Using radio waves for more efficient solar power

Using radio waves to efficiently convert solar power — that’s the idea behind startup Array Converter, which spoke for one of the first times this week at the AlwaysOn GoingGreen conference in San Francisco. Array Converter has developed solar power conversion electronics — which are used to convert the solar power made from the panels (direct current) into power that can flow on the grid (alternating current) — using a radio wave technology called amplitude modulation.

Array Converter CEO Wendy Arienzo said at the conference: “Marconi came up with radio and called it amplitude modulation. We are taking a well established technology and applying it to solar.”

Asked about Array Converter’s technology after her panel, Arienzo declined to say more about the company’s research, but said the company plans to make an announcement at the Solar Power International conference next month.

Amplitude modulation involves using radio wave to send information — the technology adjusts the amplitude of the radio wave rather than the frequency (FM) — and Array Converter’s work seems to focus on using pulse amplitude modulation. Pulse amplitude modulation is used in Ethernet equipment and for controlling LED lighting. Eric Wesoff at Greentech Media wrote about the company earlier this year, and patent attorney Eric Lane wrote about the startup’s patents in a blog post.

Array Converter is setting out to develop power electronics that are indeed different than the ones commonly used today to convert DC from solar panels to AC in order to be used on site or feed the grid. Solar systems today use inverters to do the power conversion; the inverter gets its name because its design reverses a conversion process to turn AC to DC (this device is called rectifier).

Although Array Converter hasn’t announced products, its website indicates that the company is working on a modulator and controller. And, yes, the startup promises to deliver power electronics that can reduce the overall equipment and installation costs.

Inverters have been used in solar energy systems for decades. Each inverter is typically responsible for about a dozen solar panels. In recent years, some inverter developers have come up with what’s called a microinverter that is paired with each panel.

The use of microinverter has led to the name “AC panel,” because the DC-to-AC conversion now takes place at the panel rather than at a central inverter that sits in a stand-alone box next to the solar array. Array Converter, incidentally, also calls solar panels that use its devices “AC panels.”

All of these technologies are working on improving the efficiency of converting the electric current – power losses are typical during power conversion. A Google-backed startup, Transphorm, is working on reducing that power loss by using a novel material called gallium nitride.

Michigan Tech Dedicates New Solar Energy Research Facility

“It’s amazing what free energy is out there to gather up,” KRC Director Jay Meldrum told the crowd jamming the conference room in KRC’s Engineering Building.

The two-kilowatt system generates enough energy to charge all of the electric snowmobiles competing in the SAE Clean Snowmobile Challenge, held every year at KRC, but that’s just a bonus. The system’s two main purposes are to support research in photovoltaic systems and to introduce student engineers to solar technologies.

Because the facility includes a variety of solar panels, researchers can compare their performance. And scientists don’t necessarily have to be on site: Just inside the building, a monitor displays a detailed, 24/7 flow of data from each of the modules mounted just outside. All that information will soon be free and available on the Internet.

The possibilities go far beyond solar panel design, Meldrum said. Researchers can investigate how the facility integrates with the larger electric grid, the economics of solar power, and all the system’s other components.

The facility is state of the art, in part because SolarBridge Technologies, of Austin, Texas, has donated 10 microinverters. They are attached to each of the modules and convert each panel’s DC current into AC current compatible with household use.

Those microinverters are key, said two faculty members who expect to use the facility in their research. “The cool thing about this is the inverters,” said Bruce Mork, a professor of electrical and computer engineering. “You don’t need batteries. They allow you to connect directly into your local grid.”

Joshua Pearce agreed. “This is plug and play,” said Pearce, an associate professor of materials science and engineering and electrical and computer engineering. Microinverters helping to drive down the price of solar energy and make it more and more attractive to a mass market. As a result, “solar can now play ball in places where electricity is costly, like Hawaii,” he said.

Ron Van Dell, president and CEO of SolarBridge and a 1979 electrical engineering graduate of Michigan Tech, predicted that the facility will help drive solar power closer to wide-spread use. “This will be a fruitful area for research,” he said, adding that he expected the program to draw investigators from many disciplines, including business.

With an annual snowfall averaging 200-plus inches, this might not seem like the ideal spot to study photovoltaic systems. But SolarBridge tests their equipment in all kinds of conditions, from Antarctica to the American West. Snow can actually be a benefit, Van Dell said, since it reflects sunlight.

The facility has an added advantage for Michigan Tech: it may also bring more top researchers here. “The timing of this couldn’t be better,” said University President Glenn D. Mroz. “As we continue to fill positions in the Strategic Faculty Hiring Initiative in Next-Generation Energy Systems, this facility lets us demonstrate to potential faculty members that they can be successful here.”

Dow Corning, of Midland, and Hemlock Semiconductor, a partially owned subsidiary of Dow Corning based in Hemlock, donated the facility’s solar panels, which were made by a number of manufacturers. Dow Corning produces the silicones used in making the panels. Hemlock Semiconductor manufactures polycrystalline silicon, the black, glass-like material on the panels’ surface that absorbs sunlight.

Planning Board Approves Temple's Solar Panel Project

The Planning Board has approved Temple Beth Tikvah’s application to install a 10,000-square foot system of solar panels in its parking lot.

The board unanimously approved the application Monday night. It is the first time a house of worship in town will install solar panels on its property.

Steve Taylor, from Green Energy Construction & Consulting, said the panels are expected to generate 144 kilowatts of energy an hour, enough to potentially eliminate the Temple’s reliance on power from PSE&G.

“The project gives the temple the ability to significantly reduce its electric bill,” said Michael Ruben, the attorney who represented the Temple before the board.

The 600 panels will be installed atop a skeletal structure in the parking lot, forming a carport.

Taylor said the system could be up and running by the end of the year.

Although the project is the first of its kind for a Wayne house of worship, solar panels have been popping up throughout the town this year.

Solar panels have been installed at seven public schools. They should be operational in November. A raised solar panel system already exists at William Paterson University. Those panels created a large canopy that covers several parking lots, but that system is not easily seen from nearby roads. Officials are also examining the possibility of installing solar panels on town property. PSE&G has installed hundreds of panels on utility poles throughout the town.

Rueben said solar panels have several advantages when it comes to finding alternative ways to generate energy.

“People don’t like the big windmills because they think they are loud and somewhat dangerous,” Rueben said. “You don’t have that with solar panels. Although they might not look the best, they are a quite, passive technology.”

Several residents expressed their disapproval with the application at a board meeting in July.

“This is going to be an eyesore,” said Robert Gordon, who has lived on nearby Teak Road for 33 years.

Rueben said that although some residents might not like the way they look, solar panels are going to become more popular in the coming years.

“This is the wave of the future, whether people like it or not, you’re going to see more solar arrays appear everywhere, especially in North Jersey,” Rueben said.

Sunny outlook for emirates in drive for more solar energy

Shiny blue panels are harvesting the sun's energy on Abu Dhabi's roofs, and Dubai is soon to unroll its own solar programme, officials said yesterday.

The transition to clean energy will be hastened by falls in the price of solar-panel technology, already down by half from three years ago, say industry executives.

"The decline in the cost of solar energy over the past few years has made our solutions much more competitive in the power portfolio," said Sami Khoreibi, the founder of Enviromena, a UAE solar company that installed some of the roof panels.

"If you look at any of the other sources of energy, they're only going up in price."

Solar power has taken longer to find support among investors in the region because it is regarded as more expensive than conventional fuel..

But the falling price of solar technology, driven by competition from Chinese companies, is set to speed up its adoption.

UAE officials have set ambitious solar targets - 7 per cent in Abu Dhabi by 2020 and 5 per cent in Dubai by 2030. Yesterday Masdar, the Abu Dhabi Government's clean energy company, announced a milestone in reaching that goal: 2.3 megawatts of solar roof panels. A total of 500 megawatts of roof panels is planned for the capital by the end of the decade.

It "is clearly the first step toward a larger solar incentive programme", said Mr Khoreibi.

Dubai could install as much as 90 megawatts of solar power to reach its 1 per cent renewables target in the next nine years.

"We're monitoring the technology on solar and renewables," said Nejib Zaafrani, the chief executive of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy, the policymaking body. "As the technology evolves on improving the cost and improving the efficiency in terms of the value, then we will change."

Dubai is studying sites for potential solar installations would announce a "very big" solar project soon, said Saeed Al Tayer, the chief executive of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.

But solar companies and investors say they need a guarantee that solar power will fetch good prices.

Toledo-area solar firms shining bright through some dim spots in market

The Toledo firm faced setbacks, including dozens of layoffs, this year when an Italian customer delayed receipt of a large order of solar panels. Since then, Mr. Deng said, his small business has slowly climbed back, securing new customers and considering a partnership with another solar firm that could lead Xunlight to expand its production beyond traditional solar panels.

Mr. Deng said Xunlight’s retooled strategy could make the company stronger.
“The industry has changed and is changing, and we have to constantly rethink and constantly look for various opportunities to broaden our product line and attract new customers,” he said.

Although solar experts say the domestic market for photovoltaic panels is growing, Toledo-area solar firms are working to overcome hurdles at the state, federal, and global levels. Companies such as Xunlight, First Solar Inc., which has its only U.S. manufacturing plant in northwest Ohio, and Willard & Kelsey Solar Group LLC of Perrysburg face an economic downturn, numerous competitors worldwide, and the potential end of renewable-energy policies and subsidies that help drive panel sales.

Can the local operations withstand the pressures?

Rick Stansley, director of strategic business development at the University of Toledo, said each of the local solar companies has the wherewithal to do so.

“All in all, I would say that we are doing relatively well with respect to our business enterprises,” he said.

Among the issues facing local solar companies is a proposed repeal of Ohio’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard, which requires 25 percent of electricity sold in the state to be produced from alternative resources by 2025. Further, a loan guarantee program from the U.S. Department of Energy that helps companies gain financing for advanced energy projects is to expire at the end of this month.

The debate of the federal loan guarantee program has been heightened by the collapse of Solyndra Inc., a California solar panel manufacturer. The company received $535 million in federal-loan guarantees before filing for bankruptcy this month, and Solyndra faces a Justice Department investigation and a congressional probe.

Solyndra’s downfall has led some lawmakers to contest federal aid for other solar manufacturers. U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (D., Calif.) argued last week that loans to solar panel makers are poor bets, and that foreign competition and other pressures could lead to the “collapse of the solar panel manufacturing business in America.”

But Thomas Kimbis, general counsel for the Solar Energy Industries Association in Washington, contends that the most financially fit and strategically oriented firms stand to benefit as the United States becomes one of the world’s fastest-growing solar market.

“The competition in the market is so fierce that only the strongest companies are going to survive, especially in economically poor conditions and with policy uncertainty,” said Mr. Kimbis, who is also vice president of strategy and external affairs for the trade association.

Solar Industry Fears Losing Federal Support Amid Profit Decline

The hubbub over Solyndra’s $535 million federal loan guarantee, a glut of solar panels and a 40 percent drop in prices for them are stirring worries from the solar energy advocates that they would lose a popular solar grant program and see big cutbacks in research and development budgets of solar companies.

The death of the grant program and the cuts to R&D budgets would be bad news for the young solar industry, which needs government help to grow and hopes to reduce that reliance by coming up with innovations that will cut the installation cost and make solar electricity cheaper. Worries about losing both have grown as solar energy proponents see what they believe to a campaign to discredit solar as a viable alternative to fossil fuel energy. Advocacy group Vote Solar Initiative titled a blog post last week, “Reports of solar’s death are greatly exaggerated.”

The concerns stem from the mounting criticism of a $535 million government loan guarantee to solar startup Solyndra and, by extension, the loan program itself and the solar industry’s dependence on government incentives. The loan guarantee program is set to end on by the end of thismonth, and the Department of Energy is working on finalizing at least a dozen loan guarantees before then. In a surprising announcement Thursday, First Solar said it won’t be able to get a guarantee for a $1.9 billion loan for a California solar farm from the same program because “there was insufficient time to process all requirements before the Sept. 30, 2011 deadline.” First Solar spokesman Alan Bernheimer said in an email that the company “wouldn’t speculate” about any connection between the Solyndra controversy and its own loan guarantee application.

The Solyndra controversy is erupting at a time when solar equipment manufacturers are trying desperately to reverse the severe losses they have experienced for much of this year. If manufacturers continue to see declining profits or post heavier losses, they will likely shrink their R&D spending, said Paula Mints, director of energy at Navigant Consulting.

“It’s very hard to make a buck and have a positive margin. In a situation such as this, it’s hard to conduct a solid R&D that we need to move the industry forward,” said Mints in a webinar hosted Vote Solar Wednesday.

Large solar panel manufacturers are selling their products for as low as $1.10 per watt when they need to sell them for more than $2 per watt to make a healthy profit, Mints said. Wholesale solar panel prices already have fallen about 40 percent this year, according to GTM Researech.

The low prices, while they benefit buyers, aren’t good for the seller or the solar industry overall, Mints said. The prices have plummeted because incentive declines in Europe, the largest solar market in the world, have lowered demand and caused a pile up of solar panels in warehouses.

“Candidly, this is not something to rejoice on because with $1.10, there is a manufacturer losing money there. That’s not a healthy industry,” Mints said.

Companies have to cut costs heavily to limit losses, including their R&D investments, yet they face increasing pressures to improve the efficiency and installation cost of their equipment in order to survive. Last month, CEOs of solar factory equipment makers Applied Materials and GT Advanced Technologies both noted that their customers are asking for more tools that will help them produce more efficient equipment.

Future of solar is in USA

The future of solar is not in China. They are the present: 185 Chinese solar panel makers relentlessly driving down costs by 30 percent a year.

The future of solar is right here in America: Using smart technology to get the most out of what the Chinese sell us.

That is not as easy — or as bad — as it sounds.

Twenty years ago, nuclear power plants were running at 50 percent of capacity. For all the theory about making energy “too cheap to meter,” the nuclear industry was better at building plants than actually making them generate power.

They figured it out. Today nuclear power plants in the United States run at 90 percent capacity.

Solar today is where nuclear was: Solar plants are not producing energy as well as they could.

Google was among the first to find out. In 2007, Google built a 1.65 megawatt solar energy system. That is about two football fields with about 10,000 panels.

In 2009, Google did an experiment where it doubled the energy it was getting from its panels: Google cleaned them. Eight months later, Google cleaned them again and increased energy by 37 percent.

The people at Google are just about the smartest and most forward-thinking on earth. They had no problem admitting how little they knew about their own system.

Google figured out that 10,000 panels are really 10,000 separate energy generating systems. But like most everyone else, Google used one monitor to add up the energy from all 10,000 panels. But they had no information about how individual panels were performing — if at all.

When energy output went down, they did not know if it was due to bad panels, hungry raccoons, errant golf balls, bad wires, hot roofs, dirty dirt, clouds or any of the other thousand natural shocks solar systems are heir to.

They were guessing. And Google knew it: “It would be difficult to detect manufacturer defects or accidental damage by data analysis alone, unless the damage impacts (something more than) 20 percent of the solar panels in that building.”

Translation: They knew when the panels were on and when they were off. And that is about it. If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.

Every business student learns that on day one. Solar managers know it too. But until recently, they did not have the tools to see what was going on in their larger solar arrays. That is changing.

And as that spreads through the industry, that will be like adding free energy capacity.

That is just one example of how the future is blooming. We are starting to learn how much we can improve the way we distribute power in smart grids. Or how we use energy around the house and in our cars. And when alternative energy is the solution. Or not. And how water and energy are connected, and if we conserve one, we save the other.

Solar and alternative energy today is a new business - really only about five years old. Solyndra and poor panel performance are history.

China dominates solar power

China's solar power firms are emerging as the industry's dominant force after the collapse of foreign competitors, but the new market leaders are already struggling with low prices and overcapacity.

As the workshop of the world, China has used cheap labour and state support to build a solar industry from scratch in just over a decade as part of a broader strategy to move up the manufacturing value chain from cheap toys and clothes.

China is the world's second biggest oil consumer, and polluting fossil fuels account for 90% of its total energy use, but the country is making large strides forward in clean energy.

Analysts say Chinese firms now have 70% of the growing global market in solar panels, thanks to aggressive pricing and the collapse of three US competitors in the last two months.

"The position of Chinese players has certainly been enhanced this year," said Tang Xiaodong, a Shanghai-based analyst at independent investment advisory firm CEBM.

"Lower costs are the direction of the industry and the advantages of Chinese firms on this front have been manifested more clearly."

China's solar panel prices have fallen to around $1.2 per watt of generation, down from about $1.7 in 2010 and much lower than the global average of about $2.0 last year.

But the downward price spiral has hurt revenues across the industry, and Chinese companies are themselves feeling the pain.

"Everyone is facing falling prices, increasing inventories and dire straits," said an official at Yingli Green Energy, one of China's biggest solar companies, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Critics argue that Chinese companies have unfair advantages in the form of access to cheap capital from China's state-run banks.

However, they are not alone in receiving government assistance - the latest US solar firm to file for bankruptcy was Solyndra, which had a $535m loan guarantee from US President Barack Obama's administration.

It joined Evergreen Solar, once listed on the Nasdaq exchange, and high-profile Intel spin-off SpectraWatt.

But even before the collapse of those three US companies, China was already home to the world's largest producer of solar panels, Suntech.

"There is a periodic murmur from industry, trade groups and elements in the US government that unfair subsidies in other countries put the US at a distinct disadvantage in the solar industry," said US-based analysis firm GTM Research in a recent report.

China's Suntech, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, counters such criticism by saying consolidation of the emerging industry was natural.

"The recent high-profile bankruptcies of innovative solar enterprises are unfortunate," Suntech said in a statement.

"However, competition among aggressive and innovative companies is critical to driving efficiency, productivity, and industry growth."

Chinese companies are almost solely focused on exports, with as much as 95% of production sold overseas according to some estimates, and they have responded to falling prices for solar panels by ramping up shipments.

But analysts expect domestic demand for solar products to rise with the introduction of a new national "feed-in" tariff - a price the government guarantees to pay to producers of solar power feeding into the grid.

"The days of China's PV production being purely for export are coming to an end," GTM Research said, referring to solar power technology.

First Solar's Record Efficiency May Best China Solar Panels

First Solar Inc., which achieved record efficiency for a thin-film solar cell, will incorporate the advance into its manufacturing technology next quarter to outpace cost reductions by Chinese rivals and compete against fossil fuels without government aid.

First Solar developed a cell that converts 17.3 percent of sunlight into electricity and applying those techniques may yield conversion rates of 15.3 percent in mass production, said Chief Technology Officer David Eaglesham. That compares with 11.7 percent the company averaged in the second quarter.

"There were about a dozen changes that we'll be phasing into production," starting in the fourth quarter, Eaglesham said in an interview at the company's factory in Perrysburg, Ohio, on Sept. 2. He didn't say when the improvements will be fully implemented.

First Solar is the world's largest thin-film company and the reductions may make it the first in the solar industry to compete on price with fossil fuels without subsidies, said Mark Bachman, an analyst at Avian Securities LLC. That would be a victory for President Barack Obama, who is under fire for supporting Solyndra LLC, a competing company that received $535 million in U.S. loan guarantees before filing for bankruptcy on Sept. 6. First Solar has $5.35 billion in federal loan guarantees.

"First Solar is leading the pack," Bachman said in an interview from Boston. "Tax credits will help for the next five years, and they can stand on their own after that."

First Solar shares fell $1.79, or 2.1 percent, to $83.91 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading, after a report from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. today predicted slow demand growth this year for solar panels. The company has fallen 36 percent this year, outperforming the 53 percent slump in the Bloomberg Industries Large Solar index. Solar companies tumbled as demand slowed and subsidies were pared in Germany and Italy, two of the biggest markets, and prices for panels dropped.

Already, First Solar has the lowest costs in the industry, producing so-called thin-film solar panels for 73 cents a watt. The higher efficiency levels will drive those costs down further, making the panels more attractive than traditional photovoltaics.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has mostly avoided funding polysilicon-based panels, betting on thin-film to drive down the installed cost of solar power to $1 a watt by 2020, a 75 percent reduction from the current industry average. That would make solar cheaper than buying power from utilities that mostly consume coal and natural gas.

Based in Tempe, Arizona, First Solar uses cadmium telluride as a semiconducting material, applying it in a film directly to glass in an automated process. Traditional PV products are made from polysilicon, which must be made in furnaces, sliced into wafers, formed into cells and assembled into panels.

Both technologies differ from Solyndra, which used a thin film made of copper, indium, gallium and selenium to conduct electricity through tubes of glass mounted to a metal frame. The process yielded panels that were attractive when polysilicon traded as high as $475 a kilogram in 2008. They were too costly to compete when the raw material sank to $50 last year.

Porterville schools install solar panels

A South Valley school district is hoping to save millions of dollars by installing solar panels at six different school sites.

Porterville Unified School District is also using the solar project as a learning tool. Crews from the company "Sun Power" were working all day at Porterville High School to install solar panels.

"As long as I've been with this district -- this district is so forward thinking. They're always looking for ways to make sure we have enough capital to operate our schools and this is just one more move," said Principal Steve Graybehl.

The green energy system will not only help the school district cut its annual $2.2-million electricity bill in half, but it will also serve as shade in the school's parking lots and an educational tool.

After the panels are installed, solar technicians will be stopping by classrooms to teach students about the technology and how they can start a career in the solar industry.

Students in Porterville High's Alternative Energy Academy are excited.

"To me it's interesting it's really interesting and not many people know how to do these things so I'm going to be learning a new skill that makes me unique," said student Gilberto Ramos.

"It's going to be a good thing in the long run," said student Kyle Hicks.

Porterville Unified has been committed to teaching students about solar energy for the last few years. This summer, Action News caught up with students learning to install solar panels on low income houses. Students say they realize the value of the project.

"Alternative energy is a really good way to help out the economy and our Valley with all the pollution," said Ramos.

Solar panels are also being installed at Granite Hills High School and the adult school. By the time these projects are completed two more solar panel projects will have broken ground at other Porterville Unified Schools.

The entire project costs more than $23-million. State bonds are paying $22-Million. School officials estimate they'll be able to pay them off before the 20-year deadline.

"We have small margin that we pay but within this project we have calculated savings out that in about 10 years we will have become cash positive on the project," said Director of Facility Development Owen Fish. Which means more cash for the district to spend on education and student programs.

The solar panel projects at Porterville and Granite Hills High Schools are expected to be complete in mid-October.

Porterville's third high school, Monache High, will break ground on its solar panel project within the next two weeks.

China takes over as US solar power firms fail

As the workshop of the world, China has used cheap labour and state support to build a solar industry from scratch in just over a decade as part of a strategy to move up the value chain from cheap toys and clothes.

China is the world’s second biggest oil consumer, and polluting fossil fuels account for 90 per cent of its total energy use, but the country is making strides towards clean energy.

Analysts say Chinese firms now have 70 per cent of the growing global market in solar panels, thanks to aggressive pricing and the collapse of three US competitors in the last two months.

“The position of Chinese players has certainly been enhanced this year,” said Tang Xiaodong, a Shanghai-based analyst at independent investment advisory firm CEBM.

“Lower costs are the direction of the industry and the advantages of Chinese firms on this front have been manifested more clearly.” China’s solar panel prices have fallen to around $1.2 per watt of generation, down from about $1.7 last year and much lower than the global average of about $2 in 2010.

But the downward price spiral has hurt revenues across the industry, and Chinese companies are themselves feeling the pain.

“Everyone is facing falling prices, increasing inventories and dire straits,” said an official at Yingli Green Energy, one of China’s biggest solar companies, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Critics argue that Chinese companies have unfair advantages in the form of access to cheap capital from China’s state-run banks. However, they are not alone in receiving government assistance — the latest US solar firm to file for bankruptcy was Solyndra, which had a $535 million loan guarantee from President Barack Obama’s administration.

It joined Evergreen Solar, once listed on the Nasdaq exchange, and high-profile Intel spin-off SpectraWatt. But China was already home to the world’s largest producer of solar panels, Suntech.

“There is a periodic murmur from industry, trade groups and elements in the US government that unfair subsidies in other countries put the US at a distinct disadvantage in the solar industry,” said US-based analysis firm GTM Research in a recent report.

China’s Suntech, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, counters such criticism by saying consolidation of the emerging industry was natural. “The recent high-profile bankruptcies of innovative solar enterprises are unfortunate,” Suntech said in a statement to AFP.

“However, competition among aggressive and innovative companies is critical to driving efficiency, productivity, and industry growth.”

Chinese companies are almost solely focused on exports, with as much as 95 per cent of production sold overseas according to some estimates, and they have responded to falling prices for solar panels by ramping up shipments.

Solar-power boost for 45 more Punggol blocks

MORE Housing Board blocks in Punggol are going green with solar power by the middle of next year.

Seven HDB blocks have already been fitted with rooftop solar panels to generate electricity, and 45 more blocks will be similarly fitted.

This test-bed project, announced by HDB yesterday, is in line with the Government's plan to make living in Singapore more environmentally friendly and sustainable.

The solar-panel systems used by these estates will - for the first time in Singapore and South-east Asia - be on a lease basis from their developer.

This means that HDB and the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council will lease the systems and not have to pay the high cost upfront of installing them, which is estimated to be $11 million for this project.

The town council will not have to worry about system maintenance, too. Home-grown solar manufacturer Sunseap Enterprises will take on those responsibilities.

The firm has been awarded the tender for the project for 20 years and the town council will pay Sunseap monthly power - generation fees.

The electricity generated will be used to power electrical services in common areas, such as lift operations, corridor and staircase lighting, and water pumps.

HDB said that Punggol residents do not have to worry that the higher cost of solar power - about 30 per cent more than prevailing electricity rates - will be passed on to them.

This is because the town council has signed an agreement with Sunseap to enjoy a discount on the costs of electricity generated by solar power, which makes them similar to prevailing electricity rates.

For this project, HDB will cover 30 per cent of the initial start-up costs, which amounts to about $3.28 million.

Mrs Cheong Koon Hean, chief executive of HDB, said the project will help Singapore reduce carbon emissions in the long term and contribute to the country's research on solar-power generation.

She added that HDB is looking into expanding the project to another 70 blocks in Punggol.

Intel's Solar Chipset Can Run Forever

The fact that portable electronics are getting to the point where battery life is simply not a concern is absolutely wonderful. We're not quite there yet, but we're so, so close. Intel is working on a new processor architecture that can run itself using nothing but light: no plugs, no batteries, just solar power.

Intel's ultrabooks will soon be sporting a new chipset called Haswell. The Haswell CPU will have a 22 nanometer 3D architecture, the upshot of which is that it'll consume twenty times less power than current chips. Yes, that's twenty times less. That picture up there is showing a Haswell CPU humming along, powered exclusively by that itty bitty solar panel. Park the thing under the sun (or a lightbulb) and it'll happily crunch numbers for you until the sun explodes.

This is just the CPU, mind you, not the motherboard and hard drive and screen and whatnot. But with the addition of a battery (of reasonable size, I assume), Intel promises 24 solid hours per charge, with a whopping 10 days of "connected standby," which includes Internet streaming and other good stuff. Even if you cut those absolute best-case estimates in half (which is how it seems to work), that's still an entire working day's worth of worry-free power.

So when will this miracle come to pass? The word is that Haswell will be ready to go by 2013, which is just barely over a year away. Not soon enough, but at least we have a whole bunch of time to continue to bemoan how inefficient our current generation of laptops is. Yay!

GOP Probes Now-Bankrupt Solar Company That Obama Once Touted

House Republicans are eager to find out at a congressional hearing Wednesday why President Obama and his administration continued to promote and refinance $528 million in stimulus loan guarantees to the now-bankrupt solar panel maker Solyndra even after warning signs emerged.

“Many of us think he was trying to get the money out the door perhaps for political reasons, and in the end taxpayers lost over half a billion dollars,” said Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, whose hearing is part of a seven-month investigation.

Asked if someone should be fired over this, Stearns told Fox News, "I do."

But the White House has defended the federal loan.

"This loan guarantee was pursued by both the Bush and Obama administrations," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said. "The Department of Energy's overall portfolio of investments -- which includes dozens of other companies, continues to perform well and is on pace to create thousands of jobs."

In an SEC filing in March 2010, a year after the California-based Solyndra got the loan guarantees but before the refinancing, independent auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers said several negative financial factors “raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.”

Still, two months later, Obama went to Solyndra’s solar panel plant and touted green energy and the stimulus.

“The true engine of economic growth will always be companies like Solyndra,” Obama said at the time.

But this summer, after CEO Brian Harrison told members of Congress that “Solyndra’s financial condition was improving," Energy Department officials let lawmakers know that the company was facing “decreased revenues.”

“Obviously there was duplicity here because (the Energy Department) was on the board of Solyndra monitoring what happens, and eventually they were concerned enough that they sent in their own inspector team and the FBI a couple of days ago because they suspect criminality,” Stearns said.

In addition to raiding the company's headquarters, the FBI also interviewed Solyndra executives at their home following the company's bankruptcy announcement. The FBI has not said what the investigation is focused on but it is widely believed to be linked to the bankruptcy.

"While we are disappointed by this particular outcome, we continue to believe the clean energy jobs race is one that American can, must and will win," White House spokesman Schultz said. "The question we, as a country, have to ask ourselves is: are the jobs of the future going to created here in the United States or elsewhere?"

Solyndra, whose technology relied on a tube that could soak up sunlight from many different angles, producing energy more efficiently and using less space, became the first company to get a loan guarantee through Obama’s 2009 economic stimulus program. The government later restructured the terms of the loan.

When the Energy Department rejected Solyndra’s request for a second refinancing to get additional financing from private investors, the company filed for bankruptcy.

How China dominates solar power

In four years, the solar manufacturing sector shifted from being led by a geographically dispersed number of companies to one dominated by Chinese companies. In 2006, there were two companies from China in the list of top ten cell producers. In 2010, there were six, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. There are currently only two non-Asian manufacturers in the top ten, and those companies -- First Solar and Q-Cells -- have shifted a lot of their production to Asia.

So what happened? How did the Chinese come to completely dominate the solar industry in such a short period of time?

Bryan Ashley, the Chief Marketing Officer for Suniva, an American company that produces high-efficiency solar cells in Georgia, doesn't mince words.

"The Chinese strategy is very clear. They are engaging in predatory financing and they're trying to drive everybody else out of the market. When you've got free money you can out-dump everybody below cost," Ashley said in an interview with Climate Progress.

That "free money" Ashley refers to is the cheap debt provided by the
Chinese Development Bank (CDB).  Here's how the CDB works its magic.

The CDB was originally set up as a "policy bank," to operate as an arm of the Chinese central government, doling out public funding to support central government development programs. Now it is a "joint stock company with limited liability" that often reports to China's national cabinet on certain policy issues. This allows the Chinese government to get involved in CDB activities and direct loans toward projects officials want to support.

Unlike most regular commercial banks, CDB raises most of its money
via long-term bonds. Funders cannot take that money back out until the term is up, so the bank can make longer-term loans to Chinese companies. CDB also gives borrowers very low interest rates, and, if the borrower cannot pay back the loan, it may be back-stopped by the Chinese government.

This makes it easier, cheaper, and a lot less risky for solar companie to obtain financing.

In 2010 alone, the bank handed out $30 billion in low-cost loans to the top five manufacturers in the country. (See chart above.) This has enabled China's solar producers to grow to GW scale in a very short period of time, turning the country into a leading exporter of solar and pushing down prices dramatically.

From a project development perspective, those steep price drops are a very good thing. But manufacturers trying to make product outside of China and other Asian countries are getting hit hard.

"Free money is impossible to compete with," said Ashley. "Even when global demand went down they were able to keep producing, producing, producing," said Ashley. "And now they're dumping. If something isn't done, there will be no American product left on the market."

Allegations of solar panel dumping have been made before in Europe and the U.S., but they have never been proven. In 2009, Suntech CEO Shi Zengrong explained in a conference call that his company was selling panels below marginal costs. But he reversed his statement shortly after, saying he misunderstood the reporter's question.

With Chinese producers in a far more dominant position than in 2009 and a slew of solar manufacturing facility closures announced in the U.S. in recent months, concerns about dumping have resurfaced. Just yesterday, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter to President Obama asking him to investigate whether or not Chinese companies are selling product below cost in order to push American producers out of the market. He also called on the administration to implement a trade tariff on Chinese modules:

    Letting that happen is unacceptable. Please know that if your administration is unwilling to take the appropriate steps, with haste, I will advance a legislative effort, as provided by the U.S. trade remedy laws, to ensure that the American solar industry is not harmed by unfair trade.

Wyden's letter comes after the high-profile bankruptcies of American solar manufacturers Solyndra and Evergreen. While a variety of technological and market-based factors contributed to the demise of these companies, the Chinese competition -- driven by cheap, easy debt -- played a central role.

Remarkably, even with all the pressure from China, the U.S. is a net exporter of solar products to the country. A new report issued by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association shows that America had a $247 million solar trade surplus with China in 2010, mostly because of polysilicon and equipment shipments.

"Yeah, that's great. But we're just sending the raw materials and buying back the finished goods," explained Suniva's Bryan Ashley. "That's a going-out-of-business strategy. Pretty soon they'll figure out how to produce quality polysilicon and they'll be doing it all themselves. We need to re-learn how to make things in this country."

Ashley would like to see a Buy America provision for certain

Solar Industry “Darwinism” Weeding Out Weaker Companies

Solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, which recently filed for bankruptcy, got special treatment from the Obama administration, some have alleged, since the company’s $535 million in federally guaranteed loans had much lower interest rates than those of other green energy companies, according to an investigative report.

The FBI raided Solyndra’s office, although it would not comment on the reason. The company shut without giving notice to its employees and contractors, which many large companies are legally required to do.

However, Lewis Milford of the Clean Energy Group argued critics are inconsistent in highlighting Solyndra’s failure, since there are many examples of failure in government projects—and that a high rate of failure is inevitable in innovative fields. Overall, the Loan Guarantee Program has performed well, and Solyndra’s failure is not a reason to abandon it, Forbes argued.

Solyndra is only one of many solar energy companies around the world struggling recently, due in large part to rising costs of materials and weaker-than-expected demand for panels, which have led to a sharp rise in mergers and acquisitions compared with last year.

Germany has long been a solar powerhouse, but one of its companies—SolarWorld—is also having trouble, and is shutting down factories in Germany and the U.S. and consolidating manufacturing. Another German solar company, Solon, is shutting an Arizona plant and laying off workers.

All this activity “is Darwinism at work in business,” said an executive of manufacturer Abound Solar.

Nonetheless, large solar projects are moving ahead. The U.S. has offered a loan guarantee for putting solar panels on military housing, which could double the number of residential rooftop arrays in the country.

With solar panel costs falling, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association said, solar could be competitive with conventional energy within a couple of years in some markets, and across Europe by 2020.

Also, a new projection from the International Energy Agency said in 50 years’ time, solar energy could provide more than half the world’s power.

Iran joined the list of nuclear countries by connecting its first nuclear power plant to the grid last week, according to the country’s official media.

Also, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported Iran began running upgraded centrifuges. Iran also offered to allow inspectors “full supervision” of its nuclear activities for the next five years, in exchange for lifting sanctions.

Iran has reportedly tested weapons systems, which some experts said cast doubt on Iran’s claim that its nuclear program is limited to producing electricity. But arms expert Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said that without proof, it is too soon to jump to the conclusion Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. Nonetheless, in discussions at the United Nations, several countries kept pressure on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment until a monitoring deal is worked out.

Free Solar Panels Available to UK Households

Energy sector organisation EnergyLink has called on British households to act now and take advantage of the opportunity to dramatically reduce their carbon footprint, without spending a penny.

While many low carbon technologies such as wind turbines or heat pumps may be too expensive or impractical for the average UK consumer, free solar panels allow households to help protect the environment and make big savings on their energy bills.

An increasing number of solar panel companies across the UK are now willing to install and maintain solar energy systems for free. Properties which are privately owned and meet the criteria of having an unshaded roof space of at least 20 square metres facing South, South East or South West should qualify.

The solar installer receives payments called feed-in tariffs for the electricity generated by the system and the householder is able to significantly reduce their carbon footprint by receiving free electricity during daylight hours.

Another option is for householders to pay for the solar PV system and claim the feed-in tariff for themselves. However, not everyone has the capital available and neither can they raise it, so free solar panels are a viable solution for many.

It is estimated that each kilowatt of solar PV electricity generated will offset the production – by fossil fuel-generated power – of 16 kilos of nitrogen oxide, 9 kilos of sulphur oxides and 2,300 kilos of carbon dioxide. A typical free solar panel system is in the region of 3 to 4 kilowatts.

By signing up for free solar panels, UK homes will generate clean energy for at least 25 years after installation, which is the minimum amount of time the Government has agreed to continue the feed-in tariff scheme.

According to EnergyLink, not only will solar-powered households be playing a major role in contributing to a cleaner, more diversified energy mix for the UK, they will also be able to use energy during daytime hours without worrying about the environmental impact or the size of their energy bills.

Charging devices such as MP3 players, digital cameras, laptop and tablet computers and using timer-controlled devices such as washing machines and slow cookers can all be done during the day whether or not anyone is at home.

Those who spend much of their day at home can also use entertainment and work-related devices alongside lighting and heating with the peace of mind that they lowering their impact on the environment and saving on bills.

Solyndra Bankruptcy Reveals Dark Clouds in Solar Power Industry

Many of the problems that forced solar company Solyndra to shutter operations threaten other businesses in the sun-power industry, with more upheaval likely in the coming months, analysts say.

The bankruptcy last month of Fremont, Calif.-based Solyndra comes as solar manufacturing undergoes a major transition. Prices of solar panels have plummeted, causing a supply glut and slicing company revenues.

Solyndra's collapse marked the third time in as many weeks that a solar company declared bankruptcy. Evergreen Solar Inc. of Massachusetts and SpectraWatt of New York also filed for protection.

"It coincides with the fact that the industry is in trouble," said Ken Zweibel, director of the Solar Institute at George Washington University. "There is a crisis in the solar manufacturing world there's no question about it. With three companies declaring bankruptcy in three weeks, there's no question that they're all under pressure."

Solyndra's bankruptcy also comes as Congress battles over spending and the best way to create jobs. Solyndra had received $527 million in federal loans authorized by a program in the 2009 stimulus act. Many in the GOP say that President Obama's bid to create "green jobs" has been a failure. That could make it hard for solar to fight for any new federal help.

States like California are adding new incentives, however, which the industry hopes will keep it healthy.

The solar industry's trade group, meanwhile, has urged people not to see Solyndra's bankruptcy as a sign of trouble for the sector.

"What we are seeing in solar happens in every industry that is maturing and growing more competitive," said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. "You're going to see winners emerge who find innovative ways to offer consumers the most competitively priced products."

Solyndra had some unique problems, analysts said, that helped accelerate its demise. The company made a unique product: cylindrical solar tubes equipped with copper indium gallium diselenide thin-film technology.

The cylinders could "capture sunlight across a 360-degree photovoltaic surface," Solyndra said on its website. Designed for commercial rooftops, the product offered "the fastest and easiest installation, a non-penetrating mounting system, and superior wind, snow and soiling performance," Solyndra said.

But the tubes also had limited uses, analysts say.

"It was a specialty product that could be used in certain applications, that would be very attractive for those applications, but wouldn't be generally useful for large fields or even [all] rooftops," Zweibel said. "They have misunderstood the marketplace."

That made Solyndra different. But it also had something in common with other solar manufacturers. The Chinese government is investing in solar production, which has led to a burst in production that has boosted supplies and forced down product prices worldwide.

The price of panels has tumbled more than 40 percent in a year, Zweibel said, a drop that followed price declines in 2009.

Analysts believe companies beyond Solyndra will face tough financial decisions.

"There's a lot of turmoil in the solar industry," said Joshua Linn, a fellow at Resources for the Future, "a lot of new companies starting and a lot of companies going out of business around the world. There's going to be a lot of uncertainty."

School district to mitigate solar panels

Neighbors are taking a wait-and-see attitude abut the proposed landscaping to mask the on-the-ground solar panels the Sonoma Valley Unified School District has installed on Railroad Avenue and at Adele Harrison Middle School.

At the last school board meeting on Aug. 9, neighbors from both sites complained that they didn't know the units were going in and weren't informed about what sort of mitigation the school district was going to do.

Deputy Superintendent Justin Frese and a landscape architect met separately with neighbors from both sites the following week, and there will be at least one more meeting with each set of neighbors.

About 15 neighbors from the vicinity of the district office met with Frese and were more interested in learning the whys and whats of the project than in the mitigation.

"This was the first opportunity for some of those people to voice their concerns," Frese said.

That sentiment was echoed by Anne Phillips, one of the neighbors who also attended the school board meeting.

"It seems that the others were more concerned with issues other than the landscaping," Phillips said. But she said the neighbors did meet again as a group on Aug. 27.

Phillips lives across Railroad Avenue from the solar panels and showed pictures to the school board of the reflections off the panels at around dusk.

She said proposed landscaping plans were emailed to her and the neighbors. "But I still feel that it didn't solve the problem that we need solved - the reflection," she said.

"The say they've got $20,000 to do the landscaping," she added. "I don't think that's enough money."

And Phillips said in addition to the panels, storage of equipment and materials in the field across the street by the construction company doing the installation has created "an eyesore."

Phillips is also interested in what sort of permits the school district needed for the projects.

"Did they do a soil test," she asked. "Over the years, the district has brought in dirt from other sites. What's in that dirt? And the dust has been horrible."

The district presented three plans that will have a combination of shrubs, bushes and trees, Frese said. The trees would eventually be 12-feet-to-15-feet tall.

"We're not going to use a solid hedge or have vines on the fence," Frese said. "We're going to come in with revised plans at the next meeting."

Phillips said she received only three letters from the school district - one last year saying there would be a cover crop planted for the garden, the second in May with no particulars saying the solar project was starting and the last one was about the Aug. 15 meeting with Frese and the landscape architect.

"We're not against the solar project," she said. "Only how it was handled."

And she said a real estate agent told her their property values dropped 20 percent.

Nancie Ligon, one of the neighbors from the Adele Harrison site, said the district had made promises in the past when the school was built. "I'll hold my breath and wait," she said.

She said the proposed landscaping isn't going to block their view of the nearby panels, but admitted it might mitigate some of the damages.

When told that the landscaping would take two-to-three years to mature, she said "I'll be satisfied when I see the results."

In addition to the view, she's also concerned about the flooding that could occur when a retention pond that the panels are in floods.

"They're telling us it won't flood," she said. "They promised excavation to make the pond bigger." She added that when the pond was built, the district promised to put plants and trees around it and make it a green area, but that was never done.

Ligon also doesn't think the district can landscape the two areas for $20,000. "That's ludicrous," she said.

Despite her misgivings, Ligon said she "has to believe what they're telling us will happen."

Frese said the district also won't use a single hedge at Adele, that it will use a combination of things. "We're looking for something that won't mature in 18 months," he said. "We're looking at things that will mature in three-to-five years and be there for a long time."

Feed-in tariff cut for solar

HOUSEHOLDS planning on installing solar panels will miss out on a key incentive when the state government’s feed-in tariff is cut in four weeks’ time.

It is the second announcement affecting the renewable energy sector in a week and has angered sustainability groups.

Last week wind farms planned for Woodend and Castlemaine found out they would face building restrictions after the state government set up ‘no-go zones’ and planning restrictions.

Energy Minster Michael O’Brien announced the premium feed-in tariff for rooftop solar panels would be reduced from 60¢ per kilowatt hour to a temporary price of 25¢ for houses not signed up by September 30.

“There’s a big impact for those people who have solar panels installed but not yet connected... particularly for bigger systems,” Goldfields Solar Hub project spokeswoman Karen Corr said.

The Bendigo Sustainability Group has written an open letter to Premier Ted Baillieu outlining its opposition to the wind and solar announcements.

“We are perplexed to understand your position on this considering you were advocating for a gross feed-in tariff scheme prior to the election,” it read.

Mr O’Brien said the new price for power fed back into the grid would ensure “families without solar panels do not face unreasonably higher costs through their electricity bills”.

This claim was rejected by Bendigo Sustainability Group and the Alternative Technology Association, who said electricity prices would go up regardless.

The ATA energy projects and policy manager Damien Moyse said it could now take to 15 to 20 years to pay off solar systems as the temporary tariff only lasted five years.

The premium feed-in tariff was introduced by the Labor government to encourage solar panel uptake but was to be reviewed once 100 megawatts was reached by producers.

Houses already receiving the 60¢ feed-in tariff will not be affected by the new rates.

Vic Govt downwplays solar incentive job fears

The amount paid to homes and businesses that install solar panels, and sell electricity back to the grid, has been cut dramatically because the Government says it was too generous.

The amount has been cut from 60 cents a kilowatt hour to 25 cents. Those with existing solar panels will not be affected by the change.

Larger scale solar projects are mostly based in regional Victoria and several companies have shown interest in establishing offices in major regional centres.

Energy Minister Michael O'Brien says solar energy has a bright future in Victoria and he doubts tariff cuts will deter potential investors.

"There's still a strong appetite for rooftop solar in this state and you have to ask yourself where are they're going to go?" he said.

"We will be the second most generous state in the country and I think that speaks volumes for this Government's commitment to practical, sustainable measures to support renewable energy."

However, environment groups say the move is a major blow to Victoria's emerging solar energy industry.

Mark Wakeham from Environment Victoria says regional communities stood to benefit the most from the growth of solar power and that is now in jeopardy.

"Renewable energy is one of the world's fastest growing industries, yet all the signals that are being sent from the Baillieu Government is that it's not interested in supporting renewable energy and getting those new jobs and investment," he said.

Meanwhile, a solar energy company has suspended plans to open offices in regional Victoria after the Government reduced financial incentives for solar power.

The Mark Group planned to open offices in Bendigo, Ballarat, the Latrobe Valley and Geelong in the next year, creating about 200 new jobs.

Chief executive Robert Grant says the changes to the scheme have created too much uncertainty and the expansion to regional Victoria is on hold.

"We will see what the market reaction is to it, if the market reaction is minimal then we will go ahead and continue to expand but there is no question that the growth we had planned for this business of over 200 jobs and four new locations over the next 12 months will now be on hold," he said.
Investing

The organisers of a central Victorian solar panel project say they are worried the changes will discourage people from investing in the scheme.

Under the Goldfields Solar Hubs project, about 300 homes and businesses in the region have installed solar panels on their roofs.

It is hoped that number will be 1,000 by this time next year.

One of the project coordinators, Karen Corr, says the change in policy is not helping.

"This is a major backward step," she said.

"We're trying to engage people in to community to install solar panels and be part of our virtual solar hub.

"[With] ... the 300 solar panels installed so far we're already generating almost one megawatt per year and we're aiming for much higher than that, so this is absolutely impacting our project from that perspective."

The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) says a State Government's decision to slash the solar feed-in tariff will kill Victoria's solar industry.

The state secretary of the ETU, Dean Mighell, says it will decimate investment and jobs in Victoria's solar industry.

"The Government's announcement will ensure that the solar industry virtually stops dead," he said.