Solar Newsletter
August 31, 2007
Policy
Development
Nuclear survey shows
strong perception for solar
WASHINGTON, DC,
USA, July 25, 2007. More Americans think solar will be a source of electricity in 2022
than think wind power will be.
U.S. solar group wants
to develop method for calculating PV capacity
WASHINGTON, DC,
USA, September 5, 2007. A solar industry group in the United States wants to develop a
statistical methodology for calculating the capacity of PV.
California report recommends
cessation of incentives for solar PV capacity
SACRAMENTO, California,
USA, August 15, 2007. The state of California
should stop paying incentives for solar systems based on the capacity of PV
panels, recommends a staff report prepared for the California Energy
Commission.
NORTH AMERICA
INCREASES CAPACITY OF RENEWABLES TO OFFSET OIL IMPORTS
PALO ALTO, California, USA, September 5, 2007 (Refocus
Weekly). The market for renewable energy in North
America was US$17.4 billion last year and is likely to be $24.6
billion by 2010, according to Frost & Sullivan.
RENEWABLE ENERGIES TO COST $15 BILLION
IN CANADIAN PROVINCE
TORONTO, Ontario, Canada, September 5, 2007
(Refocus Weekly). Almost half of the electricity supply in Canada's
largest province will be provided by renewables and conservation by 2025,
according to a submission filed with provincial regulators.
The renewable energy market is experiencing significant
and sustained growth that few industries in our economy have endured. For more
than 10 years, the solar industry has grown at or above 20 %, and wind energy has experienced a similar growth pattern in
national and global markets, with anticipated production of 90 gigawatts in
2007.
House Energy Bill: A
Portfolio of Benefits for Clean Energy
While the national media focused mostly on the
Renewable Energy Standard (RES) approved by the U.S. House of Representatives
this past weekend, there are many more pieces to the entire energy package that
have important implications for clean energy.
NanoMarkets: Thin-Film
PV Market to Reach $7.2 Billion by 2015
The global thin-film photovoltaics (TFPV) market is
forecast to reach $7.2 billion by 2015, compared to just over $1.0 billion
today, according to a new report from NanoMarkets LC, an industry analyst firm
based in Virginia.
The clean energy sector, which Governor Deval Patrick
has identified as a key emerging industry for Massachusetts, is about to overtake textiles
as the 10th largest in the Commonwealth, according to a "census" of
the clean energy cluster released today
What Solar Power Needs Now
Solar photovolaics (PV) have undergone a remarkable
evolution, really a transformation, since the beginning of the industry in the
1960s.
North American
Renewables Market to Reach $24.6 Billion in 2010
A new analysis released by Frost & Sullivan,
"North American Renewable Energy Market: Investment Analysis & Growth
Opportunities," reveals that revenues in the U.S. and Canadian renewable
emergy markets totaled $17.37 billion in 2006, and are likely to reach $24.6
billion in 2010.
Forecast for Solar Power: Sunny
Solar power has long been the Mercedes-Benz of the
renewable energy industry: sleek, quiet, low-maintenance. Yet like a Mercedes,
solar energy is universally adored but prohibitively expensive for most people.
A 4 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system costs about $34,000 without government
rebates or tax breaks. As a result, solar power accounts for well under 1% of U.S.
electricity generation. Other alternative energy sources, such as wind, biomass
and geothermal, are far more widely deployed. The outlook for solar, though, is
getting much brighter.
Municipal
Development
U.S. selects 13
inaugural solar cities
WASHINGTON, DC,
USA, July 25, 2007. The U.S. Department of Energy has named 13 cities as inaugural ‘Solar
America Cities’ for their high commitment to the adoption of solar technology
at local level.
Australia selects
fifth 'solar city'
CANBERRA, Australia, July 25, 2007. Central Victoria will receive Aus$15
million to promote the use of solar energy among its residents.
Pinn Brothers Fine
Homes to Standardize Solar, Beginning with 455 Homes in Brentwood
Pinn Brothers Fine Homes, an innovative Northern California homebuilder, today announced that it
is adopting an aggressive regional strategy to standardize solar energy into
its building practices. The first community where these solar electric systems
will be featured is in the City of Brentwood,
where Pinn Brothers has started construction on 455 single family homes.
Financing
GE Helps Homeowners
Afford Solar with Nationwide Financing
GE Money's Sales Finance unit and the Electric &
Gas Industries Association (EGIA) will provide revolving and installment
consumer financing of residential solar systems through EGIA's GEOSmart
Sustainable Financing Solutions loan program.
New Financing Options
for Akeena Solar Customers
Comerica Bank, one of the country's largest financial
institutions, is offering a new financing program for customers of Akeena Solar
who want to invest in solar systems.
Solar Stocks Plummet
in Market Turmoil
As the old saying goes, "A rising tide raises ALL
boats." Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. Over the last month or
so, the increasing tide of market volatility as been heading out with dramatic
speed and the vast majority of stocks, as well as solar stocks are being swept
down with the flow.
groSolar introduces
special pricing for solar energy in New York
groSolar, a leading
national solar energy company, announced today a breakthrough financing program
that will allow New Yorkers to bring solar energy to their homes for a nominal
increase to their daily utility cost. Under the plan, New Yorkers can buy a
solar electric energy system for their home for as little as 50 cents per day
more than their current utility power supply. This program is a groSolar
exclusive which will enable homeowners to reduce peak load demand, reduce
dependence on conventionally generated electricity, and expand the renewable
generation market.
Utilities
U.S.
utility to buy 553 MW of solar power
SAN FRANCISCO, California, USA, August
1, 2007. A California utility will buy green power for
400,000 homes from a major solar park in the Mojave Desert.
Utilities Engage Solar Electricity
Utilities are engaging solar
electricity in increasing numbers across the country, ranging from small
municipal solar projects at local schools to large utility scale solar power
plants. Utilities are using solar programs and projects to improve customer
satisfaction, grid reliability, and relationships with regulators, as well as
to reduce their impact on the environment. This article will discuss renewable
portfolio standards, customer satisfaction, a case study, and
solar program options tool, See full story.
Solar Industry News
Swiss Thin-Film Solar Module
Production Line Heads East
Oerlikon
Solar signed a contract with Taiwan's
CMC Magnetics Corp. (CMC) for the supply of a 40 megawatt-peak (MWp) thin-film
solar cell production plant, marking Oerlikon Solar's first order in the
Asia-Pacific region.
Sharp to Develop 1 GW Manufacturing
Facility
Sharp
Corporation has announced plans to develop a new manufacturing plant that will
house the company's production line for both Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
panels and thin film solar cells.
SCHOTT
& WACKER Join Forces on Silicon Wafer Production
SCHOTT Solar,
a subsidiary of the worldwide SCHOTT group, and WACKER Chemie AG today signed
an agreement to set up two joint ventures to produce and market silicon wafers
for solar applications. Solar-wafer production capacity is set to expand in
stages, reaching about one gigawatt/year by 2012.
GT Solar Signs $171 M Deal with Chinese Solar Manufacturer
GT Solar
Inc., one of the major providers of manufacturing equipment and turnkey
manufacturing solutions to the photovoltaic (PV) industry, announced yesterday
that it has signed a $171 million contract with Glory Silicon Energy Co., Ltd.,
of JiangSu, China for GT's
new DSS450 furnaces for the production of multi-crystalline silicon ingots.
GT Solar to Equip One of Largest
Solar Wafer Factories in World
Merrimack, NH
(USA), July 31, 2007 - GT Solar Incorporated, one of the major providers of
manufacturing equipment and turnkey manufacturing solutions to the photovoltaic
(PV) industry, announced today that it has signed a $171 million dollar
contract with Glory Silicon Energy Co., Ltd., of JiangSu, China for GT's new
and more efficient DSS450 furnaces for the production of multi-crystalline
silicon ingots. The contract is the largest single DSS furnace contract in GT Solar's
history and will include deliveries over the next two years. The order will
equip what is projected to be one of the largest wafer factories in the world –
about 1500MW annually.
SPX Awarded $40 M Contract for
Silicon Growing Equipment
SPX
Corporation announced that its Kayex business was awarded a contract to design
and manufacture state-of-the-art crystal growing equipment to support the rapid
growth of the silicon-based solar energy market. The $40 million contract is
with the Norwegian company, NorSun
AS, a producer of mono
crystalline ingots and wafers for the international solar industry.
SolarWorld Group again reports
double digit growth in second quarter / EBIT climbs by 32 percent to $68
million
In the second
quarter of 2007, the German-American solar technology company SolarWorld Group
increased sales and earnings in the double digit range. Group sales rose to
$247 (previous year: $138.5) million in the second quarter and to $428.6
(previous year: $252.3) million in the first half of the year. Earnings before
interest and tax (EBIT) went up by 32 percent to $67.9 (previous year: $51.5)
million from April through June and to $115.9 (previous year: $88.2) million in
the first half of the year.
SunEdison Acquires Island Energy
Solutions Inc.
SunEdison,
North America's largest solar energy services provider, announced today it has
acquired Island Energy Solutions, Inc. Island Energy, both an electrical
contracting and energy company, has been a pioneer for renewable energy systems
in the Hawaiian Islands, recognized for the quality of their installations.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Kyocera Offers Pre-Packaged Solar
Solutions
Kyocera
Solar, Inc. and TESSCO Technologies Inc., yesterday
announced the launch of a new web-based selection method for purchasing
pre-sized Kyocera solar power systems for broadband and SCADA (Supervisory
Control and Data Acquisition) applications.
WorldWater Sends Solar-Powered Water
Purification Units to Sudan
WorldWater
& Solar Technologies Corp., announced that the
company has received an order to produce 10 Mobile MaxPure™ units for use in Darfur, Sudan.
The proprietary portable solar driven water pumping and purifying units,
purchased for an aggregate of $775,000, will provide approximately 30,000
gallons of safe drinking water daily at each of 10 sites across the ravaged
desert region.
SunPower Signs NorSun Ingot, Wafer
& Polysilicon Agreements
SunPower
Corp., a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer of high-efficiency solar cells,
solar panels and solar systems, yesterday announced that it has signed two
agreements with NorSun AS to support its solar cell manufacturing
expansion plans.
Showa Shell to Invest $127 M in
Solar Cell Output
Showa Shell
Sekiyu KK , Japan's fifth-biggest oil refiner,
said on Wednesday it would invest about 15 billion yen ($127 million) to
quadruple output of solar batteries that do not use costly silicon. The company
will build a second solar cell plant in Miyazaki Prefecture,
western Japan,
with annual capacity of 60 megawatts, with operations scheduled to start in the
first half of 2009. Solar power companies have been boosting output globally to
meet strong demand for renewable energy.
Mitsubishi Electric Introduces New
UD5 Series of Photovoltaic Modules
CYPRESS, Calif., August 14, 2007 -
Mitsubishi Electric, one of the world's largest manufacturers and providers
of solar power technology, has introduced its new UD5 series of 100%
lead-free solder PV modules. The UD5 series includes four of the most
in-demand power outputs, with new engineering for optimal efficiency and
reliability.
REC Developing PV Power Plant in
South Korea
Through its
REC Solar division and its 60 percent owned subsidiary HanBit Solar Co. Ltd.,
REC announced yesterday the company has entered into an agreement with Daegu
City in South Korea to build and own a 2.5 megawatt (MW) solar power plant,
which will produce some 3 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean energy per
year.
Carmanah Receives $500,000 Order for
Solar LED Bus Shelter Lighting in London, England
Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada - Tuesday, August 28, 2007 - Carmanah Technologies
Corporation (TSX: CMH) is pleased to announce that it's United Kingdom office
has received a $500,000 purchase order from Trueform Engineering Ltd for solar
powered bus-shelter lighting systems to be installed on Transport for London
bus shelters in London, England. Carmanah currently has hundreds of these
"green" solar-powered lighting systems installed on bus shelters
throughout the city, where they have proven to be an efficient, cost-effective
and reliable lighting solution.
New Projects
Solar Power On The Roof Of The World
by Krannich Solar & Mountain Spirit DE
Mountain
Spirit Deutschland e.V. is an aid organization that helps people and villages
in Nepal
to implement projects to improve living conditions there. Aid is based on the
"self-help" principle. This means that local people are actively
involved in planning and executing each of the projects. After intensive
training, they also assume responsibility for maintenance and care of the
equipment, of course, with continued support. Steffen Gohl, head of marketing
at Krannich Solar, first heard about Mountain Spirit in a radio interview on
the south-west radio channel SWR 1 "Leute" (people). He immediately
contacted the organization. This was the start of an exciting cooperation and
the realization of an ambitious project.
The U.S. General Services
Administration (GSA) Announces Denver Federal Center To Build Solar Park
The U.S.
General Services Administration (GSA) Rocky Mountain Region awarded a $6.9M
contract on May 29, 2007
to SunEdison for the design and construction of a solar park at the Denver
Federal Center (DFC). The park will consist of photovoltaic arrays located on a
six-acre site adjacent to 6th
Avenue in Lakewood,
Colorado. Construction is
expected to start during late summer/early fall of 2007, with electric
generation beginning mid-December 2007.
SolarCraft Completes Solar PV System
at Ballentine Vineyards
Novato-based
SolarCraft announced today that they completed design & installation of a 87 kW solar electric system for Ballentine Vineyards in St. Helena, CA.
The project integrates both the winery building/tasting room and barrel storage
on the property - now powered by the sun.
SolarCraft Completes Cal Avenue
Partners Solar System
Novato-based
SolarCraft announced today that they completed installation and commissioned a
261 kW solar electric system for Cal Avenue Partners in Corona, CA.
The SolarCraft PV system will provide enormous savings for their 85,000 sq. foot
building.
Toronto Fire Hall "Goes
Green" with Carmanah Grid Tie Solar Power System
As part of a
pilot energy-conservation project, a fire hall in heart of downtown Toronto has installed a
rooftop grid tie solar power system from Carmanah. Carmanah's Solar Power
Systems Group received the order for the solar power system from MCW Custom
Energy Solutions Ltd., a Canadian Energy Services Company (ESCO) specializing
in sustainable building design.
Carmanah Solar Electric System Helps
Monitor Natural Gas Pipeline
A Carmanah
solar electric system is helping a US energy services company track
conditions along its natural-gas pipeline. Located far from a convenient
source of grid-based electrical power, the pipeline needed a power source to
run its monitoring and communications equipment. To ensure a reliable supply of
high-quality power, the energy services firm worked with a local electrical
distributor to install a stand-alone solar electric power system from Carmanah
Technologies Corporation. The pre-packaged Off-Grid Solar Power System used for
this project is a 330-watt fully integrated solar electric system including
wiring, battery, equipment enclosure and solar array.
New Technology
From 40.7 to 42.8 % Solar Cell
Efficiency
Using a novel
technology that adds multiple innovations to a very high-performance
crystalline silicon solar cell platform, a consortium led by the University of
Delaware (UD) has achieved a record-breaking combined solar cell efficiency of
42.8 perc ...
Unique Quantum Effect Found in
Silicon Nanocrystals
Researchers
at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL),
collaborating with Innovalight, Inc., have shown that a new and important
effect called Multiple Exciton Generation (MEG) occurs efficiently in silicon
nanocrystals. MEG results in the formation of more than one electron per
absorbed photon.
Thinking Pink to Produce 'Green'
Solar Energy
When it comes
to producing earth-friendly solar energy, pink may be the new green, according
to Ohio State University
researchers. Scientists there have developed new dye-sensitized solar cells
(DSSCs) that get their pink color from a mixture of red dye and white metal
oxide powder in materials that capture light.
When Will Organic Photovoltaics be
Viable?
The benefits
of non-silicon photovoltaic materials are many and varied. Some are
transparent, permitting the face of a wristwatch to generate power, the power
source having zero footprints. Some, such as Dye Sensitised Solar Cells printed
by G24i in the UK,
generate electricity at narrow angles of incidence and even with polarised eg
reflected light. DSSC designs can use light of all visible frequencies, not
just sunlight. G24i's initial target markets for its DSSC product include
mobile phone chargers, particularly in the developing world.
Organic Solar Cell Breaks Conversion
Record
Plextronics,
Inc. announced yesterday that its organic photovoltaic technology achieved a
world record in the conversion of solar light to power efficiency. The
company's result of 5.4 percent establishes a new world record for single layer
organic solar cells as certified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL), in Golden, Colorado.
Thin Film's Time in the Sun
The low
manufacturing cost of photovoltaics that employ thin films of cadmium-telluride
semiconductor have long been seen as having the potential for lifting solar
power from its niche status as a very expensive power source, delivering less
than a twentieth of 1 percent of U.S. electricity. Now, after two decades in
which cadmium-telluride technology was dogged by low power output and
reliability problems, it's suddenly elbowing its way into renewable-energy markets
and competing with today's dominant solar technology: silicon solar panels.
Solar Cells with 'Metal Wrap
Through' Technology Achieve 16% Efficiency
In their
prototype production line, scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar
Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) have successfully completed a multi-crystalline
solar cell with rear side contacts. The Freiburg,
Germany-based researchers will be presenting their findings in September at the
22nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition, September
3-7, in Milan, Italy.
Nanoparticles Boost Solar Cell
Efficiency by 60%
Octillion
Corp. has announced that a published research study has demonstrated that the
same silicon nanoparticles used in development of the company's
first-of-its-kind transparent glass window capable of generating electricity,
are able to drastically increase the power performance of conventional silicon
solar cells.
Featured Events
Solar
Power 2007
In just 4
years of existence, the Solar Power Conference and Expo has grown into the only
US
solar event considered "a must" for domestic and global industry and
market participants. Solar Power 2007 features over 175 exhibitors, 125
speakers, networking opportunities galore, and an anticipated 10,000 visitors!
Start date: September 24, 2007
End
date: September
27, 2007 Location: Long Beach, CA
