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#Post#: 768--------------------------------------------------
Solar Water Pumps Wean India Farmers From Grid
By: AGelbert Date: February 11, 2014, 6:53 pm
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Solar Water Pumps Wean India Farmers From Grid
Natalie Obiko Pearson and Ganesh Nagarajan, Bloomberg
SNIPPET:
A risk in converting to solar pumps is that farmers may use
excessive amounts of water because the devices have almost no
operating costs. ;D
HTML http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/02/solar-water-pumps-wean-india-farmers-from-grid
#Post#: 783--------------------------------------------------
5 World Famous Solar Sites
By: AGelbert Date: February 23, 2014, 12:45 am
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5 World Famous Solar Sites
Nice pictures. The Vatican is the first totally solar powered
nation state with 660 million dollars worth of PV. ;D
HTML https://joinmosaic.com/blog/5-world-famous-solar-sites/#comments
#Post#: 993--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: guest17 Date: April 29, 2014, 2:14 pm
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SNIPPETS: go to the links for full text:
HTML http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/16/solars-dramatic-cost-fall-may-herald-energy-price-deflation/
[b]Solar's Insane Cost Drop
[...snip...]
the cost of solar PV has come from - quite
literally - off the charts less than a decade ago to a point
where [investment bank Sanford] Bernstein says solar PV is now
cheaper than oil and Asian LNG (liquefied natural gas).
[...snip...]
"For these (developing Asian economies) solar is just cheap,
clean, convenient, reliable energy. And since it is a
technology, it will get even cheaper over time [while]
fossil fuel extraction costs will keep rising. There is a
massive global market for cheap energy and that market is
oblivious to policy changes" in China, Japan, the EU or the
US, it writes.
[...snip...]
And then Bernstein drops this bombshell - while solar has a
fractional share of the market now, within one decade, solar
PV (plus battery storage) may have such a share of the market
that it becomes a trigger for energy price deflation, with
huge consequences for the massive fossil fuel industry that
relies on continued growth.
[...snip...]
Sitting on oil and gas reserves for the benefit of
generations yet to come ceases to be a rational strategy if
that reserve represents a depreciating rather than an
appreciating asset."
This, Bernstein says, is the hidden flaw with the idea that
solar is "too small to matter". Ultimately, it says, what may
kill the energy market for equity investors is not the fact
that renewable technology and battery storage will turn into
behemoths, but the realisation of that future as inevitable.
----------------------
and:
HTML http://cleantechnica.com/2014/04/17/bernstein-4-ideas-utilities-favour-solar/
Bernstein: Utilities Have 4 Choices In Solar Revolution (None
Are Easy To Swallow)
Can electricity generation companies live off two hours of
demand a day? And what if utilities actually tried to slow
down the rollout of rooftop solar? If these are questions
energy utilities are asking themselves in the current market
environment, they may not like investment bank Bernstein's
answers.
[...snip...]
"Instead of high-cost (and high-priced) gas-fired peaking
power plants being engaged in the middle of the afternoon when
all of the air-conditioners are operating and all of the
factories are running, solar addresses that load. California -
like Germany and Australia - is already seeing this effect,"
Bernstein writes.
[...snip...]
Bernstein points out that by 2020, the installed capacity of
solar will be so great that the demand profile will resemble
the green line and daytime power demand will have effectively
collapsed... "For companies selling electricity into merchant
or competitive markets like California, this is a disaster,"
the Bernstein analysts write.
"Demand during what was one of the most profitable times of
the day disappears. With it, the need for part of the merchant
fleet disappears too for all but the dinner hour. And that is
the issue competitive generators face globally in this
2020-scenario: how to live off demand of two hours a day."
[...snip...]
"The response of simply raising prices per kWh is therefore
unsustainable," the analysts note. And they are faced with
increasingly unattractive choices.
[...snip...]
"The behavior from here seems clear: the solar industry will
expand. Retaliatory steps from distribution utilities will
increase the market for cost-effective battery storage. This
becomes - initially - a secondary market for battery
technologies being developed for the auto sector. A failed
battery technology in the auto sector (too hot, too heavy, too
rigid a form factor) might well be perfect for the home energy
storage market... with an addressable end market of 2 billion
backyards."
#Post#: 995--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: AGelbert Date: April 29, 2014, 10:49 pm
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Alan,
That's the way I see it too!
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/47b20s0.gifhttp://www.pic4ever.com/images/128fs318181.gif<br
/>
HTML http://www.desismileys.com/smileys/desismileys_0293.gif[img<br
/>width=30
height=30]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-141113185701.png[/img]http://www.freesmileys.org/emoticons/emoticon-object-062.gif
#Post#: 1001--------------------------------------------------
China Fuels Highest Solar Silicon Demand Since 2011
By: AGelbert Date: April 30, 2014, 12:44 pm
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China Fuels Highest Solar Silicon Demand Since 2011 [img
width=100
height=100]
HTML http://images.ame4u.com/Animated_Clipart/Animated-Solar/sun_shining_solar_panel_hg_clr__st.gif[/img]http://www.freesmileys.org/emoticons/emoticon-object-081.gif
Stefan Nicola and Marc Roca, Bloomberg
April 30, 2014
BERLIN -- The polysilicon industry is headed for its biggest
boom since a price war started three years ago. It can thank a
burst of solar-panel orders in China and Japan.
Demand for the commodity used to make photovoltaic cells will
jump 15 percent this year, the most since 2011, Bloomberg New
Energy Finance forecasts. The price of the material, made from
super-heated silicon particles and sliced into wafers, has
reached its highest since the middle of 2012. Global sales may
top $6 billion at that price.
Manufacturers led by GCL-Poly Energy Holdings Ltd. of China and
Wacker Chemie AG in Germany are expanding production,
anticipating higher revenue will restore their margins. They’re
benefiting from a renaissance in the renewable energy industry,
which last year rivaled fossil fuels for new power generation
capacity added worldwide.
“We are seeing a massive recovery in the entire solar industry,
also in polysilicon,” said Stefan De Haan, a solar analyst at
IHS Inc. “2013 was the year of the turnaround, and the situation
will further improve in 2014.”
Factories producing the material will be at their busiest in at
least two years, according to IHS. All that is an about- face
for manufacturers who for the last two years had to idle
capacity or post losses as poly prices plunged.
Asian
Demand
HTML http://www.freesmileys.org/emoticons/tuzki-bunnys/tuzki-bunny-emoticon-022.gif
China and Japan are driving the rebound with subsidies for solar
panel installations. About 44.5 gigawatts of solar capacity will
be added around the world this year, a 21 percent increase over
2013, according to the average estimate of nine analysts and
companies. The two Asian countries may account for half of all
new projects. A gigawatt of electricity is about as much as a
new nuclear reactor produces.
Renewable energy accounted for 44 percent of the new generation
capacity added worldwide last year, according to data from New
Energy Finance, which is owned by Bloomberg LP.
HTML http://www.freesmileys.org/emoticons/emoticon-anime-047.gif
[img
width=60
height=50]
HTML http://us.cdn2.123rf.com/168nwm/lenm/lenm1201/lenm120100200/12107060-illustration-of-a-smiley-giving-a-thumbs-up.jpg[/img]<br
/>
“Japan has a fantastic subsidy that’s fueling a domestic boom,
and there’s significant demand and government support for new
projects in China,” said Jenny Chase, lead solar analyst at New
Energy Finance in Zurich. “The entire polysilicon industry will
benefit from this.”
Polysilicon prices, which tumbled 42 percent during 2012, and
were little changed for most of 2013, have been rising since
November. They may jump to as high as $25 a kilogram this year,
from $21.75 on April 21, Chase said.
Prices Rising
IHS expects the average polysilicon price to rise as much as 10
percent this year. Revenues for suppliers will jump 33 percent
to $5 billion, De Haan said on April 24.
China became the biggest solar market last year. Surging demand
will benefit European and local makers the most, since the
government in Beijing introduced import tariffs for U.S. and
South Korean-made polysilicon in January. Chinese companies,
which make most PV panels, import more than half the polysilicon
they need from abroad.
China imposed anti-dumping charges up to 57 percent for U.S.
makers including Hemlock Semiconductor Corp., REC Silicon and
SunEdison Inc. OCI Co., South Korea’s largest polysilicon
producer, got a tariff of just 2.4 percent. That contributed to
a 30 percent drop in U.S. polysilicon imports into China last
year. South Korea and Germany raised shipments.
Today, China imposed duties of 14.3 percent to 42 percent for
polysilicon it imports from Europe, though it exempted Wacker
Chemie from the decision citing a price commitment the German
company already has made.
Shares Surge
Shares of solar companies already have responded. GCL-Poly is up
about 48 percent in Hong Kong in the past year and Wacker by 43
percent. OCI has risen about 28 percent. Hemlock is a owned by
Dow Corning Corp. and Shin-Etsu Handotai Co. Ltd.
“Hemlock Semiconductor has also seen increased business activity
in the polysilicon industry,” Jarrod Erpelding, a spokesman at
Dow Corning, said by e-mail. “While spot prices are an indicator
of increased demand, the large majority of our sales are through
long-term contracts.”
Wacker and SunEdison declined to comment, citing quiet periods
ahead of their earnings reports. GCL didn’t answer phone calls
and an e-mail seeking comment.
The demand surge is trickling down the value chain. The number
of Chinese companies producing polysilicon more than doubled to
15 last year. Just four years ago, before prices collapsed, at
least 100 companies were manufacturing it.
Tokuyama Corp., a materials maker based in Shunan, Japan, plans
to start production this year at a new polysilicon factory in
Sarawak, Malaysia.
Industry Rebounds
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/19.gif
;D
Polysilicon producers reduced output as prices crashed in 2012,
with many small companies halting altogether. LDK Solar Co.
dropped out of the top 10 makers as it defaulted on bond
payments. OCI reduced output last year. This year, the South
Korean company is investing in streamlining its production
plants to fill an increase in demand it expects in the second
half of the year, a spokesman said.
“The price will mostly depend on whether there would be a major
demand increase or what would be expected after competitors
restructuring in the market,” Park Sangbae, senior manager for
public relations at OCI, said by e-mail. “We are expecting the
price to increase.”
Rising production in China may cause poly prices to sag again,
said Shiro Okada, a spokesman for the Tokuyama. Factory
utilization, which De Haan says is good health indicator for the
polysilicon industry, will increase by 14 percentage points to
78 percent this year.
‘Oversupplied’
“The industry remains oversupplied,” Okada said by phone from
Tokyo. “The market is expected to grow globally, but companies
already have enough production capacity.”
The market is dominated by five companies -- GCL-Poly, OCI,
Wacker, Hemlock and REC. They alone can almost cover all the
demand for high-grade polysilicon. Their capacities are on the
edge of becoming short of what the market needs this year.
“Supply and demand has reached a really tight point,” said Jade
Jones, an industry analyst at GTM Research in Boston.
“Polysilicon makers have been able to raise prices because they
know that there’s growing demand. If you listen to their recent
earnings calls, there’s hope in their voices.” [img width=80
height=70]
HTML http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/yayayoy/yayayoy1106/yayayoy110600019/9735563-smiling-sun-showing-thumb-up.jpg[/img]<br
/>
Copyright 2014 Bloomberg
HTML http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/04/china-fuels-highest-solar-silicon-demand-since-2011<br
/>
#Post#: 1006--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: AGelbert Date: April 30, 2014, 2:54 pm
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World’s Largest Solar Plant Could Power 230,000 Homes
Brandon Baker | April 30, 2014 9:32 am [img width=100
height=100]
HTML http://images.ame4u.com/Animated_Clipart/Animated-Solar/sun_shining_solar_panel_hg_clr__st.gif[/img]
NRG Energy and MidAmerican Solar unveiled the new king in solar
photovoltaic (PV) facilities this week.
HTML http://dl3.glitter-graphics.net/pub/465/465823jzy0y15obs.gif
Located on 2,400 acres of land between Yuma and Phoenix, AZ,
Agua Caliente is now operational as the world’s largest PV solar
facility in the world.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/47b20s0.gif
The 290-megawatt (MW)
project uses solar energy to avoid the annual emission of about
324,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere—equivalent to
taking nearly 70,000 cars off the road.
Under a 25-year power purchase agreement, NRG and MidAmerican
sell solar power to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. At peak capacity,
the plant will generate enough energy to power 230,000 homes.
NRG Energy and MidAmerican Solar announced the completion of
Agua Caliente, the world's largest photovoltaic solar facility
at 290 megawatts. The Arizona plant sells clean power to Pacific
Gas & Electric Company under a 25-year power purchase agreement.
Photo credit: Business Wire/NRG Energy
NRG Energy and MidAmerican Solar announced the completion of
Agua Caliente, the world’s largest photovoltaic solar facility
at 290 megawatts. The Arizona plant sells clean power to Pacific
Gas & Electric Company under a 25-year power purchase agreement.
Photo credit: Business Wire/NRG Energy
NRG was also involved in another record-setting solar project
this year—the launch of Ivanpah, the world’s largest
concentrating solar thermal power plant.
“Proving that we can build both the world’s largest solar
thermal and now one of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic
facilities advance NRG’s mission to reshape the energy landscape
that is incredibly beneficial to both the economy and in how we
produce and consume energy,” Tom Doyle, president of NRG Solar,
said in a statement.
FirstSolar designed and constructed the project using advanced
thin-film PV modules and will operate and maintain the facility
for NRG and MidAmerican Solar. Peter W. Davidson, executive
director of the Loan Programs Office (LPO) said the energy
companies received a $967 million loan guarantee for Agua
Caliente. In a blog post for the U.S. Department of Energy,
Davidson displayed pride in aiding clean energy.
“Despite the strong and consistent public demand for greater
development of solar energy, these achievements seemed more
aspirational than attainable in 2009, given the state of
financial markets at the time,” Davidson wrote. “However, with
the help of loan guarantees, these projects were able to move
forward.
“We aren’t done yet. [img width=30
height=40]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-141113185047.png[/img]<br
/> By the end of next year, we expect all five solar PV plants i
n
our portfolio to be completed with a combined capacity of 1,510
MW—enough to power more than a quarter million average American
homes.”
Agua Caliente, located in Yuma County, AZ, is now the largest
solar photovoltaic power plant in the world. Photo credit: (at
link) NRG Energy
Agua Caliente is the largest of 10 operational utility-scale
solar PV facilities in three states that NRG has an ownership
interest in. By this time next year, it may no longer be the
largest PV plant, as work continues on another MidAmerican
project, the 550 MW Topaz Solar Farm in San Luis Obispo County,
CA.
“In 2012, our company made a commitment to invest in its first
utility-scale solar project to foster economic development while
demonstrating our commitment to the environment,” said Richard
Weech, chief financial officer of MidAmerican Renewables.
“It is exciting to see this project become fully operational and
begin to realize the full benefit of emissions savings with the
clean energy generated at Agua Caliente.”
HTML http://ecowatch.com/2014/04/30/worlds-largest-solar-plant-could-power-230000-homes/
#Post#: 1037--------------------------------------------------
The First Working Solar Energy Device
By: AGelbert Date: May 3, 2014, 12:07 am
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HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlpwrhbUq_0&feature=player_embedded
HTML http://cleantechnica.com/2014/05/02/video/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29
#Post#: 1068--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: AGelbert Date: May 6, 2014, 12:31 am
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HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0kFCv6gOQ0&feature=player_embedded
Even while deaths from Fossil Fuel caused severe weather
increase, the exponential curve of the Renewable Energy
Revolution replacement of all dirty energy has manifested
itself. Fossil Fuels are a DEAD PIG WALKING!
#Post#: 1071--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: AGelbert Date: May 6, 2014, 2:29 pm
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Missouri’s Solar Problem: [img width=50
height=50]
HTML http://www.imgion.com/images/01/Angry-animated-smiley.jpg[/img]<br
/>
Too Many People Like It [img width=100
height=100]
HTML http://images.ame4u.com/Animated_Clipart/Animated-Solar/sun_shining_solar_panel_hg_clr__st.gif[/img]<br
/>[img width=80
height=40]
HTML http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9HT4xZyDmh4/TOHhxzA0wLI/AAAAAAAAEUk/oeHDS2cfxWQ/s200/Smiley_Angel_Wings_Halo.jpg[/img]
By May 5, 2014 at 3:48 pm
Missouri has been heavily dependent on coal for decades [img
width=30
height=30]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-141113183729.png[/img],<br
/>but the state is on the cusp of a solar revolution.
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/maniac.gif
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/8.gif
The state had just 39
megawatts of solar installed at the end of 2013, putting it in
17th place nationally. But by mid-2014, as much as 110 megawatts
of solar is expected to be online, potentially making Missouri a
solar leader in the Midwest. [img width=40
height=40]
HTML http://www.clker.com/cliparts/c/8/f/8/11949865511933397169thumbs_up_nathan_eady_01.svg.hi.png[/img]<br
/>
Unfortunately that could be the end of the solar story in
Missouri. Just as the state is picking up serious momentum, the
solar rebates that have helped propel the growth are abruptly
ending, six years before the gradual phase-out that had been
planned. >:(
“We want off the solar coaster,” Heidi Schoen, executive
director of the Missouri Solar Energy Industries Association
told Midwest Energy News. “We don’t want to be in this
boom-and-bust situation.”
Despite its enormous impact, Missouri’s solar rebate program is
still relatively new. It came into being in 2008, with the
passage of Proposition C, a ballot initiative that required
investor-owned utilities to derive 15 percent of their electric
generation from renewable resources by 2021 — including 2
percent from solar energy. To help jumpstart solar development
in a state where 4 out of 5 homes are powered by coal, the
successful ballot initiative required utilities to offer a
$2-a-watt rebate for solar installations, with a maximum rebate
of $50,000 per installation.
For the average homeowner, the rebates meant that the price of a
typical, residential 5-kilowatt array was about $10,000 instead
of $20,000.
The legislation, however, had one huge key caveat — it stated
that if meeting the renewable standard led to rate hikes for
customers of more than 1 percent, utilities would no longer be
required to comply.
And last year, Missouri’s two largest utilities announced that
they had met that 1 percent cap on rates and asked that the
rebate program be suspended indefinitely.
After much negotiation, the utilities and solar installers
agreed on something approaching a compromise — a finite pool of
rebate funds that was intended to soften the otherwise brutal
blow to the solar industry. The $175 million set aside for
rebates was, however, devoured by Missourians still eager to get
solar, and the money was gone within weeks of being announced,
with $25 million in applications on a waiting list, in case a
project doesn’t move forward.
There are several bills in the Missouri Legislature to restart
the solar rebate program in the state, but with the current
legislative session drawing to a close with the bills still in
committee, their prospects look dim.
One of the bills would revive solar rebates on a more limited
scale — just for schools and nonprofits. The other option under
consideration is to restart the rebates under Missouri’s 2009
energy efficiency law.
“We’re going to lose half our employees, at least,” Rick Hunter,
chief executive of Microgrid Solar, one of the largest
installers in the area told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “And
we’re gonna be better off than most companies. … We were up to
75 employees and we’re expecting to be less than 40 before the
end of the summer.”
The Missouri Solar Energy Industries Association estimates that
if the rebate had stayed in place, the solar industry would have
added a total of $415 million to the state’s economy and more
than 3,700 jobs by the end of the year. Missouri even ranked in
the Top Ten States for Clean Energy Job Announcements in 2013 by
the national group Environmental Entrepreneurs.
© 2005-2014 Center for American Progress Action Fund
HTML http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/05/3434278/missouri-solar-rebates-abruptly-end/
#Post#: 1081--------------------------------------------------
Re: Photvoltaics (PV)
By: AGelbert Date: May 7, 2014, 10:17 pm
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UK Partnership Helps 50 Schools Raise Nearly $600,000 to Go
Solar[img width=30
height=30]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-141113185850.gif[/img]<br
/>
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/47b20s0.gif
HTML http://ecowatch.com/2014/05/06/uk-partnership-schools-solar/
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