Construction company Carillion has warned 4,500 staff their jobs are at risk because of government plans for a dramatic cut in solar energy subsidies.
The company has begun a statutory 90-day consultation period in its energy services division prior to the anticipated slashing of feed-in tariffs.
The tariffs, known as FITs and paid by energy companies to households and communities who produce electricity via solar panels on their roofs, would be more than halved under government proposals.
Ministers are also proposing cutting the subsidies by 12 December instead of April 2012, the date the solar industry is calling for.
It is feared the changes could pose problems for Carillion, whose business includes a project to install and manage 30,000 solar panels for local authority and social housing. It is understood that the number of redundancies at the firm, which employs 50,000 staff worldwide, will be well below 4,500, but Carillion said it was too early to speculate on what the final figure would be.
The company said in a statement: "As a result of the government's changes to feed-in tariffs for solar photovoltaic installations, Carillion Energy Services proposes to accelerate and widen [its restructuring] programme.
"Our solar business was growing strongly, but we expect the government's plans for much larger and earlier than expected cuts to feed-in tariffs to reduce the size of the solar PV market significantly. In order to react to the effects of this on our business, we have launched a statutory 90-day consultation process with our people on how we can reshape our business.
"Until the consultation process is complete it is too early to speculate on how many people will be affected, especially as we will explore all opportunities for redeployment."
The plans to slash financial incentives for installing solar panels has provoked anger from green groups, with Friends of the Earth planning to mount a legal challenge.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change acknowledged the proposed changes would be "very difficult" but insisted it wanted an enduring future for the solar industry.
"If we left things as they are, the FIT budget would be eaten up entirely, and that would be even worse for those in this sector and those working on other technologies too," a spokesman said.
"We believe solar PV can have a strong and vibrant future in the UK and we are proposing changes to ensure a lasting FITs scheme to support that future."
2011年11月29日星期二
Munro Distributing Now Offers SolarWorld Sunmodule Solar Panels
Munro Distributing Company Inc., a leading supplier of clean energy solutions and electrical supplies, announced the launch of a new product line and the immediate availability of U.S.-manufactured SolarWorld Sunmodule solar panels. Munro’s solar division, which facilitates residential and commercial solar electric and thermal systems, has leveraged its expertise and market presence to form a strategic distribution alliance with SolarWorld, the largest and most experienced U.S. solar manufacturer.
“Partnering with SolarWorld is consistent with our goal to assist customers in choosing the best components for their projects in order to minimize costs, while ensuring maximum system production,” said Glenn Maltais, Vice President Market Development and Sustainability. “By promoting American- made modules as an integral part of our product line, we are doing our part to support the US solar manufacturing market.”
Sunmodules are available in both mono-and polycrystalline in a wide range of sizes, making them suitable for all applications – from a residential rooftop to a large-scale facility. With plus sorting, SolarWorld only delivers modules that are factory-tested to meet or exceed their name plate power rating - even after initial light-induced degradation. Now available at Munro’s locations throughout New England, Sunmodules come with a 25-year linear performance guarantee and a 10-year product workmanship warranty.
“This partnership joins SolarWorld’s 35-plus years of solar-manufacturing experience with Munro’s decades of expertise supplying electrical products in New England,” said Kevin Kilkelly, president of SolarWorld Americas. “Key distribution partners, like Munro, offer our installers access to local knowledge and relationships along with SolarWorld’s trusted, American-made product.”
Munro’s renewable energy professionals are available to assist novice and experienced solar patrons through value-add services designed to meet a wide range of needs. Munro provides contractors with a host of services relating to system design, installation, product selection, federal grants, state rebates and energy efficiency.
“Partnering with SolarWorld is consistent with our goal to assist customers in choosing the best components for their projects in order to minimize costs, while ensuring maximum system production,” said Glenn Maltais, Vice President Market Development and Sustainability. “By promoting American- made modules as an integral part of our product line, we are doing our part to support the US solar manufacturing market.”
Sunmodules are available in both mono-and polycrystalline in a wide range of sizes, making them suitable for all applications – from a residential rooftop to a large-scale facility. With plus sorting, SolarWorld only delivers modules that are factory-tested to meet or exceed their name plate power rating - even after initial light-induced degradation. Now available at Munro’s locations throughout New England, Sunmodules come with a 25-year linear performance guarantee and a 10-year product workmanship warranty.
“This partnership joins SolarWorld’s 35-plus years of solar-manufacturing experience with Munro’s decades of expertise supplying electrical products in New England,” said Kevin Kilkelly, president of SolarWorld Americas. “Key distribution partners, like Munro, offer our installers access to local knowledge and relationships along with SolarWorld’s trusted, American-made product.”
Munro’s renewable energy professionals are available to assist novice and experienced solar patrons through value-add services designed to meet a wide range of needs. Munro provides contractors with a host of services relating to system design, installation, product selection, federal grants, state rebates and energy efficiency.
2011年11月28日星期一
Thin Film Intelligence Brief 16
University of Illinois Professor Xiuling Li has led a group of researchers to develop a method for growing semiconductor nanowires on silicon wafers that holds promise for advanced device applications, including solar cells. The team published its results in the journal Nano Letters.
Semiconductors in the III-V (pronounced three-five) group are promising for devices that change light to electricity and vice-versa, such as high-end solar cells or lasers.
“The biggest challenge has been that III-V semiconductors and silicon do not have the same lattice constants,” Li said. “They cannot be stacked on top of each other in a straightforward way without generating dislocations, which can be thought of as atomic scale cracks.”
Instead of a thin film, the Illinois team grew a densely packed array of nanowires, tiny strands of III-V semiconductor that grow up vertically from the silicon wafer.
The Lasers and Material processing division of Jenoptik has secured its first contracts for laser processing systems, which are used to make energy saving glass, also known as smart windows.
The company will provide the laser processing systems to US-American plants for manufacturing modern glass. According to the company, this new application was a major reason for a large number of orders for 2011.
US-based Ascent Solar Technologies has reported that its flexible CIGS solar panels were named one of TIME's 50 Best Inventions of 2011. Ascent's technology was one of six ‘green' inventions to be recognized in this year's list, featured in the Nov. 28 TIME issue.
For each of the past 10 years, TIME has recognized the top 50 breakthroughs in science, technology and the arts. Previous honorees have included the iPad, Nissan Leaf, 3-D cameras, and the world's first synthetic cells.
TIME refers to Ascent's solar panels as "ingenious" for their ability to be directly integrated with building materials without the limitations of standard, glass solar panels.
California-based crystaline solar panel maker Solaria has raised $30m, according to SEC filings, it was reported on Venture Beat. Previous Solaria investors include Sigma Partners and Moserbaer India. The company raised $65m in a Series D in September of 2010. VentureBeat contacted Solaria for a comment on the funding announcement. However, no one was available for comment at the time of going to press.
In October the company launched a new 270 Watt solar module designed and optimized for industrial and utility-scale tracking applications.
Semiconductors in the III-V (pronounced three-five) group are promising for devices that change light to electricity and vice-versa, such as high-end solar cells or lasers.
“The biggest challenge has been that III-V semiconductors and silicon do not have the same lattice constants,” Li said. “They cannot be stacked on top of each other in a straightforward way without generating dislocations, which can be thought of as atomic scale cracks.”
Instead of a thin film, the Illinois team grew a densely packed array of nanowires, tiny strands of III-V semiconductor that grow up vertically from the silicon wafer.
The Lasers and Material processing division of Jenoptik has secured its first contracts for laser processing systems, which are used to make energy saving glass, also known as smart windows.
The company will provide the laser processing systems to US-American plants for manufacturing modern glass. According to the company, this new application was a major reason for a large number of orders for 2011.
US-based Ascent Solar Technologies has reported that its flexible CIGS solar panels were named one of TIME's 50 Best Inventions of 2011. Ascent's technology was one of six ‘green' inventions to be recognized in this year's list, featured in the Nov. 28 TIME issue.
For each of the past 10 years, TIME has recognized the top 50 breakthroughs in science, technology and the arts. Previous honorees have included the iPad, Nissan Leaf, 3-D cameras, and the world's first synthetic cells.
TIME refers to Ascent's solar panels as "ingenious" for their ability to be directly integrated with building materials without the limitations of standard, glass solar panels.
California-based crystaline solar panel maker Solaria has raised $30m, according to SEC filings, it was reported on Venture Beat. Previous Solaria investors include Sigma Partners and Moserbaer India. The company raised $65m in a Series D in September of 2010. VentureBeat contacted Solaria for a comment on the funding announcement. However, no one was available for comment at the time of going to press.
In October the company launched a new 270 Watt solar module designed and optimized for industrial and utility-scale tracking applications.
2011年11月27日星期日
The man behind Solyndra's rise and fall: Chris Gronet
When President Barack Obama visited Solyndra in May 2010, then-CEO Chris Gronet gave him a personal tour in what was the high point of the young startup's meteoric rise.
But behind the scenes, Solyndra was mired in trouble. Gronet, a veteran Silicon Valley technologist who founded the company, had quietly been stripped of many of his executive duties, and Solyndra's board of directors was searching for his replacement.
Little more than a year after Obama's visit, Solyndra filed for bankruptcy, throwing more than 1,000 employees out of work and igniting a fierce debate about the role of government in supporting clean-energy companies.
Two Solyndra executives were called to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- both invoked their Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate themselves -- but Gronet so far has escaped the spotlight. But documents released by congressional investigators and interviews with former Solyndra employees indicate that he, more than any other individual, is responsible for the company's sudden rise and spectacular fall.
Gronet founded Solyndra in 2005 and personally pushed for its $535 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, which was used to build a new 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility along Interstate 880. He fired off demanding emails to Energy Department staff members when his company's application hit snags or delays. He attended a White House meeting hosted by Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, pressed for Chu to visit Solyndra and even suggested talking points for him.
But as Solyndra was racing to build its new factory, demand for its cylindrical solar panels was softening amid fierce competition and a global recession.
Former Solyndra employees say Gronet -- often described as driven and aggressively ambitious -- poured his heart, soul and professional reputation into the company but fell dangerously in love with a solar technology that was expensive to make and had limited commercial appeal.
"Chris is basically a decent guy, but he's like many high achievers in Silicon Valley," said one former employee who worked closely with Gronet and spoke on condition that he not be identified. "There was irrational exuberance about the cylindrical design. One of the most dangerous things business people can do is fall in love with their product. There was a lot of delusional thinking that this product was better than everybody else's."
Gronet, who lives in Portola Valley and has kept a low profile since Solyndra's collapse, did not respond to several interview requests. His attorney, Miles Ehrlich, declined to comment for this report because of the ongoing investigations into Solyndra's loan guarantee by House Republicans, who are searching for signs of political favoritism, and the Justice Department, for possible accounting fraud. Gronet apparently is working on a new venture in cleantech.
Gronet has not been charged with any crime, and he has not been asked to testify before Congress. However, emails released as part of the congressional investigation show the intense and hands-on role he played in pushing for Solyndra's loan guarantee under two administrations.
But behind the scenes, Solyndra was mired in trouble. Gronet, a veteran Silicon Valley technologist who founded the company, had quietly been stripped of many of his executive duties, and Solyndra's board of directors was searching for his replacement.
Little more than a year after Obama's visit, Solyndra filed for bankruptcy, throwing more than 1,000 employees out of work and igniting a fierce debate about the role of government in supporting clean-energy companies.
Two Solyndra executives were called to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee -- both invoked their Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate themselves -- but Gronet so far has escaped the spotlight. But documents released by congressional investigators and interviews with former Solyndra employees indicate that he, more than any other individual, is responsible for the company's sudden rise and spectacular fall.
Gronet founded Solyndra in 2005 and personally pushed for its $535 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, which was used to build a new 300,000-square-foot manufacturing facility along Interstate 880. He fired off demanding emails to Energy Department staff members when his company's application hit snags or delays. He attended a White House meeting hosted by Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, pressed for Chu to visit Solyndra and even suggested talking points for him.
But as Solyndra was racing to build its new factory, demand for its cylindrical solar panels was softening amid fierce competition and a global recession.
Former Solyndra employees say Gronet -- often described as driven and aggressively ambitious -- poured his heart, soul and professional reputation into the company but fell dangerously in love with a solar technology that was expensive to make and had limited commercial appeal.
"Chris is basically a decent guy, but he's like many high achievers in Silicon Valley," said one former employee who worked closely with Gronet and spoke on condition that he not be identified. "There was irrational exuberance about the cylindrical design. One of the most dangerous things business people can do is fall in love with their product. There was a lot of delusional thinking that this product was better than everybody else's."
Gronet, who lives in Portola Valley and has kept a low profile since Solyndra's collapse, did not respond to several interview requests. His attorney, Miles Ehrlich, declined to comment for this report because of the ongoing investigations into Solyndra's loan guarantee by House Republicans, who are searching for signs of political favoritism, and the Justice Department, for possible accounting fraud. Gronet apparently is working on a new venture in cleantech.
Gronet has not been charged with any crime, and he has not been asked to testify before Congress. However, emails released as part of the congressional investigation show the intense and hands-on role he played in pushing for Solyndra's loan guarantee under two administrations.
2011年11月24日星期四
Arran Elderslie council think about solar panels for arena
Arran-Elderslie council wants more information before installing solar photovoltaic systems on two of its arena roofs.
Horizon Energy Solutions approached council several months ago with the renewable energy concept. At a meeting a few weeks ago, Mayor Paul Eagleson broke a tie vote of his council, giving Horizon the go-ahead to proceed with an assessment study on its facilities to determine the feasibility of the project and the anticipated kilowatts of energy that each facility could produce. Initial revenue estimates range from $13,000 to $18,750 per facility per year.
In a report to council last week, Ann McArthur, manager of parks, recreation and facilities in Arran-Elderslie said based on the company's assessment, Horizon is recommending that the roofs at the Chesley and Paisley arenas be re-coated prior to proceeding with its engineering study.
Projected cost of the re-coating is $30,000 for each facility.
The engineering study is needed to ensure the structures are physically capable of holding the weight of the solar panels and "to ensure the roof has a life that exists beyond the 20-year lease agreement."
Under the proposed lease agreement, Horizon would allow one free lift of the panels, should a major roof repair be required, however, Horizon wants the roofs re-coated prior to their feasibility study. The study would cost $10,000 per facility, and would be at the sole expense of the project proponent, McArthur's report stated.
Council deferred making a decision on the request saying it needs more information on the life expectancy of the existing arena roofs, what implications there would be to their insurance coverage, and the opinions of its fire chiefs on whether or not fire protection could be offered if there was a fire.
Eagleson admitted later council "is having second thoughts" about the proposed solar panel installation.
"We could use the revenue but is it going to be good?" asked Chesley ward councillor Doug Bell.
Horizon Energy Solutions approached council several months ago with the renewable energy concept. At a meeting a few weeks ago, Mayor Paul Eagleson broke a tie vote of his council, giving Horizon the go-ahead to proceed with an assessment study on its facilities to determine the feasibility of the project and the anticipated kilowatts of energy that each facility could produce. Initial revenue estimates range from $13,000 to $18,750 per facility per year.
In a report to council last week, Ann McArthur, manager of parks, recreation and facilities in Arran-Elderslie said based on the company's assessment, Horizon is recommending that the roofs at the Chesley and Paisley arenas be re-coated prior to proceeding with its engineering study.
Projected cost of the re-coating is $30,000 for each facility.
The engineering study is needed to ensure the structures are physically capable of holding the weight of the solar panels and "to ensure the roof has a life that exists beyond the 20-year lease agreement."
Under the proposed lease agreement, Horizon would allow one free lift of the panels, should a major roof repair be required, however, Horizon wants the roofs re-coated prior to their feasibility study. The study would cost $10,000 per facility, and would be at the sole expense of the project proponent, McArthur's report stated.
Council deferred making a decision on the request saying it needs more information on the life expectancy of the existing arena roofs, what implications there would be to their insurance coverage, and the opinions of its fire chiefs on whether or not fire protection could be offered if there was a fire.
Eagleson admitted later council "is having second thoughts" about the proposed solar panel installation.
"We could use the revenue but is it going to be good?" asked Chesley ward councillor Doug Bell.
2011年11月23日星期三
Solar panels to power city college
A college plans to unplug from the National Grid and generate its power with a "solar meadow".
Jewel & Esk College in Edinburgh aims to create a one-acre site of around 800 solar panels adjacent to the campus, which will generate 1,076KW of energy a day, enough to be energy sufficient.
Surplus electricity from the solar meadow, so called because it will be planted with grasses and wildflowers, will be made available to local community groups and projects.
The college said the project is one of a number being developed to reduce its reliance on Government funding. The solar power site will cost 300,000 to build but will save around 150,000 a year in electricity bills.
The planning application was submitted to Midlothian Council earlier this month and the college said initial discussions were positive.
The site will be used as a study area for students to analyse the interaction between the biodiversity and the solar panels.
Professor Steve Tinsley, project leader, said: "This is a tremendously exciting project for us. In creating the solar meadow we are providing the first teaching facility of its kind in Scotland for our students and lecturers, whilst developing innovative ways for the college to become less reliant on Government funding.
"Such projects will help up-skill the next generation of engineers and play an essential role in closing the skills gap in low-carbon technologies. Knowledge transfer on this level can also significantly benefit our industry partners and the economy as a whole."
Work is scheduled to start early next year and should be complete by the end of the year.
Earlier this week Jewel & Esk entered merger talks with Stevenson and Telford College in Edinburgh, in light of Education Secretary Mike Russell encouraging higher and further education institutions to find ways of working in the face of public spending cuts.
Jewel & Esk College in Edinburgh aims to create a one-acre site of around 800 solar panels adjacent to the campus, which will generate 1,076KW of energy a day, enough to be energy sufficient.
Surplus electricity from the solar meadow, so called because it will be planted with grasses and wildflowers, will be made available to local community groups and projects.
The college said the project is one of a number being developed to reduce its reliance on Government funding. The solar power site will cost 300,000 to build but will save around 150,000 a year in electricity bills.
The planning application was submitted to Midlothian Council earlier this month and the college said initial discussions were positive.
The site will be used as a study area for students to analyse the interaction between the biodiversity and the solar panels.
Professor Steve Tinsley, project leader, said: "This is a tremendously exciting project for us. In creating the solar meadow we are providing the first teaching facility of its kind in Scotland for our students and lecturers, whilst developing innovative ways for the college to become less reliant on Government funding.
"Such projects will help up-skill the next generation of engineers and play an essential role in closing the skills gap in low-carbon technologies. Knowledge transfer on this level can also significantly benefit our industry partners and the economy as a whole."
Work is scheduled to start early next year and should be complete by the end of the year.
Earlier this week Jewel & Esk entered merger talks with Stevenson and Telford College in Edinburgh, in light of Education Secretary Mike Russell encouraging higher and further education institutions to find ways of working in the face of public spending cuts.
2011年11月22日星期二
China Bends to U.S. Complaint on Solar Panels but Plans Retaliation
Chinese solar panel makers plan to shift some of their production to South Korea, Taiwan and the United States in hopes of defusing a trade case pending against them in Washington, according to industry executives.
But at the same time, the Chinese industry is considering retaliating by filing a trade case of its own with China’s Commerce Ministry.
The most likely target would be American exports to China of polysilicon — a prime ingredient in solar panels — Chinese industry executives and officials said on Monday. American manufacturers exported about $873 million of polysilicon to China last year, nearly as much in dollar terms as the value of the solar panels that China shipped to the United States.
The Chinese moves come after the United States Commerce Department opened a trade case against China’s solar panel makers earlier this month, at the request of SolarWorld Industries America and six other American solar companies.
The Commerce Department said it was considering punitive tariffs of 50 to 250 percent on Chinese solar panels, based on preliminary evidence that China was “dumping” solar panels in the United States below the cost of making and marketing them. The department is also investigating whether the Chinese government is breaking international trade rules by subsidizing the export of solar panels — if such a finding was made, it could result in additional tariffs.
Having hired trade lawyers to advise them on the Commerce Department case, Chinese solar panel manufacturers are increasingly gloomy about their chances of winning it, said Ocean Yuan, the president of Grape Solar, a big importer of Chinese solar panels that is based in Eugene, Ore.
Mr. Yuan said that Grape Solar was already negotiating with several Chinese manufacturers, whom he declined to identify, to perform final assembly of solar modules in Oregon. That would be the last step in new supply chains the Chinese industry intends to set up that would start in China then run through South Korea and Taiwan in hopes of avoid any new tariffs.
But because final assembly of solar panels is relatively low-tech manual labor, any Chinese expansion into Oregon would be unlikely to add many valuable American jobs.
Currently, the only Chinese solar panel assembly site in the United States is near Phoenix and owned by Suntech Power. That plant has a capacity equal to about 3 percent of the American market for solar panels.
Even before the filing of the trade case, Suntech had begun preparations to increase output at that operation, planning to add a work shift and double the size of the factory. But that will expand the current work force to 260, from 110 now. And even then, its capacity would serve only a small fraction of the American market. By contrast, companies based in China supplied more than 40 percent of the American market for installed panels in the third quarter of this year, according to GTM Research, a renewable energy consulting firm based in Boston.
Meanwhile, the Chinese solar panel industry is seeking legal advice on filing its own antidumping and antisubsidy trade case against the United States, industry executives in Beijing said Monday.
The most likely target would be American exports of polysilicon, the main material used in making conventional solar panels, said Wang Shijiang, a manager at the China Photovoltaic Industry Alliance based in Beijing.
The manufacture of polysilicon requires enormous amounts of energy — so much electricity that it typically takes the first year of operation of the panel to generate as much power as was required to make the polysilicon in it. The process requires superheating large volumes of material in electric-arc furnaces, including the melting of quartzite rock at more than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit.
The United States is one of the world’s largest producers of polysilicon, in states like Tennessee and Washington, because it has access to a lot of inexpensive hydroelectric power. And most of that polysilicon is exported.
China’s own polysilicon industry is controversial because it relies heavily on electricity generated by coal-fired power plants, and because weak environmental controls at Chinese polysilicon factories have resulted in toxic spills that have fouled streams and rivers.
But at the same time, the Chinese industry is considering retaliating by filing a trade case of its own with China’s Commerce Ministry.
The most likely target would be American exports to China of polysilicon — a prime ingredient in solar panels — Chinese industry executives and officials said on Monday. American manufacturers exported about $873 million of polysilicon to China last year, nearly as much in dollar terms as the value of the solar panels that China shipped to the United States.
The Chinese moves come after the United States Commerce Department opened a trade case against China’s solar panel makers earlier this month, at the request of SolarWorld Industries America and six other American solar companies.
The Commerce Department said it was considering punitive tariffs of 50 to 250 percent on Chinese solar panels, based on preliminary evidence that China was “dumping” solar panels in the United States below the cost of making and marketing them. The department is also investigating whether the Chinese government is breaking international trade rules by subsidizing the export of solar panels — if such a finding was made, it could result in additional tariffs.
Having hired trade lawyers to advise them on the Commerce Department case, Chinese solar panel manufacturers are increasingly gloomy about their chances of winning it, said Ocean Yuan, the president of Grape Solar, a big importer of Chinese solar panels that is based in Eugene, Ore.
Mr. Yuan said that Grape Solar was already negotiating with several Chinese manufacturers, whom he declined to identify, to perform final assembly of solar modules in Oregon. That would be the last step in new supply chains the Chinese industry intends to set up that would start in China then run through South Korea and Taiwan in hopes of avoid any new tariffs.
But because final assembly of solar panels is relatively low-tech manual labor, any Chinese expansion into Oregon would be unlikely to add many valuable American jobs.
Currently, the only Chinese solar panel assembly site in the United States is near Phoenix and owned by Suntech Power. That plant has a capacity equal to about 3 percent of the American market for solar panels.
Even before the filing of the trade case, Suntech had begun preparations to increase output at that operation, planning to add a work shift and double the size of the factory. But that will expand the current work force to 260, from 110 now. And even then, its capacity would serve only a small fraction of the American market. By contrast, companies based in China supplied more than 40 percent of the American market for installed panels in the third quarter of this year, according to GTM Research, a renewable energy consulting firm based in Boston.
Meanwhile, the Chinese solar panel industry is seeking legal advice on filing its own antidumping and antisubsidy trade case against the United States, industry executives in Beijing said Monday.
The most likely target would be American exports of polysilicon, the main material used in making conventional solar panels, said Wang Shijiang, a manager at the China Photovoltaic Industry Alliance based in Beijing.
The manufacture of polysilicon requires enormous amounts of energy — so much electricity that it typically takes the first year of operation of the panel to generate as much power as was required to make the polysilicon in it. The process requires superheating large volumes of material in electric-arc furnaces, including the melting of quartzite rock at more than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit.
The United States is one of the world’s largest producers of polysilicon, in states like Tennessee and Washington, because it has access to a lot of inexpensive hydroelectric power. And most of that polysilicon is exported.
China’s own polysilicon industry is controversial because it relies heavily on electricity generated by coal-fired power plants, and because weak environmental controls at Chinese polysilicon factories have resulted in toxic spills that have fouled streams and rivers.
2011年11月21日星期一
China Bends to U.S. Complaint on Solar Panels but Plans Retaliation
Chinese solar panel makers plan to shift some of their production to South Korea, Taiwan and the United States in hopes of defusing a trade case pending against them in Washington, according to industry executives.
But at the same time, the Chinese industry is considering retaliating by filing a trade case of its own with China’s Commerce Ministry.
The most likely target would be American exports to China of polysilicon — a prime ingredient in solar panels — Chinese industry executives and officials said on Monday. American manufacturers exported about $873 million of polysilicon to China last year, nearly as much in dollar terms as the value of the solar panels that China shipped to the United States.
The Chinese moves come after the United States Commerce Department opened a trade case against China’s solar panel makers earlier this month, at the request of SolarWorld Industries America and six other American solar companies.
The Commerce Department said it was considering punitive tariffs of 50 to 250 percent on Chinese solar panels, based on preliminary evidence that China was “dumping” solar panels in the United States below the cost of making and marketing them. The department is also investigating whether the Chinese government is breaking international trade rules by subsidizing the export of solar panels — if such a finding was made, it could result in additional tariffs.
Having hired trade lawyers to advise them on the Commerce Department case, Chinese solar panel manufacturers are increasingly gloomy about their chances of winning it, said Ocean Yuan, the president of Grape Solar, a big importer of Chinese solar panels that is based in Eugene, Ore.
Mr. Yuan said that Grape Solar was already negotiating with several Chinese manufacturers, whom he declined to identify, to perform final assembly of solar modules in Oregon. That would be the last step in new supply chains the Chinese industry intends to set up that would start in China then run through South Korea and Taiwan in hopes of avoid any new tariffs.
But because final assembly of solar panels is relatively low-tech manual labor, any Chinese expansion into Oregon would be unlikely to add many valuable American jobs.
Currently, the only Chinese solar panel assembly site in the United States is near Phoenix and owned by Suntech Power. That plant has a capacity equal to about 3 percent of the American market for solar panels.
Even before the filing of the trade case, Suntech had begun preparations to increase output at that operation, planning to add a work shift and double the size of the factory. But that will expand the current work force to 260, from 110 now. And even then, its capacity would serve only a small fraction of the American market. By contrast, companies based in China supplied more than 40 percent of the American market for installed panels in the third quarter of this year, according to GTM Research, a renewable energy consulting firm based in Boston.
Meanwhile, the Chinese solar panel industry is seeking legal advice on filing its own antidumping and antisubsidy trade case against the United States, industry executives in Beijing said Monday.
The most likely target would be American exports of polysilicon, the main material used in making conventional solar panels, said Wang Shijiang, a manager at the China Photovoltaic Industry Alliance based in Beijing.
The manufacture of polysilicon requires enormous amounts of energy — so much electricity that it typically takes the first year of operation of the panel to generate as much power as was required to make the polysilicon in it. The process requires superheating large volumes of material in electric-arc furnaces, including the melting of quartzite rock at more than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit.
But at the same time, the Chinese industry is considering retaliating by filing a trade case of its own with China’s Commerce Ministry.
The most likely target would be American exports to China of polysilicon — a prime ingredient in solar panels — Chinese industry executives and officials said on Monday. American manufacturers exported about $873 million of polysilicon to China last year, nearly as much in dollar terms as the value of the solar panels that China shipped to the United States.
The Chinese moves come after the United States Commerce Department opened a trade case against China’s solar panel makers earlier this month, at the request of SolarWorld Industries America and six other American solar companies.
The Commerce Department said it was considering punitive tariffs of 50 to 250 percent on Chinese solar panels, based on preliminary evidence that China was “dumping” solar panels in the United States below the cost of making and marketing them. The department is also investigating whether the Chinese government is breaking international trade rules by subsidizing the export of solar panels — if such a finding was made, it could result in additional tariffs.
Having hired trade lawyers to advise them on the Commerce Department case, Chinese solar panel manufacturers are increasingly gloomy about their chances of winning it, said Ocean Yuan, the president of Grape Solar, a big importer of Chinese solar panels that is based in Eugene, Ore.
Mr. Yuan said that Grape Solar was already negotiating with several Chinese manufacturers, whom he declined to identify, to perform final assembly of solar modules in Oregon. That would be the last step in new supply chains the Chinese industry intends to set up that would start in China then run through South Korea and Taiwan in hopes of avoid any new tariffs.
But because final assembly of solar panels is relatively low-tech manual labor, any Chinese expansion into Oregon would be unlikely to add many valuable American jobs.
Currently, the only Chinese solar panel assembly site in the United States is near Phoenix and owned by Suntech Power. That plant has a capacity equal to about 3 percent of the American market for solar panels.
Even before the filing of the trade case, Suntech had begun preparations to increase output at that operation, planning to add a work shift and double the size of the factory. But that will expand the current work force to 260, from 110 now. And even then, its capacity would serve only a small fraction of the American market. By contrast, companies based in China supplied more than 40 percent of the American market for installed panels in the third quarter of this year, according to GTM Research, a renewable energy consulting firm based in Boston.
Meanwhile, the Chinese solar panel industry is seeking legal advice on filing its own antidumping and antisubsidy trade case against the United States, industry executives in Beijing said Monday.
The most likely target would be American exports of polysilicon, the main material used in making conventional solar panels, said Wang Shijiang, a manager at the China Photovoltaic Industry Alliance based in Beijing.
The manufacture of polysilicon requires enormous amounts of energy — so much electricity that it typically takes the first year of operation of the panel to generate as much power as was required to make the polysilicon in it. The process requires superheating large volumes of material in electric-arc furnaces, including the melting of quartzite rock at more than 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit.
2011年11月20日星期日
150 MW solar power plant to be set up at Dhule soon
A 150 MW solar power plant will be set up in Dhule with financial assistance of Euro 250 million from KFW, a German investment bank. The project is claimed to be one of the biggest in the country.
Speaking to TOI on conditions of anonymity, a senior director from Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Ltd said, "This would be one of the first solar power generation plants for which finance is coming from abroad. The total cost of the project is Rs 1,800 crore, of which some Rs 1,700 crore (Euro 250 million) is being financed by KFW and the state government will pump in the rest of the amount." The project is expected to start generation by the end of 2012. This would be the first solar project that will be connected to the national grid, he added.
Photo voltaic cells will be used in the solar panels for storing power. The cells are durable and have higher efficiency than the silicon wafers. The state government has signed the supply contract in May this year with manufacturers of solar power panels. Lanco Solar and Juwi Renewable India Ltd will jointly supply crystalline technology-based photovoltaic solar panels for building a 75 MW power plant. The supply for the remaining 75 MW plant would come from other two partners, one of which is a Spanish company.
The efficiency of the power panels is 20% of the total heat absorption, said the official. The proposal for the project came from the Union government, where the requirements for setting up a power plant were high radiation, bright light and dry climatic conditions. Dhule is one of the few districts in the state that has suitable climatic conditions.
Data received from National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( Nasa) about radiation from solar rays revealed that Dhule will have maximum days with bright sunlight and heat for better power generation as it falls in the same line of radiation level as Rajasthan and Gujarat, said the official.
Speaking to TOI on conditions of anonymity, a senior director from Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Ltd said, "This would be one of the first solar power generation plants for which finance is coming from abroad. The total cost of the project is Rs 1,800 crore, of which some Rs 1,700 crore (Euro 250 million) is being financed by KFW and the state government will pump in the rest of the amount." The project is expected to start generation by the end of 2012. This would be the first solar project that will be connected to the national grid, he added.
Photo voltaic cells will be used in the solar panels for storing power. The cells are durable and have higher efficiency than the silicon wafers. The state government has signed the supply contract in May this year with manufacturers of solar power panels. Lanco Solar and Juwi Renewable India Ltd will jointly supply crystalline technology-based photovoltaic solar panels for building a 75 MW power plant. The supply for the remaining 75 MW plant would come from other two partners, one of which is a Spanish company.
The efficiency of the power panels is 20% of the total heat absorption, said the official. The proposal for the project came from the Union government, where the requirements for setting up a power plant were high radiation, bright light and dry climatic conditions. Dhule is one of the few districts in the state that has suitable climatic conditions.
Data received from National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( Nasa) about radiation from solar rays revealed that Dhule will have maximum days with bright sunlight and heat for better power generation as it falls in the same line of radiation level as Rajasthan and Gujarat, said the official.
2011年11月17日星期四
US energy secretary grilled over failed solar firm
Under fire from angry Republicans, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu denied Thursday that now bankrupt solar panel firm Solyndra leveraged political ties to President Barack Obama for a government loan.
"The final decisions on Solyndra were mine," Chu told a key committee of the Republican-held House of Representatives. "Over the course of Solyndra?s loan guarantee, I did not make any decision based on political considerations."
Chu said he had been unaware of pressure by the Obama administration for Solyndra to delay some layoffs until after the 2010 elections, and stressed "I don't think it's the proper way to do business."
And he said he had not known about internal warnings from officials in 2009 that the firm might run out of cash two years later, and acknowledged deep misgivings about approving the loan.
"Certainly knowing what I know now, we'd say no. But you don't make decisions -- you can't fast-forward two years in the future and then go back. I wish I could do that," he said.
Republicans have contended over the course of a nine-month-old investigation that Obama's administration may have improperly influenced the US Energy Department's decision to give the firm a $535 million government loan guarantee.
And they have said that the firm, once hailed as a shining example of Obama's push to create green jobs and compete with rival China in a new energy economy, was instead a symbol of unwise federal handouts.
Republican Representative Cliff Stearns, chair of the panel before which Chu appeared, charged that Obama officials "put politics before the stewardship of the taxpayers' dollars."
The White House denies any wrongdoing, and Democrats have charged that the Republican-led probe, launched in March, aims to embarrass the president and derail his efforts to boost clean-energy projects in the United States.
Representative Diana DeGette, the committee's top Democrat, labeled the investigation "a three-ring circus" and declared that Republicans had "focused on firing partisan broadsides at the Obama administration."
They have also charged that Republicans, some of them professed skeptics of the scientific consensus around global warming, aim to help traditional energy firms in the oil and coal sectors.
Republicans have linked administration efforts to help the firm to the fact that a charitable foundation run by George Kaiser, a generous contributor to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, was a major investor in the firm.
California-based Solyndra filed for bankruptcy in September, closed its doors and laid off 1,000 workers, leaving taxpayers on the hook for the loan.
Chu sidestepped Republican Representative Fred Upton's demand for an official apology, denying any "incompetence" or "any influence of a political nature" in administering the loan, blaming a "very very bad tsunami" of economic woes for taking down the company.
But Upton pointed to internal Department of Energy documents he said showed staff raised "red flags" about the firm's financial strength, warnings that "reached the highest levels" of the White House only to be ignored.
"Officials were shrugging it off and calling it par for the course," the Republican said.
Chu and some Democrats defended the embattled loan guarantee program -- which faces an outside review ordered by Obama -- as a necessity if the United States is to compete with competitors like China and Europe.
"The Chinese are eating our lunch," said Democratic Representative John Dingell.
"They certainly want to dominate the market," agreed Chu, who underlined that "this is a worldwide competition."
"The final decisions on Solyndra were mine," Chu told a key committee of the Republican-held House of Representatives. "Over the course of Solyndra?s loan guarantee, I did not make any decision based on political considerations."
Chu said he had been unaware of pressure by the Obama administration for Solyndra to delay some layoffs until after the 2010 elections, and stressed "I don't think it's the proper way to do business."
And he said he had not known about internal warnings from officials in 2009 that the firm might run out of cash two years later, and acknowledged deep misgivings about approving the loan.
"Certainly knowing what I know now, we'd say no. But you don't make decisions -- you can't fast-forward two years in the future and then go back. I wish I could do that," he said.
Republicans have contended over the course of a nine-month-old investigation that Obama's administration may have improperly influenced the US Energy Department's decision to give the firm a $535 million government loan guarantee.
And they have said that the firm, once hailed as a shining example of Obama's push to create green jobs and compete with rival China in a new energy economy, was instead a symbol of unwise federal handouts.
Republican Representative Cliff Stearns, chair of the panel before which Chu appeared, charged that Obama officials "put politics before the stewardship of the taxpayers' dollars."
The White House denies any wrongdoing, and Democrats have charged that the Republican-led probe, launched in March, aims to embarrass the president and derail his efforts to boost clean-energy projects in the United States.
Representative Diana DeGette, the committee's top Democrat, labeled the investigation "a three-ring circus" and declared that Republicans had "focused on firing partisan broadsides at the Obama administration."
They have also charged that Republicans, some of them professed skeptics of the scientific consensus around global warming, aim to help traditional energy firms in the oil and coal sectors.
Republicans have linked administration efforts to help the firm to the fact that a charitable foundation run by George Kaiser, a generous contributor to Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, was a major investor in the firm.
California-based Solyndra filed for bankruptcy in September, closed its doors and laid off 1,000 workers, leaving taxpayers on the hook for the loan.
Chu sidestepped Republican Representative Fred Upton's demand for an official apology, denying any "incompetence" or "any influence of a political nature" in administering the loan, blaming a "very very bad tsunami" of economic woes for taking down the company.
But Upton pointed to internal Department of Energy documents he said showed staff raised "red flags" about the firm's financial strength, warnings that "reached the highest levels" of the White House only to be ignored.
"Officials were shrugging it off and calling it par for the course," the Republican said.
Chu and some Democrats defended the embattled loan guarantee program -- which faces an outside review ordered by Obama -- as a necessity if the United States is to compete with competitors like China and Europe.
"The Chinese are eating our lunch," said Democratic Representative John Dingell.
"They certainly want to dominate the market," agreed Chu, who underlined that "this is a worldwide competition."
2011年11月16日星期三
Orbiting solar power plants might be possible in a decade
How's this sound: giant solar arrays in orbit around the Earth, harvesting undiluted and virtually endless power from the sun and then beaming it straight down to the ground with lasers. Badass, right? And according to a three-year, ten-nation, peer-reviewed study by the International Academy of Astronautics, we could make it happen within ten years.
Can you name solar power's biggest downside? Sure you can! It doesn't work when the sun isn't out, which is the case most of the time when it's cloudy and all the time at night. This is why satellites all rely on solar panels: unless something catastrophic happens (in which case eco-friendly power will be the least of your worries), it's always sunny and never cloudy up in space.
The obvious solution, then, is to move all of our solar power generating capacity into orbit, where we can rely on it 24/7. The International Academy of Astronautics has been researching a plan that would put a bunch of several-mile wide solar arrays into Earth orbit above the equator. These arrays would be able to collect as much as twice the amount of power as their earthbound kin, and using either microwaves or lasers, they could beam electricity to anywhere on Earth.
While this all might seem a bit far-fetched, according to the IAA research, we'll have the technology to do it within 10 years, and it'll make economic sense to do it within 30. The up-front expense is a completely different issue, but if we've got a handy fleet of private launch vehicles all trying to undercut each other by then, a test project could be launched in about 20 years for just a few tens of billions of dollars.
Can you name solar power's biggest downside? Sure you can! It doesn't work when the sun isn't out, which is the case most of the time when it's cloudy and all the time at night. This is why satellites all rely on solar panels: unless something catastrophic happens (in which case eco-friendly power will be the least of your worries), it's always sunny and never cloudy up in space.
The obvious solution, then, is to move all of our solar power generating capacity into orbit, where we can rely on it 24/7. The International Academy of Astronautics has been researching a plan that would put a bunch of several-mile wide solar arrays into Earth orbit above the equator. These arrays would be able to collect as much as twice the amount of power as their earthbound kin, and using either microwaves or lasers, they could beam electricity to anywhere on Earth.
While this all might seem a bit far-fetched, according to the IAA research, we'll have the technology to do it within 10 years, and it'll make economic sense to do it within 30. The up-front expense is a completely different issue, but if we've got a handy fleet of private launch vehicles all trying to undercut each other by then, a test project could be launched in about 20 years for just a few tens of billions of dollars.
2011年11月15日星期二
Now Coming to a Utility Pole Near You
Essex County residents are starting to notice solar panels popping up on PSE&G utility poles. But soon the panels won’t be hard to miss.
When the utility company’s plan is completed in 2013, 200,000 solar panels will be installed on utility poles in more than 300 municipalities across the state. It’s all part of PSE&G’s “Solar 4 All” program.
In July 2009, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) granted approval to PSE&G for the power company to invest more than $500 million in 80,000 kilowatts of solar projects.
The first of two major projects involves installing individual solar panels on utility poles; the second will create centralized solar gardens/farms on building rooftops and large tracts of land.
At the time, Ralph LaRossa, president and COO of PSE&G said in a press release, “Our program will effectively double the size of New Jersey’s installed solar capacity. That is more solar capacity than currently exists in any state other than California.”
PSE&G will receive federal tax credits and solar renewable energy credits, which will also be used to offset the cost to customers. The utility estimates the program will cost its average residential customer about 10 cents a month in the first year.
Individual panels, measuring approximately 2-feet by 5-feet, started appearing on poles in 2010, oftentimes to mixed emotions. The current phase of the project is advancing to the Caldwells, West Orange, Verona, Montclair and Cedar Grove.
Caldwell resident William Krusznis had a panel installed recently on a pole outside his Westville Avenue home.
“While I am not against the idea,” Krusznis said, “I think the panels are quite ugly and encroaching. I would suggest they inform people about it before and perhaps attempt to make them more attractive, maybe consider putting them higher on the poles or somewhere else all together.”
Montclair Councilman Cary Africk, a member of the Montclair Environmental Commission, has been vocal about his opposition to the project.
“I certainly support the alternate energy sources, but this is very unattractive. PSE&G has very large rights of way with their high-tension power line towers. Why aren’t they putting them [solar panels] there?”
Many blogs and websites are saturated with comments both pro and con. Those in favor say after complaints of global warming from greenhouse gases and the burning of fossil fuels, how can anyone object to solar energy? Another argument in favor of the panels says with the acceptance of telephone poles with multiple digital cable boxes and electric wires snaking through our towns already — what’s wrong with adding a solar panel?
Residents are also asking why these panels can’t be installed along the Garden State Parkway, the New Jersey Turnpike, routes 80, 280, and 78, etc. — and that’s just the northern part of the state.
David Weisman is the owner of Green Alternatives based in West Caldwell. Weisman, who calls himself a “solar geek,” offered his expertise.
“PSE&G is a local energy distribution company, under the regulation of the BPU. The high-tension power line towers are part of the regional electrical grid, PJM, an interstate transmission company whose territory stretches from the mid-Atlantic states, westward to Indiana and Illinois. They are under the purview of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, (FERC),” Weisman explained.
He added, “From a policy perspective, too many required variances are probably complicating cooperation between the two. Plus, there is too big of a difference in the power generated by these small solar panels and the energy running through those high-power lines.”
Fran Sullivan, a spokesman for PSE&G, affirmed that high-power lines are not a viable option for solar panels.
“Those lines are carrying one-quarter million to one-half million volts of power and could never receive the low levels of electricity created by the solar panels,” Sullivan said. “These panels need to connect right into the secondary power lines near the homes and businesses. That power has already been stepped down by a transformer on the pole to the household, 240/120-volt level. So installing them along the major highways in our territory is not possible either.”
While most people would prefer not to stare at solar panels out their windows, or in their parks and villages, placement is not based on aesthetics, according to Sullivan.
“We don’t pre-survey the poles,” Sullivan concluded. “We send out crews with a supply of panels and if the poles meet the criteria, they install the panel.”
The panel needs to have unobstructed, southern exposure, access to a secondary line and can’t block access to other equipment.
When the utility company’s plan is completed in 2013, 200,000 solar panels will be installed on utility poles in more than 300 municipalities across the state. It’s all part of PSE&G’s “Solar 4 All” program.
In July 2009, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) granted approval to PSE&G for the power company to invest more than $500 million in 80,000 kilowatts of solar projects.
The first of two major projects involves installing individual solar panels on utility poles; the second will create centralized solar gardens/farms on building rooftops and large tracts of land.
At the time, Ralph LaRossa, president and COO of PSE&G said in a press release, “Our program will effectively double the size of New Jersey’s installed solar capacity. That is more solar capacity than currently exists in any state other than California.”
PSE&G will receive federal tax credits and solar renewable energy credits, which will also be used to offset the cost to customers. The utility estimates the program will cost its average residential customer about 10 cents a month in the first year.
Individual panels, measuring approximately 2-feet by 5-feet, started appearing on poles in 2010, oftentimes to mixed emotions. The current phase of the project is advancing to the Caldwells, West Orange, Verona, Montclair and Cedar Grove.
Caldwell resident William Krusznis had a panel installed recently on a pole outside his Westville Avenue home.
“While I am not against the idea,” Krusznis said, “I think the panels are quite ugly and encroaching. I would suggest they inform people about it before and perhaps attempt to make them more attractive, maybe consider putting them higher on the poles or somewhere else all together.”
Montclair Councilman Cary Africk, a member of the Montclair Environmental Commission, has been vocal about his opposition to the project.
“I certainly support the alternate energy sources, but this is very unattractive. PSE&G has very large rights of way with their high-tension power line towers. Why aren’t they putting them [solar panels] there?”
Many blogs and websites are saturated with comments both pro and con. Those in favor say after complaints of global warming from greenhouse gases and the burning of fossil fuels, how can anyone object to solar energy? Another argument in favor of the panels says with the acceptance of telephone poles with multiple digital cable boxes and electric wires snaking through our towns already — what’s wrong with adding a solar panel?
Residents are also asking why these panels can’t be installed along the Garden State Parkway, the New Jersey Turnpike, routes 80, 280, and 78, etc. — and that’s just the northern part of the state.
David Weisman is the owner of Green Alternatives based in West Caldwell. Weisman, who calls himself a “solar geek,” offered his expertise.
“PSE&G is a local energy distribution company, under the regulation of the BPU. The high-tension power line towers are part of the regional electrical grid, PJM, an interstate transmission company whose territory stretches from the mid-Atlantic states, westward to Indiana and Illinois. They are under the purview of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, (FERC),” Weisman explained.
He added, “From a policy perspective, too many required variances are probably complicating cooperation between the two. Plus, there is too big of a difference in the power generated by these small solar panels and the energy running through those high-power lines.”
Fran Sullivan, a spokesman for PSE&G, affirmed that high-power lines are not a viable option for solar panels.
“Those lines are carrying one-quarter million to one-half million volts of power and could never receive the low levels of electricity created by the solar panels,” Sullivan said. “These panels need to connect right into the secondary power lines near the homes and businesses. That power has already been stepped down by a transformer on the pole to the household, 240/120-volt level. So installing them along the major highways in our territory is not possible either.”
While most people would prefer not to stare at solar panels out their windows, or in their parks and villages, placement is not based on aesthetics, according to Sullivan.
“We don’t pre-survey the poles,” Sullivan concluded. “We send out crews with a supply of panels and if the poles meet the criteria, they install the panel.”
The panel needs to have unobstructed, southern exposure, access to a secondary line and can’t block access to other equipment.
2011年11月14日星期一
Construction at Lake County solar energy farm begins
A local company is building the largest solar panel farm in the state in Lake County.
Crews started putting the first solar panels in place after a groundbreaking ceremony Monday to celebrate the new Sorrento Solar Farm.
BlueChip Energy, a company based out of Seminole County, is installing solar panels that will eventually cover more than 200 acres of an open field off County Road 437.
"There is no other energy on the planet which can compete with solar in environmental friendliness," said BlueChip Energy CEO Demitri Nikitin.
Despite the benefits of going green, some people living nearby were against the solar farm at first.
Carol White and her husband live right next to the property.
They feared losing the rural landscape they enjoy gazing out on with their granddaughter.
"That's what upset us the most in the beginning," White said. "Why here in the middle of a little community, a small town?"
Nikitin said the property was a perfect fit because both Progress Energy and SECO have utility substations at the site that allow the power to go directly into the grid and to the utility companies' customers.
BlueChip Energy is also looking at installing solar panels on another 300 acres that the city of Eustis owns next to the current solar panel farm site.
The solar energy created from the entire project would eventually be enough to power over 20,000 homes.
Nikitin said solar energy allows them to harness the power of the sun without hurting the environment or permanently altering the land.
"With the same ease as we can put the solar farm in the ground, we can remove it," Nikitin said.
White said she still has some concerns, but has come to grips with the development because she thinks going green will be worth it in the long run.
"We have to do what's best for the future for little ones like this," White said looking at her granddaughter.
BlueChip Energy estimates the entire project could create as many as 500 jobs during construction over the next couple years.
That figure includes people the company hires to manufacture the solar panels at its headquarters in Lake Mary.
Crews started putting the first solar panels in place after a groundbreaking ceremony Monday to celebrate the new Sorrento Solar Farm.
BlueChip Energy, a company based out of Seminole County, is installing solar panels that will eventually cover more than 200 acres of an open field off County Road 437.
"There is no other energy on the planet which can compete with solar in environmental friendliness," said BlueChip Energy CEO Demitri Nikitin.
Despite the benefits of going green, some people living nearby were against the solar farm at first.
Carol White and her husband live right next to the property.
They feared losing the rural landscape they enjoy gazing out on with their granddaughter.
"That's what upset us the most in the beginning," White said. "Why here in the middle of a little community, a small town?"
Nikitin said the property was a perfect fit because both Progress Energy and SECO have utility substations at the site that allow the power to go directly into the grid and to the utility companies' customers.
BlueChip Energy is also looking at installing solar panels on another 300 acres that the city of Eustis owns next to the current solar panel farm site.
The solar energy created from the entire project would eventually be enough to power over 20,000 homes.
Nikitin said solar energy allows them to harness the power of the sun without hurting the environment or permanently altering the land.
"With the same ease as we can put the solar farm in the ground, we can remove it," Nikitin said.
White said she still has some concerns, but has come to grips with the development because she thinks going green will be worth it in the long run.
"We have to do what's best for the future for little ones like this," White said looking at her granddaughter.
BlueChip Energy estimates the entire project could create as many as 500 jobs during construction over the next couple years.
That figure includes people the company hires to manufacture the solar panels at its headquarters in Lake Mary.
2011年11月13日星期日
Subsidies soar for solar power
BETWEEN Los Angeles and San Francisco, NRG Energy is building an engineering marvel: a compound of nearly a million solar panels that will produce enough electricity to power about 100,000 homes.
The project is also a marvel in another way. Taxpayers are providing subsidies worth almost as much as the $US1.6 billion ($A1.56 billion) cost of the project.
The government support has largely eliminated the risk to private investors and almost guaranteed them large profits for years to come.
The beneficiaries include Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, General Electric, utilities such as Exelon and NRG and Google.
A great deal of attention has been focused on Solyndra, a start-up that received $528 million in federal loans to develop cutting-edge solar technology before it went bankrupt, but nearly 90 per cent of the $16 billion in clean-energy loans guaranteed by the federal government since 2009 went to subsidise these lower-risk power plants, which in many cases were backed by companies with vast resources.
When the Obama administration and Congress expanded clean-energy incentives in 2009, a gold-rush mentality took over.
From 2007 to 2010, federal subsidies jumped from $5.1 billion to $14.7 billion. Most of the surge came from the economic stimulus bill, which was passed in 2009.
The windfall for the industry raises questions of whether the Obama administration and state governments went too far in their support of solar and wind power projects, some of which would have been built anyway, according to the companies involved.
Obama administration officials argue that the incentives make economic and environmental sense. Beyond the short-term increase in construction hiring, they say, lower carbon emissions will benefit the country for decades.
But in an October 2010 memo prepared for the President, several of his advisers said investors had little ''skin in the game''.
The project is also a marvel in another way. Taxpayers are providing subsidies worth almost as much as the $US1.6 billion ($A1.56 billion) cost of the project.
The government support has largely eliminated the risk to private investors and almost guaranteed them large profits for years to come.
The beneficiaries include Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, General Electric, utilities such as Exelon and NRG and Google.
A great deal of attention has been focused on Solyndra, a start-up that received $528 million in federal loans to develop cutting-edge solar technology before it went bankrupt, but nearly 90 per cent of the $16 billion in clean-energy loans guaranteed by the federal government since 2009 went to subsidise these lower-risk power plants, which in many cases were backed by companies with vast resources.
When the Obama administration and Congress expanded clean-energy incentives in 2009, a gold-rush mentality took over.
From 2007 to 2010, federal subsidies jumped from $5.1 billion to $14.7 billion. Most of the surge came from the economic stimulus bill, which was passed in 2009.
The windfall for the industry raises questions of whether the Obama administration and state governments went too far in their support of solar and wind power projects, some of which would have been built anyway, according to the companies involved.
Obama administration officials argue that the incentives make economic and environmental sense. Beyond the short-term increase in construction hiring, they say, lower carbon emissions will benefit the country for decades.
But in an October 2010 memo prepared for the President, several of his advisers said investors had little ''skin in the game''.
2011年11月10日星期四
Solar panel subsidy cuts condemned by UK's biggest business group
The UK's biggest business group today added its voice to criticism over Government plans to slash the subsidies for household solar electricity.
The CBI's director-general John Cridland said plans to halve feed-in tariffs, which are paid to people who generate electricity from small scale renewables, for domestic solar panels was 'the latest in a string of Government own goals'.
Under the proposals, the subsidies will be halved for new units installed from December 12, even before the consultation is due to end.
Ministers say the reductions are necessary to ensure that the feed-in tariffs paid for household solar, which has proved much more popular than anticipated, do not end up costing consumers - who pay for the scheme on their bills - too much.
But Mr Cridland said moving the goal posts in this way destroyed projects and jobs, and undermined investor confidence.
In a speech to the CBI East Midlands annual dinner tonight, Mr Cridland called for an industrial policy that helps the UK expand its share of the low-carbon sector, which has been growing globally throughout the recession.
He said the dramatic cut in the solar feed-in tariff, on the cards from April next year but now being brought in in December, was the latest in a string of own goals by the Government, which had already turned the carbon reduction commitment incentive scheme into 'a pure revenue-raiser'.
He said: 'Moving the goal posts doesn't just destroy projects and jobs, it creates a mood of uncertainty that puts off investors and they wonder what's coming next.
'Some companies have invested heavily in solar photovoltaic systems and in the supply chains needed to install them.
'That commitment has been undermined by the feed-in tariff decision - and so industry trust and confidence in the Government has evaporated. This bodes poorly for investment in future initiatives.
'A new industrial policy needs to recognise the real-time costs of these decisions, and should set out a clear path that investors understand and can believe in.'
His comments follow an attack on the Government's plans to cut solar subsidies by the Local Government Association, who warned it would cost councils who had attempted to roll out the technology to poorer households hundreds of millions.
Projects would be cancelled and low-income families would miss out on the chance to see reductions on their energy bills delivered by access to free energy from the solar panels, the LGA warned.
The LGA is urging the Government to extend the deadline for qualifying for the existing tariffs to the end of the financial year, next April, and protect schemes which are beneficial to the community.
The CBI's director-general John Cridland said plans to halve feed-in tariffs, which are paid to people who generate electricity from small scale renewables, for domestic solar panels was 'the latest in a string of Government own goals'.
Under the proposals, the subsidies will be halved for new units installed from December 12, even before the consultation is due to end.
Ministers say the reductions are necessary to ensure that the feed-in tariffs paid for household solar, which has proved much more popular than anticipated, do not end up costing consumers - who pay for the scheme on their bills - too much.
But Mr Cridland said moving the goal posts in this way destroyed projects and jobs, and undermined investor confidence.
In a speech to the CBI East Midlands annual dinner tonight, Mr Cridland called for an industrial policy that helps the UK expand its share of the low-carbon sector, which has been growing globally throughout the recession.
He said the dramatic cut in the solar feed-in tariff, on the cards from April next year but now being brought in in December, was the latest in a string of own goals by the Government, which had already turned the carbon reduction commitment incentive scheme into 'a pure revenue-raiser'.
He said: 'Moving the goal posts doesn't just destroy projects and jobs, it creates a mood of uncertainty that puts off investors and they wonder what's coming next.
'Some companies have invested heavily in solar photovoltaic systems and in the supply chains needed to install them.
'That commitment has been undermined by the feed-in tariff decision - and so industry trust and confidence in the Government has evaporated. This bodes poorly for investment in future initiatives.
'A new industrial policy needs to recognise the real-time costs of these decisions, and should set out a clear path that investors understand and can believe in.'
His comments follow an attack on the Government's plans to cut solar subsidies by the Local Government Association, who warned it would cost councils who had attempted to roll out the technology to poorer households hundreds of millions.
Projects would be cancelled and low-income families would miss out on the chance to see reductions on their energy bills delivered by access to free energy from the solar panels, the LGA warned.
The LGA is urging the Government to extend the deadline for qualifying for the existing tariffs to the end of the financial year, next April, and protect schemes which are beneficial to the community.
2011年11月9日星期三
Solar panel cash row heats up
TEMPERS are running hot after the Government said it could slash in half the amount it pays households for solar power.
Solar panels – or photovoltaic (PV) panels – have popped up on roofs in Worcestershire with increasing regulatory, with people cashing in on the feed-in tariffs (FITs) the Government pays to people for generating excess electricity for the grid.
But admitting it had chronically underestimated take-up for solar, the Department of Energy and Climate Change has now launched a speedy consultation to halve the tariff from Tuesday, December 13.
This effectively means anyone not having panels fitted and registered for the FIT scheme within the next three weeks will miss out on the current tariff and get the reduced rate.
Cropthorne and Charlton Village Hall committee is unimpressed as it is trying to get grant money to pay for panels.
“There’s no way we’ll get a grant by December so we’ll have to re-cost our plan,” said Jacqui King, committee member and parish councillor. “This is not encouraging anyone to do such projects.”
While the FIT scheme is not paid directly by Government – it comes from a levy on electric bills – money is running out faster than predicted. With the tariff’s current rate of up to 43.3p per KWh (kilowatts hour), panels pay for themselves after between eight and 10 years on average.
But the rate will drop to 21p after Monday, December 12. Lynn Denham, who invested in solar panels for her home in Oaklands, off Newtown Road, Worcester, said that will mean not as many people will be able to afford solar panels.
The wife of Labour city councillor Paul Denham also said the changes had effectively killed off any hope of developing a community energy company in the city.
Jason Bishop, who runs Solar Valley Energy at Wichenford, near Worcester, said a tariff cut was expected in March but the halving would cost jobs and stall growth.
“It’s cost me £16,000 to set up so you can see why I am peeved,” he said.
“We have a three-man installations team and sales manager but I have had to let my sales manager go.
“We still have business because I have a building firm but the solar side just will not grow.
“It is just totally out of the blue; it’s ill thought out and reckless.”
The 45-year-old has written to West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin calling for her support and signed an online petition.
Mrs Baldwin said panels “should still make a worthwhile investment” for both new customers and installers. “With a lower subsidy, more people can benefit, as the money goes further,” she said, promising to pass on constituents’ concerns about the proposed change.
Solar panels – or photovoltaic (PV) panels – have popped up on roofs in Worcestershire with increasing regulatory, with people cashing in on the feed-in tariffs (FITs) the Government pays to people for generating excess electricity for the grid.
But admitting it had chronically underestimated take-up for solar, the Department of Energy and Climate Change has now launched a speedy consultation to halve the tariff from Tuesday, December 13.
This effectively means anyone not having panels fitted and registered for the FIT scheme within the next three weeks will miss out on the current tariff and get the reduced rate.
Cropthorne and Charlton Village Hall committee is unimpressed as it is trying to get grant money to pay for panels.
“There’s no way we’ll get a grant by December so we’ll have to re-cost our plan,” said Jacqui King, committee member and parish councillor. “This is not encouraging anyone to do such projects.”
While the FIT scheme is not paid directly by Government – it comes from a levy on electric bills – money is running out faster than predicted. With the tariff’s current rate of up to 43.3p per KWh (kilowatts hour), panels pay for themselves after between eight and 10 years on average.
But the rate will drop to 21p after Monday, December 12. Lynn Denham, who invested in solar panels for her home in Oaklands, off Newtown Road, Worcester, said that will mean not as many people will be able to afford solar panels.
The wife of Labour city councillor Paul Denham also said the changes had effectively killed off any hope of developing a community energy company in the city.
Jason Bishop, who runs Solar Valley Energy at Wichenford, near Worcester, said a tariff cut was expected in March but the halving would cost jobs and stall growth.
“It’s cost me £16,000 to set up so you can see why I am peeved,” he said.
“We have a three-man installations team and sales manager but I have had to let my sales manager go.
“We still have business because I have a building firm but the solar side just will not grow.
“It is just totally out of the blue; it’s ill thought out and reckless.”
The 45-year-old has written to West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin calling for her support and signed an online petition.
Mrs Baldwin said panels “should still make a worthwhile investment” for both new customers and installers. “With a lower subsidy, more people can benefit, as the money goes further,” she said, promising to pass on constituents’ concerns about the proposed change.
2011年11月8日星期二
It's time for solar power
For decades the story of technology has been dominated, in the popular mind and to a large extent in reality, by computing and the things you can do with it. Moore's Law - in which the price of computing power falls roughly 50 percent every 18 months - has powered an ever-expanding range of applications, from faxes to Facebook.
Our mastery of the material world, on the other hand, has advanced much more slowly. The sources of energy, the way we move stuff around, are much the same as they were a generation ago.
But that may be about to change. We are, or at least we should be, on the cusp of an energy transformation, driven by the rapidly falling cost of solar power. That's right, solar power.
If that surprises you, if you still think of solar power as some kind of hippie fantasy, blame our fossilized political system, in which fossil fuel producers have both powerful political allies and a powerful propaganda machine that denigrates alternatives.
Speaking of propaganda: Before I get to solar, let's talk briefly about hydraulic fracturing, aka fracking.
Fracking - injecting high-pressure fluid into rocks deep underground, inducing the release of fossil fuels - is an impressive technology. But it's also a technology that imposes large costs on the public. We know that it produces toxic (and radioactive) wastewater that contaminates drinking water; there is reason to suspect, despite industry denials, that it also contaminates groundwater; and the heavy trucking required for fracking inflicts major damage on roads.
Economics 101 tells us that an industry imposing large costs on third parties should be required to "internalize" those costs - that is, to pay for the damage it inflicts, treating that damage as a cost of production. Fracking might still be worth doing given those costs. But no industry should be held harmless from its impacts on the environment and the nation's infrastructure.
So it's worth pointing out that special treatment for fracking makes a mockery of free-market principles. Pro-fracking politicians claim to be against subsidies, yet letting an industry impose costs without paying compensation is in effect a huge subsidy. They say they oppose having the government "pick winners," yet they demand special treatment for this industry precisely because they claim it will be a winner.
And now for something completely different: The success story you haven't heard about.
These days, mention solar power and you'll probably hear cries of "Solyndra!" Republicans have tried to make the failed solar panel company both a symbol of government waste - although claims of a major scandal are nonsense - and a stick with which to beat renewable energy.
But Solyndra's failure was actually caused by technological success: The price of solar panels is dropping fast, and Solyndra couldn't keep up with the competition. In fact, progress in solar panels has been so dramatic and sustained that, as a blog post at Scientific American put it, "there's now frequent talk of a 'Moore's law' in solar energy," with prices adjusted for inflation falling around 7 percent a year.
This has already led to rapid growth in solar installations, but even more change may be just around the corner. If the downward trend continues - and if anything it seems to be accelerating - we're just a few years from the point at which electricity from solar panels becomes cheaper than electricity generated by burning coal.
Our mastery of the material world, on the other hand, has advanced much more slowly. The sources of energy, the way we move stuff around, are much the same as they were a generation ago.
But that may be about to change. We are, or at least we should be, on the cusp of an energy transformation, driven by the rapidly falling cost of solar power. That's right, solar power.
If that surprises you, if you still think of solar power as some kind of hippie fantasy, blame our fossilized political system, in which fossil fuel producers have both powerful political allies and a powerful propaganda machine that denigrates alternatives.
Speaking of propaganda: Before I get to solar, let's talk briefly about hydraulic fracturing, aka fracking.
Fracking - injecting high-pressure fluid into rocks deep underground, inducing the release of fossil fuels - is an impressive technology. But it's also a technology that imposes large costs on the public. We know that it produces toxic (and radioactive) wastewater that contaminates drinking water; there is reason to suspect, despite industry denials, that it also contaminates groundwater; and the heavy trucking required for fracking inflicts major damage on roads.
Economics 101 tells us that an industry imposing large costs on third parties should be required to "internalize" those costs - that is, to pay for the damage it inflicts, treating that damage as a cost of production. Fracking might still be worth doing given those costs. But no industry should be held harmless from its impacts on the environment and the nation's infrastructure.
So it's worth pointing out that special treatment for fracking makes a mockery of free-market principles. Pro-fracking politicians claim to be against subsidies, yet letting an industry impose costs without paying compensation is in effect a huge subsidy. They say they oppose having the government "pick winners," yet they demand special treatment for this industry precisely because they claim it will be a winner.
And now for something completely different: The success story you haven't heard about.
These days, mention solar power and you'll probably hear cries of "Solyndra!" Republicans have tried to make the failed solar panel company both a symbol of government waste - although claims of a major scandal are nonsense - and a stick with which to beat renewable energy.
But Solyndra's failure was actually caused by technological success: The price of solar panels is dropping fast, and Solyndra couldn't keep up with the competition. In fact, progress in solar panels has been so dramatic and sustained that, as a blog post at Scientific American put it, "there's now frequent talk of a 'Moore's law' in solar energy," with prices adjusted for inflation falling around 7 percent a year.
This has already led to rapid growth in solar installations, but even more change may be just around the corner. If the downward trend continues - and if anything it seems to be accelerating - we're just a few years from the point at which electricity from solar panels becomes cheaper than electricity generated by burning coal.
2011年11月7日星期一
Flexible solar cells one step closer
Solar panels that can be printed like newspapers have inched a step closer with the development of an energy efficient organic small-molecule solar cell.
The solar cell, which was developed by a team from the University of California, Santa Barbara has energy efficiencies of 6.7 per cent, which rivals the best polymer-based solar cells.
Most polymer-based designs have reached the 6 to 8 range for efficiency.
"These results provide important progress for solution-processed organic photovoltaics and demonstrate that solar cells fabricated from small donor molecules can compete with their polymeric counterparts," the authors, who include Nobel Prize winner Professor Alan Heeger, write in today's Nature Materials .
Materials scientist Dr Chris McNeill from Monash University says the paper marks an incremental improvement in the field, "but an important increment".
Organic solar cell devices are under intense investigation in academic and industrial laboratories worldwide because of their potential to allow mass production of flexible and cost-effective solar devices.
Although they have similar properties to the silicon panels that lie on many Australian roofs, they can be manufactured more cheaply and their lightweight and flexible characteristics will also allow them to be used in a variety of applications and over uneven surfaces.
Professor Paul Meredith of the Centre for Organic Photonics and Electronics at the University of Queensland says most attention to date has been on the development of organic polymer-based solar cells.
However these tend to be very difficult to control and produce uniformly in terms of size and properties.
"If I was to make a bucket of these polymers and I was to look at every molecule I would invariably see a large distribution of different shapes and sizes," he says.
"With these new small molecules, if you get the synthesis right, then every molecule is virtually identical and this gives you much better control over the manufacturing of the solar cells."
Meredith says the next step is to build a commercial-size module that maintains this level of power conversion.
Panels on roofs are about 10 centimetres square, he says, while the active area of the small-molecule solar cell in the Nature Materials paper is 0.196 centimetres square.
"The problem with organic solar cells currently is when we try to scale up to a larger devices the best [power conversion] we've come up with is a couple of per cent," says Meredith.
He says there remains a question as to whether the small molecule solar cell can maintain its conversion efficiency in large area cells and if it can be made on an industrial scale.
But it is "a beautiful molecule — very elegant," he says.
"The thing that surprises me is it organises itself so well in order to have such good electrical properties."
McNeill says the main benefit of organic solar cells is they can be manufactured cheaply in a reel-to-reel printing process similar to that used by newspapers.
"If you can manufacture a module that is lightweight, efficient and low cost people will take that up," he says. "[With organic solar cells] you don't need to do any changes to the infrastructure of the roof because you can literally roll it out, stick it on and plug it in."
The solar cell, which was developed by a team from the University of California, Santa Barbara has energy efficiencies of 6.7 per cent, which rivals the best polymer-based solar cells.
Most polymer-based designs have reached the 6 to 8 range for efficiency.
"These results provide important progress for solution-processed organic photovoltaics and demonstrate that solar cells fabricated from small donor molecules can compete with their polymeric counterparts," the authors, who include Nobel Prize winner Professor Alan Heeger, write in today's Nature Materials .
Materials scientist Dr Chris McNeill from Monash University says the paper marks an incremental improvement in the field, "but an important increment".
Organic solar cell devices are under intense investigation in academic and industrial laboratories worldwide because of their potential to allow mass production of flexible and cost-effective solar devices.
Although they have similar properties to the silicon panels that lie on many Australian roofs, they can be manufactured more cheaply and their lightweight and flexible characteristics will also allow them to be used in a variety of applications and over uneven surfaces.
Professor Paul Meredith of the Centre for Organic Photonics and Electronics at the University of Queensland says most attention to date has been on the development of organic polymer-based solar cells.
However these tend to be very difficult to control and produce uniformly in terms of size and properties.
"If I was to make a bucket of these polymers and I was to look at every molecule I would invariably see a large distribution of different shapes and sizes," he says.
"With these new small molecules, if you get the synthesis right, then every molecule is virtually identical and this gives you much better control over the manufacturing of the solar cells."
Meredith says the next step is to build a commercial-size module that maintains this level of power conversion.
Panels on roofs are about 10 centimetres square, he says, while the active area of the small-molecule solar cell in the Nature Materials paper is 0.196 centimetres square.
"The problem with organic solar cells currently is when we try to scale up to a larger devices the best [power conversion] we've come up with is a couple of per cent," says Meredith.
He says there remains a question as to whether the small molecule solar cell can maintain its conversion efficiency in large area cells and if it can be made on an industrial scale.
But it is "a beautiful molecule — very elegant," he says.
"The thing that surprises me is it organises itself so well in order to have such good electrical properties."
McNeill says the main benefit of organic solar cells is they can be manufactured cheaply in a reel-to-reel printing process similar to that used by newspapers.
"If you can manufacture a module that is lightweight, efficient and low cost people will take that up," he says. "[With organic solar cells] you don't need to do any changes to the infrastructure of the roof because you can literally roll it out, stick it on and plug it in."
2011年11月6日星期日
Despite prices plummeting, solar power sees little growth
While prices are still too high for most consumers, one of the biggest problems the industry struggles with is the lack of quality control, with many companies selling substandard products, which in turn creates suspicion of the technology and limits the growth prospects of other companies that are more quality-conscious, says Umair Anwar Khan, head of the solar power division at Adaptive Technologies.
“There are companies that make substandard solar systems. People are attracted to these companies for their cheap price,” he said. “When the equipment fails to deliver they lose trust in solar-power industry as a whole. Customers, therefore, are hesitant to buy our products which are relatively expensive.”
Prices seem to be another major concern, despite the fact that the average price of photovoltaic cells have plummeted over the last year as subsidies by several European governments have spurred demand. A solar-power system for a home that would have cost $900 last year may cost as little as $500 this year. Yet even these prices may be too high for most.
“We receive many phone calls every day but after hearing the prices, many just don’t buy them,” said Umair, who says that his company has not seen dramatic increases in sales.
Others, however, report a difference scenario, particularly in specialised products.
“We have seen an increase in our sales, especially in the air-conditioner units,” said Zafar Iqbal, a manager at the Crest International Trading Company, which deals in solar equipment.
The solar powered AC unit, Iqbal said, costs $612 (Rs53,250). He added their sales are increasing in both industrial and residential areas, though he was unwilling to provide precise figures.
Regardless of whether their sales are increasing or decreasing, however, most industry players believe that the long term prospects for solar power in Pakistan are good – and they put that down to the continuing power crisis.
“We might see some changes in a year or so. People are sick of Wapda and they want to get rid of dependence on it,” said Shehzad Naveed, a business development manager at Akhtar Solar Ltd, an Islamabad based solar-power company. “Certainly, there is a huge scope for solar power business and people will turn to it.”
Solar power currently costs an average of approximately Rs21.75 per kilowatt-hour, which is more expensive than even the oil-fuelled power plants in the country, which produce power for about Rs18 per unit. Yet it is far cheaper than the diesel generators that many industrial units use as backups for their electricity generation during power outages. Those cost most factories an average of about Rs32 per unit.
Despite the high price differential, however, solar power companies feel their product still has potential: the grid may provide cheaper electricity, but it also fails to provide it for several hours a day, averaging more than eight hours of outages in most parts of the country.
Some industrial units use much cheaper gas-fired generators, which cost about Rs5.5 per unit, but in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, cannot run for about four days a week due to gas rationing. That may eventually prompt many to just give up on the grid altogether and go for a solution they can control themselves.
“If we want dramatic changes in our lifestyle, we need to change ourselves,” said Naveed.
“There are companies that make substandard solar systems. People are attracted to these companies for their cheap price,” he said. “When the equipment fails to deliver they lose trust in solar-power industry as a whole. Customers, therefore, are hesitant to buy our products which are relatively expensive.”
Prices seem to be another major concern, despite the fact that the average price of photovoltaic cells have plummeted over the last year as subsidies by several European governments have spurred demand. A solar-power system for a home that would have cost $900 last year may cost as little as $500 this year. Yet even these prices may be too high for most.
“We receive many phone calls every day but after hearing the prices, many just don’t buy them,” said Umair, who says that his company has not seen dramatic increases in sales.
Others, however, report a difference scenario, particularly in specialised products.
“We have seen an increase in our sales, especially in the air-conditioner units,” said Zafar Iqbal, a manager at the Crest International Trading Company, which deals in solar equipment.
The solar powered AC unit, Iqbal said, costs $612 (Rs53,250). He added their sales are increasing in both industrial and residential areas, though he was unwilling to provide precise figures.
Regardless of whether their sales are increasing or decreasing, however, most industry players believe that the long term prospects for solar power in Pakistan are good – and they put that down to the continuing power crisis.
“We might see some changes in a year or so. People are sick of Wapda and they want to get rid of dependence on it,” said Shehzad Naveed, a business development manager at Akhtar Solar Ltd, an Islamabad based solar-power company. “Certainly, there is a huge scope for solar power business and people will turn to it.”
Solar power currently costs an average of approximately Rs21.75 per kilowatt-hour, which is more expensive than even the oil-fuelled power plants in the country, which produce power for about Rs18 per unit. Yet it is far cheaper than the diesel generators that many industrial units use as backups for their electricity generation during power outages. Those cost most factories an average of about Rs32 per unit.
Despite the high price differential, however, solar power companies feel their product still has potential: the grid may provide cheaper electricity, but it also fails to provide it for several hours a day, averaging more than eight hours of outages in most parts of the country.
Some industrial units use much cheaper gas-fired generators, which cost about Rs5.5 per unit, but in Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, cannot run for about four days a week due to gas rationing. That may eventually prompt many to just give up on the grid altogether and go for a solution they can control themselves.
“If we want dramatic changes in our lifestyle, we need to change ourselves,” said Naveed.
2011年11月3日星期四
World's top solar power plan switches on
The first phase of the world's most ambitious solar power project is to get under way in Morocco in early 2012 and is likely to extend to Algeria and Tunisia.
The Desertec Industrial Initiative, the German-led consortium behind the $549 billion carbon-free project, announced in Cairo Wednesday that "all systems are go in Morocco."
The plan is to use vast arrays of solar panels across the Sahara Desert to harness the rays of the sun, which shines there virtually all year round, to produce steam to drive turbines that will generate electricity for the region through an envisioned supergrid that would supply 15-20 percent of Europe's requirements.
Because North Africa's sunlight is much more intense than that in Europe, solar photovoltaic panels used by the Desertec project could generate up to three times the electricity that similar projects in northern Europe produce.
Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European Commission's Institute for Energy, has said it requires only 0.3 percent of the sunlight falling on the Sahara and other Middle Eastern deserts to provide all of Europe's energy needs.
At DII's Cairo conference, Chief Executive Officer Paul Van Son disclosed that the first phase of the project gets under way next year with the construction of a $2.8 billion, 2.5-square-mile solar farm, using parabolic mirrors that will feed a 500-megawatt power plant.
It's expected this will be located near the Moroccan desert city of Ouarzazate. This phase will take two to four years to complete, with electricity production starting no later than 2016.
Van Son described Desertec as a "win-win" deal for both Europe and the Middle East.
He said discussions were under way with Tunisia on building a solar farm there, with Algeria the next "obvious" country because of its proximity to Europe.
Algeria is already a key supplier of natural gas to energy-hungry Europe, which is striving to lessen its dependence on Russian gas supplies.
Eventually, Van Son observed, Libya, Egypt, Syria and faraway Saudi Arabia would join the Desertec power grid through a network of high-voltage lines that will be built across the Middle East from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean.
Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younes said Cairo was eager to join the project and already has a 150MW hybrid gas-solar power plant that opened this year 60 miles south of the Egyptian capital.
The DII was launched in 2009 by a 20-member German-led consortium headed by Deutsche Bank, Siemens, the Munich Re insurance giant and energy heavyweight E.on.
The project envisages building solar thermal power plants across 34,740 square miles of the Sahara, a small fraction of its total area of around 3.47 million square miles, in Morocco and its neighbors.
These would generate much of the electricity for North Africa and the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia at the eastern edge of the Arab world, by 2050.
The concept has caught on across Europe, particularly in Germany which plans to phase out nuclear power completely by 2022, in part as a consequence of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March.
"Desertec opened up an opportunity for us," Jochen Homann of Germany's Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology, said in Cairo.
"We want to enter the age of renewables with sustainable sources of electricity supplying 80 percent of our power generation by 2050 …
"Germany's government will continue to support Desertec. It's an inspiring vision which is good for foreign, climate and economic policies," he said.
In January 2010, nine European countries drew up plans to link clean energy projects around the North Sea.
The nine -- Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland and Britain -- are working on building a high-voltage direct current network within the next decade.
"This network, made up of thousands of kilometers of highly efficient undersea cables that could cost $41.3 billion, would solve one of the biggest criticisms faced by renewable power -- that unpredictable weather means it is unreliable," Britain's The Guardian newspaper reported.
Connected to Norway's many hydroelectric power stations, it could act as a giant 30 gigawatt battery for Europe's clean energy, storing electricity when demand is low and be a major step toward a continent-wide supergrid that could link into the vast potential of solar power farms in North Africa."
The Desertec Industrial Initiative, the German-led consortium behind the $549 billion carbon-free project, announced in Cairo Wednesday that "all systems are go in Morocco."
The plan is to use vast arrays of solar panels across the Sahara Desert to harness the rays of the sun, which shines there virtually all year round, to produce steam to drive turbines that will generate electricity for the region through an envisioned supergrid that would supply 15-20 percent of Europe's requirements.
Because North Africa's sunlight is much more intense than that in Europe, solar photovoltaic panels used by the Desertec project could generate up to three times the electricity that similar projects in northern Europe produce.
Arnulf Jaeger-Walden of the European Commission's Institute for Energy, has said it requires only 0.3 percent of the sunlight falling on the Sahara and other Middle Eastern deserts to provide all of Europe's energy needs.
At DII's Cairo conference, Chief Executive Officer Paul Van Son disclosed that the first phase of the project gets under way next year with the construction of a $2.8 billion, 2.5-square-mile solar farm, using parabolic mirrors that will feed a 500-megawatt power plant.
It's expected this will be located near the Moroccan desert city of Ouarzazate. This phase will take two to four years to complete, with electricity production starting no later than 2016.
Van Son described Desertec as a "win-win" deal for both Europe and the Middle East.
He said discussions were under way with Tunisia on building a solar farm there, with Algeria the next "obvious" country because of its proximity to Europe.
Algeria is already a key supplier of natural gas to energy-hungry Europe, which is striving to lessen its dependence on Russian gas supplies.
Eventually, Van Son observed, Libya, Egypt, Syria and faraway Saudi Arabia would join the Desertec power grid through a network of high-voltage lines that will be built across the Middle East from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean.
Egyptian Minister of Electricity and Energy Hassan Younes said Cairo was eager to join the project and already has a 150MW hybrid gas-solar power plant that opened this year 60 miles south of the Egyptian capital.
The DII was launched in 2009 by a 20-member German-led consortium headed by Deutsche Bank, Siemens, the Munich Re insurance giant and energy heavyweight E.on.
The project envisages building solar thermal power plants across 34,740 square miles of the Sahara, a small fraction of its total area of around 3.47 million square miles, in Morocco and its neighbors.
These would generate much of the electricity for North Africa and the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia at the eastern edge of the Arab world, by 2050.
The concept has caught on across Europe, particularly in Germany which plans to phase out nuclear power completely by 2022, in part as a consequence of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March.
"Desertec opened up an opportunity for us," Jochen Homann of Germany's Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology, said in Cairo.
"We want to enter the age of renewables with sustainable sources of electricity supplying 80 percent of our power generation by 2050 …
"Germany's government will continue to support Desertec. It's an inspiring vision which is good for foreign, climate and economic policies," he said.
In January 2010, nine European countries drew up plans to link clean energy projects around the North Sea.
The nine -- Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland and Britain -- are working on building a high-voltage direct current network within the next decade.
"This network, made up of thousands of kilometers of highly efficient undersea cables that could cost $41.3 billion, would solve one of the biggest criticisms faced by renewable power -- that unpredictable weather means it is unreliable," Britain's The Guardian newspaper reported.
Connected to Norway's many hydroelectric power stations, it could act as a giant 30 gigawatt battery for Europe's clean energy, storing electricity when demand is low and be a major step toward a continent-wide supergrid that could link into the vast potential of solar power farms in North Africa."
2011年11月2日星期三
IBM brings solar power to data centers
The company tomorrow will detail a pilot project that couples solar power with water-cooled servers that run on high-voltage direct current. The method results in about a 10 percent energy savings by reducing the losses that normally happen in converting from alternating power from the grid to the direct current servers run on, according to Kota Murali, the chief scientist of nanotechnology at IBM India who developed the pilot as a side project.
That level of energy reduction is significant for large data centers with many servers, but the implications of solar and servers are potentially profound for places that don't have access to reliable power, Murali said.
A bank, for example, that wanted to set up a remote branch and operate a data center could use solar power as a way to supplement power from the grid and on-site generators. IBM plans to offer the system in custom engagements next year. Clients in developing countries have already shown an interest.
"Everybody is talking about getting connectivity from the grid. The cities are already overloaded so they need ways to generate local power," Murali said. "You can start connecting unconnected parts of the world using this kind of system."
The system is designed so that power will be pulled from the grid at night or when there isn't sufficient voltage to run servers directly. Power conditioning units dedicated to supplying the data center can automatically switch between power sources.
IBM's India Software Lab in Bangalore has set up a 50-kilowatt rooftop array to power about 20 percent of its data center.
Murali was motivated to work on creating the configuration after hearing a talk on energy-efficient computing. When he realized that modern IBM servers can run on high-voltage direct current, he thought to use solar panels, which produce direct current, as a source.
When wired in series, solar panels can produce sufficient voltage, at between 380 volts and 575 volts, to power a server. In places where the grid is not reliable, data center operators will likely still use a diesel generator backup but the solar panels can reduce their fuel cost and cut carbon emissions, Murali said.
That level of energy reduction is significant for large data centers with many servers, but the implications of solar and servers are potentially profound for places that don't have access to reliable power, Murali said.
A bank, for example, that wanted to set up a remote branch and operate a data center could use solar power as a way to supplement power from the grid and on-site generators. IBM plans to offer the system in custom engagements next year. Clients in developing countries have already shown an interest.
"Everybody is talking about getting connectivity from the grid. The cities are already overloaded so they need ways to generate local power," Murali said. "You can start connecting unconnected parts of the world using this kind of system."
The system is designed so that power will be pulled from the grid at night or when there isn't sufficient voltage to run servers directly. Power conditioning units dedicated to supplying the data center can automatically switch between power sources.
IBM's India Software Lab in Bangalore has set up a 50-kilowatt rooftop array to power about 20 percent of its data center.
Murali was motivated to work on creating the configuration after hearing a talk on energy-efficient computing. When he realized that modern IBM servers can run on high-voltage direct current, he thought to use solar panels, which produce direct current, as a source.
When wired in series, solar panels can produce sufficient voltage, at between 380 volts and 575 volts, to power a server. In places where the grid is not reliable, data center operators will likely still use a diesel generator backup but the solar panels can reduce their fuel cost and cut carbon emissions, Murali said.
2011年11月1日星期二
Shining spotlight on solar panel bankruptcy
The White House’s half-billion-dollar loan to a now-bankrupt solar-energy firm is just the first act in an emerging scandal of insider political influence over a deeply flawed clean energy program.
What has come to light so far as part of a congressional investigation is the administration’s willful order to approve a bad loan, despite dire warnings from a number of federal officials that the Solyndra Corp., a California-based solar panel maker, was in deep financial trouble.
A steady stream of government emails released by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee tells a sordid tale of a company that President Obama turned into an energy showcase for his $40 billion loan program - until it went bankrupt in August, putting 1,100 employees out of work.
One of the people who promoted Solyndra’s $535 million loan, which now will be paid by federal taxpayers, was Steven J. Spinner, a senior Energy Department adviser, a major fundraiser for Mr. Obama and a Silicon Valley investor who was given the job of guiding the government’s clean-technology investments.
He not only was the one of Solyndra’s unabashedly inside defenders, his wife worked for the California law firm that represented the solar company and helped it file for the government loan her husband was promoting.
While internal concerns were raised about Solyndra’s shaky finances as early as the summer of 2009, Mr. Spinner emailed a top aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel that Solyndra was a financially solvent company that fully deserved the administration’s support.
“I haven’t heard anything negative on my side,” he told Mr. Emanuel’s aide in an email about the warnings. “I … have no idea what they’re referring [to].”
As the loan deal stalled after internal criticism of the firm’s looming insolvency, Mr. Spinner grew more impatient. “How [expletive] hard is this?” he wrote to a career Energy Department staffer Aug. 28, 2009, about its delayed clearance from an Office of Management and Budget official. “What is he waiting for? Will we have it by the end of the day?”
But internal complaints from OMB and Treasury about Solyndra’s dubious finances as well as the favorable terms of its loan persisted. That sparked further internal debate about the legality of the loan’s revision, though to no avail.
Dismissing warnings that the government’s restructuring of the loan was illegal and should be reviewed by Justice Department attorneys, Energy officials moved ahead with changes in February that required Solyndra’s investors be repaid before taxpayers if the company defaulted on its debt.
Other emails released by the House panel last month reveal a politically pressured program that was heavily influenced by powerful special interests that had a stake in its outcome.
“In an administration that said it would curtail lobbyists’ influence, the documents show ardent lobbying by political appointees inside the agencies and significant White House access given to venture capitalists with a major stake in the $40 billion stimulus investment program for clean energy,” The Washington Post reported last month.
One of these venture investors was David Prend, whose company, Rockport Capital, was a Solyndra backer. He met with White House officials about the deal in March of 2009.
“It was great to meet you with [then-White House climate adviser] Carol Browner last week,” Mr. Prend wrote. “I look forward to working with you to get the message out and to effect real change in the Energy Industry. I will follow up shortly on 2 of the companies we discussed,” he said. One of them was Solyndra.
But emails from government officials to Energy officials, who were responsible for reviewing the deal, were growing increasingly critical of Solyndra’s rising debts and declining revenues.
What has come to light so far as part of a congressional investigation is the administration’s willful order to approve a bad loan, despite dire warnings from a number of federal officials that the Solyndra Corp., a California-based solar panel maker, was in deep financial trouble.
A steady stream of government emails released by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee tells a sordid tale of a company that President Obama turned into an energy showcase for his $40 billion loan program - until it went bankrupt in August, putting 1,100 employees out of work.
One of the people who promoted Solyndra’s $535 million loan, which now will be paid by federal taxpayers, was Steven J. Spinner, a senior Energy Department adviser, a major fundraiser for Mr. Obama and a Silicon Valley investor who was given the job of guiding the government’s clean-technology investments.
He not only was the one of Solyndra’s unabashedly inside defenders, his wife worked for the California law firm that represented the solar company and helped it file for the government loan her husband was promoting.
While internal concerns were raised about Solyndra’s shaky finances as early as the summer of 2009, Mr. Spinner emailed a top aide to then-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel that Solyndra was a financially solvent company that fully deserved the administration’s support.
“I haven’t heard anything negative on my side,” he told Mr. Emanuel’s aide in an email about the warnings. “I … have no idea what they’re referring [to].”
As the loan deal stalled after internal criticism of the firm’s looming insolvency, Mr. Spinner grew more impatient. “How [expletive] hard is this?” he wrote to a career Energy Department staffer Aug. 28, 2009, about its delayed clearance from an Office of Management and Budget official. “What is he waiting for? Will we have it by the end of the day?”
But internal complaints from OMB and Treasury about Solyndra’s dubious finances as well as the favorable terms of its loan persisted. That sparked further internal debate about the legality of the loan’s revision, though to no avail.
Dismissing warnings that the government’s restructuring of the loan was illegal and should be reviewed by Justice Department attorneys, Energy officials moved ahead with changes in February that required Solyndra’s investors be repaid before taxpayers if the company defaulted on its debt.
Other emails released by the House panel last month reveal a politically pressured program that was heavily influenced by powerful special interests that had a stake in its outcome.
“In an administration that said it would curtail lobbyists’ influence, the documents show ardent lobbying by political appointees inside the agencies and significant White House access given to venture capitalists with a major stake in the $40 billion stimulus investment program for clean energy,” The Washington Post reported last month.
One of these venture investors was David Prend, whose company, Rockport Capital, was a Solyndra backer. He met with White House officials about the deal in March of 2009.
“It was great to meet you with [then-White House climate adviser] Carol Browner last week,” Mr. Prend wrote. “I look forward to working with you to get the message out and to effect real change in the Energy Industry. I will follow up shortly on 2 of the companies we discussed,” he said. One of them was Solyndra.
But emails from government officials to Energy officials, who were responsible for reviewing the deal, were growing increasingly critical of Solyndra’s rising debts and declining revenues.
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