Latin America is investing more in solar power but, in line with International Energy Agency warnings, needs to do so intelligently and without multiplying costs.
Poverty-stricken Honduras is the latest home to solar energy projects in Central and South America that are driven by U.S. service providers but fitted out with Chinese-made equipment.
Colorado's Onyx Service and Solutions Inc. said it will install its newest solar energy project in Latin America, made up of Chinese-manufactured solar panels and associated equipment, at West Bay Lodge Project in Roatan, Honduras.
Onyx Management is also using Honduran personnel for the installation which fulfills a need for electricity supply expansion in the Central American country.
Honduras was severely affected by a coup in 2009 that triggered an international diplomatic, political and economic isolation of the country. Recovery has been slow despite assistance from the European Union and the United States.
The West Bay Lodge installation follows a deal reached in October to power the resort, part of the government's plan to regenerate the economy with tourism. The West Bay Beach is the most popular tourist destination on the Island of Roatan, and an international tourist destination.
Onyx said in deciding on the project it took a different course than most other solar companies, choosing to forgo competition against coal-fired electricity producers or depending on government subsidies to make a profit.
After a detailed research of the worldwide markets for power, Onyx said, it focused on sectors that relied on costly diesel generated electricity such as that in Roatan at present but offered opportunity for greater profit margins. Onyx is developing multiple solar power projects in Honduras, one as large as 22 megawatts, and Panama. The company is developing solar power distribution in Colombia and Peru.
Solar power generation and distribution is set to grow in Latin America and has enabled U.S. renewable energy companies to position in the area.
Last month scientists at Notre Dame University in Indiana announced they devised an inexpensive "solar paint" that can produce energy.
The paint, dubbed Sun-Believable, may someday be applied to homes to generate electricity from light to power appliances and equipment inside.
The paint uses semiconducting nanoparticles to produce energy from sunlight.
"We want to do something transformative, to move beyond current silicon-based solar technology," chemistry Professor Prashant Kamat of the university's Center for Nano Science and Technology said.
"By incorporating power-producing nanoparticles, called quantum dots, into a spreadable compound, we've made a one-coat solar paint that can be applied to any conductive surface without special equipment."
When the paint is brushed onto a transparent conducting material and exposed to light it creates electricity, the researchers said.
"The best light-to-energy conversion efficiency we've reached so far is 1 percent, which is well behind the usual 10 to 15 percent efficiency of commercial silicon solar cells," Kamat said.
"But this paint can be made cheaply and in large quantities. If we can improve the efficiency somewhat, we may be able to make a real difference in meeting energy needs in the future."
The International Energy Agency said a more intelligent use of solar energy could help meet a growing percentage of the world's energy needs.
Enough sunlight reaches the Earth in 90 minutes to meet the world's energy needs for a year if harnessed appropriately, the IEA said in a report from its headquarters in Paris.
"While solar energy resources are abundant, their use currently represents only a tiny fraction of the world's current energy mix," said report author Cedric Philibert.
"But this is changing rapidly and is being driven by action to improve energy diversification and security, mitigate climate change and provide energy access."
The IEA warns that concerns over cost have led some governments to make hasty policy decisions that could force a reversal of any gains in the use of solar energy.
The agency calls for "comprehensive and fine-tuned policies" that back a growing portfolio of solar technology. Given the right conditions, the IEA said, solar power could become a competitive energy source within 20 years.
"Integrating all solar technologies in a system-oriented policy approach will unlock the potential of solar energy within the broader set of low-carbon technologies needed for a future sustainable and more secure global energy mix," Paolo Frankl, head of the IEA's Renewable Energy Division, said in a statement.
2011年12月29日星期四
2011年12月28日星期三
India’s Investment in the Sun
Solar power is a clean energy source. But in this arid part of northwest India it can also be a dusty one.
Every five days or so, in a marriage of low and high tech, field hands with long-handled dust mops wipe down each of the 36,000 solar panels at a 63-acre installation operated by Azure Power. The site is one of the biggest examples of India’s ambitious plan to use solar energy to help modernize its notoriously underpowered national electricity grid, and reduce its dependence on coal-fired power plants.
Azure Power has a contract to provide solar-generated electricity to a state-government electric utility. Inderpreet Wadhwa, Azure’s chief executive, predicted that within a few years solar power would be competitive in price with India’s conventionally generated electricity.
“The efficiency of solar technology will continue to increase, and with the increasing demand in solar energy, cost will continue to decrease,” Mr. Wadhwa said.
Two years ago, Indian policy makers said that by the year 2020 they would drastically increase the nation’s use of solar power from virtually nothing to 20,000 megawatts — enough electricity to power the equivalent of 20 million modern American homes. Many analysts said it could not be done. But, now the doubters are taking back their words.
Dozens of developers like Azure, because of aggressive government subsidies and a large drop in the global price of solar panels, are covering India’s northwestern plains — including this village of 2,000 people — with gleaming solar panels. So far, India uses only about 140 megawatts, including 10 megawatts used by the Azure installation, which can provide enough power to serve a town of 50,000 people, according to the company. But analysts say that the national 20,000 megawatt goal is achievable and that India could reach those numbers even a few years before 2020.
“Prices came down and suddenly things were possible that didn’t seem possible,” said Tobias Engelmeier, managing director of Bridge to India, a research and consulting firm based in New Delhi. Chinese manufacturers like Suntech Power and Yingli Green Energy helped drive the drop in solar panel costs. The firms increased production of the panels and cut costs this year by about 30 percent to 40 percent, to less than $1 a watt.
Developers of solar farms in India, however, have shown a preference for the more advanced, so-called thin-film solar cells offered by suppliers in the United States, Taiwan and Europe. The leading American provider to India is First Solar, based in Tempe, Ariz.
India does not have a large solar manufacturing industry, but is trying to develop one and China is showing a new interest in India’s growing demand. China’s Suntech Power sold the panels used at the Azure installation, which opened in June.
Industry executives credit government policies with India’s solar boom, unusual praise because businesses usually deride Indian regulations as Kafkaesque.
Over the last decade, India has opened the state-dominated power-generating industry to private players, while leaving distribution and rate-setting largely in government hands. European countries heavily subsidize solar power by agreeing to buy it for decades at a time, but the subsidies in India are lower and solar operators are forced into to greater competition, helping push down costs.
This month, the government held its second auction to determine the price at which its state-owned power trading company — NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam — would buy solar-generated electricity for the national grid. The average winning bid was 8.77 rupees (16.5 cents) per kilowatt hour.
That is about twice the price of coal-generated power, but it was about 27 percent lower than the winning bids at the auction held a year ago. Germany, the world’s biggest solar-power user, pays about 17.94 euro cents (23 American cents) per kilowatt hour.
India still significantly lags behind European countries in the use of solar. Germany, for example, had 17,000 megawatts of solar power capacity at the end of 2010. But India, which gets more than 300 days of sunlight a year, is a more suitable place to generate solar power. And being behind is now benefiting India, as panel prices plummet, enabling it to spend far less to set up solar farms than countries that pioneered the technology.
Every five days or so, in a marriage of low and high tech, field hands with long-handled dust mops wipe down each of the 36,000 solar panels at a 63-acre installation operated by Azure Power. The site is one of the biggest examples of India’s ambitious plan to use solar energy to help modernize its notoriously underpowered national electricity grid, and reduce its dependence on coal-fired power plants.
Azure Power has a contract to provide solar-generated electricity to a state-government electric utility. Inderpreet Wadhwa, Azure’s chief executive, predicted that within a few years solar power would be competitive in price with India’s conventionally generated electricity.
“The efficiency of solar technology will continue to increase, and with the increasing demand in solar energy, cost will continue to decrease,” Mr. Wadhwa said.
Two years ago, Indian policy makers said that by the year 2020 they would drastically increase the nation’s use of solar power from virtually nothing to 20,000 megawatts — enough electricity to power the equivalent of 20 million modern American homes. Many analysts said it could not be done. But, now the doubters are taking back their words.
Dozens of developers like Azure, because of aggressive government subsidies and a large drop in the global price of solar panels, are covering India’s northwestern plains — including this village of 2,000 people — with gleaming solar panels. So far, India uses only about 140 megawatts, including 10 megawatts used by the Azure installation, which can provide enough power to serve a town of 50,000 people, according to the company. But analysts say that the national 20,000 megawatt goal is achievable and that India could reach those numbers even a few years before 2020.
“Prices came down and suddenly things were possible that didn’t seem possible,” said Tobias Engelmeier, managing director of Bridge to India, a research and consulting firm based in New Delhi. Chinese manufacturers like Suntech Power and Yingli Green Energy helped drive the drop in solar panel costs. The firms increased production of the panels and cut costs this year by about 30 percent to 40 percent, to less than $1 a watt.
Developers of solar farms in India, however, have shown a preference for the more advanced, so-called thin-film solar cells offered by suppliers in the United States, Taiwan and Europe. The leading American provider to India is First Solar, based in Tempe, Ariz.
India does not have a large solar manufacturing industry, but is trying to develop one and China is showing a new interest in India’s growing demand. China’s Suntech Power sold the panels used at the Azure installation, which opened in June.
Industry executives credit government policies with India’s solar boom, unusual praise because businesses usually deride Indian regulations as Kafkaesque.
Over the last decade, India has opened the state-dominated power-generating industry to private players, while leaving distribution and rate-setting largely in government hands. European countries heavily subsidize solar power by agreeing to buy it for decades at a time, but the subsidies in India are lower and solar operators are forced into to greater competition, helping push down costs.
This month, the government held its second auction to determine the price at which its state-owned power trading company — NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam — would buy solar-generated electricity for the national grid. The average winning bid was 8.77 rupees (16.5 cents) per kilowatt hour.
That is about twice the price of coal-generated power, but it was about 27 percent lower than the winning bids at the auction held a year ago. Germany, the world’s biggest solar-power user, pays about 17.94 euro cents (23 American cents) per kilowatt hour.
India still significantly lags behind European countries in the use of solar. Germany, for example, had 17,000 megawatts of solar power capacity at the end of 2010. But India, which gets more than 300 days of sunlight a year, is a more suitable place to generate solar power. And being behind is now benefiting India, as panel prices plummet, enabling it to spend far less to set up solar farms than countries that pioneered the technology.
2011年12月27日星期二
Solar power push faces challenges in Texas
In fact, since oil started flowing here more than a century ago, energy has been at the very heart of the state's economy.
And oil remains key to Texas energy production; not only is it the biggest oil-producing state in the US, but one of the two leading global benchmarks in global oil pricing carries its name - West Texas Intermediate.
But while oil and Texas may be inseparable in the popular imagination, the state is increasingly embracing renewable energy technologies.
It is already the largest generator of wind power in the US, a country which itself generates more wind power than any other.
The Panhandle, the Gulf Coast, and the Trans-Pecos regions of Texas have some of the nation's greatest wind-power potential, and plans for substantial new capacity are under way.
On top of this, the state has some of the highest solar power potential in the US, though this is only now being developed.
Three miles from downtown Austin, Texas, lies a small community that's at the cutting edge of the future of energy.
At first glance, this looks like any other American neighbourhood, but it's actually a remarkable living experiment that could have big implications for the future of energy use everywhere, not just in the US.
Homes here have some of the highest densities of solar panels in the US, and as result, some of the lowest energy bills. In fact, some people pay nothing at all.
But it's not just domestic capacity that Texas has invested heavily in. A massive new solar farm is due to begin generating electricity shortly.
The Webberville solar farm has just been completed and will start generating power within weeks.
Helping hand
For environmentalists, then, Texas, the oil state, could in theory provide something of a blueprint for the rest of the nation - if Texans can be weaned off oil, then surely there is hope for the rest of the country?
But this vision is under serious threat, for despite the proliferation of renewable energy production in Texas, serious questions are being raised about whether clean energy investment can continue at such a pace.
The first threat is cuts in the very subsidies that sparked renewable energy production in the first place. Hoping for a boom in green energy jobs, the US government introduced grants to encourage investment in clean energy.
But the jobs were never created in quite the numbers intended.
In fact, while Chinese firms flooded the market with cheap solar panels, US firms were unable to compete, with many being forced out of business.
The biggest casualty was Solyndra, which went bankrupt in August after receiving about $500m in government loans.
The US Commerce Department is investigating claims against Chinese Solar manufacturers that they "dumped solar panels on the US market below market cost.
Solarworld, which was one of the firms which brought the complaint, says US solar manufacturing jobs are at risk from cheap Chinese imports.
China has rejected the complaint. Indeed the Chinese solar industry has now asked for an investigation into US subsidies for polysilicon, which is used to make solar panels and which is exported to China in vast quantities, leading Chinese firms to complain they cannot compete with the cheap imports.
US firms representing installers have also opposed the mounting trade war. For them cheap solar panels create jobs selling and installing the panels.
Whatever the outcome, subsidies are falling and solar energy investment is no longer as attractive as it once was.
New alternative
There is, however, another potentially more serious threat facing the US solar industry - the underlying economics of renewable energy technologies are coming under strain.
Gas prices have been falling, due in large part to the discovery of large deposits of shale gas.
The impact of shale in the US cannot be underestimated - in the past 10 years, it has come from nowhere to supply about a quarter of the country's natural gas, a proportion that some believe could rise to 50% in the next 25 years.
As a result, investors in large renewable projects - including wind and solar farms - are now wondering if the numbers still add up. If gas is cheap, why bother investing in more expensive alternatives, even if they are cleaner?
So for some, then, the story of energy in Texas has come full circle, with oil and gas again reigning supreme. For others, the rise of renewable energy has passed the point of no return.
And oil remains key to Texas energy production; not only is it the biggest oil-producing state in the US, but one of the two leading global benchmarks in global oil pricing carries its name - West Texas Intermediate.
But while oil and Texas may be inseparable in the popular imagination, the state is increasingly embracing renewable energy technologies.
It is already the largest generator of wind power in the US, a country which itself generates more wind power than any other.
The Panhandle, the Gulf Coast, and the Trans-Pecos regions of Texas have some of the nation's greatest wind-power potential, and plans for substantial new capacity are under way.
On top of this, the state has some of the highest solar power potential in the US, though this is only now being developed.
Three miles from downtown Austin, Texas, lies a small community that's at the cutting edge of the future of energy.
At first glance, this looks like any other American neighbourhood, but it's actually a remarkable living experiment that could have big implications for the future of energy use everywhere, not just in the US.
Homes here have some of the highest densities of solar panels in the US, and as result, some of the lowest energy bills. In fact, some people pay nothing at all.
But it's not just domestic capacity that Texas has invested heavily in. A massive new solar farm is due to begin generating electricity shortly.
The Webberville solar farm has just been completed and will start generating power within weeks.
Helping hand
For environmentalists, then, Texas, the oil state, could in theory provide something of a blueprint for the rest of the nation - if Texans can be weaned off oil, then surely there is hope for the rest of the country?
But this vision is under serious threat, for despite the proliferation of renewable energy production in Texas, serious questions are being raised about whether clean energy investment can continue at such a pace.
The first threat is cuts in the very subsidies that sparked renewable energy production in the first place. Hoping for a boom in green energy jobs, the US government introduced grants to encourage investment in clean energy.
But the jobs were never created in quite the numbers intended.
In fact, while Chinese firms flooded the market with cheap solar panels, US firms were unable to compete, with many being forced out of business.
The biggest casualty was Solyndra, which went bankrupt in August after receiving about $500m in government loans.
The US Commerce Department is investigating claims against Chinese Solar manufacturers that they "dumped solar panels on the US market below market cost.
Solarworld, which was one of the firms which brought the complaint, says US solar manufacturing jobs are at risk from cheap Chinese imports.
China has rejected the complaint. Indeed the Chinese solar industry has now asked for an investigation into US subsidies for polysilicon, which is used to make solar panels and which is exported to China in vast quantities, leading Chinese firms to complain they cannot compete with the cheap imports.
US firms representing installers have also opposed the mounting trade war. For them cheap solar panels create jobs selling and installing the panels.
Whatever the outcome, subsidies are falling and solar energy investment is no longer as attractive as it once was.
New alternative
There is, however, another potentially more serious threat facing the US solar industry - the underlying economics of renewable energy technologies are coming under strain.
Gas prices have been falling, due in large part to the discovery of large deposits of shale gas.
The impact of shale in the US cannot be underestimated - in the past 10 years, it has come from nowhere to supply about a quarter of the country's natural gas, a proportion that some believe could rise to 50% in the next 25 years.
As a result, investors in large renewable projects - including wind and solar farms - are now wondering if the numbers still add up. If gas is cheap, why bother investing in more expensive alternatives, even if they are cleaner?
So for some, then, the story of energy in Texas has come full circle, with oil and gas again reigning supreme. For others, the rise of renewable energy has passed the point of no return.
2011年12月26日星期一
Urban Grid capitalizing on interest in solar energy
Blue Crump started Urban Grid Solar Inc. in 2010 after seeing a growing interest in solar energy.
"From an installation and equipment cost perspective, solar energy is less expensive now than it has been historically," he said. "Energy rates will increase. This allows for businesses to hedge against those rising costs."
The company is a Richmond-based renewable-energy development firm and a general and alternative energy systems contractor. It also provides solar financing and development, solar installations, energy monitoring and services in other renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar thermal hot water.
"As the business has evolved, the energy sector, especially solar, has outpaced anything we do," Crump said.
From 2010 to 2011, Urban Grid's revenue grew 200 percent. In 2012, the company will focus on developing energy projects in Richmond and Annapolis, Md., where it has a second sales office, Crump said.
"We'll also concentrate on the Northeast, where utility projects are the highest," Crump said. "There are a lot of energy incentives in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, which creates a lot more opportunity in Northern Virginia and the Beltway."
The company also is looking at opportunities in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
"We want to expand," Crump said.
Besides expanding its core business, the company recently started Urban Grid Mechanical. The company in Ashland works with businesses to identify strategies to lower energy consumption.
"We manage and control the consumption of energy in a building," Crump said of the new business.
When Crump started Urban Grid, he brought in partners Frank DePew, Greg Haley and Ken Gorvey.
"Our backgrounds complemented one another," Crump said, noting that he had worked in the green building industry. "Frank's background is in finance, Ken's is in accounting and Greg's is in large-scale commercial building."
The company mainly works with engineers and architects.
"We give them the tools to incorporate renewables into their projects," Crump said.
Urban Grid has a residential division.
"We are still doing a lot of green and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified building. We seek out projects that are a good fit for us," Crump said.
Urban Grid completed the first U.S. Green Building Council LEED gold-certified residential project in the Fan District in 2011. The Grove Avenue home has a green roof and a solar thermal and solar photovoltaic array of panels.
It also has a commercial division that works with medium-to-large businesses. The company works on federal and state projects.
Urban Grid has opportunities to work on state and federal government projects as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which allocated funds for energy-efficient and renewable-energy projects.
The company is working on two state projects: the 14th Street Parking Garage and the Virginia Distribution Center in Sandston.
The 14th Street project includes solar panels on the top of the garage that will provide shading for cars while generating electricity for the garage. "It is expected to offset 100 percent of the parking deck's energy consumption," Crump said.
Another project included installing a vertical-axis wind turbine at Virginia Commonwealth University. "It will be interesting to measure and monitor the winds that pass through Richmond and help offset their electric costs," Crump said.
Urban Grid also works on privately funded projects. It recently installed solar panels on the three hangars at Million Air, a Henrico County-based air charter service.
Million Air's owner, Mark Cooke, found it was easy to work with Urban Grid on the project.
"They kept us updated daily," he said. "They are extremely professional."
Scott Elliff, president of DuCard Vineyards in Madison County, worked with Urban Grid in 2010 to install solar panels that provide electricity to run the vineyard's wine-tasting operation.
"We use the sun to ripen the grapes and also to power our operations," Elliff said. "I found Urban Grid to be very competent and responsive to everything we were doing."
"From an installation and equipment cost perspective, solar energy is less expensive now than it has been historically," he said. "Energy rates will increase. This allows for businesses to hedge against those rising costs."
The company is a Richmond-based renewable-energy development firm and a general and alternative energy systems contractor. It also provides solar financing and development, solar installations, energy monitoring and services in other renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar thermal hot water.
"As the business has evolved, the energy sector, especially solar, has outpaced anything we do," Crump said.
From 2010 to 2011, Urban Grid's revenue grew 200 percent. In 2012, the company will focus on developing energy projects in Richmond and Annapolis, Md., where it has a second sales office, Crump said.
"We'll also concentrate on the Northeast, where utility projects are the highest," Crump said. "There are a lot of energy incentives in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, which creates a lot more opportunity in Northern Virginia and the Beltway."
The company also is looking at opportunities in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
"We want to expand," Crump said.
Besides expanding its core business, the company recently started Urban Grid Mechanical. The company in Ashland works with businesses to identify strategies to lower energy consumption.
"We manage and control the consumption of energy in a building," Crump said of the new business.
When Crump started Urban Grid, he brought in partners Frank DePew, Greg Haley and Ken Gorvey.
"Our backgrounds complemented one another," Crump said, noting that he had worked in the green building industry. "Frank's background is in finance, Ken's is in accounting and Greg's is in large-scale commercial building."
The company mainly works with engineers and architects.
"We give them the tools to incorporate renewables into their projects," Crump said.
Urban Grid has a residential division.
"We are still doing a lot of green and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified building. We seek out projects that are a good fit for us," Crump said.
Urban Grid completed the first U.S. Green Building Council LEED gold-certified residential project in the Fan District in 2011. The Grove Avenue home has a green roof and a solar thermal and solar photovoltaic array of panels.
It also has a commercial division that works with medium-to-large businesses. The company works on federal and state projects.
Urban Grid has opportunities to work on state and federal government projects as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which allocated funds for energy-efficient and renewable-energy projects.
The company is working on two state projects: the 14th Street Parking Garage and the Virginia Distribution Center in Sandston.
The 14th Street project includes solar panels on the top of the garage that will provide shading for cars while generating electricity for the garage. "It is expected to offset 100 percent of the parking deck's energy consumption," Crump said.
Another project included installing a vertical-axis wind turbine at Virginia Commonwealth University. "It will be interesting to measure and monitor the winds that pass through Richmond and help offset their electric costs," Crump said.
Urban Grid also works on privately funded projects. It recently installed solar panels on the three hangars at Million Air, a Henrico County-based air charter service.
Million Air's owner, Mark Cooke, found it was easy to work with Urban Grid on the project.
"They kept us updated daily," he said. "They are extremely professional."
Scott Elliff, president of DuCard Vineyards in Madison County, worked with Urban Grid in 2010 to install solar panels that provide electricity to run the vineyard's wine-tasting operation.
"We use the sun to ripen the grapes and also to power our operations," Elliff said. "I found Urban Grid to be very competent and responsive to everything we were doing."
2011年12月25日星期日
Western Australia Solar Power Safety Report Questioned
An audit of a small number of home solar power systems in Western Australia carried out by EnergySafety has raised concerns about the prevalence of shoddy installation quality. However, none of the installations posed an immediate electric shock or fire hazard and the nature and timing of the report has been called into question.
EnergySafety, a state government department, is responsible for the technical and safety regulation of all Western Australia's electrical industry and most of the gas sector.
Of the 260 inspection checklists reviewed by the agency, 50% of solar power installations were found to be defect free. 50% presented at least one defect; ranging from infractions such as incorrect or no labeling through to issues including incorrect wiring of DC isolating devices.
12% of installations inspected were found to have incorrect DC isolator wiring - considered a Category 1 defect. DC isolators disconnect the solar panels from the solar inverter and isolate the modules from cabling.
11% of installations had a Category 2 defect, which includes failure to provide adequate mechanical protection to cables.
27% of solar installs were found to have a Category 3 defect; either having no labelling or incorrect labelling of components and/or incorrect/missing safety instructions and warnings.
In its report, EnergySafety said while none of the sub-standard installations posed an immediate electric shock or fire hazard, or was disconnected as a result of the inspections, the defects identified require rectification. Inspector's Orders that required the electrical contractors responsible to rectify the defects were issued in each case.
The report was welcomed but also strongly criticised by the Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (SEA).
"...For a report that was based on work commenced in June 2011 to be issued on the day before the Christmas break to offer advice that has alarmed customers about a potential but low probability risk to contact their supplier is alarmist and irresponsible," said Professor Ray Wills, SEA Chief Executive.
Of the installations with Category 1 defects, Professor Wills questioned the provenance of these systems.
"What was the nature of the 31 installations that were faulty? Was every one of these installations done by different installers, or was there a cluster of faults with one or several particular business?"
An earlier survey carried out by SEA with a far larger sample - 5,000 systems compared to EnergySafety's 260 - paints a very different picture, with 18% of systems likely defective according to the EnergySafety definitions of Category 1, 2 and 3 issues.
"Fewer than 2.1% are likely to be suffering a Category 1 defect reported at 12% by EnergySafety," said Professor Wills.
According to solar solutions provider Energy Matters' CEO Jeremy Rich, the results of the audit need further scrutiny.
"I encourage EnergySafety to engage with the SEA and the industry, and then perform a follow up study," said Mr. Rich.
"As far as I am aware, the audit process from which the inspection checklists were sourced is a probabilistic method, where newer installers or installers with recent defects are sampled at higher rates than established installers with low inspection defect rates. As such, the data is not going to be representative of the entire installation sample - it will always demonstrate higher defect rates due to the nature of the sampling."
Mr. Rich also pointed out Energy Matters and most other solar installation companies have internal quality control programs in addition to ORER /Western Power audits to prevent the types of issues reported occurring.
EnergySafety, a state government department, is responsible for the technical and safety regulation of all Western Australia's electrical industry and most of the gas sector.
Of the 260 inspection checklists reviewed by the agency, 50% of solar power installations were found to be defect free. 50% presented at least one defect; ranging from infractions such as incorrect or no labeling through to issues including incorrect wiring of DC isolating devices.
12% of installations inspected were found to have incorrect DC isolator wiring - considered a Category 1 defect. DC isolators disconnect the solar panels from the solar inverter and isolate the modules from cabling.
11% of installations had a Category 2 defect, which includes failure to provide adequate mechanical protection to cables.
27% of solar installs were found to have a Category 3 defect; either having no labelling or incorrect labelling of components and/or incorrect/missing safety instructions and warnings.
In its report, EnergySafety said while none of the sub-standard installations posed an immediate electric shock or fire hazard, or was disconnected as a result of the inspections, the defects identified require rectification. Inspector's Orders that required the electrical contractors responsible to rectify the defects were issued in each case.
The report was welcomed but also strongly criticised by the Sustainable Energy Association of Australia (SEA).
"...For a report that was based on work commenced in June 2011 to be issued on the day before the Christmas break to offer advice that has alarmed customers about a potential but low probability risk to contact their supplier is alarmist and irresponsible," said Professor Ray Wills, SEA Chief Executive.
Of the installations with Category 1 defects, Professor Wills questioned the provenance of these systems.
"What was the nature of the 31 installations that were faulty? Was every one of these installations done by different installers, or was there a cluster of faults with one or several particular business?"
An earlier survey carried out by SEA with a far larger sample - 5,000 systems compared to EnergySafety's 260 - paints a very different picture, with 18% of systems likely defective according to the EnergySafety definitions of Category 1, 2 and 3 issues.
"Fewer than 2.1% are likely to be suffering a Category 1 defect reported at 12% by EnergySafety," said Professor Wills.
According to solar solutions provider Energy Matters' CEO Jeremy Rich, the results of the audit need further scrutiny.
"I encourage EnergySafety to engage with the SEA and the industry, and then perform a follow up study," said Mr. Rich.
"As far as I am aware, the audit process from which the inspection checklists were sourced is a probabilistic method, where newer installers or installers with recent defects are sampled at higher rates than established installers with low inspection defect rates. As such, the data is not going to be representative of the entire installation sample - it will always demonstrate higher defect rates due to the nature of the sampling."
Mr. Rich also pointed out Energy Matters and most other solar installation companies have internal quality control programs in addition to ORER /Western Power audits to prevent the types of issues reported occurring.
2011年12月22日星期四
Plug pulled on Harlow Council's solar panel scheme
PLANS to fit solar panels to hundreds of council homes in Harlow will not see the light of day after the Government slashed funding for the project.
The Harlow Council-backed initiative was originally launched in July when the authority announced photovaltic panels would be fitted to 1,200 properties across the town.
All installation and maintenance costs over the 25-year life of the programme were to be met by Kier Harlow, which planned to recoup its outlay through the Government’s Feed In Tariff (FiT) scheme.
But the entire project has now ground to a halt after ministers announced plans to cut back FiT payments by 50 per cent – potentially leaving Kier out of pocket and hundreds of council tenants disappointed.
Council leader Andrew Johnson said the "unforeseen" funding reduction had left the authority no alternative but to shelve the programme less than half way through its first phase.
"Following the Government’s sudden proposed changes to subsidies, we have had to scale back the programme to 280 homes," he said. "We share our tenants’ disappointment.
"I hope the Government would consider allowing existing schemes to continue and I have lobbied our MP about this.
"In the meantime, the council and Kier Harlow are examining other ways in which we can help residents reduce their energy bills."
Harlow MP Robert Halfon said he had already raised the issue with energy minister Gregory Barker in the hope of securing additional funding to see the project through to completion.
He said: "As winter approaches we urgently need to help Harlow families and pensioners with the soaring cost of heating bills.
"I have met personally with the energy minister about this, urging the Government to finance these solar panels for our town. He is looking at this now.
"In the meantime there will be other measures to help, like the Green Deal, where Harlow households will be able to insulate their home for free.
"This will support at least 65,000 insulation and construction jobs by 2015"
But Labour group leader Mark Wilkinson said the Government had "badly let down" residents who had opted in to the scheme.
"I think it is important that this situation is put right," he said. "After bragging about helping everyone and helping to bring bills down the Government have pulled the plug overnight.
"A lot of residents were looking forward to cheaper utility bills which they will no longer receive.
"I would hope Mr Halfon will do all he can to turn this decision around and fight for the people of this town because his government has badly let down residents."
The Harlow Council-backed initiative was originally launched in July when the authority announced photovaltic panels would be fitted to 1,200 properties across the town.
All installation and maintenance costs over the 25-year life of the programme were to be met by Kier Harlow, which planned to recoup its outlay through the Government’s Feed In Tariff (FiT) scheme.
But the entire project has now ground to a halt after ministers announced plans to cut back FiT payments by 50 per cent – potentially leaving Kier out of pocket and hundreds of council tenants disappointed.
Council leader Andrew Johnson said the "unforeseen" funding reduction had left the authority no alternative but to shelve the programme less than half way through its first phase.
"Following the Government’s sudden proposed changes to subsidies, we have had to scale back the programme to 280 homes," he said. "We share our tenants’ disappointment.
"I hope the Government would consider allowing existing schemes to continue and I have lobbied our MP about this.
"In the meantime, the council and Kier Harlow are examining other ways in which we can help residents reduce their energy bills."
Harlow MP Robert Halfon said he had already raised the issue with energy minister Gregory Barker in the hope of securing additional funding to see the project through to completion.
He said: "As winter approaches we urgently need to help Harlow families and pensioners with the soaring cost of heating bills.
"I have met personally with the energy minister about this, urging the Government to finance these solar panels for our town. He is looking at this now.
"In the meantime there will be other measures to help, like the Green Deal, where Harlow households will be able to insulate their home for free.
"This will support at least 65,000 insulation and construction jobs by 2015"
But Labour group leader Mark Wilkinson said the Government had "badly let down" residents who had opted in to the scheme.
"I think it is important that this situation is put right," he said. "After bragging about helping everyone and helping to bring bills down the Government have pulled the plug overnight.
"A lot of residents were looking forward to cheaper utility bills which they will no longer receive.
"I would hope Mr Halfon will do all he can to turn this decision around and fight for the people of this town because his government has badly let down residents."
2011年12月21日星期三
Judge rules plan to cut solar power subsidies 'legally flawed'
Government plans to slash incentive payments for householders who install solar panels were ruled "legally flawed" by a high court judge on Wednesday. The ruling opens the door for a judicial review that could force the government to delay its plans, and let thousands more people claim the higher subsidy.
Friends of the Earth and two solar panel companies argued that the government's decision to cut the feed-in tariff – the amount paid to those with solar panels installed – with only a few weeks' notice was premature and unlawful, and had led to unfinished or planned projects being abandoned. The tariff was cut from 43.3p to 21p per kWh of energy generated.
Thousands of individuals, farmers, councils and community groups had applied to install photovoltaic panels. The subsidy was set high to encourage people to invest when the scheme was launched in April 2010. But the government announced in October that it would cut the subsidy from 12 December, arguing that the cost of solar equipment had fallen sharply. This was 11 days before the consultation ended.
The judgment, by Mr Justice Mitting after a two-day court hearing, was hailed as a victory by green campaigners and the solar industry, after firms warned that the scale and pace of the proposed cuts could cripple the sector and cost thousands of jobs.
Mitting said the minister was "proposing to make an unlawful decision".
Friends of the Earth's executive director, Andy Atkins, said: "These botched and illegal plans have cast a huge shadow over the solar industry, jeopardising thousands of jobs. We hope this ruling will prevent ministers rushing through damaging changes to clean energy subsidies – giving solar firms a much-needed confidence boost."
Lawyers for the Department of Energy and Climate Change are seeking permission to appeal against the judge's ruling.
It came as a report by MPs on two select committees said the cuts were clumsily handled and may have fatally damaged a growing industry which could provide tens of thousands of jobs.
By giving consumers and companies just a few weeks' notice that it intended to halve the payments, the government has created uncertainty among investors and undermined public confidence in energy policy, said the MPs. "There is no question that solar subsidies needed to be urgently reduced, but the government has handled this clumsily. Ministers should have spotted the solar gold rush much earlier. That way subsidy levels could have been reduced in a more orderly way without delivering such a shock to the industry," said Tim Yeo, chair of the energy and climate change committee.
In addition, plans to require homes to meet a C-rated energy efficiency standard before they can receive subsidies will limit access to wealthier households and could have a "fatal impact" on the industry, the MPs warn. Eighty six per cent of homes would need to be better insulated to qualify for the scheme – increasing up-front costs for homeowners by between 5,600 and 14,000, even before the panels are purchased, they said.
Joan Walley, chair of the environmental audit committee said: "It doesn't make economic sense to let the sun go down on the solar industry in the UK. As well as helping to cut carbon emissions, every panel that is installed brings in VAT for the government and every company that benefits from the support is keeping people in work. The Government is right to encourage people to focus on saving energy before fitting solar panels, but these proposals will stop nine out of ten installations from going ahead, which will have a devastating effect on hundreds of solar companies and small building firms installing these panels across the country."
Rising energy bills and the falling cost of solar panels made the original subsidy rates so attractive that tens of thousands of households, companies and community groups have rushed to install photovoltaic (PV) systems since the scheme was introduced last year.
The government had evidence that solar panel prices were falling significantly as early as March 2011, but ministers did not act to stem rocketing levels of small solar installations until the end of October.
The MPs say the consultation then announced by the government was based on an inadequate impact assessment and unfairly set a 12 December deadline for changes to come into effect before the consultation closed on 23 December.
The scale and pace of the changes proposed was a shock for the solar industry and the suddenness of their introduction has damaged investor confidence across the whole energy sector, the MPs said. The government has proposed an even lower tariff (80% of the new rate) for generators who have more than one solar system registered for FiTs, in recognition of the economics of scale such aggregated schemes can achieve. This, said the MPs, will have an adverse impact on community solar projects.
"This could have a disproportionate impact on disadvantaged and poorer communities for whom such schemes are a good way of accessing the benefits of renewable energy and reducing electricity costs. The social housing sector and community owned schemes are going to be particularly hard hit by the reduced tariffs being brought in by the Government retrospectively," said the MPs.
The MPs' report and court ruling follows the decision by BP to close its solar division, blaming the "commoditisation" of the sector. It emerged this week that Mike Petrucci, chief executive of BP Solar, wrote to his remaining 100 staff last week to say that "the continuing global economic challenges have significantly impacted the solar industry, making it difficult to sustain long-term returns for the company."
Friends of the Earth and two solar panel companies argued that the government's decision to cut the feed-in tariff – the amount paid to those with solar panels installed – with only a few weeks' notice was premature and unlawful, and had led to unfinished or planned projects being abandoned. The tariff was cut from 43.3p to 21p per kWh of energy generated.
Thousands of individuals, farmers, councils and community groups had applied to install photovoltaic panels. The subsidy was set high to encourage people to invest when the scheme was launched in April 2010. But the government announced in October that it would cut the subsidy from 12 December, arguing that the cost of solar equipment had fallen sharply. This was 11 days before the consultation ended.
The judgment, by Mr Justice Mitting after a two-day court hearing, was hailed as a victory by green campaigners and the solar industry, after firms warned that the scale and pace of the proposed cuts could cripple the sector and cost thousands of jobs.
Mitting said the minister was "proposing to make an unlawful decision".
Friends of the Earth's executive director, Andy Atkins, said: "These botched and illegal plans have cast a huge shadow over the solar industry, jeopardising thousands of jobs. We hope this ruling will prevent ministers rushing through damaging changes to clean energy subsidies – giving solar firms a much-needed confidence boost."
Lawyers for the Department of Energy and Climate Change are seeking permission to appeal against the judge's ruling.
It came as a report by MPs on two select committees said the cuts were clumsily handled and may have fatally damaged a growing industry which could provide tens of thousands of jobs.
By giving consumers and companies just a few weeks' notice that it intended to halve the payments, the government has created uncertainty among investors and undermined public confidence in energy policy, said the MPs. "There is no question that solar subsidies needed to be urgently reduced, but the government has handled this clumsily. Ministers should have spotted the solar gold rush much earlier. That way subsidy levels could have been reduced in a more orderly way without delivering such a shock to the industry," said Tim Yeo, chair of the energy and climate change committee.
In addition, plans to require homes to meet a C-rated energy efficiency standard before they can receive subsidies will limit access to wealthier households and could have a "fatal impact" on the industry, the MPs warn. Eighty six per cent of homes would need to be better insulated to qualify for the scheme – increasing up-front costs for homeowners by between 5,600 and 14,000, even before the panels are purchased, they said.
Joan Walley, chair of the environmental audit committee said: "It doesn't make economic sense to let the sun go down on the solar industry in the UK. As well as helping to cut carbon emissions, every panel that is installed brings in VAT for the government and every company that benefits from the support is keeping people in work. The Government is right to encourage people to focus on saving energy before fitting solar panels, but these proposals will stop nine out of ten installations from going ahead, which will have a devastating effect on hundreds of solar companies and small building firms installing these panels across the country."
Rising energy bills and the falling cost of solar panels made the original subsidy rates so attractive that tens of thousands of households, companies and community groups have rushed to install photovoltaic (PV) systems since the scheme was introduced last year.
The government had evidence that solar panel prices were falling significantly as early as March 2011, but ministers did not act to stem rocketing levels of small solar installations until the end of October.
The MPs say the consultation then announced by the government was based on an inadequate impact assessment and unfairly set a 12 December deadline for changes to come into effect before the consultation closed on 23 December.
The scale and pace of the changes proposed was a shock for the solar industry and the suddenness of their introduction has damaged investor confidence across the whole energy sector, the MPs said. The government has proposed an even lower tariff (80% of the new rate) for generators who have more than one solar system registered for FiTs, in recognition of the economics of scale such aggregated schemes can achieve. This, said the MPs, will have an adverse impact on community solar projects.
"This could have a disproportionate impact on disadvantaged and poorer communities for whom such schemes are a good way of accessing the benefits of renewable energy and reducing electricity costs. The social housing sector and community owned schemes are going to be particularly hard hit by the reduced tariffs being brought in by the Government retrospectively," said the MPs.
The MPs' report and court ruling follows the decision by BP to close its solar division, blaming the "commoditisation" of the sector. It emerged this week that Mike Petrucci, chief executive of BP Solar, wrote to his remaining 100 staff last week to say that "the continuing global economic challenges have significantly impacted the solar industry, making it difficult to sustain long-term returns for the company."
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