San Jose added more residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems last year than any other city in California, according to the latest PV Solar Report, a quarterly analysis conducted by solar company SunRun.

San Jose’s number of home solar systems in 2011 was up 45.4% from just the year before, a dramatic increase that points to the rising popularity of home solar.

Out of the 960 home PV systems installed last year, 648 of them were leased systems, what SunRun calls “solar service.”

In total, nearly 7,500 home solar systems were installed in California last year.

SunRun, the nation’s top residential solar power company, installs over $1.5 million in solar every day.

SunRun president Lynn Jurich credits the company’s success to the growing popularity of solar leasing, stating that solar service “allows homeowners to make the switch for zero or very little money upfront, and they lock in a low rate for clean electricity.”

Beginning in June 2011, solar leasing in California began to outpace purchased systems. In December 2011 alone, over 70% of solar installations in the Golden State were leased systems.

The appeal of leasing reaches beyond lower monthly electric bills. Many Californians are glad to find affordable ways to support technologies that reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels.

San Jose residents can take advantage of incentive programs as well, including the federal tax credit program that can cut installation costs by up to 30%.

San Jose Pacific, Gas & Electric (PG&E) customers are also eligible for per-watt rebates from the utility. The current rate for PG&E rebates is $.25 per watt.

For a 4 kilowatt-sized home PV system in San Jose, rebates can cut the upfront costs from $33,000 to $22,000, with a payback period of about eleven years.

PG&E customers in San Jose can take advantage of net-metering, too. By reducing their conventional electrical use, they can often stay in the base-rate range, avoiding higher rates during peak demand periods.

Whenever the home is generating more power than the home is using, PG&E will credit the surplus to their monthly bill.

The PV report not only looked at the number of solar installations added, but the fastest-growing California solar cities, such as Hemet and Apple Valley.

“We thought it was important to not just look at which cities have the most solar installations,” said PV Report founder Stephen Torres, “but also those that are growing the fastest.”

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As anyone who has taken on a remodeling project knows, more time can be spent preparing for the project than for the actual installation. Homeowners who try to install a residential solar photovoltaic (PV) system often face complicated processes to get the permits that will not only ensure that their projects are up to code, but that they’ll be eligible for solar rebates and incentive programs.

For many residents of New York, going solar is about to become a whole lot simpler. In fact, a process that once took months could now take less than two weeks.

Streamlined Path to Solar

The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) recently announced that they are partnering with planning commissions in Nassau County and Suffolk County to create a streamlined and standardized permitting process for residential PV systems and solar hot water systems throughout Long Island.

The regional collaboration that helped formed the new initiative included government officials, industry representatives and advocates for renewable energy. The regional initiative is believed to first of its kind in the country.

LIPA, a not-for-profit electric utility that provides electric service for more than 1 million customers in Nassau County, Suffolk County and the Rockaway Peninsula, has been a significant player in the nation’s push to become less dependent on fossil fuels. The company’s solar programs have rebated over $100 million for over four thousand PV installations.

Formerly, each town and village had their own set of regulations for PV installations. This not only created confusion among homeowners and solar installers, but caused delays and frequently added to the expense of the installations as well. The new solar permitting process is expected to cover more than 80% of new solar installations.

New Incentives for New Yorkers

To incentivize municipalities to join the effort, LIPA offered $15,000 to each township and $5,000 to villages that adopted the key components of the plan by the end of 2011.

Here’s what homeowners in the area can expect from the new initiative:

• Application fees will be minimal or waived.
• Permits will be accepted or denied with 14 days of submittal.
• A “Solar Energy System Fast Track Permit Application” will replace existing building permit forms.
• A central registry of all solar installations will be created.
• Safety warning labels will be standardized.

Gordian Raacke, Executive Director for the not-for-profit group Renewable Energy Long Island, praised the new program. “Inconsistent local permit requirements can add hundreds of dollars to the cost of installing a solar electric system,” he said.

Raacke expects that the new permitting system will not only make installing a home solar system easier and cheaper, but will help ensure that the systems are properly designed and installed as well.

Michael Hervey, LIPA’s Chief Executive Officer agrees. Hervey expects that the streamlined permitting process “to act as a catalyst to encourage more homeowners to take advantage of LIPA’s solar programs and save money, while at the same time helping to foster new jobs in the local solar market.”

Photo: Long Island Sunset by Benson Kua

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As the United Nations climate change conference rages on, quite literally, in Durban, South Africa, experts from COP17’s host city point to one alternative energy source that could help it mitigate its emissions: solar power.

According to Dick Berlijn, of Subsolar Energy, Durban has one of the highest and most stable solar radiation levels in the world. “The variable is around 3%. That means that on a good day, solar radiation in South Africa is 100% and 97% on bad days. These conditions are extraordinary,” MD for Pretoria-based Subsolar Energy told Industry Leaders magazine.

With so much solar radiation, Berlijn believes solar is better qualified to produce clean energy for South Africa than wind. Besides, South Africa also has plenty of space to build solar photovoltaic (PV) plants.

South Africa needs to start moving towards alternative energy as the country still relies heavily on coal for electric power (90%). The country is the 16th biggest emitter in the global ranking, having dumped 369,4 million tons of CO2 in the atmosphere in 2009.

SolarPlaza’s Solar Future South Africa convention which will take place in Johannesburg in January 2012 will be discussing the country’s solar potential and related topics such as job creation, Feed-in Tariffs and business opportunities.

Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.

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Hawaii’s commitment to alternative energy recently reached a milestone.

According to Business Week, Hawaiian Electric Co. has reached 20 megawatts of solar photovoltaic energy on the island of Oahu. The utility said the mark was reached in July when they installed Easter Seals’ PV system. Easter Seals, a non-profit health agency, received $5,000 as a gift.

Nearly 4,000 Oahu customers benefit from solar power. They can also benefit from a feed-in tariff scheme whereby they can sell excess electricity back to the grid.

More solar power capacity is being added. This week, Forest City Hawaii and Hawaiian Electric Company announced they have reached a power purchase agreement for up to one megawatt of solar photovoltaic (PV) power to be generated at the Kapolei Sustainable Energy Park in Kapolei, also in Oahu.

Hoku Solar, a subsidiary of Hoku Corporation, will design and install the project using more than 4,200 solar energy panels that will sit on a concrete racking system.

The 12-acre site where the solar farm will be built was until 1986 an industrial disposal site. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered dumping to be halted and the site sealed under a plastic liner and thick mound of asphalt. That rendered the site unusable as that kind of cap has to be undisturbed.

The James Campbell Company, whose industrial park is near the site, decided to change that and proposed the area to become a solar farm.

PV panels can be installed directly on the surface, allowing “brightfields” to operate on sites not suitable for most other forms of development.

“The Kapolei Sustainable Energy Park is a model for what Hawaii wants to accomplish in meeting its clean energy goals, while making effective use of land,” said Jon Wallenstrom, president of Forest City Hawaii, one of the project partners.

“Considering the past use of this property, it’s a remarkable turnaround. It will now be used to help preserve our environment going into the future.”

The contract is now waiting for approval by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission with input from Consumer Advocate. If it passes regulatory approval, the hope is that it will be operational by the end of 2011.

Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.

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As part of an official initiative to attract clean energy companies to the province of Ontario in Canada, Samsung and SMA Solar Technology have entered a partnership to build industrial-size solar inverters at Celestica’s facilities in Toronto.

Inverters are electric devices that convert energy produced in solar panels into power that can be used by the grid.

This is the third manufacturing deal under a $7 billion investment by Samsung in Ontario. Previously, Samsung had teamed up with Siemens Canada, Pattern Energy and CS Wind to run a new wind turbine plant in the Tillsonburg area and a wind tower plant in Windsor.

In order to supply Samsung, SMA Solar Technology will launch its first Canadian-based production of industrial solar inverters. The company already uses Ontario as a base to make residential inverters for smaller solar projects.

“Ontario is a world leader in attracting clean energy investments as we transform and modernize our electricity system. We are making crucial investments to build a strong, reliable system that will clean up the air we breathe for our families, businesses and the generations to come. We are doing it while helping keep costs down for families,” said Brad Duguid, Ontario’s Minister of Energy.

The overall objective of the region’s 2009 Green Energy Act is to replace coal with renewable energy such as wind, solar and bio-energy while promoting the creation of green collar jobs. And the initiative is already yielding results. By the end of 2010, the Green Energy Act had helped to create 13,000 jobs and attracted billions in private-sector investment. Recently the region became home to the world’s largest solar photovoltaic farm in Sarnia. The province hopes to be generating 10,700 megawatts of clean energy as part of the Long-Term Energy Plan.

“Ontario is a major solar power market for SMA and we are pleased to reach this milestone agreement with Samsung. Ontario’s Green Energy Act and the Feed-In Tariff program have created a welcoming business climate for manufacturers looking to expand their market reach,” said Günther Cramer, SMA Solar Technology’s CEO.

Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.

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Google announced last week that it has agreed to make its first clean energy project investment in Europe. The company will be injecting US$5 million into a solar photovoltaic plant in Germany.

According to Google’s European Policy blog, the transaction still requires the formal approval of the German authorities and is subject to other customary closing conditions.

The solar plant is located in Brandenburg an der Havel near Berlin and occupies 47 hectares of a former Russian military training ground. It is one of the largest in Germany with a peak capacity of 18.65MWp. Google says it will provide clean energy to more than 5,000 households in the area.

The investment is a joint venture between Google and the German private equity company Capital Stage, which is experienced in the German PV and renewable energy market. 70% of the solar modules installed in Bradenburg will come from German manufacturers.

Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.

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Ontario in Canada has big plans for renewable energy and a new contract signed by a group of companies last week signals the region is working seriously towards energy sustainability.

The deal in question involves a contract to supply and support a 5 MW ground mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) system, composed of 20,410 modules. It was signed between Alderville First Nation, a First Nations community within Southeastern Ontario established in 1837, and Silfab Ontario, a Canadian company currently preparing its new PV module manufacturing plant in Mississauga, Ontario.

The ground mounted system will use the Silfab SLA245M high-efficiency modules made from 60 mono-crystalline high efficiency silicon cells produced in Ontario in accordance with the Ontario Feed In Tariff program domestic content requirements.

The solar farm, consisting of a combination of fixed mounted racks and single axis trackers, will be installed on Alderville owned properties and is expected to be operational by November 2011 with an estimated production of approximately 5.7 million kWh per year. That is the equivalent to over 80,000 tons of avoided CO2 emissions during the lifetime of the facility.

“We are very excited to be working with Silfab on our ground mounted solar facility” says Chief James Marsden, Chief of Alderville First Nation. “Programs like the Ontario Feed In Tariff program are giving communities, like Alderville, an opportunity to bring additional economic opportunities into the community to benefit its current membership and its future generations.”

Plans
Silfab and Alderville intend to create a partnership that includes the training of local resources and the development of a Centre of Excellence for advancing solar energy research, education, and training. The goal is to help the community to become self-sufficient in the management of the facility and be capable of developing future solar power projects.

“We are very proud to be part of this important project for the Alderville First Nation community” said Franco Traverso, Silfab’s CEO and President, a photovoltaic solar veteran whose experience stretches back to 1981. “We see great opportunities for similar communities and we are optimistic about the growth of the photovoltaic industry in Canada. Alderville has demonstrated great foresight and planning in the development of this project.”

Later this month Silfario will start the manufacturing of mono and multi-crystalline high-efficiency PV modules with a power up to 300 Wp, suited for both rooftop and ground-mounted applications at its 100,000 square feet plant in Ontario.

Article by Antonio Pasolini, appearing courtesy Justmeans.

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On Wednesday, January 6th, Richards Memorial United Church (Richards Memorial), in London, Ontario began operating its new microFIT rooftop solar installation.  The project is the city’s first photovoltaic (PV) system on a church building.

“We’ve seen cars stop in the street and (drivers) roll down their windows to look up,” says the church’s pastor, Rev. Janet Fradette.  Her congregation chose to focus on the environment in 2010, and she says the twenty-year contract is a reminder that a commitment to sustainability must be long-term.

“It’s one of those projects that has appeal from whatever viewpoint you look at it,” says the Reverend.  The installation will create renewable energy, draw revenue, and provide work for Ontarians who have chosen to pursue green careers.  Its fifty panels, installed in the shape of a cross, will produce 14 MW-hours of solar power and prevent the release of 11 tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each year.

Programs Create Renewable Energy, Careers for Workers with Solar Training

The church secured an $87,000 loan from the Middlesex Presbytery of the United Church of Canada to finance its PV project.  It expects to pay off the loan within eight years and then generate income by participating in Ontario’s microFIT program.  The program creates renewable energy and careers for graduates of “green” educational streams, like solar training courses, by paying high prices for electricity produced by grid-tied solar or wind projects under 10 kW of capacity.  The microFIT and its companion program for larger projects, simply referred to as the feed-in tariff (FIT), both lock prices into twenty-year contracts.

Richards Memorial expects the solar project to generate up to $216,000 over the course of its participation in the microFIT program.  The church hired Direct Current Renewable Energy (Direct Current) to install the cross-shaped solar array.  Direct Current is a Brantford-based company whose management brings to the table more than a decade and a half worth of training and experience in commercial and residential electrical systems.  The company had already installed one system on a church in Hamilton prior to constructing the London project.

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The European Union will exceed its target of meeting 20 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020, according to a new report. Twenty-five of the 27 EU nations will meet or exceed their national targets, according to the analysis by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA).

About 14 percent of the total energy demand will be met through wind energy, more than any other renewable source, with Ireland projected to generate 36.4 percent of its energy from wind by 2020 and Denmark producing 31 percent, according to the analysis. The other top sources of renewable energy are hydropower (10.5 percent), biomass (6.6 percent), and solar photovoltaic (2.7 percent). Italy and Luxembourg, the only nations projected to not meet their national standards, plan to import renewable energy to make up for the shortfall.

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

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The Calico Solar project, abandoned like a sinking ship by original planners Stirling Energy and Tessera Solar, has acquired a new owner.

The Calico project came up against a smallish band of Native Americans and lost (sounds like Custer’s battle all over again). The turning point was not an environmental icon like the fringe-toed lizard, but the fact that the Quechans considered the land the repository of their sacred history.

K Road Power, a company so new it is still building its website, has promised to put the first 750 megawatts (MW) of solar power into solar photovoltaic (PV) technology; that is, solar panels made either from crystalline solar cells or thin-film solar material, but most likely the latter based on costs.

Only 100 MW of Phase II will be developed into concentrating solar power, or CSP, via the use of the newest generation of SES SunCatchers (designed and built by former project owner Stirling Energy Systems).

According to William Kriegel, K Road founder and CEO, the switch – from all CSP to almost all PV with just a taste of CSP – will insure funding, reduce environmental impacts even further, and provide low-cost solar to help meet California’s renewable portfolio standard, or RPS, which mandates 33 percent of electricity from renewable resources by 2020.

Kriegel carefully avoided mentioning the one salient fact that has us concerned: will the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management need to reevaluate the project? And, if so, is PV that much of a step up, as far as the Quechans are concerned?

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