California Solar Startups Might Get Help in Unlikely Places
February 26, 2009 by editor
Filed under Solar News
California's Pacific Gas & Electric plans to build solar power plants over the next five years.
SAN FRANCISCO — California’s solar power market and its startups stand to gain from utilities making a direct play into renewable energy development, a prominent industry representative said in an interview yesterday.
Sue Kateley, executive director of the California Solar Energy Industries Association, said she welcomes Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s decision this week to launch a five-year effort to build and own solar-run power plants totaling 250 megawatts. The deal, she said, is a sign that the state’s installers, distributors and manufacturers could find enough work to weather the economic downturn.
“It’s a win-win on either side,” said Kateley, who represents solar companies all along the supply chain.
San Francisco-based PG&E has backed its ownership plans with a second track under which the utility intends to help finance another 250 MW of development. PG&E CEO Peter Darbee said the company expects to spend $1.4 billion to see the entire 500 MW online by 2015.
President Obama’s Stimulus Package Gives a Boost to Clean Energy
February 18, 2009 by editor
Filed under American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Solar News
Among the incentives, the plan will allow developers of renewable-energy projects to swap tax credits for cash grants.
The renewable-energy sector got a lift from the economic stimulus package signed Tuesday, with a fix to a crucial tax issue that had stalled projects nationwide.
Solar and wind companies said it could take several months for the legislation to get portions of the industry moving again. But some players are already gearing up for growth.
President Barack Obama signs the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
SolarCity, a Foster City, Calif., company that’s one of the nation’s largest residential solar firms, will end a hiring freeze in place since December and begin seeking more installers immediately, said Chief Executive Lyndon Rive.
“We should be adding 16 or so crews over the next few months,” Rive said. “This is a great step toward resolving our challenges.”
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will invest nearly $79 billion in renewable energy, energy efficiency and green transportation, according to a final tally of the legislation by the nonprofit Environment California.
Obama Signs Stimulus Packed With Clean Energy Provisions
February 18, 2009 by editor
Filed under American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Featured, Research, Videos
President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion stimulus package today, and the clean energy industry - among the biggest winners - is celebrating.
The signing ceremony was heavily loaded with solar symbolism: Mr. Obama signed the bill after touring the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which has solar panels on its roof. He was also introduced by Blake Jones, head of Namaste Solar Electric, a Colorado company that installed solar panels on the governor’s mansion there.
President Barack Obama (right) and Vice President Joe Biden (center) tour the roof of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science with Blake Jones (left), president of Namaste Solar Electric, a Colorado solar company, ahead of signing an economic stimulus package loaded with clean-energy incentives.
“It’s an investment that will double the amount of renewable energy produced over the next three years,” said Mr. Obama, who also promised that the bill would help “transform the way we use energy.”
The text of the bill is posted by the House Appropriations Committee here. This detailed summary is particularly helpful.
The provisions include:
* A large sum for energy efficiency, including $5 billion for low-income weatherization programs; over $6 billion in grants for state and local governments; and several billion to modernize federal buildings, with a particular emphasis on energy efficiency.
* $11 billion for “smart grid” investments.
* $3.4 billion for carbon capture and sequestration demonstration projects (otherwise known as “clean coal”).
* $2 billion for research into batteries for electric cars.
* $500 million to help workers train for “green jobs.”
* A three-year extension of the “production tax credit” for wind energy (as well as a tax credit extension for biomass, geothermal, landfill gas and some hydropower projects).
* The option, available to many developers, of turning their tax credits into direct cash, with the government underwriting 30 percent of a project’s cost.
Kate Galbraith
The New York Times
California Solar Panel Installations Through The Roof In 2008
January 28, 2009 by editor
Filed under Installations, Solar News
California solar billboard sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric
Despite a credit freeze that’s stunting renewable energy projects throughout the country, 2008 was a hot year for solar power in California.
Encouraged by state rebates, Golden State residents and businesses last year installed a record 158 megawatts of photovoltaic panels on their rooftops to turn the sun’s rays into electricity, the California Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday. That’s more than double the 78 megawatts installed in 2007.
Residential demand appears to be hanging tough in the face of the shaky economy. December saw the largest volume of homeowner rebate requests since the state launched the California Solar Initiative program two years ago.
California Utility PG&E to Open Wallet for Solar Technology
January 22, 2009 by editor
Filed under Solar News, Technology
INDIAN WELLS, Calif.–Pacific Gas & Electric, one of the country’s largest and most progressive utilities, will invest directly in solar power plants and solar panels distributed in different California communities.
CEO Peter Darbee said the move represents the first time that PG&E–already a large purchaser of solar and other renewable energy technologies–will build and own solar installations. Right now, the utility purchases clean energy from third parties.
Darbee mentioned the solar initiative during a discussion on Wednesday here at the Clean-tech Investor Summit.
Peter Darbee (left), the CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric is interviewed by venture capitalist Ira Ehrenpreis at Clean-tech Investor Summit.
He declined to specify how much the investment would be but said that it would be “significant.” After his talk, he acknowledged it would comparable in size to Southern California Edison’s program to spend $850 million over five years to put solar panels on commercial rooftops.
California utilities are some of the most important purchasers of clean technologies and vital customers for a raft of energy technology developers. The state mandates that utilities get 33 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
California Company Shows Off Solar Technology in Surprise Arizona
January 17, 2009 by editor
Filed under Solar News
SunGrabber Electric Hot Water System Layout: The single tank configuration is applicable for electric hot water heaters. The diagram illustrates the easiest way to add solar. (Note: gas hot water heaters require a separate solar storage tank.)
A “Green Machine” made a pit stop this week in Surprise, showing off the latest in solar hot-water technology.
City building inspectors got a sneak peek at how the SunGrabber Electric Hot Water System works and how it’s installed. Fafco, the manufacturer, brought the mobile model to the site of the environmentally friendly City Hall building under construction near Bullard Avenue and Bell Road
Sempra Generation Completes North America’s Largest ‘Thin-Film’ Solar Power Installation
December 22, 2008 by admin
Filed under Large Solar Installations, Solar News
Rows of solar panels stand ready to harness the power of the sun at Sempra Generation's El Dorado Energy Solar facility.
Sempra Generation, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, today announced the completion of the company’s first solar energy project, a 10-megawatt (MW) photovoltaic power-generation facility adjacent to the company’s existing 480-megawatt El Dorado Energy power plant near Boulder City, Nev., about 40 miles southeast of Las Vegas.
The El Dorado Energy Solar project is the largest operational thin-film, solar-power project in North America. Construction began in July 2008, and involved the installation of more than 167,000 solar modules on 80 acres of desert property designated as a renewable energy zone and leased from Boulder City.
Large Solar Energy Projects in California
December 9, 2008 by admin
Filed under Installations, Technology
Large Solar Energy Projects
California’s electric utility companies are required to using renewable energy to produce 20 percent of their power by 2010 and 33 percent by 2020. A main source of renewable power will be solar energy.
Many large solar energy projects are being proposed in California’s desert area on federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. BLM has received right-of-way requests encompassing more than 300,000 acres for the development of approximately 34 large solar thermal power plants totaling approximately 24,000 megawatts. This number of projects have not yet reached the stage of an Application for Certification (AFC) with the California Energy Commission.
Solar thermal projects (above 50 MW) will require approvals from both the BLM and the Energy Commission prior to construction. Therefore, to provide joint National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review and a more efficient process, the BLM and Energy Commission have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (PDF file, 14 pages, 140 kb). This MOU also has attachments listing the solar projects the BLM is aware of (as of July 2007) and the time line for the joint review process.
Seven New Commercial Installations Highlight Wide Range of Businesses Switching to Solar
November 12, 2008 by editor
Filed under Businesses, Schools & Colleges
Even institutions devoted to God can use a little human intervention every once in awhile. That’s why Bethel Lutheran Church in Cupertino, CA, recently installed a 150 panel solar system with assistance from Akeena Solar. The panels will generate 34,000 kWh each year, and should save the church between $900 and $1200 each month.
Akeena Solar today announced the completion of seven commercial projects with many using the company’s light-weight and non-penetrating Andalay Flat Roof system.
“Considering the electricity costs associated with running a business and the rebates available, solar is a win-win kind of deal,” said Sandy Frazen, president of Creative Labels, a manufacturer of a wide variety of labels in Gilroy who recently installed the Andalay Flat Roof solar power system. “We are cutting our electricity bill, and the Andalay Flat Roof system installed quickly and easily, without any disruptions to our business. My employees and I feel great about the steps we’re taking to be green and energy efficient. It’s simply the right decision, and the timing is right from a business perspective.”
Recently completed, the 200-panel installation on Creative Label’s rooftop is the largest installation in Gilroy. Akeena’s six other small business installations are scattered throughout the Bay Area and Central Valley, and in total the seven projects will provide nearly 235 kW of solar power and reduce carbon dioxide by 269 tons a year-the equivalent to taking 1,500 cars off the road.
San Francisco’s New Five Megawatt City Solar Projects at Sunset Reservoir, Pier 96
May 14, 2008 by admin
Filed under Solar News
Solar array at the San Francisco City Distribution Division Yard.
SFPUC Projects Will More than Triple Total Municipal Solar Power Generation in San Francisco
Mayor Gavin Newsom today praised the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) decision to authorize new projects that will create at least five megawatts of new solar energy generation at City-owned facilities. When completed, the new projects atop the newly seismically-retrofitted Sunset Reservoir and the Pier 96/Norcal Recycling Center will increase municipal solar energy generation in San Francisco by more than 300% from two megawatts to seven megawatts.
“These new solar power systems at the Sunset Reservoir and Pier 96 will more than triple the energy we generate from the sun atop City facilities,” said Mayor Newsom. “The innovative approach to developing these projects is another example of our efforts to dramatically accelerate and expand solar power and other renewable energy sources for San Francisco. With these projects, we’ll have larger-scale solar energy projects at City facilities and the resources to provide funds for residential and commercial solar energy systems through our proposed Solar Energy Incentive Program.”
