New Jersey has been proud of its commitment to renewable energy, and legislative policies have encouraged the installation of photo-voltaic solar arrays to the point that the state is second only to California in solar power production, according to the Board of Public Utilities.
But in June, Gov. Chris Christie’s administration announced that it was withdrawing New Jersey from a 10-state regional energy plan, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
This was followed a few days later with the introduction of the proposed new Energy Management Plan, a blueprint for energy planning for the next decade. In the plan, the governor and his administration recommend the construction of gas-powered energy plants, and putting more emphasis on large solar arrays owned by power companies rather than arrays on private homes. Questions arose about whether these policies will weaken New Jersey’s solar industry.
As hearings continue on the Energy Management Plan this week, several executives in the solar industry have shared their perspectives on how they read the plan, how solar energy has worked in the state so far, and how their industry can remain robust.
Emphasis on arrays
In New Jersey, solar energy has been made affordable through ratepayer subsidies.
Here is how the system works: The state Legislature has mandated that each year the utility companies must produce an increasing number of megawatts of power through renewable means. If they are not producing that power themselves, the companies must go to sources that produce power through renewable energy and buy power from them. They do this in the form of Solar Renewable Energy Credits or SRECs.
Homeowners and commercial property owners are now producing electricity with their photo-voltaic arrays, and they earn an SREC for each megawatt hour they produce. They can sell the SRECs to the power companies on the spot market, which is regulated by the Board of Public Utilities, or they can sign a long-term contract to sell a power company their SRECs at a fixed price for a fixed number of years.
2011年8月3日星期三
2011年4月5日星期二
SolarCity sees U.S. panel prices tumbling in 2011
Solar panel prices in the United States are likely to drop by 20 cents per watt this year, according to the head of SolarCity, one of the nation's largest photovoltaic solar service companies.
That drop would put the price of the panels that convert sunlight into electricity at about $1.40 per watt on average, or about 12.5 percent below prices quoted at the beginning of 2011.
Chief Executive Officer Lyndon Rive said the decline will help privately held SolarCity, which buys the panels from manufacturers and installs them for homes and businesses, to reach its cost-cutting target of 5 to 8 percent this year.
"It's hard to carve out 20 cents anywhere in this business," he told Reuters in an interview.
Prices for solar panels have dropped by about 75 percent in the past decade, and make up less than half the total cost of installing a rooftop system.
Most major solar manufacturers are increasing their output capacity of solar panels this year in a bid to grow their market share, even as key markets in Europe trim spending on the subsidies that are crucial to the fast-growing industry.
That could lead to a glut of solar panels on the market, squeezing margins at companies such as Trina Solar, First Solar Inc and SolarWorld AG.
However, market experts say those price declines are necessary to help the renewable power source compete with other sources of energy such as natural gas and coal, as well as reduce its dependence on government supports.
SolarCity recently bought groSolar, a solar power project developer and distributor, expanding its reach into 10 states.
The company's solar lease program for property owners has been a key part of its growth by enabling its customers to pay a monthly fee for solar panels rather than a large up-front installation price. That monthly fee is often offset by the customer's savings on electric utility bills.
While many states have instituted support mechanisms that aid the solar industry, some -- such as Massachusetts, Oregon and New York -- have set caps on the number of projects or how much of a subsidy a single company can get, which inhibits growth, Rive said.
"It doesn't help anyone but the small guy, and he's going to go away when the subsidy does," Rive said.
Driving down the costs of solar often means that companies must take advantage of economies of scale that are achieved by growing a company's size, he said.
"Unless you plan to (subsidize) this thing forever, you have to let them compete, and see who wins," he said.
That drop would put the price of the panels that convert sunlight into electricity at about $1.40 per watt on average, or about 12.5 percent below prices quoted at the beginning of 2011.
Chief Executive Officer Lyndon Rive said the decline will help privately held SolarCity, which buys the panels from manufacturers and installs them for homes and businesses, to reach its cost-cutting target of 5 to 8 percent this year.
"It's hard to carve out 20 cents anywhere in this business," he told Reuters in an interview.
Prices for solar panels have dropped by about 75 percent in the past decade, and make up less than half the total cost of installing a rooftop system.
Most major solar manufacturers are increasing their output capacity of solar panels this year in a bid to grow their market share, even as key markets in Europe trim spending on the subsidies that are crucial to the fast-growing industry.
That could lead to a glut of solar panels on the market, squeezing margins at companies such as Trina Solar, First Solar Inc and SolarWorld AG.
However, market experts say those price declines are necessary to help the renewable power source compete with other sources of energy such as natural gas and coal, as well as reduce its dependence on government supports.
SolarCity recently bought groSolar, a solar power project developer and distributor, expanding its reach into 10 states.
The company's solar lease program for property owners has been a key part of its growth by enabling its customers to pay a monthly fee for solar panels rather than a large up-front installation price. That monthly fee is often offset by the customer's savings on electric utility bills.
While many states have instituted support mechanisms that aid the solar industry, some -- such as Massachusetts, Oregon and New York -- have set caps on the number of projects or how much of a subsidy a single company can get, which inhibits growth, Rive said.
"It doesn't help anyone but the small guy, and he's going to go away when the subsidy does," Rive said.
Driving down the costs of solar often means that companies must take advantage of economies of scale that are achieved by growing a company's size, he said.
"Unless you plan to (subsidize) this thing forever, you have to let them compete, and see who wins," he said.
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