "We're focusing on transmission and distribution and getting the grid shored up to withstand lots of points of generation, some of which will not be controlled by us." Now, I applaud that they don't have their heads in the sand about the growing market desire to create and store energy (it seems to me that some utilities are trying to fight the market signals rather than pivoting to coexist with/accommodate customer desires). But I'd also urge utilities not to cede the enviable marketing relationship they have with their customers.

Quite literally, utilities have an opportunity that every other industry wishes it had. They:

• Have all their customers' current contact information.

• Know all about their customers' behaviors and usage patterns.

• Can send a basic letter to any given customer and just about be guaranteed that the letter will be opened.

So, to all you utility executives out there, I'd say two things:

1. Don't cede your role as a customer relationship manager.

2. As you focus on making the grid work for a thousand points of generation, tell your customers about it.
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/04...dont-back-down
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  #436  
Old Posted Apr 13, 2014, 3:33 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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looks pretty exponential to me, especially the second one

Quote:
World Solar Power Capacity Increased 35% In 2013 (Charts)

With about 37,007 megawatts (MW) of solar PV power installed in 2013, world solar PV power capacity increased about 35% to 136,697 MW.

Whereas Europe had dominated annual growth for years up until 2013 (10 years, to be precise), solar PV growth was much more evenly split last year, and China actually topped the tables.

Here are two charts from EPIA with more details (h/t CleanTechnica reader Bob Wallace):



http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/13/...5-2013-charts/

Quote:
Roy L Hales, Solar, Rooftop
20 Cities at the Forefront of America’s Solar Energy Revolution
April 12, 2014
By Roy L Hales

Screen shot 2014 03 18 at 3.43.47 PM1 20 Cities at the Forefront of Americas Solar Energy Revolution America’s solar capacity has tripled during the past two years. Rooftop solar has been in the van of this development. Environment California’s new report “Shining Cities: At the Forefront of America’s Solar Energy Revolution” focuses on the twenty cities on a mere 0.1% of the nation’s land, that produce 7% of the solar energy.


“America has enough solar energy potential to power the nation several times over. Every one of the 50 states has the technical potential—through both utility-scale and rooftop solar energy systems—to generate more electricity from the sun than it uses in the average year. In 19 states, the technical potential for electricity generation from solar PV exceeds annual electricity consumption by a factor of 100 or more.”
http://www.theecoreport.com/green-bl...gy-revolution/
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  #437  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2014, 4:09 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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I'm Now Convinced That Global Solar Dominance Is In Sight
The Telegraph
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph
Apr. 10, 2014, 9:59 AM

Solar power will slowly squeeze the revenues of petro-rentier regimes in Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. They will have to find a new business model, or fade into decline

Solar power has won the global argument. Photovoltaic energy is already so cheap that it competes with oil, diesel and liquefied natural gas in much of Asia without subsidies.

Roughly 29pc of electricity capacity added in America last year came from solar, rising to 100pc even in Massachusetts and Vermont. "More solar has been installed in the US in the past 18 months than in 30 years," says the US Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). California's subsidy pot is drying up but new solar has hardly missed a beat.

The technology is improving so fast - helped by the US military - that it has achieved a virtuous circle. Michael Parker and Flora Chang, at Sanford Bernstein, say we entering a new order of "global energy deflation" that must ineluctably erode the viability of oil, gas and the fossil fuel nexus over time. In the 1980s solar development was stopped in its tracks by the slump in oil prices. By now it has surely crossed the threshold irreversibly.

The ratchet effect of energy deflation may be imperceptible at first since solar makes up just 0.17pc of the world's $5 trillion energy market, or 3pc of its electricity. The trend does not preclude cyclical oil booms along the way. Nor does it obviate the need for shale fracking as a stop-gap, for national security reasons or in Britain's case to curb a shocking current account deficit of 5.4pc of GDP.

But the technology momentum goes only one way. "Eventually solar will become so large that there will be consequences everywhere," they said. This remarkable overthrow of everything we take for granted in world energy politics may occur within "the better part of a decade".

http://www.businessinsider.com/globa...n-sight-2014-4

Quote:
Research Finds “Tunable” Semiconductors Will Allow Better Detectors, Solar Cells
Posted On April 13, 2014
Ann Claycombe

One of the great problems in physics is the detection of electromagnetic radiation – that is, light – which lies outside the small range of wavelengths that the human eye can see. Think X-rays, for example, or radio waves.

Now, researchers have discovered a way to use existing semiconductors to detect a far wider range of light than is now possible, well into the infrared range. The team hopes to use the technology in detectors, but also in improved solar cells that could absorb infrared light as well as the sun’s visible rays.

“This technology will also allow dual or multiband detectors to be developed, which could be used to reduce false positives in identifying, for example, toxic gases,” said Unil Perera, a Regents’ Professor of Physics at Georgia State University. Perera leads the Optoelectronics Research Laboratory, where fellow author and postdoctoral fellow Yan-Feng Lao is also a member. The research team also included scientists from the University of Leeds in England and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.

To understand the team’s breakthrough, it’s important to understand how semiconductors work. Basically, a semiconductor is exactly what its name implies – a material that will conduct an electromagnetic current, but not always. An external energy source must be used to get those electrons moving.

But infrared light doesn’t carry a lot of energy, and won’t cause many semiconductors to react. And without a reaction, there’s nothing to detect.

Until now, the only solution would have been to find a semiconductor material that would respond to long-wavelength, low-energy light like the infrared spectrum.

But instead, the researchers worked around the problem by adding another light source to their device. The extra light source primes the semiconductor with energy, like running hot water over a jar lid to loosen it. When a low-energy, long-wavelength beam comes along, it pushes the material over the top, causing a detectable reaction.
http://news.gsu.edu/2014/04/13/new-t...s-solar-cells/
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...u-ns041314.php

Quote:
Novel technique developed by NUS scientists opens door to better solar cells, superconductors and hard drives
14 April 2014 National University of Singapore

Invention solves long-standing mystery in the physics of condensed matter; enhances understanding about interfaces between materials

A team of scientists, led by Assistant Professor Andrivo Rusydi from the Department of Physics at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Science, has successfully developed a technique to study the interface between materials, shedding light on the new properties that arise when two materials are put together.

With a better understanding of how materials interface, scientists can tweak the properties of different materials more easily, and this opens doors to the development of better solar cells, novel superconductors and smaller hard drives.

The team’s research findings were first published in scientific journal Nature Communication on 14 April 2014.

Solving mysteries in condensed matter physics

Some of the most exciting condensed matter physics problems are found at the interfaces of dissimilar materials.

“If you put two materials together, you can create completely new properties. For instance, two non-conducting, non-magnetic insulators can become conducting and in some cases ferromagnetic and superconducting at their interface,” explained Asst Prof Rusydi. "The problem is that we do not fully understand what is happening at the interface yet."

To resolve this long-standing mystery in the physics of condensed matter, the NUS scientists investigated the interface between strontium titanate and lanthanum aluminate, two insulators that become conductors at their interface. In doing this, the team uncovered another mystery.

“For this interface, a theory predicts that the conductivity should be tenfold higher than what is observed. So, 90 per cent of the charge carriers - the electrons - are missing. It is a complete mystery to us why this happened,” said Asst Prof Rusydi.
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem...CultureCode=en
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0414091958.htm

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Australian community imagines inclusive solar project
14. April 2014 | Markets & Trends, Global PV markets | By: Ian Clover

Members of the public in the New South Wales town of Tathra have been invited to purchase solar panels on a 50 kW array, which will be arranged to spell out the word "Imagine."

Imagine all the people… reaching into their pockets to help their community adopt a solar future. Well, imagine no more because that is exactly what is happening in Tathra, a small town in New South Wales, Australia, where a 50 kW solar installation has been agreed between the Bega Valley Shire Council and local renewable energy association, Clean Energy for Eternity (CEFE).

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed at the weekend for the solar array to be installed at the Tathra Sewage Treatment Plant, where it will provide half of the plant’s energy needs. And in an effort to elicit heightened public interest in the project, the array will be arranged so that it spells out the word "Imagine" that will be visible to air passengers arriving and departing on flights from nearby Merimbula airport.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ect_100014817/

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Solarex: Turkish solar sector sees increased activity
14. April 2014 | Global PV markets, Industry & Suppliers, Markets & Trends, Trade show | By: Hans-Christoph Neidlein

The Solarex confab in Istanbul came to a close on Saturday with an optimistic outlook for the Turkish PV market. Numerous companies reported increased activity and qualified interest.

Some 250 exhibitors and around 10,000 visitors joined the 7th International Solar Energy and Technologies Exhibition (Solarex) in Istanbul -- a 20% increase compared to 2013, according to organizers. International exhibitors accounted for a 50 percent share. Despite the high bureaucracy and relatively few installations so far, most companies pv magazine spoke to expressed optimism about the further development of the Turkish PV market and contentment with the trade fair.

"Qualified interest increased considerably compared to last year,” said Wang Runchuan, senior manager at JA Solar. Many booths in the two exhibition halls at the Istanbul Expo Center remained surrounded by flocks of visitors up until the closing of the show late Saturday afternoon.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ity_100014816/

Quote:
Shiny quantum dots brighten future of solar cells
The project demonstrates that superior light-emitting properties of quantum dots can be applied in solar energy by helping more efficiently harvest sunlight.

April 14, 2014
Nancy Ambrosiano

Photovoltaic solar-panel windows could be next for your house

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 14, 2014—A house window that doubles as a solar panel could be on the horizon, thanks to recent quantum-dot work by Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers in collaboration with scientists from University of Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB), Italy. Their project demonstrates that superior light-emitting properties of quantum dots can be applied in solar energy by helping more efficiently harvest sunlight.

“The key accomplishment is the demonstration of large-area luminescent solar concentrators that use a new generation of specially engineered quantum dots,” said lead researcher Victor Klimov of the Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics (CASP) at Los Alamos.

Quantum dots are ultra-small bits of semiconductor matter that can be synthesized with nearly atomic precision via modern methods of colloidal chemistry. Their emission color can be tuned by simply varying their dimensions. Color tunability is combined with high emission efficiencies approaching 100 percent. These properties have recently become the basis of a new technology – quantum dot displays – employed, for example, in the newest generation of the Kindle Fire ™ e-reader.

Light-harvesting antennas

A luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) is a photon management device, representing a slab of transparent material that contains highly efficient emitters such as dye molecules or quantum dots. Sunlight absorbed in the slab is re-radiated at longer wavelengths and guided towards the slab edge equipped with a solar cell.

Klimov explained, “The LSC serves as a light-harvesting antenna which concentrates solar radiation collected from a large area onto a much smaller solar cell, and this increases its power output.”

“LSCs are especially attractive because in addition to gains in efficiency, they can enable new interesting concepts such as photovoltaic windows that can transform house facades into large-area energy generation units,” said Sergio Brovelli, who worked at Los Alamos until 2012 and is now a faculty member at UNIMIB.

Because of highly efficient, color-tunable emission and solution processability, quantum dots are attractive materials for use in inexpensive, large-area LSCs. One challenge, however, is an overlap between emission and absorption bands in the dots, which leads to significant light losses due to the dots re-absorbing some of the light they produce.
https://www.lanl.gov/newsroom/news-r...antum-dots.php
http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/04/sh...re-solar-cells

Quote:
A molecular approach to solar power
Switchable material could harness the power of the sun — even when it’s not shining.

David L. Chandler | MIT News Office
April 13, 2014

It’s an obvious truism, but one that may soon be outdated: The problem with solar power is that sometimes the sun doesn’t shine.

Now a team at MIT and Harvard University has come up with an ingenious workaround — a material that can absorb the sun’s heat and store that energy in chemical form, ready to be released again on demand.

This solution is no solar-energy panacea: While it could produce electricity, it would be inefficient at doing so. But for applications where heat is the desired output — whether for heating buildings, cooking, or powering heat-based industrial processes — this could provide an opportunity for the expansion of solar power into new realms.

“It could change the game, since it makes the sun’s energy, in the form of heat, storable and distributable,” says Jeffrey Grossman, the Carl Richard Soderberg Associate Professor of Power Engineering at MIT, who is a co-author of a paper describing the new process in the journal Nature Chemistry. Timothy Kucharski, a postdoc at MIT and Harvard, is the paper’s lead author.

The principle is simple: Some molecules, known as photoswitches, can assume either of two different shapes, as if they had a hinge in the middle. Exposing them to sunlight causes them to absorb energy and jump from one configuration to the other, which is then stable for long periods of time.

But these photoswitches can be triggered to return to the other configuration by applying a small jolt of heat, light, or electricity — and when they relax, they give off heat. In effect, they behave as rechargeable thermal batteries: taking in energy from the sun, storing it indefinitely, and then releasing it on demand.

The new work is a follow-up to research by Grossman and his team three years ago, based on computer analysis. But translating that theoretical work into a practical material proved daunting: In order to reach the desired energy density — the amount of energy that can be stored in a given weight or volume of material — it is necessary to pack the molecules very close together, which proved to be more difficult than anticipated.

*snip*

This realization, Grossman says, opens up a wide range of possible materials for optimizing heat storage. Instead of searching for specific photoswitching molecules, the researchers can now explore various combinations of molecules and substrates. “Now we’re looking at whole new classes of solar thermal materials where you can enhance this interactivity,” he says.

Grossman says there are many applications where heat, not electricity, might be the desired outcome of solar power. For example, in large parts of the world the primary cooking fuel is wood or dung — which produces unhealthy indoor air pollution, and can contribute to deforestation. Solar cooking could alleviate that — and since people often cook while the sun isn’t out, being able to store heat for later use could be a big benefit.

Unlike fuels that are burned, this system uses material that can be continually reused. It produces no emissions and nothing gets consumed, Grossman says.
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/molec...to-solar-power
http://www.rdmag.com/news/2014/04/mo...ch-solar-power

Quote:
Solar industry launches Solar Facts site to counter renewable myths
By Emma Fitzpatrick on 14 April 2014

A new source of information has been launched by the REC Agents Association (RAA), rooftop-solar7-150x150which aims to highlight the facts surrounding solar – as the renewable energy industry ramps up its campaign to stop the Abbott government cutting back on renewable energy targets.

Ric Brazzale, the president of RAA, which is a national industry body for companies that create and trade in renewable energy certificates, said “a number of spurious claims have been made about the solar industry, the Renewable Energy Target and the cost and contribution of solar, and it’s time to correct the record”.

He said the Solar Facts information portal would be a valuable source of information for policy makers, journalists, solar industry professionals and “anyone passionate about solar wanting access to facts”.

“RAA’s one-stop-shop for solar data will be regularly updated and expanded to bust solar myths and keep interested parties factually updated about solar in Australia.”

“Solar is an important part of mainstream Australian life,” said Fiona O’Hehir, Vice-President of RAA.

“More than 2 million solar installations have been supported by the Renewable Energy Target. Almost 25 per cent of the 8.4 million occupied private dwellings in Australia have a solar system.”

The new site has highlighted some interesting statistics about solar in Australia – including the fact that we invested more than $1.7 billion in solar PV in 2013 and currently more than 17,700 Australians are employed by the industry.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/sola...enewable-myths

Quote:
IPVEA to study solar PV industry supply chain bottlenecks

Stating its goal of driving down costs in the industry, the International Photovoltaic Equipment Association (IPVEA) has launched the “IPVEA study on optimizing the worldwide solar PV supply chain” with the support of business facilitator Solar PV Consulting.


IPVEA estimates that the global PV industry is currently losing USD 400–500 million annually due to lack of optimization in the supply chain, and estimates that this could reach more than USD 1 billion by 2018.

“Solar PV industry is projected to grow significantly in the next few years – in terms of volumes and diversity of new markets,” notes PV Analyst Fatima Toor of Lux Research, who serves as co-chair of the IPVEA committee launching the study.

“Coinciding with this growth new supply chain challenges are certain to emerge for solar companies, rightfully concerned about unnecessary spending and potential loss of credibility with stakeholders such as investors, EPCs (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) and end customers, all of whom strive to avoid delays in delivery.”

IPVEA to reveal results in at SNEC 2014 in Shanghai

IPVEA says that it will conduct the study with the support of leading experts in the field. Solar PV Consulting will collect the data on behalf of IPVEA, and following tabulation of the data will make recommendations along with IPVEA to remove bottlenecks.

Results of the survey will be revealed at the Solar Business Leaders Lunch on May 19th, 2014 in Shanghai during the 8th Annual SNEC International Photovoltaic Power Generation Conference & Exhibition.
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...ttlenecks.html

Quote:
EnergyTrend: Fall in solar PV costs expected in Q2 2014

TrendForce's (Taipei) EnergyTrend division expects lower prices for solar photovoltaic (PV) products in the second quarter of 2014, based on falling price quotes.


The company notes that polysilicon contract prices fell to USD 21–22 per kilogram (kg) after reaching USD 23 per kg in March 2014. EnergyTrend found that falling contract prices also led to a reduction in polysilicon spot prices.

“Due to growing mono-si wafer demands, manufacturers have started to focus on high-quality polysilicon in April, which led to decreased demands for normal-grade polysilicon that was previously in high demands,” said EnergyTrend Research Manager Arthur Hsu.

“Meanwhile, auxiliary material demand has declined leading to improved supply and demands situation since manufacturers now focus on high-efficiency products and mono-si products. Based on current prices, the price difference between auxiliary material and normal products is about 15%.”

The company reports 0.3–0.6% decreases in prices along the PV value chain during the second week of 2014, with module prices falling 0.64% to USD 0.619 per watt.
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...n-q2-2014.html
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Old Posted Apr 15, 2014, 4:51 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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SolarAid launches solar recycling research initiative
PhD project with University of Edinburgh to investigate how solar lights used in developing countries can be safely repaired and recycled

By James Murray
15 Apr 2014

It is perhaps the only potential downside associated with the rollout of solar lamp technologies to communities in Africa and Asia: how can the solar cells and associated solar-powered lights or charging points be safely collected and recycled when they reach the end of their life?

It is a question that solar technology charity SolarAid is keen to answer, and as such has now teamed up with the University of Edinburgh on a three-year project to identify best practices for ensuring solar technologies are effectively recycled.

The three-year PhD project will specifically look at waste, recycling and repair of solar lights in Africa, with a view to supporting SolarAid's distribution efforts in the continent, which recently saw the UK-based charity's social enterprise SunnyMoney sell its millionth solar lamp.

The PhD project will be funded through a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and is open to applications from interested parties until Friday 16th May.

"We invite strong applicants to apply for a three-year studentship award leading to a PhD in International Development for a research project that will explore cultures and practices of waste collection, disposal, repair and recycling around solar technology in Kenya and/or Malawi," the application states. "The project will identify ways in which, and communities for whom, solar waste becomes a resource; providing new insight into the implications of waste from renewable energy technologies in the Global South."
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news...rch-initiative

Quote:
Testing Artificial Photosynthesis
Berkeley Lab Researchers Develop Fully Integrated Microfluidic Test-bed for Solar-driven Electrochemical Energy Conversion Systems

June 10, 2013
Lynn Yarris

With the daily mean concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide having reached 400 parts-per-million for the first time in human history, the need for carbon-neutral alternatives to fossil fuel energy has never been more compelling. With enough energy in one hour’s worth of global sunlight to meet all human needs for a year, solar technologies are an ideal solution. However, a major challenge is to develop efficient ways to convert solar energy into electrochemical energy on a massive-scale. A key to meeting this challenge may lie in the ability to test such energy conversion schemes on the micro-scale.

Berkeley Lab researchers, working at the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), have developed the first fully integrated microfluidic test-bed for evaluating and optimizing solar-driven electrochemical energy conversion systems. This test-bed system has already been used to study schemes for photovoltaic electrolysis of water, and can be readily adapted to study proposed artificial photosynthesis and fuel cell technologies.

“We’ve demonstrated a microfluidic electrolyzer for water splitting in which all functional components can be easily exchanged and tailored for optimization,” says Joel Ager, a staff scientist with Berkeley Lab’s Materials Sciences Division. “This allows us to test on a small scale strategies that can be applied to large scale systems.”
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-st...hotosynthesis/

Quote:
Solar cells made from polar nanocrystal inks show promising early performance
2 hours ago by Lisa Zyga

(Phys.org) —Achieving a balance between low-cost fabrication and high efficiency is key to the future success of solar cells. Over the past several years, researchers have been working on developing low-cost methods to manufacture solar cells. One of the most promising methods is solution processing.

In a new paper, Dr. Joel van Embden, et al., from CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, Australia, have used a low-cost solution processing method to fabricate nanocrystal-based solar cells made from environmentally benign polar nanocrystal inks.

While previous solar cells made from nanocrystals have required the use of solvents that are highly toxic or contain high concentrations of organic contaminants, in the new study the researchers were able to use cheap, non-hazardous solvents instead, such as simple alcohols. Even at this early stage in their development, the solar cells exhibit efficiencies of up to 7.7% and appear to be promising candidates for future commercial applications.

"The greatest significance of our work is that it proves the ability to take cheap materials and process them into efficient solar cells using scalable methods and environmentally friendly liquids," van Embden told Phys.org.

As the researchers explain in their paper, the eventual uptake of solution-processed solar cells by the renewable energy market hinges upon both the ability to synthesize the required semiconductor 'ink' dispersions using scalable, low-cost methods, as well as the processing of these inks into devices using simple, benign chemistry. The new nanocrystal-based solar cells tackle both these challenges. Furthermore, the light-absorbing layer of these cells is made of nanocrystals composed of the inexpensive, earth-abundant materials copper, zinc, tin and sulfur.

The researchers made the "solar ink" by modifying the nanocrystal surface chemistry to impart a high polarity. This high polarity was achieved by sticking specialized organic molecules called ligands onto the nanocrystal surface.
http://phys.org/news/2014-04-solar-c...stal-inks.html

Quote:
Shunfeng raising US$296.6 million in bond offering for PV projects
By Mark Osborne - 15 April 2014, 11:26
In News, Power Generation, Finance, Project Focus

Shunfeng Photovoltaic International is planning to issue convertible bonds totalling US$296.6 million to support its PV project business plans.

Handling the transaction is Partners Capital, owned by Shunfeng’s majority shareholder and property magnate, Cheng Kin-ming.

The bond is expected to carry an interest rate of 4% per annum payable semi-annually in arrears, carrying a conversion price of HK$10.00 per share, according to a financial statement.

Shunfeng stated that as of 23 March 2014, the company had a grid-connected PV project portfolio totalling 890MW, with an expected designed capacity of 1,718MW.

The company has plans to have 10GW of grid-connected annual designed capacity by the end of 2016.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/shunfeng...or_pv_projects

Quote:
Power Electronics connects 350MW in two weeks
By John Parnell | 14 April 2014, 14:51

Inverter manufacturer Power Electronics has reported that it connected 350MW of solar farms during two weeks.

Half of the reported 350MW was connected in 48 hours.

The rush was brought on by the fall in the level of Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) offered to solar farms from 1.6 to 1.4.
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne...two_weeks_2356

Quote:
Grupotec connects 130MW of solar across the UK in 14 weeks
By Lucy Woods | 14 April 2014, 17:29

Renewable energy project developer, Grupotec Renewables, has announced it has grid connected 200MW in the UK.

Connecting its 32nd solar power plant in the UK, Grupotec reached the milestone of 200MW, by deploying 130MW in just 14 weeks.

To build the 130MW more than 1,800 people were employed to install half a million PV modules and 5,000km of cabling.

If ground mount solar was to be deployed at the same rate of 130MW every 14 weeks, it would take approximately £130 million, two years and four months to build 3.2GW – the same output of the £16 billion UK Hinkley C nuclear power plant station, which will take 10 years to construct.
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne..._14_weeks_2356

Quote:
ReneSola installs 180MW in first year of UK operations
By John Parnell | 15 April 2014, 10:13

Module manufacturer ReneSola has supplied more than 180MW of panels to the UK market during its first year of operation.

The company established its standalone UK business last year and is now operating a warehouse facility in Newhaven and a national service and training programme.

“Year one has been a great success for us and 2014 is already looking strong with many new projects and products on the horizon,” claimed Ian Glover, general manager, ReneSola UK.

“With quality at the heart of our work, we remain focused on expanding the UK’s clean energy industry by increasing the use of solar power and introducing a range of low energy LED products to the market, which we will soon announce,” he said.
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne..._uk_operations

Quote:
Mazda R&D Center Goes Solar
Published on 15 April 2014

Solectria Renewables, a US PV inverter manufacturer, announced that its SGI 300 inverter was chosen to power the Mazda R&D Center in Irvine, California (US). Mazda worldwide has an environmental initiative to diversify its energy sources and to use them efficiently, as demonstrated by installing this 317 kW solar system.
http://www.solarnovus.com/mazda-r-d-...lar_N7650.html

Quote:
Solar gains ground in Southeast as programs in Ga. and S.C. build momentum
Kristi E. Swartz, E&E reporter
EnergyWire: Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Georgia is adding so much solar to the power grid this year that the state could rank in the top five for solar installations by the end of 2014, according to Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, an industry trade group.

This comes from a once coal-heavy state, resistant to renewables. Georgia had 11 megawatts of solar on the grid in 2012, Resch said. A little more than 90 MW was added last year, putting the state at No. 7 in installations.

Resch credits the rapid development with two things: a grass-roots effort from the state's solar entrepreneurs -- which shifted the conversation away from an environmental issue to one that focused on the economy and jobs -- and Georgia Power's solar program, created in 2012 and expanded last year at the urging of state utility regulators.

The program will add hundreds of megawatts of utility-scale and rooftop solar to the grid each year for the next few years.

More than 1,200 applications were submitted recently for one portion of Georgia Power's solar program, clearly showing pent-up demand to put more solar on the grid.

"Maybe Georgia was the blockage for the Southeast for a long time," said Resch in an interview with EnergyWire. "Georgia has become the anchor of the Southeast that is going to open up."
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059997909
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Old Posted Apr 16, 2014, 3:42 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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Apr 16, 2014
Stronger first quarter for global investment in clean energy

Small-scale solar in Japan and the US, and renewable power financings in emerging markets, help investment to rise 10% compared to Q1 2013

London and New York, 16 April – Investment in clean energy worldwide rallied nearly 10% in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the same period a year earlier, reaching $47.7bn.

The first-quarter figure owed much to a 42% jump in investment in small-scale solar, as households and businesses in countries such as Japan and the US took advantage of the big falls that have taken place in the cost of photovoltaic systems over recent years.

The first quarter is often the weakest of the year for investment in clean energy, reflecting the fact that developers tend to rush to finance projects in the closing months of each year to take advantage of expiring subsidies, and also the effect of colder weather in the Northern Hemisphere on project progress. So, although global investment in Q1 2014, at $47.7bn, was down on Q4′s $58.1bn, the more useful comparison is with the first quarter of 2013′s $43.6bn.

Michael Liebreich, chairman of the advisory board for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, commented: “It is too early to say definitively that 2013 was the low point for clean energy investment worldwide and that 2014 will show a rebound, but the first-quarter numbers are encouraging.

“Two trends, in particular, are worth picking out ‒ the increasing share of small-scale solar in overall investment, following a 50%-plus improvement in PV’s levelised cost of electricity per MW over the last four years; and the geographical expansion of investment to more and more emerging economies. In Q1, we saw two of the top four asset finance deals happening in Indonesia and Kenya.”



Overall investment in solar was up 23% at $27.5bn, while that in wind fell 16% to $13.9bn. Investment in energy-smart technologies such as smart grid, efficiency, power storage and electric vehicles, powered up 243% year-on-year to $3.1bn in Q1, while investment in biofuels fell 28% to $664m. Investment in geothermal heated up from virtually nothing in Q1 2013 to $1.8bn in the first quarter of this year.
http://about.bnef.com/press-releases...-clean-energy/

Quote:
Clean Energy Investment Rises 9%, Led by Solar Power
By Alex Morales Apr 16, 2014 2:00 AM PT

Clean energy investment rose by 9 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier on surging demand for rooftop solar panels from the U.S. to Japan.

New investment in renewable power and energy efficiency rose to $47.7 billion in the first three months of the year from $43.6 billion, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said today in an e-mailed statement.

The increase may mark a turnaround. Investment in low-carbon power and energy-efficiency equipment has fallen for two years as industrialized nations pared back subsidies. After peaking at $318 billion in 2011, new spending on clean energy subsided to $254 billion last year, according to BNEF figures.

“It is too early to say definitively that 2013 was the low point for clean-energy investment worldwide and that 2014 will show a rebound but the first-quarter numbers are encouraging,” BNEF Chairman Michael Liebreich said in the statement.

He highlighted two patterns: the increasing share of small-scale solar in total investment, and the expansion of investment into more developing countries.

Spending on new solar capacity rose 23 percent to $27.5 billion, including $21.2 billion for projects of less than 1 megawatt, BNEF said. Investment in electric cars, power storage and equipment that makes the power grid more efficient more than tripled to $3.1 billion, the London-based researcher said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...lar-power.html

Quote:
Prudential joins investors in backing NextEnergy's solar IPO
NextEnergy confirms it has raised £85.5m, as Macquarie and Forrest offer free solar installations to businesses

By Jessica Shankleman
16 Apr 2014

A host of blue chip investors have helped to raise £85.5m for NextEnergy to invest in eight UK solar projects through an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange.

The newly formed company had originally hoped to raise £150m from the IPO to service growing investor demand for solar PV projects, particularly from pension funds and insurance companies.

But the IPO clashed with two other major clean energy fundraising efforts from John Laing and The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG), in a week that saw more than £300m raised for the solar sector. As a result, NextEnergy raised just over half the funds it had hoped to.

NextEnergy chief executive Michael Bonte-Friedheim told BusinessGreen that he was nevertheless "extremely pleased" with the results given the busy fundraising schedule within which the IPO took place.

The fund attracted a wide range of blue chip institutional investors and wealth management firms, including Prudential. The full list of investors is due to be released when NextEnergy starts full trading on 25 April.

Bonte-Friedheim said the funds raised will be used to acquire eight operational solar power projects, which it has already secured rights to over the next four months.
http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/anal...rgys-solar-ipo

Quote:
NREL Unlocking Secrets of New Solar Material
April 15, 2014

A new solar material that has the same crystal structure as a mineral first found in the Ural Mountains in 1839 is shooting up the efficiency charts faster than almost anything researchers have seen before—and it is generating optimism that a less expensive way of using sunlight to generate electricity may be in our planet's future.

Researchers at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) are analyzing the new material, perovskite, using the lab's unique testing capabilities and broad spectrum of expertise to uncover the secrets and potential of the semiconducting cube-like mineral.

NREL has already produced three scientific papers on perovskite (see sidebar), reporting on the science behind the very large length of the electron pairs (or charge diffusion length) in mesostructured perovskite solar cells. The two most-studied perovskite device structures are mesostructured (of medium complexity) and planar (two-dimensional). NREL Research Fellow David Ginley, who is a world-renowned materials scientist and winner of several R&D 100 Awards, said what makes perovskite device structures so remarkable is that when processed in a liquid solution, they have unusual abilities to diffuse photons a long distance through the cell. That makes it far less likely that the electrons will recombine with their hole pairs and be lost to useful electricity. And that indicates a potential for low-cost, high-efficiency devices.

NREL Senior Scientist Daniel Friedman notes that the light-absorbing perovskite cells have "a diffusion length 10 times longer than their absorption length," not only an unusual phenomenon, but a very useful one, too.

Perovskite Is Flexible, Easier to Manipulate

The new cells are made from a relative of the perovskite mineral found in the Ural Mountains. Small but vital changes to the material allow it to absorb sunlight very efficiently. The material is also easy to fabricate using liquids that could be printed on substrates like ink in a printing press, or made from simple evaporation. These properties suggest an easy, affordable route to solar cells.

By playing with the elemental composition, it is also possible to tune the perovskite material to access different parts of the sun's spectrum. That flexibility can be crucial, because it means that the material can be changed by deliberately introducing impurities, and in such a way that it can be used in multijunction solar cells that have ultra-high efficiencies. Multijunction solar cells are an NREL invention from 1991, but because of high material costs, standard multijunctions are used mostly in outer space applications such as satellites and the Mars rovers. Cheaper multijunction cells based on perovskites could radically change this.



When Zhu's proposal to examine perovskite was approved, the efficiency level had climbed to 14.1%. Now, the highest certified rate is 16.2% by Sang Il Seok of Korea. "Seeing how rapidly this field is progressing, I feel very lucky that I started on this more than a year ago," Zhu said.

Meanwhile, Zhu is in the midst of an experiment in which he prepares a precursor solution that converts from a liquid base to an absorber in a device. "This material is so easy to work with," Zhu said. "Working on solution processing, we can make a device in one or two days, from beginning to finish."

To boost efficiency levels even further will take more effort, Zhu concedes. "But this new material can probably be processed at a much lower cost" than rival materials, he said. It doesn't have to deal with the problem of the substrate not matching with the material above it, or with the delicate deposition process necessary with many alternative solar materials.

Several companies are already interested in forming cooperative research and development agreements so they can work with NREL on perovskite. "At NREL, we have this depth and breadth of understanding of materials, devices, transport, and, really, all aspects of solar cells that should help us make an important contribution to this new material," Zhu said.
http://www.nrel.gov/news/features/fe...ature_id=10333

Quote:
14 Apr 2014
Loughborough scientists come up with method of reducing solar panel glare

The glare from solar farms could be a thing of the past, thanks to scientists at Loughborough University.

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

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

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

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

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

“It’s a great added value proposition for float glass manufacturers.”
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/news-events/n...olarpower.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0415084419.htm

Quote:
Building-Integrated Solar HVAC on the Rise
Published on 16 April 2014

According to data released today by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), a growing sector of the industry has reached a major milestone, with 5 million square feet of building-integrated solar air heating collectors now installed in North America.

SEIA President and CEO Rhone Resch says these systems represent 250 megawatts (MW) of thermal energy and displace nearly 100,000 tons of CO2 each year from the atmosphere.

Solar air heating systems work by heating incoming ventilation air before it is brought into a building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system (HVAC), using wall-mounted collectors that are typically made of metal and have 30-plus year lifespans.
http://www.solarnovus.com/building-i...ise_N7656.html

Quote:
JA Solar beats guidance to ship more than 620 MW of solar PV cells, modules in Q1 2014

JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (Shanghai) has announced selected preliminary information for the first quarter of 2014, estimating that it shipped more than 620 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, well above its guidance of 580–610 MW.


The company also expects sequential gross margin improvement in the first quarter of 2014, and has confirmed its PV cell and module shipment guidance of 2.7–2.9 GW for the full year of 2014. This includes 200 MW of module shipments to its PV projects.
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...n-q1-2014.html

Quote:
Yingli forms $160 million downstream PV development fund
16. April 2014 | Applications & Installations, Financial & Legal Affairs, Global PV markets, Markets & Trends | By: Ian Clover

Cooperation agreement signed with Shanghai's Sailing Capital to jointly form a CNY 1 billion Renewable Energy Fund for the pursuance of downstream solar projects in China.

China's Yingli Solar took another giant stride downstream today with the announcement that the company – the world’s largest vertically-integrated PV module manufacturer – has jointly created a $160 million (CNY 1 billion) Renewable Energy Fund designed for investment in solar energy projects throughout China.

Cooperating in the agreement is Shanghai Sailing Capita Management Co., Ltd, a private investment fund based in Shanghai. Yingli will contribute to and control a 51% stake in the fund, with capital contributions made over several installments. Primarily, the fund will be used to invest in Yingli's solar PV projects, with both parties taking an active role in the Fund's management.

"Renewable energy is emerging as a strategic industry in China and around the world, and the PV segment in particular has great prospects for future development,” said Sailing Capital’s fund manager, Xiaodong Liu. "As China’s first large, cross-border RMB private equity fund, Sailing Capital is pleased to join a PV industry leader in Yingli.

"The Fund, which will initially focus on ground-mounted solar power plant and distributed solar power generation system investments, marks the beginning of the two companies’ comprehensive cooperation through capital and industrial resource sharing."

Yingli's chief strategy officer, Bryan Li, added: "We are delighted to partner with Sailing Capital, a leading RMB private equity fund with robust funding resources, to accelerate our footprint in the downstream solar energy market.
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...und_100014842/

Quote:
Utility Nightmares: Distributed Generation and Halving Electricity Consumption
Scott Sklar, The Stella Group
April 16, 2014 | 0 Comments

While many utility executives attribute much of their predicted market challenges to the rise of photovoltaics and net metering, they actually have much more to worry about.

In a 2013 survey of global utility companies by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the results revealed that the utility industry leaders anticipate major changes to their business model in the near future. Ninety-four percent of international industry representatives surveyed predict that the power utility business model will be either completely transformed or significantly changed between today and 2030, while only 6 percent expect that the utility business model will stay "more or less the same."

In North America, 40 percent of respondents believed that utility companies' means of making a profit will see major changes over the next two decades. A strong majority — 82 percent — of North American respondents also said future energy needs will be met by a mix of traditional centralized generation and distributed generation, which feeds power from a mix of sources.

But while renewable on-site energy generation offers a major challenge to the electric utility business model, the lower capital cost energy efficiency approaches, will be the hardest hurdle. Not only because the initial capital costs are lower, the payback is faster, and the energy savings are huge. In fact just four effiency options can cut building electricity use by 50 percent, and there are many more options than what I cover here.

Smart Thermostats and Controls: 10 Percent Reduction

Lighting: Minimum 10 Percent Reduction in Building Energy

Solar Water Heating (And Others): Minimum 9 Percent Reduction in Building Energy

Vampire Loads – 10 Percent of Energy Bills

Commercial Energy Storage Set to Rise to 2.3 GW in 2017
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...ted-generation

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  #440  
Old Posted Apr 17, 2014, 6:06 PM
amor de cosmos amor de cosmos is offline
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New “solar thermal fuel” has energy density of lead batteries
Store the UV energy in sunlight, release it as heat when needed.

by John Timmer - Apr 16 2014, 11:13am PST

Right now, photovoltaic devices are the cheapest, most efficient way to harvest the energy in sunlight. The problem is that this energy ends up in the form of electricity, which we have difficulty storing in a cost-effective manner. An alternative approach, solar thermal energy, converts solar energy to heat and can use that heat to continue generating power for several hours after the Sun goes down. But that's not enough to make solar an around-the-clock energy source.

Researchers are apparently working on a third option, one that could potentially store energy indefinitely. It goes by the name of "solar thermal fuel," but it's not a fuel in the traditional sense. Rather than breaking apart the fuel molecule through combustion, solar thermal fuels release heat by rearranging bonds within a molecule, leaving all the atoms in place. As a result, they can be recycled repeatedly—in the example that introduced me to solar thermal fuels, a research team ran theirs through more than 2,000 cycles with no loss in performance.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/...ead-batteries/

Quote:
East County Magazine, Roads
Solar Roadways Move Closer to Feasibility
April 17, 2014
By Miriam Raftery

April 15, 2014 (San Diego’s East County) – In 2012, we reported on a potentially promising new technology to build roadways out of glass capable of producing solar power.

Now Scott Brusaw at Solar Roadways Newsletter has provided an update on a prototype parking lot that has now been installed.

He writes, “Naturally, our biggest challenge was the glass surface. Our design was tested (in various university civil engineering labs) for traction (British Pendulum Test), strength (load testing) and toughness (Impact resistance testing) and the results were far beyond our wildest hopes.It was rough installing through a cold Idaho winter, but it gave us a chance to see how the heaters performed. They prevented snow and ice from accumulating just as planned. The panels were even warm and dry to the touch. We’re collecting solar energy from the parking lot and it’s exciting to see the amount climb every day as the sun rises higher on the horizon with each day of spring.”

The parking lot is located right outside of the company’s electronics lab for monitoring day and night. It’s 12-feet wide by 36-feet long and is “our first fully functional prototype with solar cells, heating elements, and LEDs to paint road lines and verbiage,” he adds. “As you can see in the pictures, the solar cells (the dark rectangles) only cover 69-percent of the panels. This is because we used “off-the-shelf” solar cells, which wouldn’t fit our hexagons’ angles. We’re currently looking for a solar cell company to make custom sized solar cells so that we’ll have 100-percent coverage of the surface area.”
http://www.theecoreport.com/sources/...o-feasibility/

Quote:
Energy Department Announces $15 Million to Help Communities Boost Solar Deployment
April 17, 2014 - 9:48am

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In support of the Administration’s goal of doubling renewable energy generation for a second time by 2020, the Energy Department today announced $15 million to help communities develop multi-year solar plans to install affordable solar electricity for homes and businesses. The United States continues to be a global leader in solar, with total U.S. solar energy installations reaching 13 gigawatts last year. As the cost of solar energy continues to decline, more states and local communities are deploying solar energy projects to meet their electricity needs.

“As part of the President’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, solar energy is helping families and businesses throughout the U.S. access affordable, clean renewable power,” said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. "The Energy Department is committed to further driving down the cost of solar energy and supporting innovative community-based programs – creating more jobs, reducing carbon pollution and boosting economic growth.”

As part of the Department’s SunShot Initiative, the Solar Market Pathways funding opportunity aims to help communities develop solar deployment plans that focus on cutting red tape, building strong public-private partnerships to deploy commercial-scale solar. As part of these solar deployment plans, communities will establish innovative financing mechanisms and launch creative community-based initiatives, such as shared solar programs. Shared solar programs give families and businesses the opportunity to own, lease, or purchase electricity from a share of a larger solar project – reducing overall costs and giving more consumers access to renewable power.
http://www.energy.gov/articles/energ...lar-deployment
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ies_100014848/

Quote:
April 16, 2014 8:44 pm
NextEnergy raises £86m for solar projects
By Michael Kavanagh

NextEnergy Solar Fund is to acquire eight UK solar projects after raising £86m in a London IPO.

The amount raised is less than the £150m originally targeted by the fund, which has limited itself to acquiring existing UK solar power assets whose revenue streams have been backed by subsidy schemes designed to meet the country’s renewable energy targets.

Michael Bonte-Friedheim, chief executive, said investors in the fund could expect predictable dividend returns beginning at 5.25p per share in its first year, 6.25p in its second then rising with inflation beyond. It shares were placed at £1 each and begin official trading on April 25.

Other recent equity raisings for renewable energy funds, including by John Laing and The Renewables Infrastructure Group (TRIG), were blamed for sapping investor demand.

However, Mr Bonte-Friedheim, said he would be targeting further rounds of fundraisings following the IPO, which could total £750m within three years.

“As more funds are launched in this space, we expect investors to become more familiar and comfortable with investment opportunity and capital will open up,” he said.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1defa...44feabdc0.html

Quote:
Slideshow: Solar Disrupting Wholesale Energy Markets
Shayle Kann, GTM’s SVP, kicked off this industry summit with a new, insightful take on solar’s impact on energy markets.

Eric Wesoff
April 16, 2014

If you work in the solar industry and are having some difficulty reaching your colleagues, it's probably because a good portion of them are here in Phoenix at GTM's Solar Summit, taking in the sun as well as the deep flow of information at this event.

Shayle Kann, GTM's SVP of Research, kicked off this industry summit with a new, insightful take on solar's impact on energy markets.

How to disrupt a wholesale energy market

Kann noted that the word "disruptive," in regards to solar, was being thrown around a lot by folks like Citi, McKinsey, and the Edison Electric Institute.

According to Kann, "solar is not a disruptive technology." He suggested that what makes solar disruptive to the market is how it is financed, structured and priced.

And wholesale disruption is "a reality today in Germany."

Europe has installed 85 gigawatts of solar, 40 gigawatts in Germany alone. And relative to the size of the total German market, 40 gigawatts is a lot of solar, said Kann.




http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...Energy-Markets

Quote:
US to Dodge Solar Shortage This Year Even Amid New Antidumping Fines on Chinese Module Suppliers
Category: Design & Supply Chain, Design & Supply Chain Media
Thursday, April 17, 2014 5:05 am EDT

US to Dodge Solar Shortage This Year Even Amid New Antidumping Fines on Chinese Module Suppliers

Munich (April 17, 2014)—A long-running battle in the global photovoltaic (PV) market between the United States and China over antidumping and subsidy charges could expand into higher solar costs, with wide-ranging ramifications for the U.S. if punitive tariffs are levied on Taiwanese cells.

However, enough tariff-free capacity should still be available in 2014 to ensure there are no shortages in the United States this year, even if solar modules are expected to feel an impact on pricing, according to new analysis from IHS Technology (NYSE: IHS).

In ongoing investigations expected to culminate later in the year, the U.S. International Trade Commission is determining if further penalties should be imposed on solar modules containing cells manufactured in Taiwan. Having already punished China in 2012 with antidumping and countervailing duties, the U.S. now is seeking to close a loophole in which Chinese module manufacturers circumvented the large fines—ranging from 34 to 250 percent—by using third-party suppliers of PV cells located in Taiwan.

If the final ruling, expected in October, determines there is cause to impose penalties also on Taiwanese-sourced PV components, the price of solar cells and panels would almost certainly rise in the United States. This, in turn, is prompting fears that an increase in pricing might cause PV panel shortages in the U.S. market and disrupt the growth of PV installations.

But the prospect of a shortage here at home is unlikely, at least for this year, IHS has deemed after a careful study of possible aggravating factors as well as feasible sources for market relief.

In all, an estimated 57.8 gigawatts (GW) of production capacity representing crystalline solar cells and thin-film solar modules is available globally in 2014, 11.2 GW of which are located outside of China and Taiwan. Those 11.2 GW of capacity are not covered under the present U.S. inquiries, and when added to 6.1 GW of global thin-film capacities, the overall available supply of tariff-free solar capacities would amount to 17.3 GW.

At such levels, enough volume remains to support the entire breadth of U.S. solar installations for 2014, projected to reach 6.5 GW, as shown in the figure. This means the U.S. need not fear the possibility of a shortage this year, IHS believes.
http://press.ihs.com/press-release/d...ng-fines-chine
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...ihs_100014855/

Quote:
Solar cheaper option than nuclear, new study finds
17. April 2014 | Applications & Installations, Industry & Suppliers, Global PV markets, Investor news, Markets & Trends | By: Ian Clover

Report commissioned by Germany's Agora Energiewende reveals that new solar and wind plants are able to generate cheaper low-carbon power than the most modern nuclear reactors.

Solar and wind power should lead the global push for a cleaner energy future, says a recent study that found both renewable energy technologies are able to deliver cheaper low-carbon electricity than even the most modern nuclear reactors.

The study by consultant Prognos AG – commissioned by Agora Energiewende, which is a think-tank owned by the Mercator Foundation and European Climate Foundation – has concluded that newly built solar and wind plants with natural gas as a backup can deliver power that is one-fifth cheaper than nuclear backed by gas.

"New wind and solar power systems can generate electricity up to 50% cheaper than new nuclear power plants," said Agora Energiewende's executive director, Patrick Graichen. "Wind and solar systems will dominate the power system in increasingly more countries. The battle for the cheapest CO2-free power mix is decided."
http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/deta...nds_100014849/

Quote:
United PV securing US$1.6 billion in PV project funding
By Mark Osborne - 17 April 2014, 12:47
In News, Power Generation, Finance

United Photovoltaics Group is close to signing a deal with China Financial Leasing Company (Sinolease) to provide at least US$1.6 billion in PV project funding.

Currently, both companies have entered into a strategic cooperation agreement but details of the funding have yet to be concluded, according to a statement from the PV project developer. The funding would operate over a five-year period, according to United PV.

The agreement is also expected to lead to co-operation on the operation and maintenance of PV power plants as well as Sinolease providing financial consultancy services to United PV.

United PV had initially followed a PV project acquisition strategy, being the owner and operator of 531MW of PV projects in China.
http://www.pv-tech.org/news/united_p...roject_funding

Quote:
Crowdfunding Solar with a Twist — A Revolving Fund to Serve Communities
Andreas Karelas
April 17, 2014 | 2 Comments

According to Bloomberg News last week, crowdfunding solar could become a $5 billion investment vehicle in the next 5 years. This exciting development will connect people who want to invest their money responsibly with solar projects that need financing. SolarCity, the biggest U.S. solar power provider by market value, is getting into the space presumably to finance their residential and large commercial project arms.

However, some projects that are harder to finance might not benefit from this development. Small nonprofits and cooperatives are often underserved by solar financiers since they have a harder time taking advantage of solar tax credits, may not have qualifying credit ratings, and pose high transaction costs.

Fortunately, the power of crowdfunding is also being used to provide solar financing to these outlying organizations. RE-volv, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, has developed a new way to crowdfund solar for community-serving organizations. RE-volv has pioneered a revolving fund to finance solar energy projects for nonprofit and cooperative community centers.

RE-volv's model is simple. Money is raised through donations to seed a revolving fund that recycles the investment from one project to the next. Through a 20-year solar lease, community centers save money on their electricity bill while paying back the upfront costs and a small amount of interest to RE-volv. The lease payments are then reinvested into solar projects for other community centers, allowing the revolving fund to grow perpetually.
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/...ve-communities

Quote:
Press Release 046/2014
Environmentally Compatible Organic Solar Cells
KIT Coordinates “MatHero” Project Related to Sustainable and Low-cost Production Methods – EC Funds Project with EUR 3.5 Million


Environmentally compatible production methods for organic solar cells from novel materials are in the focus of “MatHero”. The new project coordinated by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) aims at making organic photovoltaics competitive to their inorganic counterparts by enhancing the efficiency of organic solar cells, reducing their production costs and increasing their life-time. “Green” processes for materials synthesis and coating play a key role. “MatHero” is funded by the European Commission with an amount of EUR 3.5 million.

Organic solar cells will open up entirely new markets for photovoltaics. These “plastic solar cells” have several advantages: They are light-weight, mechanically flexible, can be produced in arbitrary colors, and hence allow a customized design for a variety of applications. Moreover, organic solar cells can be produced by printing processes with a low consumption of materials and energy, enabling the inexpensive production of high numbers of solar cells. In order to become competitive in established markets, various challenges still have to be mastered. The energy conversion efficiency has to be improved to more than ten percent. Costs of materials synthesis have to be reduced. The life-time of the materials and modules has to be enhanced to more than ten years.

To reach these objectives, the European project consortium of “MatHero” studies environmentally compatible processes for materials synthesis, coating and printing. All novel printable materials are formulated using non-chlorinated solvents. “The use of environmentally compatible solvents is a major prerequisite for cost reduction, as complex safety measures on the industrial scale will no longer be required,” Dr. Alexander Colsmann of KIT’s Light Technology Institute (LTI) explains. Together with Christian Sprau, Colsmann coordinates the project.
http://www.kit.edu/visit/pi_2014_14961.php
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0416090437.htm

Quote:
Excitons observed in action for the first time
Technique developed at MIT reveals the motion of energy-carrying quasiparticles in solid material.

David L. Chandler | MIT News Office
April 16, 2014

A quasiparticle called an exciton — responsible for the transfer of energy within devices such as solar cells, LEDs, and semiconductor circuits — has been understood theoretically for decades. But exciton movement within materials has never been directly observed.

Now scientists at MIT and the City University of New York have achieved that feat, imaging excitons’ motions directly. This could enable research leading to significant advances in electronics, they say, as well as a better understanding of natural energy-transfer processes, such as photosynthesis.

The research is described this week in the journal Nature Communications, in a paper co-authored by MIT postdocs Gleb Akselrod and Parag Deotare, professors Vladimir Bulovic and Marc Baldo, and four others.

“This is the first direct observation of exciton diffusion processes,” Bulovic says, “showing that crystal structure can dramatically affect the diffusion process.”

“Excitons are at the heart of devices that are relevant to modern technology,” Akselrod explains: The particles determine how energy moves at the nanoscale. “The efficiency of devices such as photovoltaics and LEDs depends on how well excitons move within the material,” he adds.

An exciton, which travels through matter as though it were a particle, pairs an electron, which carries a negative charge, with a place where an electron has been removed, known as a hole. Overall, it has a neutral charge, but it can carry energy. For example, in a solar cell, an incoming photon may strike an electron, kicking it to a higher energy level. That higher energy is propagated through the material as an exciton: The particles themselves don’t move, but the boosted energy gets passed along from one to another.

While it was previously possible to determine how fast, on average, excitons could move between two points, “we really didn’t have any information about how they got there,” Akselrod says. Such information is essential to understanding which aspects of a material’s structure — for example, the degree of molecular order or disorder — might facilitate or slow that motion.
http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/excit...irst-time-0416
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0416090803.htm

Quote:
The Cost Of Leaks, Failures And Fires Under Rooftop Solar Arrays
April 16, 2014 Steven Bushong : 0 Comments

It may take a year or two of heavy rain, but eventually an improperly installed rooftop solar mounting system will make itself known. Inevitably, the ceiling below the array will dampen and begin to leak, alerting the owner with conspicuous – and infuriating – drops of water.

The costs of such a failure for the liable solar installer are more than financial. The company’s entire reputation is at risk – especially in the age of social media. Moreover, the solar industry in general is bruised by every unsuccessful install.

But there are monetary costs to bear, and they were outlined recently in a white paper co-authored by Cinnamon Solar, Solar Marketing Group, HatiCon Solar, Quick Mount PV and Orion Solar Racking.

The white paper details information about how to ensure long-lasting and safe solar roof mounts, a paramount topic as the solar industry grows. The information is based on the companies’ collective experience and the detailed study of 20 decade-old rooftop installations.

The report details the expenses associated with an improperly installed rooftop solar mounting system. You don’t want to be on the receiving end of these numbers:

Roof Leaks: $10,000

System Outage: $1,000

Fire: A few thousand dollars to total loss
http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com...-solar-arrays/

Quote:
Rutland cement works powered by 9MW solar farm
By Peter Bennett | 17 April 2014, 11:48

Solar developer Lark Energy has partnered with Armstrong Energy to complete a 9MW solar farm at Hanson Cement’s Ketton works in Rutland.

The solar farm sits on top of 20 hectares of former quarry and is expected to generate around 10% of the cement work’s annual electricity consumption. The 38,544 modules represent that first phase of the project which aims to install a further 3MW of capacity later this year.

“It has been very rewarding for the Hanson Renewable Energy Team to see the first of their projects come to fruition with the switch on of the Hanson Cement Solar Farm at Ketton,” said Mark Cox of Hanson Cement. “This is the first of what is hoped are many such projects the company will be involved in over the coming years as we strive to reduce our CO2 emissions and energy costs.”

One of the key challenges facing Lark Energy was the site’s grid connection: electricity from the site is fed into Hanson’s private 11kV network which feeds into Western Power Distribution’s 33kVnetwork. As a result, Lark Energy had to design the solar farm with active and reactive power management measures, protecting the grid from reverse current. The developer said that its approach provided a number of benefits, including minimising the need for expensive 33kV upgrade work, reducing Hanson’s energy costs and allowing inverters to act as capacitor batteries at night.
http://www.solarpowerportal.co.uk/ne...olar_farm_2356

Quote:
U.S. DOE to open new round of loan guarantees to support up to USD 4 billion in innovative energy projects

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued a draft loan guarantee solicitation to support innovative U.S. renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, as well as projects to sequester greenhouse gases.


The Renewable Energy and Efficient Energy Projects Loan Guarantee solicitation will make up to USD 4 billion in loan guarantees available to help commercialize technologies that may be unable to obtain full commercial financing. DOE states that it is looking for projects that are “catalytic, replicable and market ready”.

“Through our existing renewable energy loan guarantees, the Department’s Loan Programs Office helped launch the U.S. utility-scale solar industry and other clean energy technologies that are now contributing to our clean energy portfolio,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. “We want to replicate that success by focusing on technologies that are on the edge of commercial-scale deployment today.”

Grid integration and storage an area of interest

DOE has identified five technology areas of interest: advanced grid integration and storage; drop-in biofuels; waste-to-energy; enhancement of existing facilities and efficiency improvements. The agency says that it welcomes public comment and will consider public feedback defining the scope of the final solicitation.
http://www.solarserver.com/solar-mag...-projects.html

Quote:
California regulators push utilities to connect solar storage to the grid
By Herman K. Trabish
April 17, 2014

Dive Brief:
  • A proposed decision from the California PUC pushes​ utilities on the installation of storage systems for homes and business distributed solar​. ​It ​exempts storage for distributed solar of less than ten kilowatts from ​the review and interconnection studies imposed by SCE, PG&E, and SDG&E that are costing system owners fees of from $1,400 to $3,700.​​
  • California’s three IOUs say the information obtained by the studies assures safety and prevents grid electricity from being stored and resold to the grid along with solar-generated electricity. The CPUC’s decision requires utilities to accept the system monitor’s readings.
  • SolarCity ​complained​ that only twelve of 500 ​planned ​solar-and-storage systems had been connected to the grid and stopped its applications. ​The impediments extended average interconnection wait time to eight months, according to SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive. Over ten megawatts of capacity were on hold, according to CPUC President Michael Peevey.
  • SolarCity co-founder/CTO Peter Rive said ​that with the CPUC decision ​the company has resumed applying for new installations.

Dive Insight:

SolarCity partner Tesla Motors supplies batteries for its home installations. Stem, Green Charge Networks and Coda Energy will supply batteries for SolarCity's ​newer commercial scale program.

Solar advocates say solar with storage will enhance grid operations and reduce costs​. Utilities worry that revenues lost to the large amounts of electricity produced and used by such systems will shift significant costs to non-solar-owning ratepayers.

California has mandated that its IOUs install 1.3 gigawatts of storage, including customer-sited storage, by 2020.
http://www.utilitydive.com/news/cali...e-grid/252553/
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...ms-to-the-Grid

Quote:
How a California county produces more power than it uses
A small California county has become the first in the state to produce more power from solar panels than it uses.

By Laurie Guevara-Stone, Guest blogger / April 17, 2014

California is known for being a leader in solar energy, but a small county in Northern California has taken things a step further. It has become the first county government in the state to not only zero-out its electric bill with renewable energy, but also to become grid positive. Yolo County (population 200,000), just west of Sacramento County, now produces 152 percent more energy from solar panels than it uses.

Terry Vernon, deputy director of Yolo County General Services, is behind much of the solar success. In 2010, the Yolo County government was facing an annual $1.4 million electric bill. Vernon knew there was a better way. In the 1980s, Vernon helped Stanford University put power back into the grid with a cogeneration plant that heated the entire campus. So he was no stranger to innovative energy solutions, and knew that he could help power Yolo County with renewables. The issue he was facing, however, was that Yolo County was, like the rest of the country, in a recession.

"I had to look for a way to do a zero-capital investment because we didn't have any capital funding," Vernon told RMI. "It had to pay for itself the very first day." Vernon said it took a lot of effort; he had to go to the county board numerous times. Fortunately, the board was extremely supportive of the project. Even before board members knew it would produce a positive cash flow, they saw the potential to reduce the county's carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. Once they approved the proposal, the first solar project was under way.

An innovative solar plan

Working with SunPower, Yolo County installed a 1-megawatt solar power system at the Yolo County Justice Campus in the county seat, Woodland. Yolo County owns the system and associated renewable energy credits, and financed the purchase using multiple funding sources, including a $2.5 million loan from the California Energy Commission, and clean renewable energy bonds and qualified energy conservation bonds available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The system produced $162,000 the first year of operation, and is predicted to earn the county $10 million over the first 25 years.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment...r-than-it-uses

Last edited by amor de cosmos; Apr 17, 2014 at 6:52 PM.
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