If you have solar panels on your home, you probably think you’re the wave of the future. You’re the envy of the block, the early adopter, the one who’s got it all figured out. Think again, if the news coming out of the University of Missouri is to be believed. A chemical engineer there thinks he’s come up with a solar technology that will be “orders of magnitude ahead” of the current solar cutting-edge.
The Missouri professor, Patrick Pinhero, says his design is better because it’s less wasteful. Traditional photovoltaic (PV) solar panels aren’t actually very good at harvesting the full range of the sunlight spectrum, nabbing only about 20% of available light. Pinhero has worked on a device that uses a thin sheet of tiny antennas tuned to “collect and utilize as much solar energy as is theoretically possible,” he said in a release. With further tweaks to the tech, which can already be used to convert industrial heat into usable electricity, Pinhero thinks it can be used to collect energy not just from visible sunlight, but from the near-infrared region of the spectrum, too. He reckons his device can harvest 90%-95% of sunlight.
What does all this mean, on a practical level? Are the “old” forms of solar power now obsolete? Will clean tech become like the latest Apple gadget, where each of us is caught in an eternal cycle of waiting for a price drop on the old version, while being enticed by the just-announced new one? In clean tech, as in all tech, its seems like we may face the problem of premature obsolescence: We’ll never be content with what we have, when something better is coming down the pike.
Not so fast, though. It’s early yet. Pinhero’s project still needs funding, though he’s been knocking on the door of the Department of Energy and if he’s truly almost quintupled the efficiency of solar panels, he’ll surely get it. “Pinhero believes…” “Pinhero envisions…” are common phrases from the announcement. (We’ve reached out to him for an interview.) Even if all goes according to plan, the idea is to have, within five years, a technology that “complements conventional PV solar panels.” Hopefully this technology isn’t so much disruptive as cooperative; your solar panels will be able to merely get an update.
Pinhero may well be onto something ingenious, and a mob of analysts, researchers, and investors will help suss that out. But for the time being, it’s not time yet to cast off your old-school solar panels and curse your short-sightedness.
Read More Here: Fast Company
Yesterday’s news from the solar company Sungevity that it will partner with Lowe’s Home Improvement stores to help customers quote and install a solar system is a great indicator of where the industry is going.
Critics often charge that solar is “fringe” or “inaccessible,” which has historically been true. Since the ’70s, home solar photovoltaics has been largely a technology for environmentally conscious first adopters and high-tech lovers. But with prices coming steadily — and now dramatically — down over the years, and companies adopting innovative financing models to make a purchase easier, solar photovoltaic (PV) has moved far beyond that label.
Sungevity is an up-and-coming player in the solar services area. Started in California in 2007, the company created a web-based quoting system using satellite imagery that made it very easy (and free) to get a same-day quote for a system. If the customer approved the system, Sungevity would send an independent installation partner over to finish the job. Last year, Sungevity started offering a solar-lease product through its site, which allowed a customer to purchase a system by only paying a relatively small fee each month — in many cases less than what the consumer was paying for electricity from the utility.
On the residential side, SolarCity and SunRun have been leaders in solar leasing and power purchase agreement products (i.e. paying for the delivered electricity, rather than a flat fee per month). In fact, SunRun just brought in another $200 million in tax equity to finance solar systems around the country.
Under this new partnership, Lowe’s has purchased a 20 percent stake in Sungevity. Sungevity will install kiosks around Lowe’s Home Improvement stores in California, giving customers access to its free iQuote process and educating them about the leasing product. By exposing the service to Lowe’s massive customer base, Sungevity may be able to increase the reach of its services by an order of magnitude.
This is part of a new trend of big-box retailers thinking about either installing solar or offering services themselves. Last year, Lowe’s partnered with Westinghouse Solar, which offers a “plug and play” module that streamlines installation and opens up the market to more DIYers. (As it turns out, the product hasn’t sold as well as they’d thought it would, so the companies are looking into adding installation services to the mix — which may explain the Sungevity deal.) Home Depot has also entered the fray, offering similar solar panel products. And all kinds of major big-box retailers, including Walmart and Target, are installing large solar PV systems to offset electricity use at their stores.
Why is all this significant? It’s a strong sign that solar is emerging as a mainstream product. Yes, solar PV still plays a very small role in our current electricity supply; but with the industry now providing more “services” that eliminate up-front barriers and bring the technology to a wide swath of customers, solar has broken into more mainstream markets.
Saying that solar “can’t scale” because of our past experiences completely ignores the incredible innovation in how businesses are delivering the product to consumers and businesses.
Read More Here: Grist
Educate Yourself With PV Watts
PV Watts is a tool developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to allow homeowners and other non-experts to obtain production estimates for grid-tied solar electricity systems. NREL is the only federal laboratory devoted specifically to renewable energy research and development. They have been leading the United States in clean energy development with over 33 years of renewable energy science and technology experience.
The tool allows the user to estimate the production of a grid-tied solar electricity system based upon their geographic location. Since New Jersey receives a different amount of sun energy than Arizona. Each location is associated with a 40km x 40km grid cell of interoplated solar data from the Climatological Solar Radiation (CSR) Model. NREL developed the model based on climate conditions including cloud cover, atmospheric water vapor, and aerosols from a variety of sources. Read more about the map and model here: NREl GIS Maps. The end result is an annual Kilowatt Hour (kWh) measurement for each grid cell.
Daily, monthly, and yearly weather is different than long term climate. A system’s monthly production might vary by as much as 40% and yearly production as much as 20% from that of the prediction. However, over the lifetime of a system the actual production might only vary by 10% from the prediction based on PV Watts.
After locating a position, the solar kWh data can be sent to the PV Watts Calculator. This step allows for a considerable amount of alterations to the factors that determine system production. DC System Rating in kW allows the user to input their system size. This can be based on number of panels x wattage (20 x 200watt panel = 4000watts = 4kW) of a specified system or used to research system size vs. savings based on running the calculator a few times with a different input.
Other, more measurable factors can be used to guide the calculation. Array Tilt and Azimuth can be altered to match with the possible mounting location. In the northern hemisphere ideal Azimuth is south and the ideal Tilt is roughly the latitude of installation. But, when mounting a system on a roof an installation might not be ideal with the given roof pitch and roof azimuth.
The DC to AC De-rate Factor is a combination of many other calculations. The user is able to change inverter efficiency, module mismatch, connections, and even soiling factors. Research the possible de-rate factors before playing with them. The calculator already uses standard estimations and tolerances.
The last factor to change if desired is the Cost of Electricity. It is used to calculate simple monthly and yearly savings. Simple savings is based on no utility cost escalation over time. Electricity prices have risen steadily over time, but the simple savings will estimate based on current cost of electricity… not the future cost.
It is important to understand that this estimation could be vary far off from actual cost for a given home or business. It is also based on NET Metering being provided by electricity utility.Bills with a flat rate or simple tier system are usually easy to find cent/kWh. However, a tiered rate structure with 3 to 5 tiers are not uncommon depending on the electricity utility. An average can be figured out depending on the monthly bill vs. kWh used.
Also, tier “shaving” could be figured out with a little bit of math. Someone interested in solar might only want to reduce the most expensive kWh usage, or top tier use. Tier1 might on cost $.10/kWh while tier5 would be $.32/kWh. An average of the upper tiers could be figured out based on the kWh usage at each tire x the tier rate / kWh usage of the tiers used in calculation. Just be aware that tier “shaving” means a smaller system size since it will not be offsetting an entire bill. To eliminate an entire bill might be a 5kW system while offsetting the top tiers might be a 2.5kW system. Try to match kWh calculation output to the kWh of tiers being offset.
The end result of the calculations is a month by month estimation of system kWh production and savings. Of course the alterations made to system specifications and estimated electricity cost will have a large affect on the end result. It is possible to compare the total system annual kWh production to actual household usage with the last year of electricity bills.
PV Watts is a great tool to help validate a proposal or just to research possible system size. It is not a simple input bill, output system size calculation though. It takes a little understanding and knowledge to use it accurately. Specifically, the savings estimations could be misleading. But, at the very least it can be used to ask the right questions when looking into solar.
Solar firm SunRun has received an additional commitment of tax equity from a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) to support the purchase of $200 million in residential solar systems.
The commitment is U.S. Bancorp’s largest renewable energy tax equity fund to date. A market leader, SunRun installs over $1 million in residential solar every day to meet demand for its solar power service.
One in eight families who switched to solar in 2010 chose SunRun.
SunRun owns, installs, and maintains home solar panels so families don’t have to pay $30,000 or more for them. Homeowners pay a low monthly rate for clean power and SunRun takes care of everything else. In addition, SunRun customers lock in their monthly electric rates for 20 years.
An average SunRun solar power service customer can save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the agreement.
“This transaction affirms U.S. Bancorp’s confidence that SunRun is a strong leader in a stable, fast-growing market,” said SunRun CEO and Co-founder Edward Fenster. “U.S. Bancorp has been our trusted partner for years and is instrumental in SunRun’s continued success as the largest provider of clean, affordable solar energy for American families.”
“It’s critical for U.S. Bancorp to have an existing portfolio of proven renewable energy investments as we expand our financing in the space, and SunRun is a core part of that base,” said Darren Van’t Hof, director of renewable energy investments for U.S. Bancorp. “With strong management and a solid business model, SunRun exemplifies the partners we look for to help facilitate the growth of the renewable energy industry.”
This tax equity commitment, SunRun’s fifth and largest transaction with U.S. Bancorp, is supported by the 1603 Treasury Grant Program. By allowing renewable energy projects to utilize a cash grant of equal value to the Investment Tax Credit, the 1603 program helped stimulate $9 billion of new investment in clean energy in the U.S. in 2009.
As the only home solar company to have never run out of project financing, SunRun continues to expand and announced its Oregon launch last week. The company now makes solar affordable for families in eight U.S. states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.
SunRun offers solar power service, similar to a lease, allowing homeowners to upgrade their home to solar for as little as $0 upfront and simply pay monthly for solar electricity. More than 11,000 homeowners have chosen SunRun across Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. SunRun partners with over 25 leading local solar installers, who together employ more than 3,000 green-collar workers.
SunRun has raised financing for more than $600 million in solar systems from PG&E Corporation and U.S. Bancorp and $85 million in venture capital from Accel Partners, Foundation Capital and Sequoia Capital.
Read More Here: Brighter Energy News
LADWP suspends Solar Incentive Program
On April 8th, 2011, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP, Los Angeles, California, U.S.) stopped accepting applications for its Solar Incentive Program (SIP).
The utility states that demand for rebates has far exceeded its budget for the program, and that while the program is suspended it will revise the SIP to better reflect current solar photovoltaic (PV) market conditions.
“With 2,000 more requests in process, the demand for rebates has far exceeded our current budget for the program, restricting our ability to pay out rebates in a timely manner as well as contributing to safety problems,” states the LADWP’s website. “This record demand requires LADWP to review and revise the program to better serve its program participants.”
Second attempt to modify the program
The LADWP states that the program will be suspended for a minimum of 90 days, however that all applications with a postmark date no later than April 8th, 2011 will continue to be processed normally.
This is not the first time that the utility has attempted to modify the program, citing that it has been too successful. In October 2010 the LADWP proposed significant cuts to incentive levels, however these cuts were rejected by the Los Angeles City Council in November 2010.
SIP pays out USD 117 million in incentives
The SIP program was instituted in 1999, and the LADWP states that since that date it has provided over USD 117 million in incentives to support the installation of 3,300 PV plants for a total of nearly 29MW of capacity.
The utility credits the success of the program to a combination of one of the highest PV incentive rates in California, federal tax benefits, excellent natural conditions for solar generation, and the dedication of its customer base to renewable energy.
Read More Here: SolarSever
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – On the heels of a significant year in terms of growth and expansion, leading solar electric system provider REC Solar maintained its momentum as one of the fastest growing installers in the United States, and topped the California Solar Initiative (CSI) rankings as the state’s largest residential installer in terms of megawatts installed in 2010. With more than 17 MW of residential solar deployed across the state of California, the company continues to hold its distinct market position as the largest installer of residential solar since the CSI program began, in addition to being the largest residential installer in 2010.
“We have pursued strategic improvement initiatives across the entire value chain to deliver superior products and services to all of our customers”
Outside of California, the company also experienced significant growth with Colorado, Arizona and New Jersey recording double-digit gains, topped by a 110 percent year-over-year rise in revenues in Arizona.
REC Solar’s residential leadership position is driven in part by its success in reducing the cost of solar for consumers. Since the start of the CSI program, the company has made significant reductions in the cost of designing and installing a home solar electric system. System automation of key supply chain components including inventory management, engineering, installation, and rebate and interconnection processes, combined with in-house development of components such as REC Solar’s proprietary racking system, have been instrumental in driving price declines.
In addition to continued growth in the residential sector, REC Solar rapidly expanded its commercial installation arm. The company secured commercial, federal and municipal installation agreements totaling more than 27.2 MW, including a 2.9 MW installation for the Southwest Arizona VA Health Care System and a 1.1 MW system installed at the City of Madera Wastewater Treatment Facility. Additionally, REC Solar completed the largest operating solar installation in Hawaii—a 1.2 MW installation on the island of Kauai that will supply the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative with solar power through a power purchase agreement.
“What’s driving growth is economics, and the solar industry is facing a bright future,” said Angiolo Laviziano, CEO of REC Solar. “Energy costs keep rising while the cost of solar keeps falling. There are places in the U.S. where solar can compete effectively against utility rates without the help of incentives. By 2020, solar will be competitive with utility rates in the vast majority of the U.S., and that’s very exciting for us. It bodes well for the solar industry and for the U.S.”
“We have pursued strategic improvement initiatives across the entire value chain to deliver superior products and services to all of our customers,” said Kam Mofid, President of REC Solar. “Our extensive sales, engineering and operational capabilities allowed us to successfully grow our presence in all segments, design and install our largest ever systems and enter the new year very well positioned for continued growth both in our current and in new markets. I look forward to another record year in 2011.”
Read More Here - BUSINESS WIRE
A Little Micro-inverter History
“Micro-inverter” has become a major buzz word and a new selling point in the residential solar market. The idea of a direct to AC module offers the ability to maximize production on a single module basis while allowing scalability in system size and elimination of the single point failure of a single inverter.
The history of the micro-inverter is longer than what most people assume. The thought of micro-inverters has been around since the inception of the modern solar industry. Ascension Technology started work in 1991 on a commercially available product and sent the first real “AC Panel” to Sandia Labs for testing in 1994. Ascension Technology partnered with ASE Americas to offer the 300 watt SunSine Panel in 1997. After Schott acquired Ascension Technology in 2002 it decided to end the SunSine product in favor of its own designs. In 1995 OKE Services developed a high frequency micro-inverter with a higher DC to AC conversion ratio. The product was offered in the US under the brand Trace Microsine.
During that time the micro-inverter never really caught on since the product was more costly per watt than the single inverter systems. As system size increased the additional cost grew to a point where it wasn’t competitive with a single inverter, or several larger inverters, options. By 2003 most projects had ended.
Currently, Enphase Energy, http://www.enphaseenergy.com/, has become the leader of micro-inverter technology. The company was founded in 2006 with several telecommunication engineers who found the design of a single inverter solar system could be greatly improved for reliability and efficiency. In 2008 they offered the M175 which became the company’s first commercially viable product. In addition they developed a MPPT product, Envoy, a device that basically monitors and records inverter performance which sends it to a website for viewing in addition to other services. By 2011 they have shipped over 500,000 of their micro-inverter products.
Enphase Energy, backed by $100 in private equity, grew to a 20% market share in 2010. The success of the company has spurred on other micro-inverter manufacturers. GreenRay Solar is offering a product based on the principles Ascension Technology developed nearly a decade ago. SMA recently acquired OKE Services and their OK4-All technology. SMA is know for their single on and off grid inverters. Other manufacturers have developed a DC to DC power optimizer that offer the MPPT benefits of micro-inverters with fewer parts and cost. These will be covered in a later post.
