Solar panels being tested in Augusta and six other Georgia cities are performing well in varied climates, but defining their potential in a demanding commercial power market will take more time.
“So far we’ve seen slight differences around the state, based on humidity and weather conditions, but overall they are working pretty much as expected,” said Lynn Wallace, a spokeswoman for Georgia Power Co.
The 18-month project, launched in February 2011, is a joint effort with the Electric Power Research Institute aimed at testing the effect of various climates and environmental conditions on the solar photovoltaic power systems.
In Augusta, seven panels, each 3 by 5 feet, were installed a year ago near the Georgia Power operating center off North Leg. Similar clusters of panels were placed in Rome, Valdosta, Macon, Columbus, Savannah and Conley.
Each panel, under optimum conditions and full sun, can generate about 200 watts of electricity. The power produced is fed directly into Georgia Power’s grid.
The panels are able to convert sunlight into electricity in all locations, despite changes in elevation, temperature, wind speed, humidity and even the effect of salt air in coastal regions.
Predictably, however, clouds will inhibit the panels’ power production significantly.
“One of the things that is being studied is the variability of output,” Wallace said. “When we have a cloudy day we see the output go from 100 percent down to 20 percent.”
The study, aimed more at research and development at this point, will help the company determine how solar generation would fit into a portfolio now dominated by coal , nuclear generation , oil and gas and hydropower, according to a company fact sheet.
“We’re always looking at gathering data to see if solar is a viable option here in Georgia,” she said.
2012年2月28日星期二
First Solar tumbles after disappointing results
Shares of solar power company First Solar dropped in after-hours trading Tuesday following disappointing quarterly results.
The Arizona-based company, a leading maker of thin-film solar panels and a developer of solar power projects, posted net sales of $660 million and earnings per share of $1.26, excluding certain charges. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the firm to post earnings of $1.54 per share on $782 million in revenue for the quarter ended in December.
When taking into account costs incurred during the quarter from factors including restructuring and loss of goodwill, First Solar sustained a net loss of $413 million.
"First Solar's performance in the quarter was impacted by an aggressive competitive environment, an uncertain regulatory environment, warranty-related charges, and restructuring costs incurred to help position our business for the future," Mike Ahearn, First Solar's chairman and interim CEO, said in a statement.
The company also lowered its sales guidance for 2012 from $3.7-$4.0 billion to $3.5-$3.8 billion. Following a brief halt to trading after the bell, shares dropped roughly 15% before rebounding to around 6% down late in the day.
First Solar shares are down 75% over the past year. Like all solar panel makers, the company's stock has been battered as a huge oversupply and slack demand have caused the price of silicon solar panels to plummet.
The industry has also been hurt by the loss of valuable subsidies from European governments, cut as the continent's sovereign debt crisis has gathered force. In addition, some manufacturers say Chinese companies are pushing them out of the market by selling solar panels below cost, benefiting from Chinese government support.
Despite these challenges, First Solar maintained its earnings guidance for 2012 at $3.75 to $4.25 per share in its statement Tuesday. Ahearn said that efforts to improve on module efficiency and manufacturing costs, combined with restructuring efforts, "enhance our competitive position in a very challenging environment."
The Arizona-based company, a leading maker of thin-film solar panels and a developer of solar power projects, posted net sales of $660 million and earnings per share of $1.26, excluding certain charges. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the firm to post earnings of $1.54 per share on $782 million in revenue for the quarter ended in December.
When taking into account costs incurred during the quarter from factors including restructuring and loss of goodwill, First Solar sustained a net loss of $413 million.
"First Solar's performance in the quarter was impacted by an aggressive competitive environment, an uncertain regulatory environment, warranty-related charges, and restructuring costs incurred to help position our business for the future," Mike Ahearn, First Solar's chairman and interim CEO, said in a statement.
The company also lowered its sales guidance for 2012 from $3.7-$4.0 billion to $3.5-$3.8 billion. Following a brief halt to trading after the bell, shares dropped roughly 15% before rebounding to around 6% down late in the day.
First Solar shares are down 75% over the past year. Like all solar panel makers, the company's stock has been battered as a huge oversupply and slack demand have caused the price of silicon solar panels to plummet.
The industry has also been hurt by the loss of valuable subsidies from European governments, cut as the continent's sovereign debt crisis has gathered force. In addition, some manufacturers say Chinese companies are pushing them out of the market by selling solar panels below cost, benefiting from Chinese government support.
Despite these challenges, First Solar maintained its earnings guidance for 2012 at $3.75 to $4.25 per share in its statement Tuesday. Ahearn said that efforts to improve on module efficiency and manufacturing costs, combined with restructuring efforts, "enhance our competitive position in a very challenging environment."
2012年2月27日星期一
How Solar Energy Can Save You Money
Solar energy is gradually becoming popular in Georgia as more and more companies offer equipment for its installation.
However solar equipment will eventually pay for itself in two to five years depending on how much sun a particular location receives. At first glance this seems quite attractive, but the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Georgia advises investing money in something else if one is looking for a quick and easy economic result.
There are two types of equipment for solar energy: solar collectors and solar panels. The first one is used for space heating and hot water. Meanwhile solar panels generate and supply electricity in commercial and residential applications.
“The price of a solar collector depends of the needs of the customer,” Zurab Mshvenieradze, Owner of Techenergo, told The FINANCIAL. “If a family of three uses a solar collector for 150 litres of water of 55 Celsius and heating for an apartment of 50 square meters daily, the cost of the equipment will be 2,200 USD.”
In total its price will come to about 3,000 USD. Techenergo offers solar collectors with two year guarantees. The guarantee for a solar panel is 20 years.
“The price of solar panels also varies depending on the types of panels and totals approximately 4 USD per 1 watt. The supply voltage could be permanent or variable up to 1,000 volts,” Mshvenieradze explained.
“Installing solar collectors will pay for itself in about two years in the event of average use which means 50 litres of 55 Celsius water per person. The equipment of solar panels will pay for itself in five years time in the event of using 200-300 Kilowatt/hour per month.”
“In spite of the high cost of installation, solar energy is quite profitable and demand has increased since the utility bill for waste has been attached to the utility bill for electricity. The main demand is coming from the cities. But in reality solar energy is more profitable in the regions,” he stated.
The solar energy cost per Kilowatt/hour is about 0.40 USD according to international prices. One Kilowatt/hour of hydro electro energy is about 0.13 GEL in Georgia. The price difference is quite high, but after several years people will have free electricity in the case of solar energy.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Georgia nowadays in Georgia solar energy collectors and panels are being installed in high mountainous regions including Tusheti, where hydro electro energy is not available. The first stage of this project has already been implemented and the second step will start in a short while. It is being funded by a grant.
“On the other hand people who have enough money to afford quite expensive equipment mainly install them in houses out of Tbilisi ,” said Mariam Valishvili, First deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Georgia. “Georgia isn’t ready for intensive use of solar energy. 3,000 USD is quite a significant amount of money for the majority of the Georgian population. Not many of them can afford it. In regards to solar energy development, the Government needs subsidies. This is almost impossible as our economy does not give us the possibility.”
“Here lies another problem. Solar energy equipment needs special care. Lots of users do not know about this and the equipment therefore experiences malfunctions frequently. So solar energy is associated with several problems and isn’t likely to be used intensively in Georgia in the near future. It comes down to additional comfort versus everyday needs,” Valishvili explained.
“If people are planning to invest money in solar energy, I’d advise them to invest in something else based on their situation. On the other hand, investors who are going to make capital in such projects will only get this money back in about 50 years. Such projects are generally funded by grants, she added.
Solar energy is being implemented in high mountainous regions where hydro electro energy is not available. As a result solar energy is helping the development of eco tourism as well.
The annual amount of sunshine that Georgia receives is quite high. It mainly depends on cloud cover, which is normal. The duration of sunshine varies from 250 to 280 days in Georgia. This is 1,360-2,500 hours of sunshine. This rate is highest in the Shiraki Valley, Gardabani Plains, Lower Achara and high Caucasus mountains.
However solar equipment will eventually pay for itself in two to five years depending on how much sun a particular location receives. At first glance this seems quite attractive, but the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Georgia advises investing money in something else if one is looking for a quick and easy economic result.
There are two types of equipment for solar energy: solar collectors and solar panels. The first one is used for space heating and hot water. Meanwhile solar panels generate and supply electricity in commercial and residential applications.
“The price of a solar collector depends of the needs of the customer,” Zurab Mshvenieradze, Owner of Techenergo, told The FINANCIAL. “If a family of three uses a solar collector for 150 litres of water of 55 Celsius and heating for an apartment of 50 square meters daily, the cost of the equipment will be 2,200 USD.”
In total its price will come to about 3,000 USD. Techenergo offers solar collectors with two year guarantees. The guarantee for a solar panel is 20 years.
“The price of solar panels also varies depending on the types of panels and totals approximately 4 USD per 1 watt. The supply voltage could be permanent or variable up to 1,000 volts,” Mshvenieradze explained.
“Installing solar collectors will pay for itself in about two years in the event of average use which means 50 litres of 55 Celsius water per person. The equipment of solar panels will pay for itself in five years time in the event of using 200-300 Kilowatt/hour per month.”
“In spite of the high cost of installation, solar energy is quite profitable and demand has increased since the utility bill for waste has been attached to the utility bill for electricity. The main demand is coming from the cities. But in reality solar energy is more profitable in the regions,” he stated.
The solar energy cost per Kilowatt/hour is about 0.40 USD according to international prices. One Kilowatt/hour of hydro electro energy is about 0.13 GEL in Georgia. The price difference is quite high, but after several years people will have free electricity in the case of solar energy.
According to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of Georgia nowadays in Georgia solar energy collectors and panels are being installed in high mountainous regions including Tusheti, where hydro electro energy is not available. The first stage of this project has already been implemented and the second step will start in a short while. It is being funded by a grant.
“On the other hand people who have enough money to afford quite expensive equipment mainly install them in houses out of Tbilisi ,” said Mariam Valishvili, First deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Georgia. “Georgia isn’t ready for intensive use of solar energy. 3,000 USD is quite a significant amount of money for the majority of the Georgian population. Not many of them can afford it. In regards to solar energy development, the Government needs subsidies. This is almost impossible as our economy does not give us the possibility.”
“Here lies another problem. Solar energy equipment needs special care. Lots of users do not know about this and the equipment therefore experiences malfunctions frequently. So solar energy is associated with several problems and isn’t likely to be used intensively in Georgia in the near future. It comes down to additional comfort versus everyday needs,” Valishvili explained.
“If people are planning to invest money in solar energy, I’d advise them to invest in something else based on their situation. On the other hand, investors who are going to make capital in such projects will only get this money back in about 50 years. Such projects are generally funded by grants, she added.
Solar energy is being implemented in high mountainous regions where hydro electro energy is not available. As a result solar energy is helping the development of eco tourism as well.
The annual amount of sunshine that Georgia receives is quite high. It mainly depends on cloud cover, which is normal. The duration of sunshine varies from 250 to 280 days in Georgia. This is 1,360-2,500 hours of sunshine. This rate is highest in the Shiraki Valley, Gardabani Plains, Lower Achara and high Caucasus mountains.
2012年2月26日星期日
Israel nixes solar energy for Palestinians
Electricity from solar panels and wind turbines has revolutionized life in rural Palestinian herding communities: Machines, instead of hands, churn goat milk into butter, refrigerators store food that used to spoil and children no longer have to hurry to get their homework done before dark.
But the German-funded project, initiated by Israeli volunteers, is now in danger. Israeli authorities are threatening to demolish the installations in six of the 16 remote West Bank communities being illuminated by alternative energy, arguing the panels and turbines were installed without permits.
The German government has expressed concern and asked for clarifications _ a rare show of displeasure from Israel's staunchest defender in Europe.
The dispute is more than just a diplomatic row. It goes to the core of mounting international criticism of Israel's policies in the 62 percent of the West Bank that remain under full Israeli control two decades after Palestinians were granted self-rule in a patchwork of territorial islands in the rest of the land.
The division of jurisdictions was meant to be temporary, but has been frozen in place as repeated peace talks deadlocked. The Palestinians claim all the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, for a state.
International monitors have warned that Israel is suppressing Palestinian development in the West Bank sector under its full control, known as "Area C," while giving preferential treatment to Israeli settlements. Most of the international community considers Israel's settlements in the West Bank illegal.
Israel's more than 300,000 settlers are already double the number of Palestinians in Area C, which would form the heart of any Palestinian state.
If Israel's policies are not stopped, "the establishment of a viable Palestinian state ... seems more remote than ever," European Union diplomats warned in an internal report last year.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the division of authorities was agreed to by the Palestinians in the interim deals of the mid-1990s, and that Israel is ready to move forward.
"We of course want to continue with the negotiations, to reach further agreements with the Palestinians, but they have not been willing to do so," he said.
The Palestinians have said they won't resume talks without a freeze in settlement building, which they argue grabs lands they want for a state.
More than 90 percent of the West Bank's Palestinians live in the self-rule areas run by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The economist has won international praise for building institutions of a state like police and courts in the areas he governs. Fayyad has tried to branch out into Area C, but hit a wall of Israeli rejections.
Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib said the donors are increasingly aware of the problem, but that "unfortunately, there isn't yet action, such as holding Israel accountable."
Perhaps the most vulnerable Palestinians in Area C are the goat and sheep herding families scraping a living from barren hills of the West Bank. Israel does not recognize their tiny communities, saying the herders are in the area illegally. Residents say their roots go back generations.
The hamlet of al-Thala, a community of 80 in the southern West Bank, had no electricity until last August when the German aid group medico and Comet-ME, a group of pro-peace Israeli scientists, set up solar panels there as part of a campaign to provide 30 communities in the area with solar and wind power.
In al-Thala, 41-year-old Hakima Elayan used to spend four hours a day churning butter by hand. Now a machine does it for her, leaving her more time for her children and other household chores.
"It's as if we are living the city life," she said. "I can't live without it," she added as three of her young daughters watched a soap opera on TV. Her neighbors have also bought refrigerators, washers, TVs and butter churners.
But last month, Israel's Civil Administration _ a branch of the military dealing with Palestinian civilians _ issued "stop work" orders, a precursor to demolitions, targeting solar panels and wind turbines in al-Thala and five other communities.
The installations were set up illegally, without anyone having requested a permit, the Civil Administration said, adding that the cases will be reviewed by a committee.
Elad Orian, a physicist at Comet-ME, said the group didn't ask for permits, feeling it would have been futile because Israel considers the communities illegal. He believes demolition is still months away, and hopes political pressure by Germany, which gave more than 400,000 euros ($520,000), will save the projects.
Germany's foreign ministry has expressed concern and said it is closely monitoring the situation in Area C.
In a similar case, deputy Polish Foreign Minister Jerzy Pomianowski summoned Israel's ambassador to express concern over the demolition of a well in a community near al-Thala that had been rebuilt with Polish funds.
Israel said those refurbishing the wells also failed to ask for permits and ignored calls to attend a hearing.
But the German-funded project, initiated by Israeli volunteers, is now in danger. Israeli authorities are threatening to demolish the installations in six of the 16 remote West Bank communities being illuminated by alternative energy, arguing the panels and turbines were installed without permits.
The German government has expressed concern and asked for clarifications _ a rare show of displeasure from Israel's staunchest defender in Europe.
The dispute is more than just a diplomatic row. It goes to the core of mounting international criticism of Israel's policies in the 62 percent of the West Bank that remain under full Israeli control two decades after Palestinians were granted self-rule in a patchwork of territorial islands in the rest of the land.
The division of jurisdictions was meant to be temporary, but has been frozen in place as repeated peace talks deadlocked. The Palestinians claim all the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, for a state.
International monitors have warned that Israel is suppressing Palestinian development in the West Bank sector under its full control, known as "Area C," while giving preferential treatment to Israeli settlements. Most of the international community considers Israel's settlements in the West Bank illegal.
Israel's more than 300,000 settlers are already double the number of Palestinians in Area C, which would form the heart of any Palestinian state.
If Israel's policies are not stopped, "the establishment of a viable Palestinian state ... seems more remote than ever," European Union diplomats warned in an internal report last year.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the division of authorities was agreed to by the Palestinians in the interim deals of the mid-1990s, and that Israel is ready to move forward.
"We of course want to continue with the negotiations, to reach further agreements with the Palestinians, but they have not been willing to do so," he said.
The Palestinians have said they won't resume talks without a freeze in settlement building, which they argue grabs lands they want for a state.
More than 90 percent of the West Bank's Palestinians live in the self-rule areas run by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The economist has won international praise for building institutions of a state like police and courts in the areas he governs. Fayyad has tried to branch out into Area C, but hit a wall of Israeli rejections.
Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib said the donors are increasingly aware of the problem, but that "unfortunately, there isn't yet action, such as holding Israel accountable."
Perhaps the most vulnerable Palestinians in Area C are the goat and sheep herding families scraping a living from barren hills of the West Bank. Israel does not recognize their tiny communities, saying the herders are in the area illegally. Residents say their roots go back generations.
The hamlet of al-Thala, a community of 80 in the southern West Bank, had no electricity until last August when the German aid group medico and Comet-ME, a group of pro-peace Israeli scientists, set up solar panels there as part of a campaign to provide 30 communities in the area with solar and wind power.
In al-Thala, 41-year-old Hakima Elayan used to spend four hours a day churning butter by hand. Now a machine does it for her, leaving her more time for her children and other household chores.
"It's as if we are living the city life," she said. "I can't live without it," she added as three of her young daughters watched a soap opera on TV. Her neighbors have also bought refrigerators, washers, TVs and butter churners.
But last month, Israel's Civil Administration _ a branch of the military dealing with Palestinian civilians _ issued "stop work" orders, a precursor to demolitions, targeting solar panels and wind turbines in al-Thala and five other communities.
The installations were set up illegally, without anyone having requested a permit, the Civil Administration said, adding that the cases will be reviewed by a committee.
Elad Orian, a physicist at Comet-ME, said the group didn't ask for permits, feeling it would have been futile because Israel considers the communities illegal. He believes demolition is still months away, and hopes political pressure by Germany, which gave more than 400,000 euros ($520,000), will save the projects.
Germany's foreign ministry has expressed concern and said it is closely monitoring the situation in Area C.
In a similar case, deputy Polish Foreign Minister Jerzy Pomianowski summoned Israel's ambassador to express concern over the demolition of a well in a community near al-Thala that had been rebuilt with Polish funds.
Israel said those refurbishing the wells also failed to ask for permits and ignored calls to attend a hearing.
2012年2月23日星期四
Oklahoma tribe developing solar panel business
A dozen years after carpeting manufacturer Hollytex closed its former warehouse the facility has never looked so massive.
Maybe it is because new owner, the Delaware Tribe, spent $1 million last year upgrading and expanding it, or maybe it just appears that way now because it's empty. But a walk through its corridor with Jerry Kennedy, executive director of the tribe's economic development group, shows the warehouse is swollen with potential.
"We're trying to make it where it's kind of an incubator center for start-up businesses that are hopefully focused on green technology or at least a business that can't destroy the planet and can employ people," Kennedy said. "It's kind of the heritage with Mother Earth and all that kind of stuff — to help with the planet as well as to help here with employment in Anadarko."
The tribe shelled out $3 million for the new Green Tech facility in 2009. It's 250,000 square feet of covered concrete floor, and Kennedy envisions it will soon be bustling with activity from several manufacturing and assembling companies that will be producing products to be distributed nationwide.
Last year, with a $250,000 federal grant matched by the tribe, a solar array was installed on top of the Delaware tribal complex in Anadarko. The solar panels knocked off about a third of the complex's daily energy use, but its impact was more demonstrative than anything.
The goal, Kennedy said, is to start assembling these same panels from within the confines of the Green Tech warehouse.
Already the tribe owns a solar power developer in New Jersey, Unami Solar, he said, and a feasibility study is planned for this summer that will bring several coastal solar panel manufacturers to the Anadarko facility with the hopes that one of them will be sold on the idea of assembling them here. In Oklahoma, Kennedy said, these corporate executives will find a progressive business climate with a solid transportation infrastructure and free trade incentives — not to mention a facility in the middle of the country.
"Oklahoma is one of the states that is really providing manufacturing jobs," Kennedy said. "There are all kinds of different agencies a business can use through the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance to get tax benefits and employee benefits."
Other prospective clients include a Utah company the tribe recently bought out which manufactures LED, or light-emitting diode, lighting and a group that markets urinal cakes for waterless urinals.
Kennedy said the Delaware Nation Economic Development Authority is projecting 150 employees at the Anadarko complex within three to five years and another 300-500 in a decade.
The tribe adopted renewable energy as its platform for economic development in 2008, two years after Kerry Holton became its president. Holton's goal was to diversify and get away from being grant- or casino-dependent, Kennedy said. By bringing these new technologies to Anadarko the tribe would also be providing career opportunities for its younger generation.
"There aren't a lot of opportunities here in Oklahoma, so they move off to other states where there's a little more opportunity," he said. "We're wanting to create opportunity here, so they won't move off and so some of these people can come back home and have a job or career they're proud of."
In addition to the GreenTech project, the tribe is also working with the City of Anadarko and several local schools and agencies to develop an energy conservation and recycling program.
Kylah McNabb, renewable energy development specialist with Oklahoma Department of Commerce, said the state has provided funding to develop that project through a Community Energy Strategic Planning grant. It's a program adopted in several other Oklahoma Cities, including Sand Springs and Wilburton, and should eventually help the tribe, city and other organizations qualify for additional green energy grants.
"It's not a great deal of money, but it's a funding stream that enables the Delaware Nation to take an in-depth look at what they would like to do in partnership with the community of Anadarko when it comes to basically holistic energy planning, to figure out what makes sense and what the community would like to see done," McNabb said. "The point is to actually pull all these things together and make it one cohesive strategy for the community as a whole."
These programs are mostly in their infancy, but local leaders have reason to believe they will make a significant economic impact in the near future.
Carla Hall, executive director of the Anadarko Chamber of Commerce, said sometimes all a community needs to do is get the ball rolling, especially when it comes to forging partnerships.
She said she has full faith that both the GreenTech project as well as the tribal-community energy partnership will mean jobs for Anadarko.
"I'm very confident that the Delaware Nation is going to bring the jobs they are working toward and their goals for that facility — and it is going to be an economic boost that is likely to have a domino effect," Hall said.
"I'm already receiving calls from area supply companies, like packaging companies, who are already interested in talking to them about their lighting company. With that will come more housing — which is one of our big drawbacks: lack of housing — and then retail will follow and possibly other manufacturing and that type of industry."
Maybe it is because new owner, the Delaware Tribe, spent $1 million last year upgrading and expanding it, or maybe it just appears that way now because it's empty. But a walk through its corridor with Jerry Kennedy, executive director of the tribe's economic development group, shows the warehouse is swollen with potential.
"We're trying to make it where it's kind of an incubator center for start-up businesses that are hopefully focused on green technology or at least a business that can't destroy the planet and can employ people," Kennedy said. "It's kind of the heritage with Mother Earth and all that kind of stuff — to help with the planet as well as to help here with employment in Anadarko."
The tribe shelled out $3 million for the new Green Tech facility in 2009. It's 250,000 square feet of covered concrete floor, and Kennedy envisions it will soon be bustling with activity from several manufacturing and assembling companies that will be producing products to be distributed nationwide.
Last year, with a $250,000 federal grant matched by the tribe, a solar array was installed on top of the Delaware tribal complex in Anadarko. The solar panels knocked off about a third of the complex's daily energy use, but its impact was more demonstrative than anything.
The goal, Kennedy said, is to start assembling these same panels from within the confines of the Green Tech warehouse.
Already the tribe owns a solar power developer in New Jersey, Unami Solar, he said, and a feasibility study is planned for this summer that will bring several coastal solar panel manufacturers to the Anadarko facility with the hopes that one of them will be sold on the idea of assembling them here. In Oklahoma, Kennedy said, these corporate executives will find a progressive business climate with a solid transportation infrastructure and free trade incentives — not to mention a facility in the middle of the country.
"Oklahoma is one of the states that is really providing manufacturing jobs," Kennedy said. "There are all kinds of different agencies a business can use through the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance to get tax benefits and employee benefits."
Other prospective clients include a Utah company the tribe recently bought out which manufactures LED, or light-emitting diode, lighting and a group that markets urinal cakes for waterless urinals.
Kennedy said the Delaware Nation Economic Development Authority is projecting 150 employees at the Anadarko complex within three to five years and another 300-500 in a decade.
The tribe adopted renewable energy as its platform for economic development in 2008, two years after Kerry Holton became its president. Holton's goal was to diversify and get away from being grant- or casino-dependent, Kennedy said. By bringing these new technologies to Anadarko the tribe would also be providing career opportunities for its younger generation.
"There aren't a lot of opportunities here in Oklahoma, so they move off to other states where there's a little more opportunity," he said. "We're wanting to create opportunity here, so they won't move off and so some of these people can come back home and have a job or career they're proud of."
In addition to the GreenTech project, the tribe is also working with the City of Anadarko and several local schools and agencies to develop an energy conservation and recycling program.
Kylah McNabb, renewable energy development specialist with Oklahoma Department of Commerce, said the state has provided funding to develop that project through a Community Energy Strategic Planning grant. It's a program adopted in several other Oklahoma Cities, including Sand Springs and Wilburton, and should eventually help the tribe, city and other organizations qualify for additional green energy grants.
"It's not a great deal of money, but it's a funding stream that enables the Delaware Nation to take an in-depth look at what they would like to do in partnership with the community of Anadarko when it comes to basically holistic energy planning, to figure out what makes sense and what the community would like to see done," McNabb said. "The point is to actually pull all these things together and make it one cohesive strategy for the community as a whole."
These programs are mostly in their infancy, but local leaders have reason to believe they will make a significant economic impact in the near future.
Carla Hall, executive director of the Anadarko Chamber of Commerce, said sometimes all a community needs to do is get the ball rolling, especially when it comes to forging partnerships.
She said she has full faith that both the GreenTech project as well as the tribal-community energy partnership will mean jobs for Anadarko.
"I'm very confident that the Delaware Nation is going to bring the jobs they are working toward and their goals for that facility — and it is going to be an economic boost that is likely to have a domino effect," Hall said.
"I'm already receiving calls from area supply companies, like packaging companies, who are already interested in talking to them about their lighting company. With that will come more housing — which is one of our big drawbacks: lack of housing — and then retail will follow and possibly other manufacturing and that type of industry."
2012年2月22日星期三
Sun Sets on Another Solar Energy Company
Energy Conversion Devices, a player in the solar and alternative energy space, became the latest green energy firm to file for bankruptcy last week.
The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company filed paperwork in Detroit’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Tuesday. In addition, ECD completed a separate bankruptcy filing for its subsidiary United Solar Ovonic (Uni-Solar) brand, which manufactures flexible commercial thin-film laminated photovoltaic energy panels, as part of a broader asset liquidation move.
ECD has around $987 million worth of assets with an outstanding debt of around $250 million. Executives from the company disclosed in a statement that legacy costs coupled with difficulties associated with its capital structuring were the primary factors toward the bankruptcy decision. During the process, United Solar Ovonic will continue with its current operations until a potential buyer emerges.
The increasingly volatile domestic solar panel and alternative energy industry is coping with markedly lower revenues due to overcapacity issues, all despite an increase in factory closures.
Furthermore Germany, which is currently the biggest global market for solar panels, is widely expected to drastically reduce government incentive investments this year for both corporations and consumers. Inevitably, the German decision will have a severely negative impact on domestic solar panel manufacturers, principally because excess panels will likely be sold to a growing Chinese market at a significantly lower cost.
The plight of ECD echoes that of a growing list of alternative energy companies, which have dealt with bankruptcy procedures. Chiefly among them are Evergreen Energy Inc., Beacon Power Corp., Ener1 Inc., Spectrawatt Inc., and most publicly notable Solyndra LLC. Solyndra accepted around $500 million in federal loans and loan guarantees, and became a political lightning rod in the wake of its shutdown due to its involvement with President Obama’s energy policy initiative.
ECD is unlikely to deal with a similarly polarizing political backlash primarily because it has received only around $13 million in federal tax credits.
With its wide exposure to turbulent international markets, relatively slow domestic business and consumer adoption, and a complex assortment of both federal and state grant and credit programs, the U.S. alternative energy market is grappling with an inextricably uncertain future.
Perhaps in another nonelection year, with a more comprehensive bipartisan energy public policy initiative akin to that of Germany, and with improved market conditions, investments in the alternative energy industry could become a more financially viable endeavor.
The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company filed paperwork in Detroit’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Tuesday. In addition, ECD completed a separate bankruptcy filing for its subsidiary United Solar Ovonic (Uni-Solar) brand, which manufactures flexible commercial thin-film laminated photovoltaic energy panels, as part of a broader asset liquidation move.
ECD has around $987 million worth of assets with an outstanding debt of around $250 million. Executives from the company disclosed in a statement that legacy costs coupled with difficulties associated with its capital structuring were the primary factors toward the bankruptcy decision. During the process, United Solar Ovonic will continue with its current operations until a potential buyer emerges.
The increasingly volatile domestic solar panel and alternative energy industry is coping with markedly lower revenues due to overcapacity issues, all despite an increase in factory closures.
Furthermore Germany, which is currently the biggest global market for solar panels, is widely expected to drastically reduce government incentive investments this year for both corporations and consumers. Inevitably, the German decision will have a severely negative impact on domestic solar panel manufacturers, principally because excess panels will likely be sold to a growing Chinese market at a significantly lower cost.
The plight of ECD echoes that of a growing list of alternative energy companies, which have dealt with bankruptcy procedures. Chiefly among them are Evergreen Energy Inc., Beacon Power Corp., Ener1 Inc., Spectrawatt Inc., and most publicly notable Solyndra LLC. Solyndra accepted around $500 million in federal loans and loan guarantees, and became a political lightning rod in the wake of its shutdown due to its involvement with President Obama’s energy policy initiative.
ECD is unlikely to deal with a similarly polarizing political backlash primarily because it has received only around $13 million in federal tax credits.
With its wide exposure to turbulent international markets, relatively slow domestic business and consumer adoption, and a complex assortment of both federal and state grant and credit programs, the U.S. alternative energy market is grappling with an inextricably uncertain future.
Perhaps in another nonelection year, with a more comprehensive bipartisan energy public policy initiative akin to that of Germany, and with improved market conditions, investments in the alternative energy industry could become a more financially viable endeavor.
2012年2月21日星期二
Apple slaps mega-solar panel field on new ENORMO data centre
Apple has dropped a few more details about its huge new data centre in Maiden, North Carolina in an update to its environmental policy published yesterday.
A big feature of the new billion-dollar data centre – needed to keep Siri chatting back, and to let new OS Mountain Lion sync games in real time between iPhones and Macs – is a 100-acre solar panel field, which, along with a biofuel burner, Apple says will provide a "high percentage" of the data centre's energy needs.
But the energy from the solar field and from a bio-gas powered fuel cell could be as little as 9 per cent of the total that the data centre slurps - that is if Greenpeace's estimate of the energy needed is accurate. The whale-huggers predict that the massive data centre will require 100 megawatts to run at full capacity.
More conservative estimates would put the Maiden centre's power draw a little lower. A $210m Facebook data centre in Prineville, Oregon draws a reputed 28 megawatts off the local grid. But though Apple's Maiden data centre is 500,000ft2 and has a $1bn price tag, quadrupling the cost won't necessarily quadruple the power draw.
The Maiden centre is one of the biggest data centres ever built but is more likely to be in the range of existing big data centres than completely in a league of its own: the US government runs several of the world's biggest data centres and these typically draw about 60 megawatts of power. We'd estimate that the power consumption of Maiden will be around the 50 to 60 megawatt mark.
We've obviously asked Apple to tell us how much energy the centre will use in a year, but in the absence of their response, estimates are all we have to go on.
Apple states that the solar panel field will produce 42 million kWh of energy annually and that the biogas fuel cell plant will produce 40 million kWh annually. Together they will produce 82 million kWh a year or simply 9,360 kWh on average an hour - a rate of 9,360 kilowatts or 9.36 megawatts between the two of them, averaged out over the year.
If the whale-huggers are right and the data centre will draw up power at a rate of 100 megawatts, that means that renewables will provide only 9.36 per cent of the power needed and that over 90 per cent of the centre's power needs will have to be drawn from North Carolina's power grid.
If our more conservative guess is right and the centre is sucking up energy at a rate of 60 megawatts, that would mean that Apple's renewables installations would supply 15 per cent of the centre's power, with the rest coming from the grid. North Carolina is a popular location for data centres because grid electricity there is cheap: both Google and Facebook have sited big centres there.
Whether 9-15 per cent qualifies as a "high percentage" of renewable power is a matter of perspective.
The update of Apple's environmental policy also includes some other tidbits about Apple's right-on energy policy: for example applying reflective paint to the roofs and windows of their buildings, making disposable tableware in the cafeteria compostable and a shared bike programme for Cupertino employees. Oh yes, and they say their employees save energy - and presumably money - by using Apple computers.
Apple also says that its facilities - its offices, retail stores and data centres - only account for 2 per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions; the bulk - 60 per cent - comes from manufacturing its devices.
A big feature of the new billion-dollar data centre – needed to keep Siri chatting back, and to let new OS Mountain Lion sync games in real time between iPhones and Macs – is a 100-acre solar panel field, which, along with a biofuel burner, Apple says will provide a "high percentage" of the data centre's energy needs.
But the energy from the solar field and from a bio-gas powered fuel cell could be as little as 9 per cent of the total that the data centre slurps - that is if Greenpeace's estimate of the energy needed is accurate. The whale-huggers predict that the massive data centre will require 100 megawatts to run at full capacity.
More conservative estimates would put the Maiden centre's power draw a little lower. A $210m Facebook data centre in Prineville, Oregon draws a reputed 28 megawatts off the local grid. But though Apple's Maiden data centre is 500,000ft2 and has a $1bn price tag, quadrupling the cost won't necessarily quadruple the power draw.
The Maiden centre is one of the biggest data centres ever built but is more likely to be in the range of existing big data centres than completely in a league of its own: the US government runs several of the world's biggest data centres and these typically draw about 60 megawatts of power. We'd estimate that the power consumption of Maiden will be around the 50 to 60 megawatt mark.
We've obviously asked Apple to tell us how much energy the centre will use in a year, but in the absence of their response, estimates are all we have to go on.
Apple states that the solar panel field will produce 42 million kWh of energy annually and that the biogas fuel cell plant will produce 40 million kWh annually. Together they will produce 82 million kWh a year or simply 9,360 kWh on average an hour - a rate of 9,360 kilowatts or 9.36 megawatts between the two of them, averaged out over the year.
If the whale-huggers are right and the data centre will draw up power at a rate of 100 megawatts, that means that renewables will provide only 9.36 per cent of the power needed and that over 90 per cent of the centre's power needs will have to be drawn from North Carolina's power grid.
If our more conservative guess is right and the centre is sucking up energy at a rate of 60 megawatts, that would mean that Apple's renewables installations would supply 15 per cent of the centre's power, with the rest coming from the grid. North Carolina is a popular location for data centres because grid electricity there is cheap: both Google and Facebook have sited big centres there.
Whether 9-15 per cent qualifies as a "high percentage" of renewable power is a matter of perspective.
The update of Apple's environmental policy also includes some other tidbits about Apple's right-on energy policy: for example applying reflective paint to the roofs and windows of their buildings, making disposable tableware in the cafeteria compostable and a shared bike programme for Cupertino employees. Oh yes, and they say their employees save energy - and presumably money - by using Apple computers.
Apple also says that its facilities - its offices, retail stores and data centres - only account for 2 per cent of its greenhouse gas emissions; the bulk - 60 per cent - comes from manufacturing its devices.
2012年2月20日星期一
Homeowners harnesspower of solar panels
The last 12 months have seen a massive increase in the number of North East homes being fitted with solar panels. But as Government subsidies are slashed by more than half, Equinox Energy’s PAUL MILLS says it’s more important than ever to make sure you pick the right people to add green energy to your home
THE last 12 months have been an exciting time for Equinox Energy. Over the next year the company’s customers will make more than 54 megawatt hours of clean, renewable electricity.
“That’s enough for almost 40,000 loads of washing and will generate almost 25,000 in income for those households,” said Paul Mills.
“But my major concern remains for people who may not be getting a good service from their installers.
“I recently witnessed a team carrying out a large installation on a house in a single day.
“The team drilled straight through the roof slates to erect the photovoltaic (PV) mounting structure and then sealed the holes with silicone.
“The advantage for the installer is that this takes a shorter amount of time. But this is not allowed under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) guidelines because over time the silicone will degrade and water may well enter the roof, directly into the timbers.
“My worry is that the householder could face unexpected large bills in the future if they have to repair or replace the roof structure.”
The Microgeneration Certification Scheme sets a range of minimum standards accredited installers must follow, with work inspected annually.
The MCS’s main guide to PV installation states “in all circumstances the building’s weather tightness must be maintained”.
Holes drilled through roofing felt or roof tiles and slates, sealed with mastic or silicone sealant, are not considered durable.
Mr Mills said to reassure customers that Equinox does not breach the rules, he sits down with each one to fully explain the work.
“Customers cannot be expected to have detailed knowledge of PV installation techniques,” he said.
“I take the time to explain to all our customers how the system will be installed and how I will ensure that their roof is at least as watertight as before I start the installation.
“I also explain how Equinox Energy only uses the highest quality components to ensure that our installations are constructed from the best materials available.
“None of the work of Equinox Energy is sub-contracted apart from erection of scaffolding. That way we have complete control of the quality of the installation from the selection of components and electrical and roofing work, to the production of the warranty pack.”
The REC panels used by Equinox Energy have just come top in the Photon 2012 test, an independent survey of electricity production by 45 different types of PV panels.
On average REC modules produced 6% more power than its nearest rival – which over the lifespan of the panels would make a significant difference to the return on the investment.
When it comes to PV installations – as in most things – Mr Mills said you really do get what you pay for.
THE last 12 months have been an exciting time for Equinox Energy. Over the next year the company’s customers will make more than 54 megawatt hours of clean, renewable electricity.
“That’s enough for almost 40,000 loads of washing and will generate almost 25,000 in income for those households,” said Paul Mills.
“But my major concern remains for people who may not be getting a good service from their installers.
“I recently witnessed a team carrying out a large installation on a house in a single day.
“The team drilled straight through the roof slates to erect the photovoltaic (PV) mounting structure and then sealed the holes with silicone.
“The advantage for the installer is that this takes a shorter amount of time. But this is not allowed under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) guidelines because over time the silicone will degrade and water may well enter the roof, directly into the timbers.
“My worry is that the householder could face unexpected large bills in the future if they have to repair or replace the roof structure.”
The Microgeneration Certification Scheme sets a range of minimum standards accredited installers must follow, with work inspected annually.
The MCS’s main guide to PV installation states “in all circumstances the building’s weather tightness must be maintained”.
Holes drilled through roofing felt or roof tiles and slates, sealed with mastic or silicone sealant, are not considered durable.
Mr Mills said to reassure customers that Equinox does not breach the rules, he sits down with each one to fully explain the work.
“Customers cannot be expected to have detailed knowledge of PV installation techniques,” he said.
“I take the time to explain to all our customers how the system will be installed and how I will ensure that their roof is at least as watertight as before I start the installation.
“I also explain how Equinox Energy only uses the highest quality components to ensure that our installations are constructed from the best materials available.
“None of the work of Equinox Energy is sub-contracted apart from erection of scaffolding. That way we have complete control of the quality of the installation from the selection of components and electrical and roofing work, to the production of the warranty pack.”
The REC panels used by Equinox Energy have just come top in the Photon 2012 test, an independent survey of electricity production by 45 different types of PV panels.
On average REC modules produced 6% more power than its nearest rival – which over the lifespan of the panels would make a significant difference to the return on the investment.
When it comes to PV installations – as in most things – Mr Mills said you really do get what you pay for.
2012年2月19日星期日
Solar enthusiasm exceeds practicality
Germany once prided itself on being the "photovoltaic world champion", doling out generous subsidies totalling more than $US130 billion to citizens to invest in solar energy, according to Germany's Ruhr University.
But now the German government is vowing to cut the subsidies sooner than planned and to phase out support over the next five years. What went wrong?
There is a fundamental problem with subsidising inefficient green technology: it is affordable only if it is done in tiny, tokenistic amounts. Using their government's generous subsidies, Germans installed 7.5 gigawatts of photovoltaic capacity last year, more than double what the government deemed "acceptable". It is estimated this will lead to a $US260 ($243) hike in the average consumer's annual power bill.
According to Der Spiegel, even members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's staff are now describing the policy as a massive money pit. Philipp Rosler, Germany's Minister of Economics and Technology, has called the spiralling solar subsidies a "threat to the economy".
Germany's enthusiasm for solar power is understandable. We could satisfy all of the world's energy needs for an entire year if we could capture just one hour of the sun's energy. Even with the inefficiency of current PV technology, we could meet the entire globe's energy demand with solar panels by covering 250,000sq km, about 2.6 per cent of the Sahara Desert.
Unfortunately, Germany, like most of the world, is not as sunny as the Sahara. And while sunlight is free, panels and installation are not. Solar power is at least four times more costly than energy produced by fossil fuels. It also has the distinct disadvantage of not working at night, when much electricity is consumed.
In the words of the German Association of Physicists, "solar energy cannot replace any additional power plants". On short, overcast winter days, Germany's 1.1 million solar-power systems generate no electricity. The country is then forced to import considerable amounts of electricity from nuclear power plants in France and the Czech Republic. When the sun failed to shine last winter, one emergency back-up plan powered up an Austrian oil-fired plant to fill the supply gap.
Indeed, despite the massive investment, solar power accounts for only about 0.3 per cent of Germany's total energy. This is one of the key reasons why Germans now pay the second-highest price for electricity in the developed world . Germans pay three times more than their American counterparts.
Moreover, this sizeable investment does remarkably little to counter global warming. Even with unrealistically generous assumptions, the unimpressive net effect is that solar power reduces Germany's CO2 emissions by roughly eight million tonnes, or about 1 per cent, for the next 20 years.
When the effects are calculated in a standard climate model, the result is a reduction in average temperature of one twenty-thousandth of a degree celsius. By the end of the century, Germany's $US130bn solar panel subsidies will have postponed temperature increases by 23 hours.
Using solar, Germany is paying about $US1000 per tonne of CO2 reduced. The current CO2 price in Europe is $US8. Germany could have cut 131 times as much CO2 for the same price. Instead, the Germans are wasting more than 99c of every euro that they plough into solar panels.
It gets worse: because Germany is part of the EU emissions trading system, the actual effect of extra solar panels in Germany leads to no CO2 reductions, because total emissions are already capped.
Instead, the Germans simply allow other parts of the EU to emit more CO2. Germany's solar panels have only made it cheaper for Portugal or Greece to use coal. Defenders of Germany's solar subsidies also claim that they have helped to create "green jobs" but each job created by green-energy policies costs an average of $US175,000, considerably more than job creation elsewhere in the economy. And many "green jobs" are being exported to China, meaning that Europeans subsidise Chinese jobs, with no CO2 reductions.
Germany's experiment with subsidising inefficient solar technology has failed. What governments should do instead is to focus first on increasing research and development to make green-energy technology cheaper and more competitive. Production should be ramped up later.
But now the German government is vowing to cut the subsidies sooner than planned and to phase out support over the next five years. What went wrong?
There is a fundamental problem with subsidising inefficient green technology: it is affordable only if it is done in tiny, tokenistic amounts. Using their government's generous subsidies, Germans installed 7.5 gigawatts of photovoltaic capacity last year, more than double what the government deemed "acceptable". It is estimated this will lead to a $US260 ($243) hike in the average consumer's annual power bill.
According to Der Spiegel, even members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's staff are now describing the policy as a massive money pit. Philipp Rosler, Germany's Minister of Economics and Technology, has called the spiralling solar subsidies a "threat to the economy".
Germany's enthusiasm for solar power is understandable. We could satisfy all of the world's energy needs for an entire year if we could capture just one hour of the sun's energy. Even with the inefficiency of current PV technology, we could meet the entire globe's energy demand with solar panels by covering 250,000sq km, about 2.6 per cent of the Sahara Desert.
Unfortunately, Germany, like most of the world, is not as sunny as the Sahara. And while sunlight is free, panels and installation are not. Solar power is at least four times more costly than energy produced by fossil fuels. It also has the distinct disadvantage of not working at night, when much electricity is consumed.
In the words of the German Association of Physicists, "solar energy cannot replace any additional power plants". On short, overcast winter days, Germany's 1.1 million solar-power systems generate no electricity. The country is then forced to import considerable amounts of electricity from nuclear power plants in France and the Czech Republic. When the sun failed to shine last winter, one emergency back-up plan powered up an Austrian oil-fired plant to fill the supply gap.
Indeed, despite the massive investment, solar power accounts for only about 0.3 per cent of Germany's total energy. This is one of the key reasons why Germans now pay the second-highest price for electricity in the developed world . Germans pay three times more than their American counterparts.
Moreover, this sizeable investment does remarkably little to counter global warming. Even with unrealistically generous assumptions, the unimpressive net effect is that solar power reduces Germany's CO2 emissions by roughly eight million tonnes, or about 1 per cent, for the next 20 years.
When the effects are calculated in a standard climate model, the result is a reduction in average temperature of one twenty-thousandth of a degree celsius. By the end of the century, Germany's $US130bn solar panel subsidies will have postponed temperature increases by 23 hours.
Using solar, Germany is paying about $US1000 per tonne of CO2 reduced. The current CO2 price in Europe is $US8. Germany could have cut 131 times as much CO2 for the same price. Instead, the Germans are wasting more than 99c of every euro that they plough into solar panels.
It gets worse: because Germany is part of the EU emissions trading system, the actual effect of extra solar panels in Germany leads to no CO2 reductions, because total emissions are already capped.
Instead, the Germans simply allow other parts of the EU to emit more CO2. Germany's solar panels have only made it cheaper for Portugal or Greece to use coal. Defenders of Germany's solar subsidies also claim that they have helped to create "green jobs" but each job created by green-energy policies costs an average of $US175,000, considerably more than job creation elsewhere in the economy. And many "green jobs" are being exported to China, meaning that Europeans subsidise Chinese jobs, with no CO2 reductions.
Germany's experiment with subsidising inefficient solar technology has failed. What governments should do instead is to focus first on increasing research and development to make green-energy technology cheaper and more competitive. Production should be ramped up later.
2012年2月16日星期四
Oregon Transportation Facilities Offset Energy Use with SolarWorld Solar Panels
Planners of Oregon's transportation infrastructure are charting a course to a cleaner energy future by using SolarWorld solar panels to support their multi-modal services.
With unobstructed rights-of-way and heavy energy use, transportation agencies are suitable hosts for photovoltaic (PV) systems and consumers of the renewable electricity they produce. SolarWorld's high-performance solar panels power highway, rail and airport installations in Oregon.
Transportation industry officials in 13 countries and 27 states have requested information on a large solar park built on Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) property at the Baldock Rest Area on Interstate 5 near Wilsonville. The project went online in January 2012 and will be open to the public in the spring with an interpretive display and a sustainable community garden. The 1.75-megawatt (MW) system, known as the Baldock Solar Highway project, is operated by Portland General Electric (PGE). The Baldock installation sits atop 7 acres (~3 hectares) of formerly unused ODOT property and is composed of 6,994 SolarWorld solar panels.
Common in Europe, solar installations in highway rights-of-way were virtually unknown in this country before ODOT and PGE developed a roadside Oregon Solar Highway pilot project to help light the way for drivers at the interchange of Interstates 5 and 205 in Tualatin, north of Baldock, in 2008.
TriMet, Portland's regional public transit agency, will commission a 60-kilowatt (kW) solar installation featuring SolarWorld solar panels at the South Terminus of the MAX green and yellow light-rail lines near Portland State University in late February 2012. The system, installed by REC Solar, is the agency's first large-scale PV installation. In addition to generating more than 64,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of solar energy each year and helping to shield TriMet from rising utility rates, the graceful, curvilinear design of the installation has been hailed as public art by some local transit observers.
Portland International Airport is also home to a solar system featuring 120 SolarWorld solar panels. The 28kW ground-mount system, commissioned in December 2011, helps power a treatment facility for the airport's newly expanded de-icing storm-water collection system. The facility treats runoff containing the de-icing chemicals used on the airfield and aircraft to enhance flight safety when the weather turns cold. A Blue Sky renewable energy grant from Pacific Power helped cover the installation cost.
With unobstructed rights-of-way and heavy energy use, transportation agencies are suitable hosts for photovoltaic (PV) systems and consumers of the renewable electricity they produce. SolarWorld's high-performance solar panels power highway, rail and airport installations in Oregon.
Transportation industry officials in 13 countries and 27 states have requested information on a large solar park built on Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) property at the Baldock Rest Area on Interstate 5 near Wilsonville. The project went online in January 2012 and will be open to the public in the spring with an interpretive display and a sustainable community garden. The 1.75-megawatt (MW) system, known as the Baldock Solar Highway project, is operated by Portland General Electric (PGE). The Baldock installation sits atop 7 acres (~3 hectares) of formerly unused ODOT property and is composed of 6,994 SolarWorld solar panels.
Common in Europe, solar installations in highway rights-of-way were virtually unknown in this country before ODOT and PGE developed a roadside Oregon Solar Highway pilot project to help light the way for drivers at the interchange of Interstates 5 and 205 in Tualatin, north of Baldock, in 2008.
TriMet, Portland's regional public transit agency, will commission a 60-kilowatt (kW) solar installation featuring SolarWorld solar panels at the South Terminus of the MAX green and yellow light-rail lines near Portland State University in late February 2012. The system, installed by REC Solar, is the agency's first large-scale PV installation. In addition to generating more than 64,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of solar energy each year and helping to shield TriMet from rising utility rates, the graceful, curvilinear design of the installation has been hailed as public art by some local transit observers.
Portland International Airport is also home to a solar system featuring 120 SolarWorld solar panels. The 28kW ground-mount system, commissioned in December 2011, helps power a treatment facility for the airport's newly expanded de-icing storm-water collection system. The facility treats runoff containing the de-icing chemicals used on the airfield and aircraft to enhance flight safety when the weather turns cold. A Blue Sky renewable energy grant from Pacific Power helped cover the installation cost.
2012年2月15日星期三
Chinese solar panels exemplify trade problems
The recent visit by China's Vice President Xi Jinping highlighted the many inequities in international trade resulting from cheap manufacturing there. CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker reports that to get an idea of what American companies are up against, take a look at the solar panel industry. The Chinese are gaining market share there by leaps and bounds.
Business is heating up for Randy Bishop, owner of Verengo Solar Plus, one of the top residential solar panel installers in California.
"We have added 400 jobs. We expect to add 400 this year as well. These are great jobs that are going to stay here in the U.S.," Bishop said.
Fueling the growth are inexpensive solar panels from China, significantly cheaper than ones made in the United States.
"For a house, it would be probably be on the order of $3-to-5 thousand more expensive to go with U.S. panels. Customers more than nine times out of 10 vote with their wallet" and buy the Chinese panels, Bishop said.
While installers might welcome the Chinese imports, American panel makers claim the Chinese are unfairly dumping panels on the U.S., killing good U.S. manufacturing jobs.
Last year the biggest U.S. panel maker closed a plant near L.A.; 100 jobs were lost. A dozen American manufacturers have gone bankrupt, closed down or downsized.
"Just a few years ago, Chinese products were less than 10 percent of the U.S. market. Today they average about half of the U.S. market," said Tim Brightbill, an attorney representing seven American manufacturers.
Brightbill's clients are suing to have the U.S. Commerce Department to slap import taxes on Chinese panels. They say the Chinese solar industry is propped up by huge government subsidies -- a violation of international trade rules.
"The Department of Commerce estimates that China grants more than $30 billion in subsidies to its industries and all U.S. subsidies amount to $1 billion," Brightbill said.
John Baumstark, president of Suniva, says a trade war with China helps nobody. The Georgia panel maker is expanding his plant. He says he has faith in American ingenuity.
"Cost is an important component, but it's not everything. Suniva has managed to grow by continuing to innovate each and every year," Baumstark said.
"We would significantly slow our growth if solar panel costs got more expensive," Randy Bishop the solar panel installer said.
Bishop agrees a trade war could be a disaster, just as record numbers of Americans are turning to the sun for energy. A Commerce Department decision to levy new taxes on Chinese panels is expected this summer.
Business is heating up for Randy Bishop, owner of Verengo Solar Plus, one of the top residential solar panel installers in California.
"We have added 400 jobs. We expect to add 400 this year as well. These are great jobs that are going to stay here in the U.S.," Bishop said.
Fueling the growth are inexpensive solar panels from China, significantly cheaper than ones made in the United States.
"For a house, it would be probably be on the order of $3-to-5 thousand more expensive to go with U.S. panels. Customers more than nine times out of 10 vote with their wallet" and buy the Chinese panels, Bishop said.
While installers might welcome the Chinese imports, American panel makers claim the Chinese are unfairly dumping panels on the U.S., killing good U.S. manufacturing jobs.
Last year the biggest U.S. panel maker closed a plant near L.A.; 100 jobs were lost. A dozen American manufacturers have gone bankrupt, closed down or downsized.
"Just a few years ago, Chinese products were less than 10 percent of the U.S. market. Today they average about half of the U.S. market," said Tim Brightbill, an attorney representing seven American manufacturers.
Brightbill's clients are suing to have the U.S. Commerce Department to slap import taxes on Chinese panels. They say the Chinese solar industry is propped up by huge government subsidies -- a violation of international trade rules.
"The Department of Commerce estimates that China grants more than $30 billion in subsidies to its industries and all U.S. subsidies amount to $1 billion," Brightbill said.
John Baumstark, president of Suniva, says a trade war with China helps nobody. The Georgia panel maker is expanding his plant. He says he has faith in American ingenuity.
"Cost is an important component, but it's not everything. Suniva has managed to grow by continuing to innovate each and every year," Baumstark said.
"We would significantly slow our growth if solar panel costs got more expensive," Randy Bishop the solar panel installer said.
Bishop agrees a trade war could be a disaster, just as record numbers of Americans are turning to the sun for energy. A Commerce Department decision to levy new taxes on Chinese panels is expected this summer.
2012年2月14日星期二
Village in race to install solar panels
A VILLAGE hall is hoping to beat a Government deadline regarding the installation of solar panels on its roof.
Sadberge Village Hall Association Committee plans to put up 15 solar panels by March 3, when the Government's so-called "feed-in tariff" - or the rate offered for energy per kilowatt - is cut.
At present, it offers 43.3p per kilowatt an hour for anyone producing their own energy. After March 3, that will be cut to 21p.
AlastairMackenzie, amember of Sadberge Climate Change Group, which has push-ed for the panels, said: "If we get the 43.3p tariff, it will take seven to eight years to work back the 9,000 cost of the panels. However, it would take twice asmuch time if the tariffis 21p."
The 9,000 will be taken from the village hall contingency fund.
Mr Mackenzie believes the panels were a good investment for the village.He said: "The village hall is a really important part of our community, especially for the elderly.
By installing the panels, it will lower the heating bill and relieve the financial pressures."
Joan Vickers, chairwoman of SVHAC, said: "Our utility bills are on the rise all the time. This will mean money coming into the village hall for the next 25 years."
Planning permission has been sought from the borough council. If granted, the panels will be installed by Barrier Energy, a company based in Shildon.
SVHAC has also applied for funding from the Banks Community Fund and has a provisional agreement with them for 5,000 to replace the old windows in the cafe section of the hall with double-glazed ones.
The fund was set up by Banks Renewables, which is building six wind turbines on Moorhouse Farm at Barmpton, near Darlington.
The two initiatives, as well as a previous project which installed solar panels on houses in the village, is part of Sadberge Climate Working Group's renewable energy project.
It was formed in 2008 to meet with the parish plan objective to make the village more environmentally responsible.
Sadberge Village Hall Association Committee plans to put up 15 solar panels by March 3, when the Government's so-called "feed-in tariff" - or the rate offered for energy per kilowatt - is cut.
At present, it offers 43.3p per kilowatt an hour for anyone producing their own energy. After March 3, that will be cut to 21p.
AlastairMackenzie, amember of Sadberge Climate Change Group, which has push-ed for the panels, said: "If we get the 43.3p tariff, it will take seven to eight years to work back the 9,000 cost of the panels. However, it would take twice asmuch time if the tariffis 21p."
The 9,000 will be taken from the village hall contingency fund.
Mr Mackenzie believes the panels were a good investment for the village.He said: "The village hall is a really important part of our community, especially for the elderly.
By installing the panels, it will lower the heating bill and relieve the financial pressures."
Joan Vickers, chairwoman of SVHAC, said: "Our utility bills are on the rise all the time. This will mean money coming into the village hall for the next 25 years."
Planning permission has been sought from the borough council. If granted, the panels will be installed by Barrier Energy, a company based in Shildon.
SVHAC has also applied for funding from the Banks Community Fund and has a provisional agreement with them for 5,000 to replace the old windows in the cafe section of the hall with double-glazed ones.
The fund was set up by Banks Renewables, which is building six wind turbines on Moorhouse Farm at Barmpton, near Darlington.
The two initiatives, as well as a previous project which installed solar panels on houses in the village, is part of Sadberge Climate Working Group's renewable energy project.
It was formed in 2008 to meet with the parish plan objective to make the village more environmentally responsible.
2012年2月13日星期一
Solar panels could double as a roof
Researchers in Australia are developing a solar roof system that uses wasted energy to warm air and water.
What distinguishes the project from other systems, the researchers say, is that the solar cells are integrated into the structural makeup of a building. So instead of being attached to a roof, the system actually becomes the roof, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The system evolved from a "low carbon living" project to investigate future energy efficiency initiatives while evaluating the effectiveness of current methods of generating solar power, said the researchers from the University of New South Wales.
"Australia has this perception that we are blessed with limitless energy but by the time we have filtered it through the system and into buildings in the form of electricity, there is enormous waste. So we are gathering the data to make informed decisions about that,'' associate professor Alistair Sproul told the Herald.
If solar panels are extra-durable, the researchers say, they can serve as roofing material.
While solar cells on top of panels typically generate a significant amount of waste heat as a by-product, the researchers devised a way to harness it instead with an insulated space behind the panel, heating the air to 25 degrees Celsius.
''We want to take the building performance to the next level,'' said research leader Professor Deo Prasad.
'In the past we have had separate experts working on solar panels, on energy efficiency, water efficiency but what we are looking at now is total integration from the start.''
The researchers are investigating the possibility of manufacturing the system in Australia and said a number of firms are monitoring their research with that in mind.
''A lot of lower-tech forms of photovoltaics seem to be finding their way into countries where there are cheaper labor costs, so we want to concentrate on developing these high-tech, high-end forms,'' Prasad said.
Australia relies on coal to generate 80 percent of its electricity.
Last year, roof-mounted solar panels in Australia for the first time competed favorably against peak-priced electricity from coal-fired power stations, Asian Scientist magazine reports. Solar photovoltaic panels cost around $1.07, compared to $3.75 per watt a few years ago.
Separately, the future of southwest Queensland's proposed Solar Dawn $1.2 billion solar thermal plant appeared uncertain after it failed to meet a Dec. 15 deadline to compete financing but last week the government granted a six-month extension to its contract.
What distinguishes the project from other systems, the researchers say, is that the solar cells are integrated into the structural makeup of a building. So instead of being attached to a roof, the system actually becomes the roof, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The system evolved from a "low carbon living" project to investigate future energy efficiency initiatives while evaluating the effectiveness of current methods of generating solar power, said the researchers from the University of New South Wales.
"Australia has this perception that we are blessed with limitless energy but by the time we have filtered it through the system and into buildings in the form of electricity, there is enormous waste. So we are gathering the data to make informed decisions about that,'' associate professor Alistair Sproul told the Herald.
If solar panels are extra-durable, the researchers say, they can serve as roofing material.
While solar cells on top of panels typically generate a significant amount of waste heat as a by-product, the researchers devised a way to harness it instead with an insulated space behind the panel, heating the air to 25 degrees Celsius.
''We want to take the building performance to the next level,'' said research leader Professor Deo Prasad.
'In the past we have had separate experts working on solar panels, on energy efficiency, water efficiency but what we are looking at now is total integration from the start.''
The researchers are investigating the possibility of manufacturing the system in Australia and said a number of firms are monitoring their research with that in mind.
''A lot of lower-tech forms of photovoltaics seem to be finding their way into countries where there are cheaper labor costs, so we want to concentrate on developing these high-tech, high-end forms,'' Prasad said.
Australia relies on coal to generate 80 percent of its electricity.
Last year, roof-mounted solar panels in Australia for the first time competed favorably against peak-priced electricity from coal-fired power stations, Asian Scientist magazine reports. Solar photovoltaic panels cost around $1.07, compared to $3.75 per watt a few years ago.
Separately, the future of southwest Queensland's proposed Solar Dawn $1.2 billion solar thermal plant appeared uncertain after it failed to meet a Dec. 15 deadline to compete financing but last week the government granted a six-month extension to its contract.
2012年2月12日星期日
'Solar future looks really bright'
The costs and benefits of solar panels was one of the many topics explored during this year's 4th annual "Energy and You - Individual Choices ... Global Impact" workshop seminar at Wilson College.
As a renewable energy consultant with Mountain View Solar and Wind - and someone with a background in real estate - Michelle Liefke spoke about the real estate value of solar panels.
In her work, Liefke said she comes across four different types of buyers when it comes to solar panels - investors, libertarians, environmentalists and jet setters - each with different goals and purposes for their choice to go solar.
"It's appealing to use in many different ways," she said. "Understanding who you are will help you understand the next person who might be purchasing your home." Nancy Lindenmeyer, Fayetteville, agreed, stating she and her husband were a mix of the first three in their decision to install solar panels on their home.
They wanted to reduce their electric bill as well as be energy efficient and independent, Lindenmeyer said.
"We just liked that," she said. "We wanted to do out part."
There are many values of solar panels and the energy they produce which include reducing or eliminating your electric bill, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, providing a highly durable form of energy production and being a product with one of the best return on investment, Liefke said.
"The solar future looks really bright for our area," she said.
At Mountain View, in 2009 a five kilowatt system cost $42,000 but its net cost after state and federal incentives was $18,200, Liefke said. Today that same system costs $26,000 with a net cost of $18,200.
In addition, an April 2011 study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that homes in California that had a six kilowatt solar system saw a $33,000 increase in the value of the home, she said.
From 2009 to 2010, solar integration has doubled and it has increased eight times since 2006, Liefke said.
In 2010, Pennsylvania was ranked sixth in terms of grid-connected capacity installed, which Liefke attributes to a healthy Sunshine grant act, since Pennsylvania wasn't even on the list a few years ago.
Although many of the top ranking states, such as California, New Mexico and Nevada, are ones that are extremely hot, Liefke advised that heat has nothing to do with solar production. It's the amount of energy absorbed from the sun at any given time that does.
Judy Bricker, Waynesboro, compared this to the fact that you can still get sunburned in the winter even though it's not hot out because the sun is still producing energy.
Bricker said she and her family took a lot of things into consideration - such as when they would realize their investment, what if they moved shortly after installing, the aesthetics of solar panels - before deciding to install them on their home.
"They're not tacky," she said. "They're showing people that I do care."
As a renewable energy consultant with Mountain View Solar and Wind - and someone with a background in real estate - Michelle Liefke spoke about the real estate value of solar panels.
In her work, Liefke said she comes across four different types of buyers when it comes to solar panels - investors, libertarians, environmentalists and jet setters - each with different goals and purposes for their choice to go solar.
"It's appealing to use in many different ways," she said. "Understanding who you are will help you understand the next person who might be purchasing your home." Nancy Lindenmeyer, Fayetteville, agreed, stating she and her husband were a mix of the first three in their decision to install solar panels on their home.
They wanted to reduce their electric bill as well as be energy efficient and independent, Lindenmeyer said.
"We just liked that," she said. "We wanted to do out part."
There are many values of solar panels and the energy they produce which include reducing or eliminating your electric bill, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, providing a highly durable form of energy production and being a product with one of the best return on investment, Liefke said.
"The solar future looks really bright for our area," she said.
At Mountain View, in 2009 a five kilowatt system cost $42,000 but its net cost after state and federal incentives was $18,200, Liefke said. Today that same system costs $26,000 with a net cost of $18,200.
In addition, an April 2011 study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that homes in California that had a six kilowatt solar system saw a $33,000 increase in the value of the home, she said.
From 2009 to 2010, solar integration has doubled and it has increased eight times since 2006, Liefke said.
In 2010, Pennsylvania was ranked sixth in terms of grid-connected capacity installed, which Liefke attributes to a healthy Sunshine grant act, since Pennsylvania wasn't even on the list a few years ago.
Although many of the top ranking states, such as California, New Mexico and Nevada, are ones that are extremely hot, Liefke advised that heat has nothing to do with solar production. It's the amount of energy absorbed from the sun at any given time that does.
Judy Bricker, Waynesboro, compared this to the fact that you can still get sunburned in the winter even though it's not hot out because the sun is still producing energy.
Bricker said she and her family took a lot of things into consideration - such as when they would realize their investment, what if they moved shortly after installing, the aesthetics of solar panels - before deciding to install them on their home.
"They're not tacky," she said. "They're showing people that I do care."
2012年2月9日星期四
Will the sun save the polar bears?
Up to now the plan to fight climate change has involved a series of grimly difficult and ruinously expensive lifestyle choices and technological innovations. Vast arrays of windfarms carpeting every hill and cliff in Christendom and beyond. Unlikely Star Trek breakthroughs in nuclear fusion, tidal power, carbon capture and arrays of mirrors in space. Hydrogen fuel cells, eye-watering green taxes and the abandonment of long-haul flying and the worldwide adoption of hair shirts. What these strategies all have in common is that they are unpopular, they are expensive and they will not work.
But could a quiet, almost unnoticed technological revolution be about to tame climate change without anyone noticing it?
A fascinating report in New Scientist this week points to the price crash in electricity-generating solar panels. At the moment photovoltaic panels are frightfully dear and they do not really make much economic sense outside the tropics and subtropics. But that is changing.
Because of the economies of scale being driven by increasing demand, zero-carbon solar panel electricity in India is now cheaper than electricity from diesel generators. This is a huge deal. India has the world’s second-largest population and perhaps the world’s greatest potential for increased carbon emissions as it becomes wealthier. It now costs 8.8 rupees for one kilowatt-hour of solar electricity compared to 17 rupees for diesel – and this is without a subsidy or green tax in sight.
It is not that solar panels have got that much better, but they HAVE got a lot cheaper, costing (worldwide) about a quarter what they did in 2008. According to Jenny Chase, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, solar power is now cheaper than diesel 'anywhere as sunny as Spain'.
By 2015 solar electricity will be as cheap as grid electricity in half of the countries in the world. This is extraordinarily good news, a win-win on all counts. Solar energy is most effective in warm sunny places – exactly the places which are experiencing the highest population and economic growth. And as these places turn to the Sun more and more the panels they buy will continue to get cheaper and cheaper.
It may, astoundingly, be the case that Solar, a fairly mature and unglamorous technology, will come out of the left field and save us just when the doom-mongers say all is lost. Of course we still have the problem of transport emissions, and emissions in high-latitude nations where solar is not viable, but this little noticed economic revolution in a still pretty-obscure technology has the potential to take the sting, at least, out of the worst environmental crisis of the modern era.
But could a quiet, almost unnoticed technological revolution be about to tame climate change without anyone noticing it?
A fascinating report in New Scientist this week points to the price crash in electricity-generating solar panels. At the moment photovoltaic panels are frightfully dear and they do not really make much economic sense outside the tropics and subtropics. But that is changing.
Because of the economies of scale being driven by increasing demand, zero-carbon solar panel electricity in India is now cheaper than electricity from diesel generators. This is a huge deal. India has the world’s second-largest population and perhaps the world’s greatest potential for increased carbon emissions as it becomes wealthier. It now costs 8.8 rupees for one kilowatt-hour of solar electricity compared to 17 rupees for diesel – and this is without a subsidy or green tax in sight.
It is not that solar panels have got that much better, but they HAVE got a lot cheaper, costing (worldwide) about a quarter what they did in 2008. According to Jenny Chase, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, solar power is now cheaper than diesel 'anywhere as sunny as Spain'.
By 2015 solar electricity will be as cheap as grid electricity in half of the countries in the world. This is extraordinarily good news, a win-win on all counts. Solar energy is most effective in warm sunny places – exactly the places which are experiencing the highest population and economic growth. And as these places turn to the Sun more and more the panels they buy will continue to get cheaper and cheaper.
It may, astoundingly, be the case that Solar, a fairly mature and unglamorous technology, will come out of the left field and save us just when the doom-mongers say all is lost. Of course we still have the problem of transport emissions, and emissions in high-latitude nations where solar is not viable, but this little noticed economic revolution in a still pretty-obscure technology has the potential to take the sting, at least, out of the worst environmental crisis of the modern era.
2012年2月8日星期三
Ministers defend rapid cut to solar power subsidy
Ministers have argued that they had to act quickly to slash subsidies to small-scale solar power because the cost of panels has dropped by nearly half in the past year – much faster than the previous government envisaged when it set up the scheme.
The government received fierce criticism from the solar industry and environmentalists after the cut and the decision was ruled unlawful in the courts. But ministers have argued that overly generous payments to investors who installed solar panels were in danger of draining the scheme of funds.
They are expected to announce on Thursday a change to the way so-called feed-in tariffs are administered and an injection of funding for the scheme.
Energy minister Greg Barker said the figures on the costs of solar, which he said were independently arrived at, showed the government was right to cut feed-in tariffs. "The costs have come down much faster than Ed Miliband thought in 2010, when the payment was fixed. That has led to much greater deployment," he said.
"We had to take quick action. I know that [the changes to feed-in tariffs] have damaged confidence in the industry. But the new figures speak for themselves."
He said the price falls were good news for consumers and the renewables industry: "There is the potential for solar power to become competitive with fossil fuels without subsidy within the lifetime of this parliament. Solar has gone from being one of the most expensive forms of renewable energy to one of the cheapest."
An average domestic solar power installation cost 15,000 in 2010, but now costs about 8,000. This year the cost could fall to 6,000, according to research from the consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff, commissioned by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The report will be placed in the House of Commons library on Wednesday in response to a parliamentary question on the issue.
When the consultation on feed-in tariffs was launched in October, the costs of photovoltaic systems had fallen by about a third since 2009, when the original tariffs were set. The new data confirming sharper falls shows that customers on the original feed-in tariffs could be getting a much higher rate of return than was originally intended – or the solar power companies could be pocketing the difference and making substantial profits.
After the government announced its plans to slash feed-in tariffs last year, judges ruled the measures unlawful when they were challenged in court. On Thursday, Barker is expected to announce how the government will change the feed-in tariffs legally.
Barker is expected to announce that feed-in tariffs will be reformed so that they are gradually ratcheted down as the cost of panels declines, as happens in countries such as Germany. This aims to ensure that the rate of return to people installing the tariffs is kept steady at about 5%, which the government believes will give consumers enough incentive to invest in the panels, and installers enough margin to keep them in business.
But in a nod to the travails of the solar industry, which has suffered months of turmoil, uncertainty and job losses since the cut, the government is expected to announce additional spending on the feed-in tariffs.
Originally, the tariffs were allocated about 860m but this is likely to be increased to about 1bn. The tariffs are paid by additions to energy bills, not from the public purse, but the Treasury has limited the amount that can be spent on them because of fears that bills would rise too fast unless there is a brake.
The extra cash is coming from money that was underspent on larger-scale renewables, such as wind farms.
Solar panels have dropped dramatically in price in part because of massive investment in China, which has built hundreds of solar panel factories, mostly geared at the export market. The price falls have created their own problems, as manufacturers in the developed world have struggled to keep pace and some have gone bust or seen their profits wiped out.
The government received fierce criticism from the solar industry and environmentalists after the cut and the decision was ruled unlawful in the courts. But ministers have argued that overly generous payments to investors who installed solar panels were in danger of draining the scheme of funds.
They are expected to announce on Thursday a change to the way so-called feed-in tariffs are administered and an injection of funding for the scheme.
Energy minister Greg Barker said the figures on the costs of solar, which he said were independently arrived at, showed the government was right to cut feed-in tariffs. "The costs have come down much faster than Ed Miliband thought in 2010, when the payment was fixed. That has led to much greater deployment," he said.
"We had to take quick action. I know that [the changes to feed-in tariffs] have damaged confidence in the industry. But the new figures speak for themselves."
He said the price falls were good news for consumers and the renewables industry: "There is the potential for solar power to become competitive with fossil fuels without subsidy within the lifetime of this parliament. Solar has gone from being one of the most expensive forms of renewable energy to one of the cheapest."
An average domestic solar power installation cost 15,000 in 2010, but now costs about 8,000. This year the cost could fall to 6,000, according to research from the consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff, commissioned by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. The report will be placed in the House of Commons library on Wednesday in response to a parliamentary question on the issue.
When the consultation on feed-in tariffs was launched in October, the costs of photovoltaic systems had fallen by about a third since 2009, when the original tariffs were set. The new data confirming sharper falls shows that customers on the original feed-in tariffs could be getting a much higher rate of return than was originally intended – or the solar power companies could be pocketing the difference and making substantial profits.
After the government announced its plans to slash feed-in tariffs last year, judges ruled the measures unlawful when they were challenged in court. On Thursday, Barker is expected to announce how the government will change the feed-in tariffs legally.
Barker is expected to announce that feed-in tariffs will be reformed so that they are gradually ratcheted down as the cost of panels declines, as happens in countries such as Germany. This aims to ensure that the rate of return to people installing the tariffs is kept steady at about 5%, which the government believes will give consumers enough incentive to invest in the panels, and installers enough margin to keep them in business.
But in a nod to the travails of the solar industry, which has suffered months of turmoil, uncertainty and job losses since the cut, the government is expected to announce additional spending on the feed-in tariffs.
Originally, the tariffs were allocated about 860m but this is likely to be increased to about 1bn. The tariffs are paid by additions to energy bills, not from the public purse, but the Treasury has limited the amount that can be spent on them because of fears that bills would rise too fast unless there is a brake.
The extra cash is coming from money that was underspent on larger-scale renewables, such as wind farms.
Solar panels have dropped dramatically in price in part because of massive investment in China, which has built hundreds of solar panel factories, mostly geared at the export market. The price falls have created their own problems, as manufacturers in the developed world have struggled to keep pace and some have gone bust or seen their profits wiped out.
2012年2月7日星期二
Highest Solar Panel Efficiency Achieved
The highest efficiency for a solar panel has been achieved by Alta Devices, the California-based solar company proudly announced on Monday.
The efficiency rating of 23.5 percent, meaning that the panels are able to convert 23.5 percent of energy captured from the sun into electrical output, was verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
“This is the highest solar panel efficiency yet achieved and demonstrates Alta’s progress toward its objective of developing solar photovoltaic (PV) solutions that are competitive, without subsidies, with fossil fuels,” the company wrote in a press release.
Toward that end, Alta Device’s highest-efficiency panel was created based on an innovative, even counter-intuitive idea about how to maximize energy conversion: The panels themselves emit fluorescent light, as TPM reported in November 2011, when the research was in its earlier stages.
The idea makes sense when one considers that conventional polysilicon solar panels and cells lose energy as heat, reducing their efficiency. But when Alta’s panels lose any energy, it’s in the form of external fluorescence, which is less detrimental to the conversion process.
Back in November 2011, Alta’s panels had managed to hit an astounding 28.4-percent efficiency, approaching the maximum 33.5 percent Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit, though that was just for an individual solar cell. The full panel itself contains several cells, decreasing its efficiency slightly.
The panels themselves are made of gallium arsenide (GaAs), a byproduct of aluminum smelting combined with arsenic, a combination that is ideal for solar cell production due to the fact that it can withstand high temperatures and yet be cut extremely flexible and extremely thin, one micron thick in the case of Alta’s panels. That’s about 1/40th the thickness of a human hair, according to the company, allowing it to be used for a variety of applications, where conventional polysilicon panels can’t go.
Alta Devices itself is the result of solar technology research breakthroughs achieved at the University of California Berkeley. The company was founded in 2007 and has received venture capital funding. It plans to produce its panels for commercial use later this year.
The efficiency rating of 23.5 percent, meaning that the panels are able to convert 23.5 percent of energy captured from the sun into electrical output, was verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
“This is the highest solar panel efficiency yet achieved and demonstrates Alta’s progress toward its objective of developing solar photovoltaic (PV) solutions that are competitive, without subsidies, with fossil fuels,” the company wrote in a press release.
Toward that end, Alta Device’s highest-efficiency panel was created based on an innovative, even counter-intuitive idea about how to maximize energy conversion: The panels themselves emit fluorescent light, as TPM reported in November 2011, when the research was in its earlier stages.
The idea makes sense when one considers that conventional polysilicon solar panels and cells lose energy as heat, reducing their efficiency. But when Alta’s panels lose any energy, it’s in the form of external fluorescence, which is less detrimental to the conversion process.
Back in November 2011, Alta’s panels had managed to hit an astounding 28.4-percent efficiency, approaching the maximum 33.5 percent Shockley-Queisser efficiency limit, though that was just for an individual solar cell. The full panel itself contains several cells, decreasing its efficiency slightly.
The panels themselves are made of gallium arsenide (GaAs), a byproduct of aluminum smelting combined with arsenic, a combination that is ideal for solar cell production due to the fact that it can withstand high temperatures and yet be cut extremely flexible and extremely thin, one micron thick in the case of Alta’s panels. That’s about 1/40th the thickness of a human hair, according to the company, allowing it to be used for a variety of applications, where conventional polysilicon panels can’t go.
Alta Devices itself is the result of solar technology research breakthroughs achieved at the University of California Berkeley. The company was founded in 2007 and has received venture capital funding. It plans to produce its panels for commercial use later this year.
2012年2月6日星期一
Hackensack may restrict solar panels
Solar panels may be environmentally friendly, but officials in some towns are worried they might offend the neighbors.
Hackensack is the latest of several New Jersey municipalities to consider regulations on private solar installations that could prohibit the reflective panels in front yards, mandate shields for those in side yards or require special approval for panels on street-facing roofs.
For now, such rules are mainly speculative: With solar technology still too expensive for most homeowners, most North Jersey installations have been limited to public and commercial buildings, said Matt Weng, the staff attorney at the League of Municipalities, a statewide organization the advises and trains local officials.
But so many officials are betting that the technology will become more commonplace as the panels become cheaper and the economy improves that model solar ordinances are among the most popular requests public officials make with his office, Weng said.
"The biggest concern they would have is solar panels impacting the quality of life of the people around them," he said. "If a house is covered with solar panels, or has solar panels all over the yard, it could affect the aesthetics of the neighborhood."
Hackensack officials are still discussing what regulations they want to enact, but an ordinance could be ready for the first of two required votes as early as Tuesday, City Manager Steve Lo Iacono said.
"There's no intent here to inhibit the growth of solar power or to make it difficult for a homeowner to install solar panels," Lo Iacono said. "More than anything, it's for safety's sake and aesthetics."
Along with regulations geared toward shielding panels from view, the city is also considering laws that would require compliance with city electrical codes and other safety standards — including extra stability so they would not blow off during a storm, Lo Iacono said.
A League of Municipalities sample ordinance, from the township of Mantua, lists five pages of restrictions, including a requirement that rooftop installations follow the slope of the roof and are installed at the rear; a mandate that the panels are made of materials that blend into the surroundings; a restriction of ground installations to the rear of lots that are at least three acres large and a prohibition of tower- or pole-mounted panels. Installations that don't meet the requirements in the ordinance must be presented to the township zoning board for special approval.
Municipal officials are particularly sensitive to potential problems with solar installations after the public outrage in many communities over the solar panels PSE&G installed on utility poles across the state in 2011, Weng said.
Hackensack is the latest of several New Jersey municipalities to consider regulations on private solar installations that could prohibit the reflective panels in front yards, mandate shields for those in side yards or require special approval for panels on street-facing roofs.
For now, such rules are mainly speculative: With solar technology still too expensive for most homeowners, most North Jersey installations have been limited to public and commercial buildings, said Matt Weng, the staff attorney at the League of Municipalities, a statewide organization the advises and trains local officials.
But so many officials are betting that the technology will become more commonplace as the panels become cheaper and the economy improves that model solar ordinances are among the most popular requests public officials make with his office, Weng said.
"The biggest concern they would have is solar panels impacting the quality of life of the people around them," he said. "If a house is covered with solar panels, or has solar panels all over the yard, it could affect the aesthetics of the neighborhood."
Hackensack officials are still discussing what regulations they want to enact, but an ordinance could be ready for the first of two required votes as early as Tuesday, City Manager Steve Lo Iacono said.
"There's no intent here to inhibit the growth of solar power or to make it difficult for a homeowner to install solar panels," Lo Iacono said. "More than anything, it's for safety's sake and aesthetics."
Along with regulations geared toward shielding panels from view, the city is also considering laws that would require compliance with city electrical codes and other safety standards — including extra stability so they would not blow off during a storm, Lo Iacono said.
A League of Municipalities sample ordinance, from the township of Mantua, lists five pages of restrictions, including a requirement that rooftop installations follow the slope of the roof and are installed at the rear; a mandate that the panels are made of materials that blend into the surroundings; a restriction of ground installations to the rear of lots that are at least three acres large and a prohibition of tower- or pole-mounted panels. Installations that don't meet the requirements in the ordinance must be presented to the township zoning board for special approval.
Municipal officials are particularly sensitive to potential problems with solar installations after the public outrage in many communities over the solar panels PSE&G installed on utility poles across the state in 2011, Weng said.
2012年2月5日星期日
Solar company Natcore setting up shop in Rochester
The concept of solar power is nearly irresistible: an endless cascade of sunlight — the ultimate renewable resource — churning out cheap electricity.
The reality of solar power, though, is more problematic as it remains far from cheap. And the U.S. Energy Department projects that electricity from a hypothetical solar energy project going online in 2016 would be about twice as expensive as juice from a new coal plant and more than three times costlier than a natural gas-fed power plant.
But New Jersey-based Natcore Technologies Inc. sees the green of cash in the golden sunshine. The solar energy technology firm is in the midst of setting up a research and development facility at Eastman Business Park that CEO Chuck Provini said should be operational within a couple weeks.
Once it is set up, the company plans to hire 10 to 15 people to staff it as it works on three separate, parallel technology tracks: “black silicon” solar cells that use silicon wafers etched with tiny pores that reflect back less light; stacks of tandem solar cells, each working on different wavelengths of light; and flexible, thin-film solar cells.
Each technology has the possibility of making solar more commercially viable by either cutting the cost of manufacture or upping the efficiency, Provini said last week as he was in town to visit Natcore’s facilities in Eastman Kodak Co.’s Building 308.
Later this month, Natcore plans to bring in prospective customers/investors such as representatives from an Italian solar panel maker, a Chinese solar cell maker and an Indian energy company. Part of Natcore’s sales pitch, Provini said, will be trying to convince those firms to set up manufacturing operations in the United States in exchange for access to Natcore technology — though ultimately, he added, investors will be in the driver’s seat of that decision.
Natcore’s efforts come as the solar photovoltaic market is in the midst of serious challenges, from numerous European nations cutting solar energy subsidies and an oversupply of solar components globally sending prices nosediving to the political issues surrounding the bankruptcy and liquidation of California thin-film solar cell maker Solyndra.
But the oversupply issue is due largely to China subsidizing manufacturers there, and technology under development will make the glut of industry-standard solar cell components on the market now obsolete, Provini said. “You make dramatic changes, you own the industry,” he said.
Natcore also is counting on the cost of oil rising, particularly as a cash-strapped U.S. government cuts oil subsidies, to make solar more financially competitive, Provini said.
The company’s key assets are a group of patents it has licensed or owns outright. And it expects to start earning income from licensing that technology to others later this year. Other revenue streams, such as manufacturing solar cell coating equipment or the reselling of chemicals needed in the manufacturing process, would follow.
Natcore announced in December that it had signed a patent license agreement with the U.S. Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory giving it access to NREL patents to develop and commercialize black silicon solar cells. And it hopes to have prototype black silicon solar cells within a couple of months, with greater efficiency than what is on the market today.
Tandem solar cell prototypes could be ready within six to 12 months, Provini said. And a workable prototype of flexible, thin-film solar cells — made with Kodak’s thin-film manufacturing capabilities and costing far less to install than traditional solar cells — would take the same amount of time if the company can find investors in the technology, Provini said.
The company signed a lease in July with Kodak. The Building 308 lab will consolidate lab space the company currently has at Ohio State and Rice universities. Being near Kodak and its thin-film capabilities were one key reason why the company opted to put its R&D operations there.
Aside from that, said Thomas J. Scarpa, corporate development officer, “The intellectual pool we can draw on, this is an excellent place. University of Rochester. Rochester Institute of Technology. Ex-Kodakers.”
Natcore is emblematic of what Kodak has been trying to do with its sprawling Eastman Business Park manufacturing campus — make it over into an industrial park. More than two dozen firms, including spinoffs from and former suppliers of Kodak, operate there today.
Kodak is currently in the midst of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is in talks about potential sales of some or all of the campus. However, Provini said, “I don’t think (the bankruptcy) is going to affect us.”
And, Provini added with a smile, if Kodak wanted to take some of the hundreds of millions of dollars Citigroup has loaned it during bankruptcy and invest it in Natcore technology, “That’d be a great way to reinvent themselves.”
The reality of solar power, though, is more problematic as it remains far from cheap. And the U.S. Energy Department projects that electricity from a hypothetical solar energy project going online in 2016 would be about twice as expensive as juice from a new coal plant and more than three times costlier than a natural gas-fed power plant.
But New Jersey-based Natcore Technologies Inc. sees the green of cash in the golden sunshine. The solar energy technology firm is in the midst of setting up a research and development facility at Eastman Business Park that CEO Chuck Provini said should be operational within a couple weeks.
Once it is set up, the company plans to hire 10 to 15 people to staff it as it works on three separate, parallel technology tracks: “black silicon” solar cells that use silicon wafers etched with tiny pores that reflect back less light; stacks of tandem solar cells, each working on different wavelengths of light; and flexible, thin-film solar cells.
Each technology has the possibility of making solar more commercially viable by either cutting the cost of manufacture or upping the efficiency, Provini said last week as he was in town to visit Natcore’s facilities in Eastman Kodak Co.’s Building 308.
Later this month, Natcore plans to bring in prospective customers/investors such as representatives from an Italian solar panel maker, a Chinese solar cell maker and an Indian energy company. Part of Natcore’s sales pitch, Provini said, will be trying to convince those firms to set up manufacturing operations in the United States in exchange for access to Natcore technology — though ultimately, he added, investors will be in the driver’s seat of that decision.
Natcore’s efforts come as the solar photovoltaic market is in the midst of serious challenges, from numerous European nations cutting solar energy subsidies and an oversupply of solar components globally sending prices nosediving to the political issues surrounding the bankruptcy and liquidation of California thin-film solar cell maker Solyndra.
But the oversupply issue is due largely to China subsidizing manufacturers there, and technology under development will make the glut of industry-standard solar cell components on the market now obsolete, Provini said. “You make dramatic changes, you own the industry,” he said.
Natcore also is counting on the cost of oil rising, particularly as a cash-strapped U.S. government cuts oil subsidies, to make solar more financially competitive, Provini said.
The company’s key assets are a group of patents it has licensed or owns outright. And it expects to start earning income from licensing that technology to others later this year. Other revenue streams, such as manufacturing solar cell coating equipment or the reselling of chemicals needed in the manufacturing process, would follow.
Natcore announced in December that it had signed a patent license agreement with the U.S. Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory giving it access to NREL patents to develop and commercialize black silicon solar cells. And it hopes to have prototype black silicon solar cells within a couple of months, with greater efficiency than what is on the market today.
Tandem solar cell prototypes could be ready within six to 12 months, Provini said. And a workable prototype of flexible, thin-film solar cells — made with Kodak’s thin-film manufacturing capabilities and costing far less to install than traditional solar cells — would take the same amount of time if the company can find investors in the technology, Provini said.
The company signed a lease in July with Kodak. The Building 308 lab will consolidate lab space the company currently has at Ohio State and Rice universities. Being near Kodak and its thin-film capabilities were one key reason why the company opted to put its R&D operations there.
Aside from that, said Thomas J. Scarpa, corporate development officer, “The intellectual pool we can draw on, this is an excellent place. University of Rochester. Rochester Institute of Technology. Ex-Kodakers.”
Natcore is emblematic of what Kodak has been trying to do with its sprawling Eastman Business Park manufacturing campus — make it over into an industrial park. More than two dozen firms, including spinoffs from and former suppliers of Kodak, operate there today.
Kodak is currently in the midst of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is in talks about potential sales of some or all of the campus. However, Provini said, “I don’t think (the bankruptcy) is going to affect us.”
And, Provini added with a smile, if Kodak wanted to take some of the hundreds of millions of dollars Citigroup has loaned it during bankruptcy and invest it in Natcore technology, “That’d be a great way to reinvent themselves.”
2012年2月2日星期四
Solar panel returns could be cut by 80pc
The Government is proposing to make full payments from "feed-in tariffs" conditional on homes meeting energy efficiency standards. The change would come into effect on April 1.
Currently, householders receive 43.3p per kWh of electricity generated. The Government will cut this rate for new installations to 21p in April, after an attempt to impose the cut sooner was thrown out by the courts. Unless that ruling is overturned on appeal, anyone who completes their installation before 3 March will still receive the higher rate.
But the proposal to link the payments to the overall energy efficiency of the property could see some solar panel owners receive just 9p – which is 79pc less than 43.3p – if their homes fail to meet the standard. The Government is still consulting about the plans, which would not affect installations completed before April.
The Energy Saving Trust said: "Where a domestic property does not meet these energy efficiency requirements, the solar PV [photovoltaic] installation may receive the lower tariff of 9p/kWh."
It added: "The Government is consulting on two alternative proposals: that the owner or occupier should bring the property up to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of level C or above; or that the owner or occupier of a building should undertake all the measures that are identified on an EPC as potentially eligible for Green Deal finance, with no additional finance required.
"The Government wants to ensure that PV is considered as part of a whole house approach which prioritises energy efficiency."
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said: “It makes sense that, if someone is putting solar panels on their building, the property is energy efficient too. We consulted on the best ways of doing this by linking tariffs to specified minimum energy efficiency requirements and proposed introducing such a requirement from April 1. We’ll publish our final proposals by Feb 9.”
Despite losing its legal case in the Court of Appeal last week, the generation tariff rate for units installed after December remains at 21p per kWh as DECC is now escalating its appeal to the Supreme Court. If this case is unsuccessful home owners who installed units between December and March this year will revert to the higher tariff and will receive backdated payments so they are not out of pocket.
But those installing units now should not assume they will automatically get this higher rate.
Currently, householders receive 43.3p per kWh of electricity generated. The Government will cut this rate for new installations to 21p in April, after an attempt to impose the cut sooner was thrown out by the courts. Unless that ruling is overturned on appeal, anyone who completes their installation before 3 March will still receive the higher rate.
But the proposal to link the payments to the overall energy efficiency of the property could see some solar panel owners receive just 9p – which is 79pc less than 43.3p – if their homes fail to meet the standard. The Government is still consulting about the plans, which would not affect installations completed before April.
The Energy Saving Trust said: "Where a domestic property does not meet these energy efficiency requirements, the solar PV [photovoltaic] installation may receive the lower tariff of 9p/kWh."
It added: "The Government is consulting on two alternative proposals: that the owner or occupier should bring the property up to an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of level C or above; or that the owner or occupier of a building should undertake all the measures that are identified on an EPC as potentially eligible for Green Deal finance, with no additional finance required.
"The Government wants to ensure that PV is considered as part of a whole house approach which prioritises energy efficiency."
A spokesperson for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) said: “It makes sense that, if someone is putting solar panels on their building, the property is energy efficient too. We consulted on the best ways of doing this by linking tariffs to specified minimum energy efficiency requirements and proposed introducing such a requirement from April 1. We’ll publish our final proposals by Feb 9.”
Despite losing its legal case in the Court of Appeal last week, the generation tariff rate for units installed after December remains at 21p per kWh as DECC is now escalating its appeal to the Supreme Court. If this case is unsuccessful home owners who installed units between December and March this year will revert to the higher tariff and will receive backdated payments so they are not out of pocket.
But those installing units now should not assume they will automatically get this higher rate.
2012年2月1日星期三
Biogas stations fastest growing renewable energy source in 2011
Biogas stations were developing at the fastest pace from all domestic renewable energy sources last year and their installed output for which the Energy Regulatory Office (ERU) issued licences rose by 63 megawatts in the year - to 168 megawatts, according to ERU data.
On the other hand, the output of solar power plants increased by only 6 megawatts to 1,959 megawatts.
Installed output of solar power plants in 2010 more than quadrupled to 1,953 megawatts. The state then toughened conditions for investors into photovoltaic plants, which slowed down their development last year.
Only 158 photovoltaic power plants were built last year, while in 2010, nearly 7,000 new photovoltaic sources were built.
High subsidies pulled the growth by biogas stations last year when their number rose by 84 to 264. The government began to fear that there could be the same problem like by the solar power plants whose development has caused higher energy prices.
The Agriculture Ministry and Industry and Trade Ministry therefore abolished programmes of subsidies for biogas stations last year. Under new minister Petr Bendl, the Agriculture Ministry renewed the subsidies in November.
Installed output of wind power plants also grew very slowly last year - by 3 megawatts to 218 megawatts. The situation was similar by small hydroelectric plants whose installed output increased by only 1.5 megawatts to 142 megawatts last year.
ERU expects the output of solar power plants to grow only moderately in the coming years. Power distributing companies recently allowed again connection of new solar panels on the roofs of buildings.
Grid operator CEPS said that solar power plants and wind farms with total output of 65 megawatts could be safely connected to the grid this year.
According to the National Action Plan for renewable sources, these "green energy producers" are to cover 13.5 percent of total energy consumption in 2020. The plan sets limits on the individual kinds of renewable energy sources.
However, by photovoltaic power plants the limit has already been reached and so the Industry and Trade Ministry prepares to redraw the action plan.
Data on the share of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption for last year are not yet available. Their share in 2010 stood at roughly 8.5 percent.
In particular photovoltaic power plants are being criticised for taking up the biggest part of support for renewable energy sources and thus contributing most to the increase in electricity prices.
Of the total annual costs of renewable energy sources worth Kc36bn, more than Kc22bn goes to photovoltaic plants. The state provides a subsidy worth less than Kc12bn to prevent even higher electricity prices.
Over 60 percent of the contribution to renewable energy sources is for solar power plants, according to ERU data. However, solar power plants have only a 11.5 percent share in electricity produced by renewable sources.
On the other hand, the output of solar power plants increased by only 6 megawatts to 1,959 megawatts.
Installed output of solar power plants in 2010 more than quadrupled to 1,953 megawatts. The state then toughened conditions for investors into photovoltaic plants, which slowed down their development last year.
Only 158 photovoltaic power plants were built last year, while in 2010, nearly 7,000 new photovoltaic sources were built.
High subsidies pulled the growth by biogas stations last year when their number rose by 84 to 264. The government began to fear that there could be the same problem like by the solar power plants whose development has caused higher energy prices.
The Agriculture Ministry and Industry and Trade Ministry therefore abolished programmes of subsidies for biogas stations last year. Under new minister Petr Bendl, the Agriculture Ministry renewed the subsidies in November.
Installed output of wind power plants also grew very slowly last year - by 3 megawatts to 218 megawatts. The situation was similar by small hydroelectric plants whose installed output increased by only 1.5 megawatts to 142 megawatts last year.
ERU expects the output of solar power plants to grow only moderately in the coming years. Power distributing companies recently allowed again connection of new solar panels on the roofs of buildings.
Grid operator CEPS said that solar power plants and wind farms with total output of 65 megawatts could be safely connected to the grid this year.
According to the National Action Plan for renewable sources, these "green energy producers" are to cover 13.5 percent of total energy consumption in 2020. The plan sets limits on the individual kinds of renewable energy sources.
However, by photovoltaic power plants the limit has already been reached and so the Industry and Trade Ministry prepares to redraw the action plan.
Data on the share of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption for last year are not yet available. Their share in 2010 stood at roughly 8.5 percent.
In particular photovoltaic power plants are being criticised for taking up the biggest part of support for renewable energy sources and thus contributing most to the increase in electricity prices.
Of the total annual costs of renewable energy sources worth Kc36bn, more than Kc22bn goes to photovoltaic plants. The state provides a subsidy worth less than Kc12bn to prevent even higher electricity prices.
Over 60 percent of the contribution to renewable energy sources is for solar power plants, according to ERU data. However, solar power plants have only a 11.5 percent share in electricity produced by renewable sources.
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