January 31, 2012

National Solar Power announces 3rd giant PV project in FL

http://www.cleanenergyauthority.com/solar-energy-news/national-solar-announces-giant-pv-project-in-fl-013112/

National Solar Power is continuing in its efforts to catch up with New Jersey’s and California’s solar markets. Last week the company announced its third utility-scale PV farm in the Sunshine State. This time, the company announced plans to build a PV farm in Liberty County, Florida.

It’s the third project the company has announced since September 2011. Its first project is a 400-megawatt PV farm in Gadsden County, Fla. It’s second is a 200-megawatt farm in Hardee County, Fla., which it announced in December 2011.

The company also is looking into developing projects in other southeastern states, according Ryan Banfill, a spokesperson for National Solar.

“The Liberty plant will be up to 100 megawatts in size and represent an up-to-$350-million investment. It’s on some land that’s near where National Solar is planning the farm in Gadsden County,” Banfill said. “It’s like low-index timberland. There are a lot of trees over in that part of Florida.”

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January 31, 2012

Global warming not caused by increased solar activity (NASA)

http://www.tgdaily.com/sustainability-features/61128-global-warming-not-caused-by-increased-solar-activity

A new NASA study has confirmed that it's greenhouse gases - not changes in solar activity - that are the main cause of global warming

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And Hansen's team has concluded that the Earth absorbed over half a watt more solar energy per square meter than it emitted throughout the six-year study period. This imbalance is more than twice as much as the fall in incoming solar energy between maximum and minimum solar activity.

"The fact that we still see a positive imbalance despite the prolonged solar minimum isn't a surprise, given what we've learned about the climate system, but it's worth noting because this provides unequivocal evidence that the sun is not the dominant driver of global warming," says James Hansen, director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

According to the team's calculations, the imbalance implies that carbon dioxide levels need to be reduced to about 350 parts per million to restore the energy budget to equilibrium. They're currently 392 parts per million, and scientists expect the figure to continue to rise in the future.

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January 31, 2012

Arizona's Buckeye Union High School District Dedicates 4.29-Megawatt Solar Generation Project

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/arizonas-buckeye-union-high-school-district-dedicates-429-megawatt-solar-generation-project-from-constellation-energy-2012-01-31

Constellation Energy CEG -0.40% and the Buckeye Union High School District, today announced the completion of an aggregate 4.29-megawatt (DC) solar generation project. Baltimore-based Constellation Energy's retail business owns and will maintain the solar power systems. In return, the school district will purchase and receive all of the electricity generated by the solar panels at a fixed rate from Constellation Energy under a 25-year solar services agreement.

Located at three sites -- Buckeye Union High School and Youngker High School in Buckeye, Ariz. and Estrella Foothills High School in Goodyear, Ariz. -- the installations collectively generate enough electricity to power the three high schools, meeting up to 70 percent of the school district's electricity needs.

The installations, which were developed by GV Enterprises and REgeneration Finance and built by CORE Construction, were facilitated, in part, by the Arizona Corporation Commission-approved APS Renewable Energy Incentive Program. This program offers financial incentives, covering up to 40 percent of the installation costs, to customers who add renewable energy systems to their homes or businesses.

In honor of the solar project completion, a celebration and ribbon-cutting were held today at Buckeye Union High School. Students as well as representatives from Buckeye Union High School District, Constellation Energy, APS, GV Enterprises, REgeneration Finance, CORE Construction and elected officials were on hand for the event, including Buckeye Mayor Jackie Meck.

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January 31, 2012

U.S. May Slap Tariff on China’s Solar Firms

http://www.loansafe.org/u-s-may-slap-tariff-on-chinas-solar-firms

Chinese solar panel companies are receiving illegal subsidies on “massive” imports of their products in the United States, the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration said on Monday in a preliminary determination.

Federal officials notified U.S. importers of solar panels and parts used to make solar panels from Wuxi Suntech Power Co., Ltd.; Changzhou Trina Solar Energy Co., Ltd.; and all other Chinese producers or exporters that a tariff could be imposed on imports retroactive to early December.

The preliminary determination is not enforceable but includes regulators’ initial findings that they have a “reasonable basis to believe or suspect” the allegations are valid. The determination states that the increase in Chinese-made solar panel imports has been “massive over a relatively short period of time,” based, in part, on an imports increase of 15 percent or more.

Industry officials in the United States urged caution in interpreting the findings before they are final.

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January 31, 2012

New Solar Module Efficiency Record.. & These Modules Are Coming to Market

http://cleantechnica.com/2012/01/31/new-solar-module-efficiency-record/

Yep, it’s that time again—a new solar module efficiency record has been set and independently verified. The solar module company is Semprius. The new efficiency record is 33.9%. The modules are actually set to come to market this year. And the efficiency percentage “was externally certified after measurement under standard test conditions at the Instituto de Energia Solar (IES) at the University of Madrid (Universidad Politecnica de Madrid),” a news release notes.

This is the first time that a photovoltaic module has converted over one-third of the solar energy hitting the module into usable electricity. The previous record was reportedly 32.0%.

“Depending on the specific location and irradiation, the HCPV modules can deliver an energy output per square meter that is two times higher than common polycrystalline modules,” the news release goes on to note. ”Leading module manufacturers of conventional PV technologies achieve a maximum module efficiency of approximately 20 percent with monocrystalline PV modules and about 16 percent with polycrystalline technology.”

Also worth noting is that the module chosen for the test is not just a laboratory module—it is one of a normal distribution line that is expected to become commercially available later in the year.

Source: Clean Technica (http://s.tt/15tN8)

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January 26, 2012

LePage: Renewable energy initiative a 'job killer'

http://www.pressherald.com/news/LePage-calls-renewable-energy-initiative-job-killer.html

PORTLAND — A renewable energy ballot initiative that supporters say can gradually lower electric rates while reducing Maine’s dependence on imported fuel is actually “the single, largest job killer” Maine has faced in years and will make rates rise, Gov. Paul LePage told a gathering of the state’s real estate industry today.

If the measure gets on the ballot this November and wins voter approval, he said, it will force people and businesses to leave for places with lower energy costs.

“This will destroy the state of Maine,” he said, appealing to the crowd to fight the initiative.
LePage made his remarks at the opening address of the 2010 Maine Real Estate & Development Association’s annual forecast conference. The event drew a record turnout of 650 business and industry professionals, who gave the governor a standing ovation when he was introduced.

LePage’s comments escalated his ongoing attack on a proposal by a coalition called Maine Citizens for Clean Energy. The group, which includes environmental activists and windpower developers, is collecting signatures for a ballot initiative aimed at requiring 20 percent of Maine’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020, and to require further investments in energy efficiency.

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January 26, 2012

Wind firm says Vt. project exceeding expectations

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2012/01/25/wind_firm_says_vt_project_exceeding_expectations/

SHEFFIELD, Vt.—Vermont's newest commercial wind power project is starting to pay dividends to the town where it's located.

Earlier this month the town of Sheffield received a payment of $117,000 for hosting the First Wind project on Sheffield Heights. The project is obligated to pay $520,000 a year for the life of the project, which began producing power in October.

The Caledonian Record ( http://bit.ly/yi6Ixp) reports operations Manager Andy Doak says the project has generated enough energy since October to power the equivalent of 16,500 homes daily.

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Sheffield VT - population 709

Talk about yer windfall profits...

January 26, 2012

The U.S. wind energy installed just over 6,810 megawatts in 2011

http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=16262

The U.S. wind turbines industry’s fourth quarter results show that wind power is forging ahead into new states like Ohio and Nevada while doubling down on installations in existing strong wind farm markets.

The U.S. wind turbines industry’s fourth quarter results show that wind power is forging ahead into new states like Ohio and Nevada while doubling down on installations in existing strong wind farm markets in California, Illinois, Iowa and Kansas.

Illinois was a very strong performer in 2011, clocking in as #2 for installations in the last year and rising to #4 in wind power overall (the only mover in the overall top 10) and Kansas tops the under construction list with more than 1,188 megawatts of wind turbines scheduled to come on line in 2012. Ohio was another success story as the nation’s fastest growing state in wind power for 2011.

“This shows what wind power is capable of: building new projects, powering local economies and creating jobs,” said Denise Bode, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association. “Traditional tax incentives are working. This tremendous activity is being driven by the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) – which leveraged an average of more than $16 billion a year in private investment over the last several years and supported tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs.”

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January 26, 2012

Solar Cheaper Than Diesel Making India’s Mittal Believer

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-25/solar-cheaper-than-diesel-making-india-s-mittal-believer-energy.html

India is producing power from solar cells more cheaply than by burning diesel for the first time, spurring billionaire Sunil Mittal and Coca-Cola Co. (KO)’s mango supplier to jettison the fuel in favor of photovoltaic panels.

The cost of solar energy in India declined by 28 percent since December 2010, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The cause was a 51 percent drop in panel prices last year as the world’s 10 largest manufacturers, led by China’s Suntech Power Holdings Co. (STP), doubled output capacity.

“Solar is going mainstream in India, helped by Chinese pricing,” said Ardeshir Contractor, founder of developer Kiran Energy Solar Power Pvt. Kiran, whose investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, an early financier of Skype Technologies SA, won one of the largest projects auctioned by India last month.

India joins pockets of Italy, Spain and Hawaii where rising fuel costs and lower panel prices make solar pay for itself without state subsidies, New Energy Finance data show. Factories and homes in the Asian nation switch on emergency diesel-fired generators during chronic blackouts and to bridge gaps in the power-delivery grid as the government prepares a $400 billion program through 2017 to curb the shortfall and spur growth.

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January 26, 2012

Dumping Solar: The Case for CASE, Solar Growth and China’s Subsidies

http://cleantechnica.com/2012/01/26/dumping-solar-the-case-for-case-solar-growth-and-chinas-subsidies/

International trade tensions between the US and China have risen to become priorities at the national level recently, prompted by the October filing of anti-dumping and countervailing duty petitions by the Coalition of American Solar Manufacturing (CASM).

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday evening, Pres. Obama announced the creation of a Trade Enforcement Unit that will investigate illegal trade practices and subsidy programs by countries, notably China, which along with the US is legally bound by domestic laws enacted in compliance with World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements.

To better understand the narrow and broad issues associated with CASM’s petitions, Clean Technica has been running a series of articles based on an interview and correspondence with the lead lawyer for SolarWorld Industries America in the CASM case, Wiley, Rein LLP’s Tim Brightbill.

This article gives equal time to the opposition, which has been substantial. It’s based on an interview with Kevin Lapidus, senior vice president of legal and government affairs for MEMC SunEdison, and the Podesta Group’s Ed Rothschild. Lapidus also serves as a board member of the Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy, a coalition of US solar industry participants which has been conducting a government and public outreach campaign to discredit CASM’s claims and international trade petitions.

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Source: Clean Technica (http://s.tt/15oN8)