A Bright Idea for Solar Energy

The world is warming, and the days of cheap oil are gone. Those are facts, laid out by scientists, economists and others who make it their business to study these things, not just dabble in them.

Politicians who would let us go the way of the dinosaurs can ignore them. Most of us would prefer to see our government leaders, including those in New York, use the higher brain functions that ought to separate us from more helpless species and plan for tomorrow.

That means ramping up the use of renewable energy sources that don’t add to global warming. New York should seriously consider a proposal to do just that with solar energy.

New York should follow the lead of most surrounding states and set a goal of increasing the amount of energy it produces from the sun in coming years.

Not an impossible goal, but not a meek one, either. New Jersey — much smaller and with less than half the population of New York, has a goal of 5,000 megawatts by 2026. New York should strive for no less.

Where would the money come from?

There’s the rub. Just about all of us. And that is how it should be.

We all ought to play a part in preparing our state, our nation, and really, this planet, for a time when the resources we’ve been happily burning up won’t be so abundant. For a typical New York home, helping meet this goal would cost all of 39 cents a month through 2025.

That’s a pretty cheap down payment on the future.

The plan envisioned by ACENY, a coalition of renewable energy, environmental and labor groups, would create a solar credit trading system. The credits would represent megawatts of power produced by things like solar array farms and rooftop systems. Utilities would purchase the solar energy, which, to be sure, is costlier now than the most power on the grid today. But that’s expected to change as fossil fuel energy costs rise and solar technology improves.

This is not just a feel-good idea, but one that could help New York in several ways.

Adding 5,000 megawatts would relieve some of the stress on the grid during peak demand, when the state’s consumption can approach 34,000 megawatts. Solar power sources, scattered around the state rather than limited to a few large plants, could relieve local demand and reduce bottlenecks and brownouts that occur when power can’t move across long distances on the grid quickly enough.

It would also mean jobs. Solar systems require local labor. Increased demand for solar systems could also further the state’s effort to expand its technology research and manufacturing sectors.

Five years ago, the Arbor Day Foundation noticed that the weather was getting warmer and that climate data confirmed it. The changes were so great that the foundation published new maps with revised tree hardiness zones.

Yet it took the federal government another half a decade to do the same thing with planting maps.

We can’t keep moving like a brontosaurus in a tar pit.

SOURCE: http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion/a-bright-idea-%E2%80%A8for-solar-energy/17630/

ESA Renewables, LLC Expands Operation and Maintenance Division

After receiving several new operation and maintenance contracts, turnkey solar solutions provider increases service division in North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida. 

Lake Mary, Fl., February 16, 2012 - ESA Renewables (ESA), a leading turnkey solar solutions provider, today announced the expansion of its personnel for its Operation and Maintenance (O&M) service division and the release of its detailed O&M Service Plan. 

After securing multiple new O&M contracts, ESA experienced tremendous growth within the last few months.  As a result, ESA was able to hire around 10 new local employees in several communities in North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida.  Additionally, ESA is projecting significant, continued growth throughout this year and into the next.  

 “Growing and expanding in today's global market place is very exciting for all of us at ESA," says Jeffrey Burkett, President of ESA Renewables.  "We are able to put people to work, help bring sustainability to the environment, and share our renewable energy knowledge to the local communities. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

Setting themselves apart from other O&M companies, ESA has implemented an O&M Service Plan which benefits future customers.  This detailed Service Plan not only details the basic operation and maintenance functions performed to ensure maximum energy production from a solar farm, but also includes several new features.  

O&M customers will now have the ability to participate in ESA's Power Production Guarantee Program and have access to a newly released Monitoring System module which tracks cost centers, projects future costs associated with operations and maintenance issues of the renewable energy power plant, the hours the technicians are working, miles driven, additional work expenses, work orders, corrective reports, warehouse material management or inventory reporting, and it has an annual calendar to assign tasks. 

"As part of our new O&M Service Plan, our system managers and maintenance personnel have been certified to service inverters of selected manufacturers," added Burkett.  “This, Combined with our advanced and reliable Monitoring System and our new Power Production Guarantee Program, ESA and its staff are able to provide outstanding service and give assurance of maximum energy production to asset managers."

About ESA Renewables, LLC:

ESA Renewables has positioned itself as a leader in the industry providing turnkey solar PV systems globally. ESA owns and operates a diverse portfolio of over 475 solar PV power generating facilities located in the United States, Puerto Rico, Spain and Italy. ESA’s scope of services includes financing, engineering, construction, testing and operation and maintenance. With headquarters in Castellon Spain, ESA has additional offices in Florida, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, France and Italy. For more information about ESA Renewables, LLC, please visit http://www.esarenewables.com or call 407-268-6455.

Staunton Solar Firm Faced Utility Challenge

When Washington and Lee University flipped the switch on the second of its two solar arrays late last month, renewable energy advocates in the Commonwealth celebrated.

Tony Smith, president and CEO of Secure Futures LLC in Staunton

The 450-kilowatt solar installation is the largest in the state and converts sunlight into about 3 percent of the university's energy needs, the equivalent of powering 44 area homes.

The project, with more than 1,500 photovoltaic panels, is so popular that Lexington City Council unanimously passed a 20-year tax exemption on solar equipment to make the project more economically feasible. University officials consider it vital for recruiting new students and meeting sustainability goals.

It seemed like a win-win for everyone involved, including the Staunton-based firm, Secure Futures, that put together a complex deal for project, anchored by a power-purchase agreement to sell the energy to the university for the next 20 years at a fixed rate.

But as the project neared completion, Secure Futures received cease and desist letters from Dominion Virginia Power demanding the project be halted. According to the power company's interpretation of state regulatory rules, the project was illegal.

"A project like the one at Washington and Lee University cannot happen going forward," said CEO of Secure Futures Tony Smith.

"(This) is new territory. We didn't really want to stop the project, we just wanted to stop the arrangement," said Dianne Corsello, manager of customer solutions for Dominion. "That particular arrangement does not comply with the law."

Because electricity providers are regulated by the Virginia State Corporation Commission, they are given exclusive rights to supply power in their territories. There is an exception for third-party power suppliers like Secure Futures if they can provide 100 percent renewable energy, but what exactly that means is unclear.

Dominion argues that third-party suppliers must provide enough renewable energy to meet all of a customer's energy needs to meet the exemption requirements. Secure Futures' interpretation is that all the energy provided by the third party supplier must come from a renewable source, even if the customer uses other sources of energy.

"Dominion argued that the arrangement between Secure Futures and Washington and Lee did not provide for 100 percent of their energy needs," said Ken Schrad, spokesman for the State Corporation Commission.

"This case was not just about code, it's about the language of the tariffs. We never got to the point of deciding whether their interpretation of the language was correct because the petition went away," he said.

Secure Futures, facing legal costs of up to a quarter of a million dollars, decided not to challenge Dominion's interpretation through the commission.

To avoid litigation, Secure Futures and Washington and Lee instead changed the terms of their agreement from a power-purchase agreement, in which Secure Futures sells the power to the university, to a rental equipment agreement in which the university rents the equipment and generates their own power.

But this arrangement will likely dampen third-party investors' enthusiasm for renewable energy projects going forward. Without a power-purchase agreement, third parties will not qualify for federal tax incentives that make the projects financially viable, especially for nonprofit institutions like universities that don't qualify for the tax credits themselves.

Secure Futures has already had to put projects on hold, including a 2 1/2 megawatt project that will have generated more than five times the power as the Washington and Lee installation, Smith said.

"What it translates to is we won't have the benefit of private investment in renewable energy if we can't get this tax credit (through power-purchase agreements)," Smith said.

One Virginia lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow power-purchase agreements in the state. Delegate Terry Kilgore, R- Gate City, has introduced House Bill 129, which will make Virginia the 21st state to allow power-purchase agreements.

"It's our number one legislative priority," said Ken Hutcheson of the Virginia Alternative and Renewable Energy Association, which counts Dominion among its member organizations. "It's really about helping those that want these systems to be able to finance them. Federal tax money is going to these other states (that allow power-purchase agreements) and we think using tax money collected from Virginians to finance projects here in Virginia is just good policy."

HB129 passed the House Special Subcommittee on Energy on Thursday by a unanimous vote and is expected to be debated in the House Labor and Commerce Committee next week.

"I certainly think there is a good shot that 129 will get out of full committee," Hutcheson said.

From there it would need the support of both houses and have to be signed by the Governor to become law, a prospect diminished by Dominion and others' opposition to the bill.

"We're certainly willing to talk to (third-party energy suppliers) and try to work out a solution," said Dominion spokesman Dan Genest. "We don't believe the solution is House Bill 129, however."

SOURCE: http://www.newsleader.com/article/20120129/NEWS01/201290342

Solar Deal Challenges Georgia Power

Dr. Sidney Smith has long promoted solar power.

His Tybee home was the first Georgia residence to hook to the grid. His Georgia Skin and Cancer Clinic on the southside was the first commercial building to do so. Along with a business partner and friend, Dr. Pat Godbey of Brunswick, he started the state’s first solar farm in Bulloch County.

Dr. Sidney Smith’s latest solar venture is

supplying power to Driftaway Café.

Now he’s taking his solar into uncharted territory. On Wednesday, he announced a deal he’d cut with the owners of the Driftaway Cafe on Skidaway Road.

The doctors’ newly formed company, Lower Rates for Customers LLC, bought and installed a pole-mounted solar array in the cafe’s parking lot. It’s expected to produce about 10 percent of the restaurant’s electricity. Cafe owners and operators Michele and Robyn Quattlebaum have agreed to buy that electricity from Smith’s company for 1 percent less than Georgia Power’s rate.

And Smith is waiting to receive a cease-and-desist letter from Georgia Power.

“This is a test case for generating power and selling it on private land,” Smith said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the cafe Wednesday. “Georgia Power doesn’t think we can do that.”

Georgia’s Territorial Electric Service Act regulates who can provide power and where. Smith holds it shouldn’t apply to power generated on private property for use at that property.

“We put the solar system on private land,” Smith said. “We’re selling power to a private individual. Our system is not connected to Georgia Power at all. The power right here never gets to the grid. This goes right into his breaker panel. When he’s pulling power he pulls ours first.”

Attorney Steve O’Day, who represents Smith, said what the doctor is doing is a first in Georgia but is commonplace elsewhere in the country.

“A company has money and wants to make an investment and comes in and builds solar on a rooftop, say of a Walmart,” he said. “It sells that electricity to Walmart through a power purchase agreement. But, so far, the utilities in Georgia have been able to stonewall it from happening here.”

Georgia Power spokeswoman Lynn Wallace first said Smith’s new arrangement sounded like it violated the Territorial Act. But then she hedged, saying the company needs more details.

“We are in favor of what’s in the best interest of all our customers,” Wallace said. “Thus far we’ve not seen the specifics of Dr. Smith’s plan. We welcome the opportunity to discuss it further with him.”

Smith anticipates a fight, even naming the company with a lawsuit in mind.

“Just in case I get sued by Georgia Power it’d be Georgia Power vs. Lower Rates for Customers,” he said.

SOURCE: http://savannahnow.com/exchange/2012-01-29/solar-deal-challenges-georgia-power#.Tyhr6PlQE4k

Sonoma County Embraces Solar Power

You might not realize it on a foggy winter morning, but Sonoma County cities are really soaking in the sun.

Westcoast Solar Energy worker Sam Epperson finishes his day

after installing a solar array on the roof of Merry Edwards Winery

A new study shows the county has one of the highest concentrations of solar energy users in the state.

Santa Rosa alone generates more solar power than all but eight of the more than 700 communities across the state studied by Environment California, an environmental advocacy group.

Though just the 26th largest city in California by population, Santa Rosa's 14 megawatts of capacity place it in front of such larger locales as Anaheim, Riverside, Long Beach and Oakland.

And Santa Rosa isn't alone. The entire region has a remarkably high concentration of solar energy units, a reflection of a renewable energy ethos ingrained deep within its residents, according to those in the solar industry.

“They're greener,” said Linda Tolliver, sales manager at Solar Works in Sebastopol, which has been in business for 26 years.

As well, the county's solar market has received a big boost from concerted public and private efforts, most prominently a groundbreaking way to finance projects.

The Sonoma County Energy Independence Program, the first such countywide program in the nation, has financed $54 million worth of solar and other energy-saving projects in less than three years.

The program, which allows homeowners to place the debt for such projects on their property tax bills, is widely credited for providing a new means of paying for solar systems, which can easily exceed $20,000 in upfront costs. But in recent months new rules have dramatically slowed the program's solar projects, and many homeowners instead are turning to a new approach: leasing rather than buying solar systems.

Despite the program's recent slowdown in new installations, the state's solar market is growing at a pace of up to 40 percent annually, according to Environment California.

“What were finding now is solar is really taking hold all across the state,” said spokeswoman Michelle Kinman.

In the report, Sebastopol ranked first for the number of solar installations in towns of less than 10,000.

Sonoma ranked first in per capita capacity for cities between 10,000 and 50,000. Healdsburg ranked fourth.

For cities above 50,000, Petaluma ranked fifth in terms of per capita solar capacity.

Santa Rosa ranked 10th in that category. The city has solar installations on nearly 1,500 homes, businesses and government buildings.

Solar installers credit local groups like Solar Sebastopol, the precursor to the nonprofit Solar Sonoma County, for helping promote solar's benefits as a viable way of cutting energy bills.

Homeowners still need to determine that the system's size and financing are right for their needs, but they don't question whether solar will provide reliable, clean energy, said Jeff Mathias, co-owner and chief financial officer for Synergy Solar in Sebastopol.

“You don't have to sell solar,” Mathias said.

Business people also have seen the benefits, especially due to government incentives that help cut the cost. Among them is winemaker Merry Edwards, who is expanding the existing solar system on her namesake winery north of Sebastopol.

“You have something that's good for the environment and creates jobs and encourages people to make a good economic decision,” said Edwards, whose system now is rated at 150 kilowatts.

A 1,000-kilowatt system typically is enough to meet the demand of 750 to 1,000 homes, though solar systems can't satisfy as many because they don't produce electricity when the sun goes down.

Two years ago residents began turning to new ways of financing solar after the county's energy independence program ran afoul of federal housing officials. Those officials objected that debt from the energy upgrades gets paid off in foreclosure auctions before the home's principal mortgage, increasing the risk to federally-insured home lenders.

Even more residential solar buyers have looked elsewhere since July when the local program put new rules in place designed to increase energy savings. The rules, linked to a federal grant, essentially require a homeowner to achieve a 10 percent cut in energy use before he or she can qualify for financing a solar system.

In the fourth quarter, the energy program had only 22 new solar installations, compared to 103 for the same period in 2010.

County officials said there were other factors contributing to the drop, but installers agreed that the 10 percent rule turned off lots of consumers, including those who owned newer energy-efficient homes or who already had made improvements to cut utility bills.

“It's difficult to get somebody to reduce it 10 percent when they've already reduced it 40 percent,” said Jerry Shafer, owner of Affinity Solar Energy in Windsor.

Instead, many owners have turned to various forms of leasing the solar system installed on their roofs. Some lease for seven years, others for 20. When the lease ends, they can renew it, buy the system or have it removed.

Several installers said the use of leases has increased dramatically in the last year or two. The California Solar Initiative, a rebate program overseen by the state, reports that 31 percent of its solar systems involve leases.

The federal grant for the energy independence program ends in March and county supervisors will consider ways to adapt the rules, though not likely to remove the requirement on boosting energy efficiency, officials said.

The county has hired Solar Sonoma County to help explore ways to adapt the program “so it's more user-friendly,” said Alison Healy, the nonprofit's executive director. The group's Clean Energy Advocates program also helps residents consider whether solar makes sense for them and what financing options to consider.

Shirlee Zane, chairwoman for the Board of Supervisors, said the program remains an important way to improve energy efficiency in homes and businesses, and it continues to attract attention in the movement known as Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE.

“Everybody knows Sonoma County has had the most aggressive PACE program in the nation,” Zane said.

Nate Gulbransen, president of Westcoast Solar Energy in Rohnert Park, said the county program still offers an important option for homeowners who want to buy rather than lease their solar systems. And while he didn't always think so, he maintained the 10 percent rule has been “great for the consumer” because the resulting audits can uncover needlessly wasteful energy use.

Many agreed that other communities will draw lessons from how Sonoma County sets its rules.

“The whole country is watching us,” said Gulbransen.

SOURCE: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120129/BUSINESS/120129501

GERC’s Tariffs for Solar Projects Announced

The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) on Friday announced tariffs for solar projects to be commissioned after January 28, 2012, for the second Control Period from January 29 to March 31, 2015. It has kept the tariffs for the period from Jan 29 to March 31, 2013 at Rs9.28 per unit; for the period between April 1, 2013 and March 31, 2014 at Rs8.63 per unit and for the period from April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015 at Rs8.03 per unit.

GERC said that in view of declining trend in prices of Solar PV, it had decided to reduce the tariff by 7% per year during the second and third years of the Control Period. The Commission said that the new tariff would encourage generation of solar based power.

Earlier, in a major setback to solar power project developers, the energy regulatory body has dismissed their petitions seeking extension of Control Period beyond January 28, 2012, which would have enabled them to charge higher power tariff.

Many solar power developers had approached GERC seeking extension in the Control Period. They put forward a number of reasons, such as land-related issues, changes in jantri rates, delay in finalising jantri rate for non-agricultural land, need for change in project design due to revised land use norms, among others, for delays in commissioning their projects.

The solar power developers had contended that floods due to excessive rainfall had led to delays in project execution. They also pointed to non-availability of evacuation facility by state transmission utility GETCO for the delay. The Commission, however, dismissed the developers' contentions and their petitions. In its order on Friday, GERC said that the petitioners were unable to establish that reasons put forward by them could justify extension of the Control Period.

The GERC's order means that solar power developers, who are unable to commission their projects by January 28, 2012, would not be eligible for availing the existing tariff of Rs15 per unit. The GERC has already initiated the process for determining the tariff for solar projects for the second Control Period, beginning from January 29, 2012.

The state government had vehemently opposed extension of the Control Period. It had pointed out that the capital cost of solar projects had shown a sharp declining trend. It argued that solar tariffs had come down to as much as Rs7.49 per unit in competitive bidding (as against Rs15 per unit offered to solar power developers).

It had argued that extension of control period was not warranted especially because of the market scenario of declining capital cost of solar power projects. Officials said that over 500 MW of solar power generation capacity was likely to be operational by January 28, 2012.

SOURCE: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_gercs-tariffs-for-solar-projects-announced_1642946

National Solar Power Announces Solar Farm Agreement with Liberty County, Florida

National Solar Power today announced the company has entered into a solar farm development agreement with Liberty County, Florida. Under the agreement, National Solar Power will build an up to 100MW solar energy project on property in Liberty County-–adjacent to the company’s Gadsden County, Florida solar farm project. The project, representing a $350 million investment at full build out, is the company’s third in Florida with the others being in Gadsden and Hardee counties.

“Florida is ripe with opportunities to establish successful solar-energy projects. We are thoroughly impressed with the high-level of enthusiasm we’re seeing from economic development, civic and elected leaders across the state,” said National Solar Power CEO James Scrivener. “We are grateful to the Liberty County community for the warm welcome it has extended to us and stand ready to work with our new partners to build our new network of farms and begin harvesting the power of the sun.”

Up to five 200-acre, 20MW farm segments are planned at a cost of $70 million each–-potentially injecting hundreds of millions of dollars in the Liberty County community.

National Solar Power estimates the project will create up to 100 jobs during the five-year construction phase and up to 25 permanent operations jobs. National Solar Power expects the farm will have a three-person maintenance crew, an engineer and security personnel for each 20MW farm segment and estimates the permanent operations jobs will have an average salary of about $40,000 per year.

Once the appropriate local and state permitting process is completed, the first phase of the project is expected to be up and running within six to seven months of breaking ground. Hensel Phelps Construction Co., a world leader in construction that rebuilt the Pentagon after the 9-11 attacks in 2001, will design, build and operate the Liberty County solar farm project for National Solar Power.

As part of the effort to fund its renewable energy infrastructure projects like the solar projects in Gadsden, Hardee and Liberty counties, National Solar Power recently announced the creation of Green Infrastructure Partners, LLC.

Green Infrastructure Partners offers a platform for Institutions and accredited investors to participate in the inevitable transition to a renewable energy infrastructure in the United States, while enjoying competitive risk adjusted returns on their capital. Green Infrastructure Partners, LLC is externally managed and advised by Solar Capital Management, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Solar Power Partners, LLC.

National Solar Power is negotiating with multiple large financial institutions and private equity investors to provide project financing. The company has entered into an agreement with Progress Energy Florida and is having discussions with other potential customers to purchase power generated by its Florida solar farm projects.

Along with the agreement with Progress Energy Florida, National Solar Power has executed power supply agreements for more than 3,000MW of solar farms in the Southeastern United States. National Solar Power anticipates much of the power produced by its solar farm projects will be used for peak shaving -- particularly energy production that will occur during the summer months.

A market leader in utility scale solar power solutions, National Solar Power is uniquely positioned within the marketplace to offer cost effective solar power solutions on the utility scale. With more than 30 years of industry experience, National Solar Power’s founders have been involved in the solar and utility energy marketplace and have witnessed renewable energy gaining in popularity and affordability.

SOURCE: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120126006075/en/National-Solar-Power-Announces-Solar-Farm-Agreement

Solar Energy Users Switch on the Savings

Business owner Dave Kenney used to pay about $400 per month to Choptank Electric Cooperative, and nearly double that in the summer when he was running air conditioning. Now, 168 solar panels that were installed last year are making a noticeable difference in his bottom line.

Dave Kenney, left, owner of The Hardware Store on Route 50 in Mardela Springs

talks with Marty Clemmer, a sales person with Paradise Energy Solutions of Salisbury

Kenney is producing enough electricity to power The Hardware Store on Route 50 and is also selling some back to the grid.

"I've not had a bill from Choptank since June, and that was the plan," he said.

Kenney first looked into installing solar last year and was able to get a combination of federal and state grants that covered about 64 percent of the cost.

After four or five years, the system -- which is designed to last 25 years -- will have paid for itself.

"If we can get 20 years of free power, that's great," he said.

In addition to eliminating his utility bill, the new solar energy system allows Kenney to accumulate solar energy credits, which he can sell.

Kenney also can write off the costs on his taxes.

Eventually, Kenney said he plans to double the size of the store. When he does, he plans to change his heating system from propane to electric so the heat it produces will be free, too.

"We're an old line hardware store, but we try to keep up with the times," he said.

The numbers

The cost of solar energy equipment has dropped significantly -- as much as 50 percent -- from a few years ago, said Marty Clemmer of Paradise Energy Solutions, the company that installed Kenney's system.

Even in the last four months, prices of solar panels have dropped even further, Clemmer said.

For an average ranch house with a monthly electric bill of $100, a new solar system with 42 panels on the roof would cost about $43,000, but it would pay for itself in about seven years if the homeowner takes advantage of available grants and tax credits, Clemmer said.

The Maryland Energy Administration has $1,000 grants for homeowners installing solar panels, and the federal government offers 30 percent tax credits.

For solar energy systems that overproduce electricity, the power can be sold back to the grid, resulting in another financial benefit to the owner.

The systems can also earn one solar renewable energy credit -- or SREC -- for every 1,000 kilowatt-hours they produce, which can be sold back to utility companies, Clemmer said.

In Maryland, electric companies must have 2 percent of their power generated by solar, but it's too costly to build the systems themselves. Instead, they buy the credits, now at about $210 each, from other sources, Clemmer said.

The credits are bought and sold through SRECTrade, which offers them at a monthly auction.

Clemmer said he and other installers crunch the numbers for their customers to show how the numerous government incentives can help reduce the overall cost.

"This is a significant way to help them pay off their solar systems," he said.

Pennsylvania-based Paradise Energy Solutions now has a Snow Hill Road office that has been busy installing solar electric and hot water systems on farms and at commercial and residential properties across the Eastern Shore and Delaware.

"It's an emerging business," Clemmer said.

Advancing tech

At the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where SunEdison installed a 2.2-megawatt solar farm a year ago, the campus is realizing savings, said Ron Forsythe, vice president of Technology and Commercialization.

Officials looked into solar after the campus electric bill increased by 50 percent almost overnight, Forsythe said.

SunEdison financed and built the solar farm at no cost to UMES or the state of Maryland. In return, UMES purchases the power at long-term predictable rates.

The campus also is in discussions with other companies producing solar and wind energy systems, he said.

By promoting technology and research in renewable energy, UMES is fulfilling its role as a land grant institution, Forsythe said.

"We put the technology out there and let people kick the tires," he said.

Universities and other big consumers of energy have led the way with solar, which has resulted in increased demand and lower prices.

But while solar is catching on in the United States, it still lags far behind other countries, Forsythe said.

"The rest of the world is eating our lunch in terms of renewable technology," he said.

SOURCE: http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20120128/NEWS01/201280331/Solar-energy-users-switch-savings?odyssey=nav|head

Solar Community Expands to 7 East Coast States Including Pennsylvania

Solar Community, a national provider of solar power solutions, is expanding to Pennsylvania and 6 other East Coast states. Sales teams were carefully developed for each state. The addition of the Pennsylvania solar team marks an important milestone in an aggressive nationwide expansion plan creating over 250 green jobs in 8 states across the country.

"We couldn't be more excited to help bring solar to Pennsylvania, and show residents exactly what they'll gain by going solar with Solar Community," says Shelby Ruff, VP of Sales. "We're pushing to spread knowledge about solar and fantastic Pennsylvania solar initiatives, and we're in a unique position to offer Pennsylvania homeowners some pretty amazing deals during this preliminary period."

The jobs are created through the Solar Community Solar Sales Agent, and Certified Installation Partner Programs, two fast paced recruiting, training/certification systems backed by ONTILITY, one of the nation's largest and fastest growing solar training/distribution companies.

"Through our unique support and enablement platform we fuel the growth of Solar Community across the country," said Tom Pash, CEO of ONTILITY. "We think 2012 will be a great year for the solar industry and our two companies."

Solar Careers in Pennsylvania - Join Today for Maximum Benefits!

Solar Community is looking for motivated Certified Sales Agents and Certified Installers in Pennsylvania. Sales Agents receive training/certification, access to the best solar lease, best solar kits available, qualified leads, sales/administrative support, marketing materials, survey/safety equipment, and your own territory. Sales Agents earn between $1,000-$5,000 on each system sold.

Certified Installers will receive training, certification, tech support, site survey/safety kit, paperwork, permitting and interconnection support, the best solar kits available, and your own territory.

SOURCE: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/solar-community-expands-to-7-east-coast-states-including-pennsylvania-2012-01-26

Solar CEOs See Boom in China Will Ease Glut in 2012: Energy

China may double its installations of solar panels this year, absorbing excess production that depressed prices and margins in 2011, chief executive officers from two of the industry’s top five manufactures said.

Employees assemble photovoltaic panels at Suntech Power

Holdings Co.'s factory in Wuxi

Suntech Power Holdings Co. CEO Zhengrong Shi estimated the nation may add 4 gigawatts or more of panels, and Trina Solar Ltd. (TSL) CEO Jifan Gao expects 5 gigawatts. That compares with about 2.2 gigawatts installed in the country in 2011, more than double the capacity of the average nuclear reactor in the U.S.

The cost of solar panels fell 47 percent last year as Chinese manufacturers led by Suntech boosted production, winning market share from Western rivals such as Q-Cells SE and First Solar Inc. With China’s government pushing to consolidate the industry, the remarks from Shi and Gao suggest rising demand may support the biggest panel manufacturers.

“It’s a huge market,” Gao said through an interpreter in an interview at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “Excellent companies with good technology, balance sheets and also brands will win out. A lot of companies without those advantages will be taken away.”

Those forecasts are more optimistic than the projections of Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which expects Chinese installations of 3 gigawatts this year and world demand from 25.5 gigawatts to 32.8 gigawatts. Trina expects global demand of 30 gigawatts to 35 gigawatts.

Solar Rebound

Solar shares have rebounded in recent weeks, driven in part by politics in Germany, the world’s largest solar market. After adding a record 7.5 gigawatts of panels last year, more than double the government’s target, lawmakers proposed cutting subsidies. A meeting Jan. 25 ended without an agreement and solar stocks climbed.

The Bloomberg Large Solar Energy (BISOLAR) index of 17 companies, which lost more than two-thirds of its value in 2011, gained 1.7 percent yesterday and has increased 20 percent this year. In New York, Suntech rose 2.7 percent and Trina by 5 percent. 30. An index of eight Chineses solar companies rose 5.4 percent, more than five times the pace of the NEX index of clean energy shares.

In Britain, the government estimates that capping subsidies in December would have saved 1.5 billion pounds ($2.4 billion) over 25 years. A court ruled it illegal to end the support then, ahead of schedule, and developers are rushing to complete new solar plants that will earn the old tariff before officials decide when to scale them back.

Chinese Demand

Suntech’s view shows that growing demand in China may also drive a solar recovery this year.

“I’m hearing a lot from on the ground in China about how hopping demand has been,” said Aaron Chew, an analyst with Maxim Group LLC in New York. “China could surpass Germany” as the world’s largest solar market.

Prices of polysilicon, the raw material in most solar panels, rose in four of the past five weeks after falling 65 percent in 2011.

The Chinese government is spurring clean energy to diversify away from coal, which fuels 70 percent of the economy and is blamed for pollution blanketing industrial areas from Hong Kong to Beijing. Renewables currently account for less than 1 percent of supply, which is growing faster in China than anywhere else in the industrial world, according to data from the oil company BP Plc.

Jenny Chase, head of solar analysis at New Energy Finance, said the forecasts assume China will meet and not surpass the government’s target to have 15 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2015. The estimates from Suntech and Trina suggest that China, like Germany, Spain and Italy, may have trouble keeping a lid on installations once developers start understanding how subsidies will apply to their projects.

Supply-Side Push

“Many other governments who have tried to limit their markets have failed,” Chase said in a phone interview from Zurich. “There could be a supply-side push that pushes this equipment out incredibly cheaply without the need for the federal subsidy.”

Solar panel prices have fallen so quickly that the technology is near reaching parity with fossil fuels in terms of the ability to supply power to national electric grids at a competitive price, said Gao of Trina.

‘Grid Parity’

“We have confidence that we will reach grid parity in several years in China -- like in three to four years,” said Gao, adding that Trina had about 10 percent of its sales in China last year. “In places like Australia, this year they will reach grid parity. Next year, it will be Italy and in 2014, regions like California.”

For now, falling prices are hurting companies throughout the industry. Trina cut its forecast for shipments last year along with First Solar, SunPower Corp., Yingli Green Energy Holding Co., Renesola Ltd. and JinkoSolar Holding Co.

Gao also predicted consolidation in the solar industry, and said that while the 10 biggest panel makers now account for just over 55 percent of the market, by 2015, that proportion may reach more than 80 percent.

“Although the industry faced some challenges, if you look at the trend, it’s growing,” Trina’s Gao said. “We expect that by 2015, the new installations that year will be about 50 gigawatts, so it’s constantly growing.”

China, the manufacturing hub for seven of the eight biggest solar panel makers, until 2010 accounted for less than 3 percent of the market for photovoltaics, with 490 megawatts installed. Installations more than quadrupled last year.

Shi of Suntech said China’s market was “exciting” and the market there this year could be “4 gigawatts or more.” Suntech is the biggest supplier of solar photovoltaic panels, and Trina is the fifth largest.

SOURCE: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-26/solar-ceos-predict-boom-in-china-will-ease-glut-in-2012-energy.html

The Solar Industry Needs to Know The UK Government Can Be Trusted

This week, the government lost its appeal against a judge's ruling that its move to change the rates for solar feed-in tariffs before the official consultation has ended was "legally flawed".

Construction workers fixing solar panels

The high court ruling is a real victory for the solar industry and for those households, businesses and community projects in my constituency who would have been left high and dry by attempts by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) to apply a retrospective change to the rate.

There has always been widespread acceptance that the tariff would need to be reduced as installation costs fell and economic realities shifted. But the focus of the cross-party and public campaign against the government's plans has been the speed and scale of the proposed cut, which has already caused huge disruption to the solar industry and the 25,000-plus jobs it has created.

The courts have now twice ruled that these actions were unacceptable. Importantly, the courts have also sought to uphold a key principle about the very nature of government investment policy.

The central question is this: if policy can be changed retrospectively, why should business believe that the UK is a safe place to invest?

Investors need to know whether a government commitment to support them can be trusted, or if retrospective changes can be made at any point after investments start.

A lack of trust is a huge disincentive to invest. The CBI describes the government's decision to slash subsidies for solar panels as an "own goal", stating that "moving the goalposts doesn't just destroy projects and jobs, it creates a mood of uncertainty that puts off investors."

In light of the court's decisions and the strong industry calls for certainty, you might expect Decc to want to bring the solar situation to a swift conclusion and do what it can to inspire investor confidence for the future.

But no, Decc has indicated that it intends to stubbornly forge ahead with its ill thought through plans, and take the appeal all the way to the supreme court – wasting time and money in the process.

This means that the many solar PV installers and businesses I have spoken to remain completely in the dark about how they will be affected by the government's shambolic policy wrangles.

Further, it suggests that Decc doesn't understand that investors in Britain need to feel confident about the conditions of the market they are entering. They need to know those conditions will not be radically undercut on a political whim.

No wonder we are facing a double-dip recession if this is the message the government is sending out. I thought that Britain was meant to be "open for business". It seems that some government departments have not read that memo.

The case of solar has implications for all businesses that benefit from any form of governmental support. This could include grants for innovation, research and development, skills training and the establishment of networks.

If the government pursues its solar decision when an entire industry is at stake, why should business believe that government commitments to support research carried out by our universities and colleges will not be withdrawn if market conditions change unexpectedly?

If an appeal is allowed to go ahead, there is a risk that a dangerous precedent will be set.

And while it's certainly possible to point the finger at the previous Labour government to claim that the solar tariff rates were set too high – that the policy was poorly constructed – it's clear that, in the here and now, this goes much further than the solar industry.

So we now need to know if the government will accept the high court judgment and fulfil their previous commitments on solar tariffs. Crucially, we also need to know what the implications are for investment security across the whole the UK economy.

Using the courts to try to steam roller through a retrospective policy change that has already been ruled unlawful smacks of total disregard for the industry.

Decc should accept that ministers got it wrong on solar and pull the plug on this legal merry-go-round, which is putting UK jobs and future investment at risk.

SOURCE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/27/feed-in-tariffs-appeal

L.A. Ranks Second in California in Solar Power Study

Los Angeles ranks as the California city with the second-highest amount of solar installations and solar electricity generated, according to a report released Wednesday.

The report by the Environment California Research and Policy Center found that L.A. ranks behind San Diego in terms of the number of solar installations on residential, commercial and government buildings, with more than 4,000 projects installed.

L.A. is also second to San Diego in the total amount of solar electricity generated, with 36 megawatts, the report said.

Michelle Kinman, a coauthor of the project, said the reporting shows L.A. is "closing in" on San Diego.

"If city leaders embrace visionary policies today," she said in a statement, "the city can lead not only the stat, but the nation toward a clean energy future."

Officials released the report at Robert E. Byrd Middle School in Sun Valley. A solar system was recently installed on the parking lot's shade structure, expected to save more than $1.6 million over 20 years -- and $60,000 in the first year, L.A. Unified School District officials said.

It's one of more than a thousand solar rooftop systems installed in L.A. since 1999, the report said.

SOURCE: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/la-second-in-california-solar-power-study.html