Military Goes Solar

Energy Department Loan Guarantee Would Support Large-Scale Rooftop Solar Power for U.S. Military Housing

September 7, 2011

Washington D.C. – U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the offer of a conditional commitment for a partial guarantee of a $344 million loan that will support the SolarStrong Project, which is expected to be a record expansion of residential rooftop solar power in the United States.  Under the SolarStrong Project, SolarCity Corporation will install, own and operate up to 160,000 rooftop solar installations on as many as 124 U.S. military bases in up to 33 states.  SolarCity expects the project to fund approximately 750 construction jobs over five years and 28 full time operating jobs.  Many of the jobs are expected to be filled by U.S. veterans and military family members, who will be recruited, trained and employed to install, operate and maintain the photovoltaic (PV) systems.

“This is the largest domestic residential rooftop solar project in history,” said Secretary Chu.  “This groundbreaking project is expected to create hundreds of jobs for Americans and provide clean, renewable power to our military families. It can also be a model for other large-scale rooftop solar projects that help America regain its lead in the solar industry.”

The project, which could create up to 371 megawatts of new solar capacity, includes the installation of residential rooftop PV systems on existing privatized military family residences and other privatized buildings, such as community centers, administrative offices, maintenance buildings and storage warehouses.  The project will provide low-cost, renewable electricity to privatized military housing and is expected to avoid over 250,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.  The SolarStrong Project will have the added benefit of helping the Department of Defense (DOD), the single-largest energy consumer in the U.S., secure its energy needs from domestic renewable sources that are independent from the utility grid, at no additional cost to taxpayers.  DOD has a stated goal that 25 percent of all energy consumed by 2025 shall be supplied from renewable sources.

click here to read the full article

Reality of Community Solar

Can Community Solar Programs Bring Solar Ownership to the Masses?

Americans For Energy Leadership On 01.24.11, 

In Opinion, By McKenna Morrigan

Americans For Energy Leadership

http://leadenergy.org/

Community solar is a concept that has lots of cheerleaders. And what’s not to love? At it’s best, this market-based deployment strategy can expand access to clean energy, create jobs, spur local investment, and help drive down the cost of solar panels.
But while the concept of community solar has had strong support from policymakers and clean energy advocates for several years, actual community solar projects have been slow to materialize. Now, two statewide community solar programs and a host of other new state and local policies to encourage community solar may be catalyzing a wave of new projects. Will the reality of community solar live up to the ideal?

Community Solar Spreads the Benefits and Rewards of Clean Energy Investment
Community energy carries all the environmental, economic, and national security benefits of clean energy in any form, but with a distinct advantage. A review of research by Northwest SEED suggests that community energy projects deliver 2-5 times the economic benefits of projects built by out-of-state investors. And, in places that import electricity from outside the area, community energy can also keep utility dollars in the community, with multiplier benefits for the local economy. Community energy provides distributed generation, with associated benefits such as increased system reliability and resilience, lower peak power requirements, minimal transmission requirements and reduced line losses.


Examples of community energy began in rural areas of the Midwest, where farmers joined together to capture some of the benefits of the commercial wind development boom underway at the time. These projects blazed the “community energy” trail, developing novel legal structures and forms of financing, and proving that community energy could be a source of job creation and economic development.
But community wind has limited applicability, given the requirements of a strong wind resource, access to transmission capacity, and lots of open space to make a project financially viable. In contrast, solar photovoltaics (PVs) are well suited for modular applications of varying scales and can be placed on existing structures, making them a great fit for urban areas where retail electricity rates and demand loads are often highest.

Community solar is appealing in part because, despite broad interest among the public in solar energy, most people don’t have the ability to install solar PV on their own property. A 2008 study by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory found that only 22 to 27% of residential rooftop area is suitable for hosting an on-site PV system after adjusting for structural, shading, or ownership issues. And in places like New York City, where home ownership rates are especially low, only a small number of people have incentives to invest in solar PV.

Community solar projects address this barrier by decoupling solar PV investment from on-site generation. Owners of community solar contribute funds to pay for a portion of a project, and reap benefits proportional to their investment. Community solar projects can be installed on the property of one of the project owners, on a separate private site, or on a shared location, such as local or state government property. Owners can include renters, homeowners, local businesses, even utilities.

Early Projects Suggest Two Different Approaches
Only a handful of community solar projects are complete, with another handful in development, so no definitive model exists. But so far, projects fall into two approaches.
The first and more common is the utility-sponsored approach. These projects are legally owned by a utility, and individuals voluntarily contribute funds to help finance them, either up front or on a monthly basis. In exchange, contributors receive credit on their utility bill equal to the output of electricity from their portion of the investment. Early examples of this approach include the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) SolarShares program and the Ellensburg, WA Community Solar Park. These public utilities have been very successful in using this approach to finance solar installation and the concept is spreading quickly.

Despite its popularity, the utility-sponsored approach has some significant limitations. According to an analysis by the New Rules Project at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), utility-sponsored projects can compare unfavorably to the economics of individual ownership. In some cases, contributors never even achieve full payback of their initial investment, making this approach much like other “green power” programs where utility customers simply pay a premium for clean energy. Only where there is a production incentive that generously rewards community projects (such as in Washington State) does this model seem cost-effective for contributors.

Still, for those who cannot invest in solar themselves, the utility-sponsored approach is often the only option. The second approach might be called a true community ownership model, where the risks and benefits of ownership are shared among individual participants, often through an ownership structure such as a cooperative or an LLC. This model is much stronger in concept, but it has proven very challenging to get off the ground, despite strong interest in many communities.

As David Brosch, lead developer of University Park Solar Community in Maryland, one of the first community solar projects in the country, said, “It took us over two years to develop our project structure and only two months to find our members.” The Clean Energy Collective’s Mid-Valley Solar Array in Colorado, a 77.7 kW community solar project, is another early and widely touted example of the ownership approach, which its founders hope to replicate around the country. Compared to the utility-developed approach, these projects have shown to be more attractive investments, with paybacks faster than would be possible through individual solar PV ownership.

Click here to continue reading the full article.

$50M Towards Domestic Solar Manufacturing

Department of Energy to Invest $50 Million to Advance Domestic Solar Manufacturing Market, Achieve SunShot Goal

SUNPATH Program Will Boost American Competitiveness, Lower Cost of Solar Energy

August 02, 2011

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a $50 million investment over two years for the SUNPATH program, aimed to help the nation reclaim its competitive edge in solar manufacturing. SUNPATH, which stands for Scaling Up Nascent PV At Home, represents the second solar Photovoltaic Manufacturing Initiative (PVMI) supporting the Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative.

"This investment provides a necessary boost to domestic solar manufacturing businesses, encouraging them to keep jobs here and establish America's leadership in the world's growing clean energy economy," said Secretary Chu. "In addition to invigorating clean energy manufacturing, this program will help achieve the SunShot goal of making unsubsidized utility-scale solar cost-competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade."

As recently as 1995, the United States maintained a dominant global solar market share, manufacturing 43% of the world's PV panels. In steady decline, U.S. market share shrank to 27% by 2000 and to 7% by 2010. SUNPATH will help return the United States to the forefront, driving innovation and assuring continued leadership in the 21st century clean energy economy.

PVMI Part II: SUNPATH seeks to increase domestic manufacturing through investments that have sustainable, competitive cost and performance advantages. SUNPATH will help companies with pilot-scale commercial production scale up their manufacturing capabilities, enabling them to overcome a funding gap that often curtails domestic business at a critical stage. By bridging this gap, SUNPATH will help ensure that innovative, low-cost solar technologies are manufactured in the United States.

The PV Manufacturing Initiative accelerates the cost reduction and commercialization of solar technologies by coordinating solutions across industry. The initiative will help create a robust, domestic PV manufacturing base and develop a workforce with the critical skills required to deliver reliable, affordable, clean energy.

PVMI Part I: Advanced Manufacturing Partnerships has resulted in the selection of $110 million in projects to three industry and academic consortia to enable substantial cost reductions in PV module production. To ensure that these technologies are manufactured domestically, PVMI Part II: SUNPATH will support an initial ramp up to high volume manufacturing. DOE's national laboratories are stepping up their validation facilities to ensure that the technologies developed and manufactured in Parts I and II are tested at scale in multiple locations and climates in the United States.

The Department of Energy is seeking applicants with industrial-scale demonstrations of PV modules, cells, or substrates that offer lower-cost solutions in line with the SunShot goal. Applications are due by October 28, 2011. More information and application requirements can be found at the Funding Opportunity Exchange (FOA number DE-FOA-0000566).

For more information on the SunShot Initiative, visit energy.gov/sunshot.
DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

 

 

Tribal Clean Energy

Department of Energy to Award Over $6 Million for Clean Energy Projects on Tribal Lands

July 21, 2011

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced 31 tribal energy projects to receive $6.3 million over two years as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's ongoing efforts to support tribal energy development and continue strengthening the partnership with Tribal Nations. These competitively selected projects will allow Native American Tribes to advance clean energy within their communities by developing strategic energy plans, expanding the skills and knowledge of tribal members, and improving the energy efficiency of their buildings. These investments will help tribal communities to save money and reduce energy waste, expand the use of clean energy technologies, and promote economic development.

"Tribal Nations are well-positioned to take advantage of the benefits of clean energy and energy efficient technologies," said Secretary Chu. "Projects such as these will save energy and money, create long-term clean energy jobs, and spur economic development in tribal communities nationwide."
The more than $6 million in DOE funding will go toward 31 projects selected for negotiation of award in three project areas including over $2.1 million for energy efficiency feasibility studies, over $2.1 million for first-steps projects, and over $2 million for energy efficiency installation projects on tribal lands. DOE announced the availability of funding for these tribal energy projects in January. Another group of projects to receive funding for development and deployment of tribal renewable energy projects will be announced later this summer.

The awards cover the following areas:

$2.17 Million for Feasibility Studies – Nine Tribal projects will receive $2.17 million to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. By conducting energy assessments to identify cost-effective building upgrades, recipients can develop plans to realize significant savings on their energy bills. When completed, the upgrades identified in the energy assessments could reduce energy use by at least 30 percent in each building.

$2.14 Million for First Steps Planning – Seventeen Tribal energy projects will receive $2.14 million for strategic planning, energy options analysis, energy organization development, and workforce development as the first steps toward a clean energy future. Several of the awardees will develop tribal strategic energy plans, enabling them to evaluate their current energy use and indigenous energy resources. Some of the projects also support the development of tribal energy organizations like utilities, energy offices, tribal committees, or other organizations to implement the selected Tribe's long-term energy plans and create opportunities for the deployment of clean energy projects. Others projects will help Tribes to explore development and deployment options for energy efficient and renewable technologies. Workforce development projects will provide clean energy training and workshops to tribal staff, leaders, and members, and train and certify tribal members to conduct energy assessments.

$2 Million for Installation Projects – Five projects on tribal lands will receive $2 million for the installation of energy efficient upgrades in their buildings that will help Tribes reduce electricity or heating and cooling costs by 30% or more.

Download detailed descriptions of all 31 tribal energy projects.
These grants are administered by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), which in coordination with the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs (IE) under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 Title V authorizations, provides financial and technical assistance to Indian Tribes for the evaluation and development of their energy resources, implementation of energy efficiency to reduce energy use, and provides education and training to help build the knowledge and skills essential for sustainable energy projects. Learn more about EERE's support of tribal energy projects and DOE's Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs.

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NREL News

Solar Research Earns Three Prestigious R&D 100 Awards

June 22, 2011

A technique to turn silicon into ink, a faster way to assess solar cells, and a better furnace for heating solar cells – all developed at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory – have been named among this year’s most significant innovations by R&D Magazine.
The three prestigious awards bring to 50 the number of R&D 100 awards that NREL has won since 1982.

The three NREL winners all originated in basic technology research and now are on the brink of making huge differences in the marketplace.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu noted that 36 of the 100 awards were given for research in the nation’s federal labs and facilities. "The cutting-edge research and development done in our national labs (and sites) is helping to meet our energy challenges, strengthen our national security and enhance our economic competitiveness. It is gratifying to see their work recognized once again.”

Turning silicon into ink saves money, improves quality


NREL scientists led by Photovoltaic Incubator Subcontract Technical Monitor Richard Mitchell teamed with Innovalight, Inc. to invent silicon Ink, a liquid form of silicon, and develop it for use in solar cells.

This marks the first time that silicon has been sold in the marketplace as a liquid. With the Innovalight Silicon Ink process , a screen printer is added to the manufacturing line, which produces an immediate increase in solar cell efficiency by allowing lighter doping thus enhancing response to the blue portion of the spectrum.

The new product boosts the bottom line of a typical solar production plant by 20 percent, which for an average-size factory is $100 million, while boosting the efficiency of the cells by about 6 percent.

Faster assessment of solar-cell quality

NREL scientists teamed with Tau Science Corporation to develop “Flash Quantum Efficiency System for Solar Cells,” a way to assess the quality of solar cells at a speed that is about 1,000 times faster than previous methods.

The instrument – Tau markets it as FlashQE™ -- uses light-emitting diodes, high-speed electronics and mathematical algorithms to measure the quantum efficiency of solar cells orders of magnitude faster than before. What used to take 20 minutes – and therefore could be done only with random samples of cells – now can be done in a second, said NREL Senior Scientist David Young.

That means every single cell on a manufacturing line can be assessed and provide much needed process feedback information to the line and each cell can be sorted by its spectral response. Cells that respond best to, say, red light can be connected together to form a solar module. That way, a mismatched blue-response cell on a module won’t put the brakes on all the work the red-response cells are doing. And that means more efficient conversion of photons into electricity at sunrise and sunset when the red wavelengths predominate.

NREL’s Optical Cavity Furnace bolsters efficiency, lowers cost

The NREL Optical Cavity Furnace could revolutionize the solar cell manufacturing industry in the U.S. by producing higher quality and higher efficiency solar cells at a fraction of the cost of conventional, thermal ovens. The new furnace, which uses photons to uniformly heat crystalline solar cells and semiconductor materials, has increased the efficiency of the cells by 3 to 4 percent, said NREL Principal Scientist Bhushan Sopori. And it costs 75 percent less than an industrial thermal or infrared furnace.

The Optical Cavity Furnace, licensed to AOS Solar Inc., uses light enclosed within a highly reflective chamber to achieve a level of temperature uniformity that is impossible with other furnaces. It virtually eliminates energy loss by lining the cavity walls with ceramic materials of high reflectance and high thermal insulation, and by using an optimal geometric design.

AOS Solar manufactured the furnace, which the company branded as the Optical Processing Furnace, and it is operating at NREL’s Process Development Integration Lab, noted AOS CEO Anikara Rangappan.

"The awards demonstrate how NREL research produces market relevant results. These investments create American jobs while at the same time advancing our goals toward a clean energy future," NREL Director Dan Arvizu said.

More on NREL's photovoltaics research can be found at http://www.nrel.gov/pv/.

49th year of Awards for Innovation

A full list of this year’s winners is available at www.rdmag.com.

The winners represent a cross-section of industry, academia, private research firms, and government labs, according to a statement by the magazine’s editors. Winning technologies are used in medical, industrial, research, consumer, and manufacturing applications.
Since 1963, the R&D 100 Awards have identified revolutionary technologies newly introduced to the market. Many of these have become household names, helping shape everyday life for many Americans.

Winners of the R&D 100 Awards are selected by an independent judging panel and the editors of R&D Magazine. The publication and its online portal serve research scientists, engineers, and other technical staff members at high tech industrial companies and public and private laboratories around the world.
Winners will be recognized at the R&D 100 Awards Banquet on Oct. 13 in Orlando, Fla.
NREL is the Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.
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Visit NREL online at www.nrel.gov

DOE & New Solar Tech

June 17, 2011

DOE Offers $150 Million Conditional Commitment for a Loan Guarantee to Support Breakthrough Solar Manufacturing Process

Transformational Technology Could Cut Production Costs of Silicon Wafers in Half

Washington D.C. - U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the offer of a conditional commitment for a $150 million loan guarantee to 1366 Technologies, Inc. for the development of a multicrystalline wafer manufacturing project.  The project will be capable of producing approximately 700 to 1,000 megawatts (MW) of silicon-based wafers annually using a revolutionary manufacturing process called Direct Wafer.  The innovative process could reduce manufacturing costs of the wafers by approximately 50 percent, dramatically cutting the cost of solar power.  Phase 1 of the project will be located in Lexington, Massachusetts and is expected to generate 70 permanent jobs and 50 construction jobs.  The company is evaluating site locations for another planned phase, which they anticipate will create hundreds of additional jobs.

"This project is a game-changer that could dramatically lower the cost of photovoltaic solar cells.  It is exactly the kind of innovation that puts America at the forefront of the global clean energy race," said Secretary Chu.  "As global demand for solar cells increases, this kind of technology will help the U.S. increase its market share and be more competitive with other countries such as China, which currently accounts for 60 percent of the world supply of multicrystalline wafers."

The original development of the company's Direct Wafering technology was supported with a $4 million grant from DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy program and a $3 million grant from DOE's Solar Energy Technology Program.  The innovative manufacturing process condenses four manufacturing steps into a single, low cost step and greatly reduces silicon waste by forming individual wafers directly from a pool of molten silicon.  A thin sheet of silicon freezes inside the Direct Wafer furnace and is then removed and laser-trimmed to size.  At full production, the entire wafer formation process is completed in just a fraction of the time relative to conventional batch processing which can take up to three days.  The company's revolutionary one-step process requires ninety percent less energy and results in an industry-standard product that can be used by any standard multicrystalline cell manufacturer.

The Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office administers three separate programs:  the Title XVII Section 1703 and Section 1705 loan guarantee programs, and the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program.   The loan guarantee programs support the deployment of commercial technologies along with innovative technologies that avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gas emissions, while ATVM supports the development of advanced vehicle technologies.  Under all three programs, DOE has issued loans, loan guarantees or offered conditional commitments for loan guarantees totaling over $33 billion to support 35 clean energy projects across the U.S.  DOE has also issued conditional commitments or loan guarantees to support numerous other projects, including four of the world's largest solar generation facilities, two geothermal projects, the world's largest wind farm and the nation's first new nuclear power plant in three decades.  For more information, please visit the Loan Programs Office.

DOE/HUD Announcement

DOE and HUD Announce Lenders to Participate in New Pilot Program to Help Homeowners Pay for Energy Improvements to their Homes

FHA PowerSaver Program to offer low-cost financing to credit-worthy
borrowers

April 21, 2011

Eighteen national, regional and local lenders will participate in a new two-year pilot program that will
offer qualified borrowers living in certain parts of the country low-cost loans to make energy-saving
improvements to their homes. Backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), these new
PowerSaver loans will offer homeowners up to $25,000 to make energy-efficient improvements of
their choice, including the installation of insulation, duct sealing, replacement doors and windows,
HVAC systems, water heaters, solar panels, and geothermal systems.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and U.S. Department of
Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the participating lenders (see attached list) during a tour of
a family-run company that offers home energy audits and upgrades in Long Island, New York.
"We believe the market is right for a low-cost financing option for families who want energy-saving
technologies in their home," said Secretary Donovan. "PowerSaver hits on all cylinders by helping
credit-worthy homeowners finance these upgrades, cut their energy bills and boost the local job
market in the process. While FHA and these lenders are jumpstarting this pilot, we hope its success
will lead to a growing private sector interest in making these types of loans."

Secretary Chu said, "Today, we are breaking down barriers and making energy efficiency more
accessible and more affordable. It’s the right thing to do for our environment, for our economy, and
for the pocketbooks of American families."

The remodeling industry cites surveys that point to a growing demand among homeowners interested
in making their homes energy efficient. Yet options are still limited for financing home energy
improvements, especially for the many homeowners who are unable to take out a home equity loan
or access an affordable consumer loan. Initially, the PowerSaver pilot program is estimated to assist
approximately 30,000 homeowners to finance energy-efficient upgrades though higher market demand
may increase this impact. According to HUD projections, more than 3,000 jobs will be created through
this pilot program and the impact may be larger if market demand for the loan program increases
over time.

Participating lenders are largely selected based on their commitment to work in partnership with
established home energy retrofit programs provided by states, cities, utilities, and home performance
contractors. These markets include, but are not limited to, areas of the country participating in the
Energy Department’s Better Buildings Program.

PowerSaver loans will be backed by the FHA but require these lenders to have significant "skin in the
game." FHA mortgage insurance will cover up to 90 % of the loan amount in the event of default.
Lenders will retain the remaining risk on each loan, incentivizing responsible underwriting and lending
standards.

PowerSaver has been carefully designed to meet a need in the marketplace for borrowers who have
the ability and motivation to take on modest additional debt to realize the savings over time from
home energy improvements. PowerSaver loans are only available to borrowers with good credit,
manageable debt and at least some equity in their home (maximum 100 % combined loan-to-value).
HUD developed PowerSaver as part of the Recovery Through Retrofit initiative launched in May 2009
by Vice President Biden’s Middle Class Task Force to develop federal actions that would expand
green job opportunities in the United States and boost energy savings by improving home energy
efficiency. The announcement is part of an interagency effort including 11 departments and agencies
and 6 White House offices.

FHA PowerSaver Approved Lenders
1. Admirals Bank
2. AFC First Financial Corporation
3. Bank of Colorado
4. City of Boise, Idaho
5. Energy Finance Solutions
6. Enterprise Cascadia
7. HomeStreet Bank
8. Neighbor's Financial Corporation
9. Paramount Equity Mortgage, Inc.
10. Quicken Loans
11. SOFCU Community Credit Union
12. Stonegate Mortgage Corporation
13. Sun West Mortgage Company, Inc.
14. The Bank at Broadmoor
15. University of Virginia Community Credit Union, Inc.
16. Viewtech Financial Services, Inc.
17. WinTrust Mortgage
18. W. J. Bradley Mortgage Capital Corporation

SunShot Initiative

DOE Pursues SunShot Initiative to Achieve 

Cost Competitive Solar Energy by 2020

Announces $27 Million in Projects to Advance Solar Development and Manufacturing

February 4, 2011

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced additional details of the Department of Energy's "SunShot" initiative to reduce the total costs of photovoltaic solar energy systems by about 75 percent so that they are cost competitive at large scale with other forms of energy without subsidies before the end of the decade. By reducing the cost for utility scale installations by about 75 percent to roughly $1 a watt - which would correspond to roughly 6 cents per kilowatt-hour - solar energy systems could be broadly deployed across the country.

This will increase American economic competitiveness and help the U.S. regain leadership in the global market for solar photovoltaics. As part of the SunShot initiative, Secretary Chu announced today that the Department of Energy is awarding $27 million in projects to support the development, commercialization, and manufacturing of advanced solar energy technologies.

"America is in a world race to produce cost-effective, quality photovoltaics. The SunShot initiative will spur American innovations to reduce the costs of solar energy and re-establish U.S. global leadership in this growing industry," said Secretary Chu. "These efforts will boost our economic competitiveness, rebuild our manufacturing industry and help reach the President's goal of doubling our clean energy in the next 25 years."

The SunShot program builds on the legacy of President Kennedy's 1960s "moon shot" goal, which laid out a plan to regain the country's lead in the space race and land a man on the moon. The program will aggressively drive innovations in the ways that solar systems are conceived, designed, manufactured and installed.

In addition to investing in improvements in cell technologies and manufacturing, the SunShot initiative will also focus on steps to streamline and digitize local permitting processes that will reduce installation and permitting costs. To achieve the SunShot goal of reducing the total installed cost of large scale solar electricity by about 75 percent, DOE will be working closely with partners in government, industry, research laboratories and academic institutions across the country.
SunShot will work to bring down the full cost of solar - including the costs of the solar cells and installation - by focusing on four main pillars:

• Technologies for solar cells and arrays that convert sunlight to energy;
• Electronics that optimize the performance of the installation;
• Improvements in the efficiency of solar manufacturing processes;
• Installation, design and permitting for solar energy systems.

For more information and to follow the initiative's progress, visit the SunShot Initiative webpage.
As part of the launch of the SunShot initiative, DOE is also announcing $27 million in awards to nine new projects. This funding includes support for five projects that are receiving $20 million to further develop U.S. supply chains for PV manufacturing. This includes support for companies across the solar energy supply chain, including U.S. material and tool suppliers and companies that are developing technologies that can be adopted directly into current manufacturing processes. For more information and a list of awardees, read the $20 million investment excerpt from the EERE Network newsletter.

Additionally, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory is investing $7 million to fund the latest round of the successful PV Incubator program, which helps to shorten the commercialization timeline for promising emerging solar technologies. The companies work closely with DOE national laboratories to scale their technologies and manufacturing processes and move the products from pre-commercial and prototype stage to pilot and full-scale manufacturing operations. For more information and a list of awardees, read the $7 million investment excerpt from the EERE Network newsletter.

The SunShot initiative builds on the Department's significant research and development (R&D) efforts in solar energy over the past decade, conducted in partnership with American universities, national laboratories and the private sector. In the last ten years, DOE has invested more than $1 billion in solar energy research that has been leveraged with significant private industry funding to support more than $2 billion in total solar R&D projects. This includes investments by DOE's Office of Science, Solar Energy Technologies Program, and ARPA-E, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy. Innovations in both science and technology have driven the cost of solar down 60 percent since 1995, and have yielded a number of critical breakthroughs in solar PV performance and cost. Read the fact sheet (PDF - 26kb) detailing some of the Department's past and current work in solar energy.

'Buy American' Law

Pentagon required to buy only American-made solar panels.

On January 9, 2011, the New York Times reported that new legislation signed into law by the president requires the Department of Defense to buy only American-made solar panels.

In essence, the new 'Buy American' provision within the military authorization legislation is the first step towards transitioning the Pentagon away from purchasing Chinese-made solar modules. As the wars in remote desert regions continue, the military is investing more and more in practical solutions to bringing electricity to the troops. The move towards U.S. made modules should have a distinct impact on the U.S. solar industry, though the numbers are not clear at this point. As the Times reported:

China has emerged as the world’s dominant producer of solar panels in the last two years. It accounted for at least half the world’s production last year, and its market share is rising rapidly. The United States accounts for $1.6 billion of the world’s $29 billion market for solar panels; market analyses typically have not broken out military sales separately.

Representative Maurice Hinchey, Democrat (NY), a staunch supporter of the 'Buy American 'provision included in the bill is quoted as saying:

“We’ve had a lot of money taken out of this country and invested in other places around the world, particularly China, and particularly in alternative energies. For them to be producing alternative energy, that’s great, but we need to do it ourselves, and as much of it as possible."

To read the original article, click here.

Community Solar

Ellensburg Community Solar Project
Ellensburg, Washington

In 2006, the City of Ellensburg municipal utility installed a 36 KW community Photovoltaic (PV) system, the first of its kind in the nation, in an effort to harness the 300 days of sunshine the region experiences to power their local homes and businesses.  As Gary Nystedt, Resource Manager for the City of Ellensburg and organizer of the Solar Community Project puts it, “Produce the power where you use the power.”  An important aspect of this story is that everyone in Ellensburg  has the opportunity to invest in this locally produced clean electricity.  The project uses an innovative and unique financing approach—families, individuals, and businesses in the community have been asked to partner with the city to help fund the project. 

In exchange for their financial support, the city gives the contributors a financial credit on their electric bill for the value of the electricity produced by the solar system. For instance, if a customer contributes 3% of the total funds contributed by local residents and businesses, that contributor will receive the dollar value of 3% of the power produced by the solar project.  The Ellensburg Community Solar Project began generating power in November of 2006, and has since produced more than 170,000 kilowatt-hours, averaging 58,000 kilowatt-hours, annually.

 In May 2009, Washington passed SB 6170, effective July 1, 2009. With the passage of this legislation, community solar projects will be able to receive the production incentive after an official rulemaking procedure in the fall. Community solar projects are defined as solar energy systems owned by local entities and placed on local government property or owned by utilities and funded voluntarily by utility ratepayers.

The base rate for community solar projects is $0.30/kWh and the multipliers are the same as those used for other renewable energy technologies. The actual production incentives range from $0.30/kWh to $1.08/kWh, as the incentive rate is higher for modules and inverters manufactured in Washington.  Each participant in the community solar project can apply to receive this incentive and may receive up to $5,000 per year. 

The Washington Department of Revenue (DOR) is responsible for submitting a report measuring the impacts of this legislation, including any change in the number of solar energy system manufacturing companies in Washington, and the effects on job creation, such as the number of jobs created for Washington residents.

Production Incentives

WA State Senate Bill 5101

 In order to assist in meeting the growing need for additional energy production, Washington State’s Senate Bill 5101, the Renewable Energy Production Incentive, was passed in 2005, and has been hailed as “the most important solar legislation ever introduced in any American state legislature,” by Denis Hayes, the founder of Earth Day, president of the Bullitt Foundation and chair of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES). 

Mike Nelson of Washington State University and The Northwest Solar Center, using the German incentive model, helped to pen this legislation, and explains: “Effectively, owners of solar systems become micro-utilities, producing a revenue stream from their investment in renewable resources.”

The incentives apply to power generated as of July 1, 2005, and remain in effect through June 30, 2020.  The producer can be a home or a business. The incentive amount paid to the producer starts at a base rate of $0.15 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), capped at $5,000 per year, and is adjusted by multiplying the incentive by the following factors:

Factor 1:  Electricity produced using solar modules manufactured in Washington State, such as Efficient Life Technology’s Starborn Module:
Multiply by 2.4
($0.15 x 2.4 = $0.36/kWh)

Factor 2:  Electricity produced using a solar system equipped with an inverter manufactured in Washington state:
Multiply by 1.2
($0.15 x 1.2 = $0.18/kWh)

Factor 3:  Electricity produced using solar modules manufactured in Washington state & an inverter manufactured in Washington state:
Multiply by 3.6
($0.15 x 3.6 = $0.54/kWh)

Net Metering Overview

Taking advantage of Washington’s Renewable Energy Production Incentives does not reduce or impact savings achieved through net metering.  Net metering is an electricity policy for consumers who own (generally small) renewable energy facilities, such as wind, solar power or home fuel cells. “Net”, in this context, is used in the sense of meaning “what remains after deductions” — in this case, the deduction of any energy outflows from metered energy inflows.  So, in addition to the production incentive payments, which are based on the total amount of power that their system has produced (no matter how much of that power they themselves consume), with net metering programs, individual producers are granted credit on their power bill for all of the energy they have produced but did not consume, that power which passes through the utility-installed meter and back into the grid.

Washington’s net-metering law applies to systems up to 100 kilowatts (kW) in capacity that generate electricity using solar, wind, hydro, biogas from animal waste, or combined heat and power technologies (including fuel cells). All customer classes are eligible, and all utilities – including municipal utilities and electric cooperatives – must offer net metering. 

Net metering is available on a first-come, first-served basis until the cumulative generating capacity of net-metered systems equals 0.25% of a utility’s peak demand. This limit will increase to 0.5% on January 1, 2014. At least one-half of the utility’s available aggregate net metering capacity is reserved for systems generating electricity using renewables.

As you can see from the following chart, the net metering program has grown substantially since it’s inception in 1999, growing from only 2 new customers in 1999 to 243 in 2008.

Of those involved in PSE’s net metering program thus far, a vast majority of the customers utilize solar PV systems to generate their grid-tied energy.  Of the projects in operation as of April 17, 2008, 243 were solar arrays, 4 were a combination of both solar and wind, 4 were powered by micro-hydro, and 3 were wind turbines.

In addition to state and national rebates and incentives, many local utility companies also offer rebate and loan programs to promote the installation of solar PV systems and other renewable energy systems such as wind power, as well as offering credits for the use of installing energy efficient windows, insulation, heat pumps, lighting, refrigerators, washers and dryers.

Private investors and communities are also getting involved in the expansion of renewable energy usage by creating large-scale solar projects, essentially creating their own, localized power production plants.  Like the home/business model, these large-scale or community power production facilities also receive incentives, in fact in excess of the substantial incentives being paid to individual net metering customers. Examples of these larger sites are the proposed Teanaway Solar Reserve and the Ellensburg Community Solar Project.

25 by 25

Renewables in Rural Washington

Another force in the move towards more solar and renewable energy in the State of Washington is the “25x25” project, the goal of which is to produce 25 percent of our country’s energy from renewable resources like wind, solar, and biofuels by the year 2025.

A group of volunteer farm leaders first envisioned the goal of 25x25, and it quickly gained the support of a broad cross-section of the agriculture and forestry communities. Now leaders from business, labor, conservation and religious groups are joining this alliance as well. 25x25 is supported financially by the Energy Future Coalition, a non-partisan public policy initiative funded by foundations, and is endorsed by Washington politicians Sen. Cantwell, Rep. Inslee, and Rep. McMorris-Rodgers. The vision includes:

    * Bring new technologies to market and save consumers money.   
    * Reduce our dependence on oil from the Middle East.  
    * Create good new jobs in rural America.  
    * Clean up the air and help reduce urban smog and greenhouse gas emissions.

A national study undertaken by the University of Tennessee Department of Agricultural Economics (December 15, 2008) shows that if America’s farms, ranches and forestlands are empowered with the policies and incentives needed to meet 25 percent of the nation’s energy needs with renewable resources – biofuels, biomass, wind energy, solar power, geothermal energy and hydropower – an estimated $700 billion in new, annual economic activity would be generated, and 4 million to 5 million new jobs would be created.

The USDA, with their REAP (Rural Energy for America Program) Grants, is offering direct funding for energy efficient and renewable power projects, feasibility studies, and loan guarantees.  The BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) also has grants and loan programs in place specifically to develop renewable power on Native reservations throughout Washington and the rest of the U.S.

When one looks at the enormous support that renewables such as solar power have gained over the years in Washington State, from individual homeowners to government agencies and policy makers, along with the immense increase in the overall solar PV market in the U.S. and around the world, one can see that the climate is right for Efficient Life Technologies, llc. to join an industry where in Washington, like the world, the demand continues to grow.

WA Solar Energy Future

The Future of Solar Energy in Washington State

Years ago, Washington State was poised to be a world leader in the development and manufacturing of solar PV technology.  Unfortunately, that vision did not come to fruition at that time. Perhaps the idea of leading the world in solar technology from a location famous for its cloudy winters made it even more difficult to gain support. The result was Germany taking the lead, and becoming one of the superpowers of solar production and manufacturing.

Through their innovative incentive programs, Germany opened the door not only for the use of solar photovoltaics as a viable source of energy production, but also for the development of the photovoltaic industry, encouraging economic growth in a fast-growing industry. It is this economic development, and not the idealism of the “go green” movement, that eventually proved to the world that the incentive programs worked. The solar industry is now the country's fastest growing industry, quickly placing Germany among the world leaders in solar photovoltaic production. Ironically, Germany experiences more cloudy days per year than Western Washington.

Now, years later, the Washington State Legislature, influenced by Washington State University and The Northwest Solar Center, have mirrored many aspects of the successful German legislation. The first of these is Washington State’s Renewable Electricity Standard, Revised Code of Washington (RCW) Title 19, which mandates that the state’s largest utilities derive at least 15% of their retail electric load with renewable energy by 2020.

This is not only to encourage “green” energy, it is also a response to the increased demand placed on Washington State’s energy providers to meet the needs of current and future customers. This is a serious challenge, and a direct link to the growth of the renewable energy industry.

A Brief History of Solar PV

All the energy stored in the Earth’s reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas is matched by the energy from just 20 days of sunshine. How we capture this energy is by the use of photovoltaics (PV). Of course, the challenge is capturing this energy. Outside Earth’s atmosphere, the sun’s energy contains about 1,300 watts per square meter. About one-third of this light is reflected back into space, and some is absorbed by the atmosphere (in part causing winds to blow).

The term “photovoltaic” comes from the Greek φῶς (phōs) meaning “light”, and “voltaic”, meaning electric, from the name of the Italian physicist Volta, after whom a unit of electro-motive force, the volt, is named.

The photovoltaic effect was first recognized in 1839 by French physicist A. E. Becquerel, who discovered that certain materials would give off a spark of electricity when struck with sunlight. This photoelectric effect was used by Charles Fritts in 1883, who coated the semiconductor selenium with an extremely thin layer of gold to form the junctions, creating the world’s first solar cells. The device was around 1% efficient, meaning that it transformed approximately 1% of the sunlight that engaged the cell into electricity.

Albert Einstein explained the photoelectric effect in 1905, for which he received the Nobel prize in Physics in 1921. The basic explanation of the photovoltaic effect is this: When sunlight enters the PV cell, it’s energy knocks electrons loose in the two layers. Because of the opposite charges of the layers, the electrons want to flow from the N-type (-) layer to the P-type (+) layer, but the electric field at the P-N junction prevents this from happening.

The presence of an external circuit, however, provides the necessary path for electrons in the N-type layer to travel to the P-type layer. Extremely thin wires running along the top of the N-type layer provide this external circuit, and the electrons flowing through this circuit provide the cell’s owner with a supply of electricity.

Twenty-five years later, in 1946, Russell Ohl patented the modern junction semiconductor solar cell, which was discovered while working on the series of advances that would lead to the transistor. In the 1950s, scientists at Bell Laboratories revisited this technology and, using silicon, produced solar cells that could convert four percent of the energy in sunlight directly to electricity. Due to the extremely high cost of production, the only useful application of the technology at the time was in space exploration.  The US satellite Vanguard 1, launched in March 1958, was the first to be powered by solar PV cells.

50 years later, the manufacturing price for PV modules has decreased from $40,000 per watt to under $5 per watt, and cell efficiency has surpassed 18%, making the dream of harnessing the virtually unlimited power of the sun a reality, with groups as wide-ranging as off-grid survivalists, local school districts, world governments, militaries, families, and international corporations discovering and re-discovering the value of solar energy for sustainability and profit.