Google and a New York financial firm have each agreed to invest heavily in a proposed $5 billion transmission backbone for future offshore wind farms along the Atlantic Seaboard that could ultimately transform the region’s electrical map.
Shaun Curry | AFP | Getty Images
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The 350-mile underwater spine, which could remove some critical obstacles to wind power development, has stirred excitement among investors, government officials and environmentalists who have been briefed on it.
Google [GOOG 601.45 60.52 (+11.19%) ] and Good Energies, an investment firm specializing in renewable energy, have each agreed to take 37.5 percent of the equity portion of the project. They are likely to bring in additional investors, which would reduce their stakes.
If they hold on to their stakes, that would come to an initial investment of about $200 million apiece in the first phase of construction alone, said Robert L. Mitchell, the chief executive of Trans-Elect, the Maryland-based transmission-line company that proposed the venture.
Marubeni, a Japanese trading company, has taken a 15 percent stake. Trans-Elect said it hoped to begin construction in 2013.
Several government officials praised the idea underlying the project as ingenious, while cautioning that they could not prejudge the specifics.
“Conceptually it looks to me to be one of the most interesting transmission projects that I’ve ever seen walk through the door,” said Jon Wellinghoff, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which oversees interstate electricity transmission. “It provides a gathering point for offshore wind for multiple projects up and down the coast.”
Industry experts called the plan promising, but warned that as a first-of-a-kind effort, it was bound to face bureaucratic delays and could run into unforeseen challenges, from technology problems to cost overruns. While several undersea electrical cables exist off the Atlantic Coast already, none has ever picked up power from generators along the way.
The system’s backbone cable, with a capacity of 6,000 megawatts, equal to the output of five large nuclear reactors, would run in shallow trenches on the seabed in federal waters 15 to 20 miles offshore, from northern New Jersey to Norfolk, Va. The notion would be to harvest energy from turbines in an area where the wind is strong but the hulking towers would barely be visible.
Trans-Elect estimated that construction would cost $5 billion, plus financing and permit fees. The $1.8 billion first phase, a 150-mile stretch from northern New Jersey to Rehoboth Beach, Del., could go into service by early 2016, it said. The rest would not be completed until 2021 at the earliest.
Richard L. Needham, the director of Google’s green business operations group, called the plan “innovative and audacious.”
“It is an opportunity to kick-start this industry and, long term, provide a way for the mid-Atlantic states to meet their renewable energy goals,” he said.
Yet even before any wind farms were built, the cable would channel existing supplies of electricity from southern Virginia, where it is cheap, to northern New Jersey, where it is costly, bypassing one of the most congested parts of the North American electric grid while lowering energy costs for northern customers.
Generating electricity from offshore wind is far more expensive than relying on coal, natural gas or even onshore wind. But energy experts anticipate a growing demand for the offshore turbines to meet state requirements for greater reliance on local renewable energy as a clean alternative to fossil fuels.
Four connection points — in southern Virginia, Delaware, southern New Jersey and northern New Jersey — would simplify the job of bringing the energy onshore, involving fewer permit hurdles. In contrast to transmission lines on land, where a builder may have to deal with hundreds of property owners, this project would have to deal with a maximum of just four, and fewer than that in its first phase.
Ultimately the system, known as the Atlantic Wind Connection, could make building a wind farm offshore far simpler and cheaper than it looks today, experts said.
Environmentalists who have been briefed on the plan were enthusiastic. Melinda Pierce, the deputy director for national campaigns at the Sierra Club, said she had campaigned against proposed transmission lines that would carry coal-fired energy around the country, but would favor this one, with its promise of tapping the potential of offshore wind.
“These kinds of audacious ideas might just be what we need to break through the wretched logjam,” she said.
Projects like Cape Wind, proposed for shallow waters just off Cape Cod in Massachusetts, met with fierce objections from residents who felt it would mar the ocean vista. But sponsors of the Trans-Elect project insist that the mid-Atlantic turbines would have less of a visual impact.
The hurdles facing the project have more to do with administrative procedures than with engineering problems or its economic merit, several experts said.
By the time the Interior Department could issue permits for such a line, for example, the federal subsidy program for wind will have expired in 2012, said Willett M. Kempton, a professor at the School of Marine Science and Policy at the University of Delaware and the author of several papers on offshore wind.
Another is that PJM Interconnection, the regional electricity group that would have to approve the project and assess its member utilities for the cost, has no integrated procedure for calculating the value of all three tasks the line would accomplish — hooking up new power generation, reducing congestion on the grid and improving reliability.
And elected officials in Virginia have in the past opposed transmission proposals that would tend to average out pricing across the mid-Atlantic states, possibly raising their constituents’ costs.
But the lure of Atlantic wind is very strong. The Atlantic Ocean is relatively shallow even tens of miles from shore, unlike the Pacific, where the sea floor drops away steeply. Construction is also difficult on the Great Lakes because their waters are deep and they freeze, raising the prospect of moving ice sheets that could damage a tower.
Nearly all of the East Coast governors, Republican and Democratic, have spoken enthusiastically about coastal wind and have fought proposals for transmission lines from the other likely wind source, the Great Plains.
“From Massachusetts down to Virginia, the governors have signed appeals to the Senate not to do anything that would lead to a high-voltage grid that would blanket the country and bring in wind from the Dakotas,” said James J. Hoecker, a former chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, who now is part of a nonprofit group that represents transmission owners.
He described an Atlantic transmission backbone as “a necessary piece of what the Eastern governors have been talking about in terms of taking advantage of offshore wind.”
So far only one offshore wind project, Bluewater Wind off Delaware, has sought permission to build in federal waters. The company is seeking federal loan guarantees to build 293 to 450 megawatts of capacity, but the timing of construction remains uncertain.
Executives with that project said the Atlantic backbone was an interesting idea, in part because it would foster development of a supply chain for the specialized parts needed for offshore wind.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, whose agency would have to sign off on the project, has spoken approvingly of wind energy and talked about the possibility of an offshore “backbone.” In a speech this month, he emphasized that the federal waters were “controlled by the secretary,” meaning him.
Within three miles of the shore, control is wielded by the state. Nonetheless, if the offshore wind farms are built on a vast scale, the project’s sponsors say, a backbone with just four connection points could expedite the approval process.
In fact, if successful, the transmission spine would reduce the regulatory burden on subsequent projects, said Mr. Mitchell, the Trans-Elect chief executive.
Mr. Kempton of the University of Delaware and Mr. Wellinghoff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the backbone would offer another plus: reducing one of wind power’s big problems, variability of output.
“Along the U.S. Atlantic seaboard, we tend to have storm tracks that move along the coast and somewhat offshore,” Mr. Kempton said.
If storm winds were blowing on Friday off Virginia, they might be off Delaware by Saturday and off New Jersey by Sunday, he noted. Yet the long spine would ensure that the amount of energy coming ashore held roughly constant.
Wind energy becomes more valuable when it is more predictable; if predictable enough, it could replace some land-based generation altogether, Mr. Kempton said.
But the economics remain uncertain, he warned, For now, he said, the biggest impediment may be that the market price of offshore wind energy is about 50 percent higher than that of energy generated on land.
With a change in market conditions — an increase in the price of natural gas, for example, or the adoption of a tax on emissions of carbon dioxide from coal- or gas-generated electricity — that could change, he said.
courtasey....Newyork times
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Hawaii to pay individual renewable power producers
Hawaii property owners who install solar power panels on their rooftops will get paid for their excess homegrown electricity under a Wednesday ruling by state regulators.
The decision allows both homeowners and businesses to sell power to the electric utility and get paid nearly as much per kilowatt hour as residents pay to use retail energy.
Those who sign up for the program will get paid 21.8 cents per kilowatt hour of solar power fed into the electric grid, according to the ruling by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission. That compares with an average of 25.3 cents per kilowatt hour paid last month by Oahu customers of Hawaiian Electric Co.
"This is an option for people who generate more energy than they use," said Scott Seu, vice president for energy resources at Hawaiian Electric, which serves most of the state's power needs along with its subsidiaries, Maui Electric Co. and Hawaii Electric Light Co. "It's for anybody who has a fair amount of open space that's not being used."
Hawaii, the nation's most fossil-fuel dependent state, is one of the first regions in the country to institute this policy, known as a feed-in tariff. It guarantees renewable energy producers a fixed price for their power for 20 years.
It's part the state's goal of getting 70 percent of its power from clean sources by 2030 - 40 percent from renewables and 30 percent from efficiency improvements.
"You're going to see a lot more renewable energy projects happen a lot quicker," said Darren Kimura, chief executive for Sopogy, a Honolulu-based concentrated solar power company.
Similar feed-in tariff systems have been created in other parts of the country, including Vermont, Oregon, parts of Wisconsin and Gainesville, Fla.
The Hawaii ruling sets rates for small and mid-sized renewable energy producers to sell solar, wind and hydropower. Sign-up for the program starts Oct. 27 on Oahu, and Nov. 24 on the Big Island and Maui.
It allows for electric grids on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island to add up to 5 percent to their current power output - an additional 60 megawatts on Oahu and 10 megawatts on each of the other two islands. The decision doesn't cover Kauai, whose grid is run by Kauai Island Utility Cooperative.
Currently, electric customers statewide may reduce their power bill by providing energy to the grid. But they aren't paid for producing more energy than they use.
Hawaii may see its solar energy production triple from its current level of about 27 megawatts statewide, said Hawaii Energy Administrator Ted Peck.
"It's a gold rush," Peck said. "The intent is to add new systems and new renewables."
The decision caps project size limits at 5 megawatts for the island of Oahu and 2.72 megawatts for Maui and the Big Island.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The decision allows both homeowners and businesses to sell power to the electric utility and get paid nearly as much per kilowatt hour as residents pay to use retail energy.
Those who sign up for the program will get paid 21.8 cents per kilowatt hour of solar power fed into the electric grid, according to the ruling by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission. That compares with an average of 25.3 cents per kilowatt hour paid last month by Oahu customers of Hawaiian Electric Co.
"This is an option for people who generate more energy than they use," said Scott Seu, vice president for energy resources at Hawaiian Electric, which serves most of the state's power needs along with its subsidiaries, Maui Electric Co. and Hawaii Electric Light Co. "It's for anybody who has a fair amount of open space that's not being used."
Hawaii, the nation's most fossil-fuel dependent state, is one of the first regions in the country to institute this policy, known as a feed-in tariff. It guarantees renewable energy producers a fixed price for their power for 20 years.
It's part the state's goal of getting 70 percent of its power from clean sources by 2030 - 40 percent from renewables and 30 percent from efficiency improvements.
"You're going to see a lot more renewable energy projects happen a lot quicker," said Darren Kimura, chief executive for Sopogy, a Honolulu-based concentrated solar power company.
Similar feed-in tariff systems have been created in other parts of the country, including Vermont, Oregon, parts of Wisconsin and Gainesville, Fla.
The Hawaii ruling sets rates for small and mid-sized renewable energy producers to sell solar, wind and hydropower. Sign-up for the program starts Oct. 27 on Oahu, and Nov. 24 on the Big Island and Maui.
It allows for electric grids on Oahu, Maui and the Big Island to add up to 5 percent to their current power output - an additional 60 megawatts on Oahu and 10 megawatts on each of the other two islands. The decision doesn't cover Kauai, whose grid is run by Kauai Island Utility Cooperative.
Currently, electric customers statewide may reduce their power bill by providing energy to the grid. But they aren't paid for producing more energy than they use.
Hawaii may see its solar energy production triple from its current level of about 27 megawatts statewide, said Hawaii Energy Administrator Ted Peck.
"It's a gold rush," Peck said. "The intent is to add new systems and new renewables."
The decision caps project size limits at 5 megawatts for the island of Oahu and 2.72 megawatts for Maui and the Big Island.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
IITM-EU chart monsoon variability in India
City-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) has come together with the European Union (EU) for a project to understand the variability of monsoon in India over the last three years.
"The tie-up began in 2008 and is part of the Indo-EU collaboration on fighting climate change in India that took shape in 2004. Scientists from both parties are trying to find out the reason behind the huge variation in the monsoon season as witnessed in the country between 2008 and 2010," said officials of the British High Commission here on Wednesday.
The Reading University in the United Kingdom (UK), the European Centre for medium-range forecasting, the Hadley Centre of UK Meteorological Office are part of the project which is being co-ordinated by the IITM.
IITM scientist K Krishna Kumar, who is coordinating the project in India, said, "We are trying to explore various matters related to monsoon. In the last few years, the country has been seeing drastic variations during this season. For example, we will try to understand why there was drought in India in 2009 and a fairly good monsoon this year."
Kumar also said, "The fluctuating monsoon season in India will be studied along with the global phenomenon and its impact on the Indian monsoon. We are trying to find out this link and EU experts will be helpful on this front. Weather is fluid and nothing happens in isolation. For instance, some weather phenomenon in one part of the world will invariably have a cascading effect on other parts. Though, the monsoon variations in our country are undoubtedly a local occurrence, but they do have a global connection."
The project is in its second phase, and two research students have been sent to UK to attain their doctorate in one of the climate change topics, the officials said, adding "Broadly, we are also undertaking various monsoon predictions projects, such as vegetation of India during the monsoon, predicting the monsoon about 15 to 20 days in advance, among other things."
Meanwhile, Kumar said UK has earlier also been involved in research pertaining to monsoon in India. "It is out of mutual interest that we strive to understand increase in the green-house effects on global warming and what will be its impact on monsoon."
courtsey...Times of India
"The tie-up began in 2008 and is part of the Indo-EU collaboration on fighting climate change in India that took shape in 2004. Scientists from both parties are trying to find out the reason behind the huge variation in the monsoon season as witnessed in the country between 2008 and 2010," said officials of the British High Commission here on Wednesday.
The Reading University in the United Kingdom (UK), the European Centre for medium-range forecasting, the Hadley Centre of UK Meteorological Office are part of the project which is being co-ordinated by the IITM.
IITM scientist K Krishna Kumar, who is coordinating the project in India, said, "We are trying to explore various matters related to monsoon. In the last few years, the country has been seeing drastic variations during this season. For example, we will try to understand why there was drought in India in 2009 and a fairly good monsoon this year."
Kumar also said, "The fluctuating monsoon season in India will be studied along with the global phenomenon and its impact on the Indian monsoon. We are trying to find out this link and EU experts will be helpful on this front. Weather is fluid and nothing happens in isolation. For instance, some weather phenomenon in one part of the world will invariably have a cascading effect on other parts. Though, the monsoon variations in our country are undoubtedly a local occurrence, but they do have a global connection."
The project is in its second phase, and two research students have been sent to UK to attain their doctorate in one of the climate change topics, the officials said, adding "Broadly, we are also undertaking various monsoon predictions projects, such as vegetation of India during the monsoon, predicting the monsoon about 15 to 20 days in advance, among other things."
Meanwhile, Kumar said UK has earlier also been involved in research pertaining to monsoon in India. "It is out of mutual interest that we strive to understand increase in the green-house effects on global warming and what will be its impact on monsoon."
courtsey...Times of India
Green Supply Chain Management Requires Less Procrastination & More Innovation, Leading by Example
Admit it- we’ve all done it. Procrastinated. Waited until the brink of a bad outcome. Not taken the time to thoughtfully, proactively, pragmatically complete an assignment, implement a new ‘leading edge’ technology or launch a disruptively innovative initiative. Instead we react, overlook great ideas for something less, produce a less articulate response to an inquiry, or implement a semi thought out idea.
Even in the business world, whether in supply chain management or in adoption of the ‘triple bottom line’ in business strategy, there are leaders and there are laggards. Innovators and adopters. I was reminded of this when I ran across a research paper that was published in “Sustainability” Journal this past spring. The article, “Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research” presents the results of a study conducted by several university researchers in The Netherlands. The researchers noted that “procrastination can be viewed as the result of several processes, determined not only by individual personality, but also by the following factors:
availability of information;
availability of opportunities and resources;
skills and abilities; and
dependence on cooperation with others.”
In addition, in a review of more than 100 additional studies on procrastination, the following additional items were found to likely to influence procrastination:
the nature of the task, and
the context of the issue.
It is these last two issues that the authors raised as primary reasons for procrastination, especially regarding embedding sustainability research and practices in supply chain operations and management. The authors found that “the nature of the task”, because it’s often complex and requires many internal and external stakeholders, and therefore tends to “generate conflicts”. Also, the roots of supply chain management and related research are generally grounded in operations management and operations/logistics. Therefore, the researchers noted that environmental and social aspects of supply chain management are foreign, “out of context” and not wholly integrated into supply chain management and research. I would also argue that dependence on others is a key issue as well given the widespread, outward facing challenges associated with supply chain coordination.
So what this means is that if a concept is foreign or unfamiliar or “out of context” it’s either set aside as being non-value added. Also because of some of the complexities often inherent in grasping and applying sustainability concepts, some just throw up their hands and say “I’ve no time for this”. This in turn can lead to procrastination in the real-world application of sustainability in supply chain management.
In a study conducted during the height of the recession (late 2009), GTM Research found that despite its growing prominence, “sustainability is not a core part of most companies’ strategies today or …a prime driver of their supply chain agendas.” The study found that sustainability lies in the middle of the pack of supply chain priorities today, behind cost cutting. The graphic presents a “leaders vs. laggards” scenario. The 23% difference between leaders and laggards related to sustainability initiative implementation is large and underscores the work that remains to advance the “value proposition” for sustainability in supply chain management.
Prior posts have described positive aspects of adopting whole systems-based, collaborative and transparent approaches to sustainable sourcing and manufacturing, and green logistics. Sustainable thinking in supply chain management also value chain practices supports environmental and social responsibility – so why aren’t more companies adopting these methods?
I know who many of the leaders are in implementing greener and more sustainable supply chain practices in their respective markets and I’ve written about them here – Walmart, HP, Dell, Patagonia, Nike, Intel, Cisco Systems, IBM, Herman Miller, Proctor & Gamble, Unilever, Campbell Soup, Timberland, Danisco, UPS, FedEx, Staples immediately come to mind. Laggards? Well you know who you are, but I am not pointing fingers.
While the future looks bright for a “greener” perspective in supply chain management, there still remains a stigma that a sustainable value chain is a costly one. In reality, there may be some up-front costs associated with some initiatives- very true. But companies must take a longer view and pencil out the ROI of supply chain sustainability best practices. And its possible by taking a leap and reaping the benefits. I’m confident that those organizations who wish to lead (and stop procrastinating!) will find a great many benefits including:
less resource intensive product designs,
better supply chain planning and network optimization,
better coordinated warehousing and distribution and
more advanced and innovative reverse logistics options.
Those who choose to lead will realize significant cost savings, improved efficiencies and a more secure and profitable future.
courtsey nytimes
Even in the business world, whether in supply chain management or in adoption of the ‘triple bottom line’ in business strategy, there are leaders and there are laggards. Innovators and adopters. I was reminded of this when I ran across a research paper that was published in “Sustainability” Journal this past spring. The article, “Supply Chain Management and Sustainability: Procrastinating Integration in Mainstream Research” presents the results of a study conducted by several university researchers in The Netherlands. The researchers noted that “procrastination can be viewed as the result of several processes, determined not only by individual personality, but also by the following factors:
availability of information;
availability of opportunities and resources;
skills and abilities; and
dependence on cooperation with others.”
In addition, in a review of more than 100 additional studies on procrastination, the following additional items were found to likely to influence procrastination:
the nature of the task, and
the context of the issue.
It is these last two issues that the authors raised as primary reasons for procrastination, especially regarding embedding sustainability research and practices in supply chain operations and management. The authors found that “the nature of the task”, because it’s often complex and requires many internal and external stakeholders, and therefore tends to “generate conflicts”. Also, the roots of supply chain management and related research are generally grounded in operations management and operations/logistics. Therefore, the researchers noted that environmental and social aspects of supply chain management are foreign, “out of context” and not wholly integrated into supply chain management and research. I would also argue that dependence on others is a key issue as well given the widespread, outward facing challenges associated with supply chain coordination.
So what this means is that if a concept is foreign or unfamiliar or “out of context” it’s either set aside as being non-value added. Also because of some of the complexities often inherent in grasping and applying sustainability concepts, some just throw up their hands and say “I’ve no time for this”. This in turn can lead to procrastination in the real-world application of sustainability in supply chain management.
In a study conducted during the height of the recession (late 2009), GTM Research found that despite its growing prominence, “sustainability is not a core part of most companies’ strategies today or …a prime driver of their supply chain agendas.” The study found that sustainability lies in the middle of the pack of supply chain priorities today, behind cost cutting. The graphic presents a “leaders vs. laggards” scenario. The 23% difference between leaders and laggards related to sustainability initiative implementation is large and underscores the work that remains to advance the “value proposition” for sustainability in supply chain management.
Prior posts have described positive aspects of adopting whole systems-based, collaborative and transparent approaches to sustainable sourcing and manufacturing, and green logistics. Sustainable thinking in supply chain management also value chain practices supports environmental and social responsibility – so why aren’t more companies adopting these methods?
I know who many of the leaders are in implementing greener and more sustainable supply chain practices in their respective markets and I’ve written about them here – Walmart, HP, Dell, Patagonia, Nike, Intel, Cisco Systems, IBM, Herman Miller, Proctor & Gamble, Unilever, Campbell Soup, Timberland, Danisco, UPS, FedEx, Staples immediately come to mind. Laggards? Well you know who you are, but I am not pointing fingers.
While the future looks bright for a “greener” perspective in supply chain management, there still remains a stigma that a sustainable value chain is a costly one. In reality, there may be some up-front costs associated with some initiatives- very true. But companies must take a longer view and pencil out the ROI of supply chain sustainability best practices. And its possible by taking a leap and reaping the benefits. I’m confident that those organizations who wish to lead (and stop procrastinating!) will find a great many benefits including:
less resource intensive product designs,
better supply chain planning and network optimization,
better coordinated warehousing and distribution and
more advanced and innovative reverse logistics options.
Those who choose to lead will realize significant cost savings, improved efficiencies and a more secure and profitable future.
courtsey nytimes
Solar Power Today - and Tomorrow
The 19th Century American industrialist Andrew Carnegie probably didn’t have solar power in mind when he advised aspiring tycoons to “concentrate your energies.” If he were alive today, however, he might have seen how apt the principle is to turning sunlight into electricity.
Fans of solar power sometimes boast that energy from the sun is “unlimited” when what they really mean is “vast.” Scientists have quantified the average amount of solar radiation (insolation) striking most inhabited land on Earth as ranging from approximately 150 to 300 watts per square meter.
For decades, most photovoltaic (PV) research has been directed at increasing the efficiency of the conversion process – to wring more electricity from that finite amount of light energy. Those efforts have had great success. From an efficiency of just 4 percent for the first cells made from crystalline silicone in the early 1950s, efficiency has increased to around 20 percent today – a five-fold jump.
Scientists Jerry Olson and Sarah Kurtz have taken a radically different approach. They began working in the 1980s on increasing not just efficiency but also on maximizing the total amount of light striking the cell. In other words: concentrating and maximizing the amount of energy that strikes the cells. Their pioneering work was recognized in 2006 when Olson and Kurtz were named Dan David Prize laureates (an international prize that carries a million dollar award). After making giant strides in research at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), concentrating photovoltaic power (CPV) has begun to move out of the lab and into production.
Rick Russell, head of engineering for the young CPV manufacturing firm Soliant, showed me how their SE-1000X unit works. The apparatus stood in a giant exhibition hall during the just-ended Solar Power Industry trade show in Los Angeles. Eight gleaming white rectangles (each measuring 14” x 28” and 16” deep) stood out in a room dominated by panels of dark silicon.
“These,” said Russell pointing to the Fresnel lenses that topped each box, “concentrate the sunlight like a magnifying glass does, onto the solar cell below.” The lenses can increase the amount of light focused on the cell by one thousand times. The solar cells themselves aren’t visible, but sit in box so small you could hold it in one hand.
“They may be small,” Russell explained, “but they’re extremely efficient.”
Known in the industry as “triple junction” cells, they’re made from extremely thin layers of Gallium Indium Phosphide and Gallium Indium Arsenide put onto a substrate of Germanium.
Each layer is sensitive to a different part of the spectrum, allowing the triple junction cells to produce even more electricity. These high-efficiency cells were developed for space applications, where small size and peak efficiency are more important than just the price. (Soliant was founded by a group of former NASA and JPL scientists.)
Combining high-efficiency cells with concentrating lenses began bringing the price down to earth (pardon the pun). But Russell pointed to a third engineering feature that is critically important to helping CPV approach grid parity – and achieve it in some locations. Solar tracking, NASA style.
Attaching solar panels to mechanized tracking devices that follow the sun throughout the day isn’t exactly new – although the practice has grown more popular in recent years. What is new, is the precision method adopted from the space agency.
Most tracking devices follow a “virtual sun,” using an algorithm based on known factors like latitude and longitude and time of year.
But that process doesn’t incorporate real world factors.
“Predicting the position of the sun is easy,” Russell explained. “What’s harder to predict -- in fact, what’s impossible to predict with a high degree of accuracy -- is the position of the sun relative to the position of the solar cell at a given moment.”
That’s because the panels are mounted on a roof that can sag and in locations where high winds can shift the panels themselves enough to affect electrical output. Soliant’s solution was to incorporate sensors that allow the array to tilt and turn in three dimensions so that any tracking errors are self-corrected – with a phenomenal accuracy of .1 of a degree.
The result is a commercial CPV rooftop system that can generate double the electrical output of a traditional solar array of the same cost.
There is one caveat, however. Brian Robinson alluded to it earlier in the week, in a panel discussion at SPI.
“CPV is perfectly positioned to grow,” he said, adding, “where the market will be.”
As the CEO of the California-based CPV company, Amonix, Robinson believes in his product 100 percent, but only in the right location.
“CPV is not the best choice for everywhere,” Robinson cautioned.
It only becomes competitive with other energy sources in areas with sufficiently high amounts of solar insolation, places like the Southwest and west Texas. “I wanted a technology strategy that could address the energy markets, not the subsidized solar markets,” Robinson emphasized.
CPV may be the first form of solar power to reach full grid parity on a large scale – without subsidies or incentives, or even a truly level playing field, i.e., one that includes environmental and health costs in its price. It won’t happen everywhere, but, then, why does solar have to be the best energy choice for the entire planet, right now?
As the technologies develop, and as our political will matures to the point that we’re able to deal rationally with climate change, solar power will likely spread.
CPV can flourish now in locations where it’s cost effective – a hint, perhaps, of things to come
Fans of solar power sometimes boast that energy from the sun is “unlimited” when what they really mean is “vast.” Scientists have quantified the average amount of solar radiation (insolation) striking most inhabited land on Earth as ranging from approximately 150 to 300 watts per square meter.
For decades, most photovoltaic (PV) research has been directed at increasing the efficiency of the conversion process – to wring more electricity from that finite amount of light energy. Those efforts have had great success. From an efficiency of just 4 percent for the first cells made from crystalline silicone in the early 1950s, efficiency has increased to around 20 percent today – a five-fold jump.
Scientists Jerry Olson and Sarah Kurtz have taken a radically different approach. They began working in the 1980s on increasing not just efficiency but also on maximizing the total amount of light striking the cell. In other words: concentrating and maximizing the amount of energy that strikes the cells. Their pioneering work was recognized in 2006 when Olson and Kurtz were named Dan David Prize laureates (an international prize that carries a million dollar award). After making giant strides in research at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), concentrating photovoltaic power (CPV) has begun to move out of the lab and into production.
Rick Russell, head of engineering for the young CPV manufacturing firm Soliant, showed me how their SE-1000X unit works. The apparatus stood in a giant exhibition hall during the just-ended Solar Power Industry trade show in Los Angeles. Eight gleaming white rectangles (each measuring 14” x 28” and 16” deep) stood out in a room dominated by panels of dark silicon.
“These,” said Russell pointing to the Fresnel lenses that topped each box, “concentrate the sunlight like a magnifying glass does, onto the solar cell below.” The lenses can increase the amount of light focused on the cell by one thousand times. The solar cells themselves aren’t visible, but sit in box so small you could hold it in one hand.
“They may be small,” Russell explained, “but they’re extremely efficient.”
Known in the industry as “triple junction” cells, they’re made from extremely thin layers of Gallium Indium Phosphide and Gallium Indium Arsenide put onto a substrate of Germanium.
Each layer is sensitive to a different part of the spectrum, allowing the triple junction cells to produce even more electricity. These high-efficiency cells were developed for space applications, where small size and peak efficiency are more important than just the price. (Soliant was founded by a group of former NASA and JPL scientists.)
Combining high-efficiency cells with concentrating lenses began bringing the price down to earth (pardon the pun). But Russell pointed to a third engineering feature that is critically important to helping CPV approach grid parity – and achieve it in some locations. Solar tracking, NASA style.
Attaching solar panels to mechanized tracking devices that follow the sun throughout the day isn’t exactly new – although the practice has grown more popular in recent years. What is new, is the precision method adopted from the space agency.
Most tracking devices follow a “virtual sun,” using an algorithm based on known factors like latitude and longitude and time of year.
But that process doesn’t incorporate real world factors.
“Predicting the position of the sun is easy,” Russell explained. “What’s harder to predict -- in fact, what’s impossible to predict with a high degree of accuracy -- is the position of the sun relative to the position of the solar cell at a given moment.”
That’s because the panels are mounted on a roof that can sag and in locations where high winds can shift the panels themselves enough to affect electrical output. Soliant’s solution was to incorporate sensors that allow the array to tilt and turn in three dimensions so that any tracking errors are self-corrected – with a phenomenal accuracy of .1 of a degree.
The result is a commercial CPV rooftop system that can generate double the electrical output of a traditional solar array of the same cost.
There is one caveat, however. Brian Robinson alluded to it earlier in the week, in a panel discussion at SPI.
“CPV is perfectly positioned to grow,” he said, adding, “where the market will be.”
As the CEO of the California-based CPV company, Amonix, Robinson believes in his product 100 percent, but only in the right location.
“CPV is not the best choice for everywhere,” Robinson cautioned.
It only becomes competitive with other energy sources in areas with sufficiently high amounts of solar insolation, places like the Southwest and west Texas. “I wanted a technology strategy that could address the energy markets, not the subsidized solar markets,” Robinson emphasized.
CPV may be the first form of solar power to reach full grid parity on a large scale – without subsidies or incentives, or even a truly level playing field, i.e., one that includes environmental and health costs in its price. It won’t happen everywhere, but, then, why does solar have to be the best energy choice for the entire planet, right now?
As the technologies develop, and as our political will matures to the point that we’re able to deal rationally with climate change, solar power will likely spread.
CPV can flourish now in locations where it’s cost effective – a hint, perhaps, of things to come
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Climate change affects India flower exports
Unseasonal weather is negatively impacting southern India's flower export industry.
Heavy snowfall in Tamil Nadu has caused many blooms to perish, according to indiatoday.com having a knock-on effect on its flower industry.
Being one of the top providers of jasmine, roses and other blooms, the area is now struggling to meet demand.
One grower noted that, of the flowers they do have, they are more likely to go to overseas buyers.
"Whatever be the price, foreign countries especially the Gulf nations are ready to pay the price we demand," commented a local flower seller in Madurai.
Recently, an Indian university revealed its intention to reduce floral waste in the country by turning discarded blooms into organic paints.
Jadhavpur University is currently testing the durability of its paints and hopes that the scheme will be able to reduce waste.
excerpts from iflorist
Heavy snowfall in Tamil Nadu has caused many blooms to perish, according to indiatoday.com having a knock-on effect on its flower industry.
Being one of the top providers of jasmine, roses and other blooms, the area is now struggling to meet demand.
One grower noted that, of the flowers they do have, they are more likely to go to overseas buyers.
"Whatever be the price, foreign countries especially the Gulf nations are ready to pay the price we demand," commented a local flower seller in Madurai.
Recently, an Indian university revealed its intention to reduce floral waste in the country by turning discarded blooms into organic paints.
Jadhavpur University is currently testing the durability of its paints and hopes that the scheme will be able to reduce waste.
excerpts from iflorist
Friday, October 15, 2010
Automakers, Retailers, Gas Stations Roll Plans for EV Charging Stations
As more electric vehicles are set to launch over the next several months, automakers, retailers and gas stations are putting plans in place to install electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in strategic locations to help build out the fueling infrastructure.
For example, General Motors plans to install Envision Solar’s CleanCharge solar-powered EV charging stations integrated into EnvisionTrak tracking Solar Trees at a number of locations.
The Chevy Volt extended-range electric car is expected to be showrooms in November 2010 and will be rolled out initially in California, Michigan, Washington, D.C., Texas and New York, followed by New Jersey and Connecticut in mid-2011.
Gas stations also are gearing up for the EV roll-out. BP, a partner in the EV Project, for example, announced it will install ECOtality’s Blink EV DC Fast Chargers at 45 BP and ARCO locations. They will be available to the public as early as March 2011.
Locations will be selected based on population density and transportation corridors in each project region. BP is expected to install the DC Fast Chargers near major EV Project pilot markets, which include Phoenix (AZ), Tucson (AZ), San Diego (CA), Los Angeles (CA), Portland (OR), Eugene (OR), Salem (OR), Corvallis (OR), Seattle (WA), Nashville (TN), Knoxville (TN) and Chattanooga (TN).
ECOtality is the project manager for the EV Project, an initiative that plans to install approximately 15,000 charging stations in 16 cities and major metropolitan areas in six states, and will place 8,300 EVs on the road. The project is funded with a $114.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), with matching funds from the private sector.
Retailers are also installing EV charging station as pilot programs to see how useful they are and if they can make any money by investing in the stations, reports CNET. As an example, twelve Best Buy stores plan to install Ecotality Blink EV charging stations by March at stores in Tucson, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Seattle.
Public charging stations is an important consideration for making EVs more viable and to ease concerns over driving range, although it’s expect that more drivers will charge their vehicles at home, reports CNET.
Ninety five percent of consumers surveyed in Southern California say they would prefer to charge their EVs at home, according to a report from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
Best Buy also plans to sell electric transportation products at its stores, including bicycles, scooters, and a motorcycle, reports CNET.
Because Enterprise Rent-A-Car will offer electric vehicles to customers across eight different markets, starting in November 2010, charging stations will be installed at select locations, including several of the Enterprise “hybrid branches.”
For example, General Motors plans to install Envision Solar’s CleanCharge solar-powered EV charging stations integrated into EnvisionTrak tracking Solar Trees at a number of locations.
The Chevy Volt extended-range electric car is expected to be showrooms in November 2010 and will be rolled out initially in California, Michigan, Washington, D.C., Texas and New York, followed by New Jersey and Connecticut in mid-2011.
Gas stations also are gearing up for the EV roll-out. BP, a partner in the EV Project, for example, announced it will install ECOtality’s Blink EV DC Fast Chargers at 45 BP and ARCO locations. They will be available to the public as early as March 2011.
Locations will be selected based on population density and transportation corridors in each project region. BP is expected to install the DC Fast Chargers near major EV Project pilot markets, which include Phoenix (AZ), Tucson (AZ), San Diego (CA), Los Angeles (CA), Portland (OR), Eugene (OR), Salem (OR), Corvallis (OR), Seattle (WA), Nashville (TN), Knoxville (TN) and Chattanooga (TN).
ECOtality is the project manager for the EV Project, an initiative that plans to install approximately 15,000 charging stations in 16 cities and major metropolitan areas in six states, and will place 8,300 EVs on the road. The project is funded with a $114.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), with matching funds from the private sector.
Retailers are also installing EV charging station as pilot programs to see how useful they are and if they can make any money by investing in the stations, reports CNET. As an example, twelve Best Buy stores plan to install Ecotality Blink EV charging stations by March at stores in Tucson, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, and Seattle.
Public charging stations is an important consideration for making EVs more viable and to ease concerns over driving range, although it’s expect that more drivers will charge their vehicles at home, reports CNET.
Ninety five percent of consumers surveyed in Southern California say they would prefer to charge their EVs at home, according to a report from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).
Best Buy also plans to sell electric transportation products at its stores, including bicycles, scooters, and a motorcycle, reports CNET.
Because Enterprise Rent-A-Car will offer electric vehicles to customers across eight different markets, starting in November 2010, charging stations will be installed at select locations, including several of the Enterprise “hybrid branches.”
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