Wind for Schools Adds Funding in Five States - Renewable Energy World

Wind for Schools Adds Funding in Five States - Renewable Energy World: "Washington, D.C., United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]
Last week, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and DOE's Wind and Hydropower Technologies Program announced the selection of five additional states to each receive approximately US $60,000 in funding per year for three years for activities supporting Wind Powering America's Wind for Schools project.
Launched in 2005, DOE's Wind for Schools project previously supported activities across six states and this award announcement brings that total to 11 states.
These awards will provide universities, state institutions, and non-governmental organizations funding and technical support that will be used to develop educational programs to improve understanding of wind technology and its implementation using the successful Wind for Schools model."

Obama gives jobs, energy high priority in State of Union - Politics - Renewable energy news - Recharge - wind, solar, biofuels, wave/tidal/hydro and geothermal

"US President Barack Obama positioned energy at the centre of his efforts to combat unemployment and revitalize the American economy, and renewed his call for comprehensive climate legislation in a closely watched State of the Union address."

Obama gives jobs, energy high priority in State of Union - Politics - Renewable energy news - Recharge - wind, solar, biofuels, wave/tidal/hydro and geothermal:

Solar incentives make sense

The Tampa Tribune
Published: January 27, 2010

The promise of more home-grown solar energy is exciting from both an environmentalist and capitalist point of view.Energy from the sun is clean. Owners of homes and businesses can install rooftop panels to generate their own electricity and even sell some back to their electric utility.
The solar business can provide good, new jobs in sales, construction, repair and manufacturing. Solar gives ordinary citizens a chance to produce a valuable, renewable commodity to sell to their neighbors.
So why are roofs not festooned with solar panels cranking out free electricity? Because the energy is not really free. It currently costs more to make electricity using photovoltaics than from fossil fuels producing steam to turn giant turbines.
So why does anyone invest in solar? Because, with federal incentives covering 30 percent of the installation costs and local utilities ready to use the energy produced, it is possible to make a solar system pay off right now. Florida, according to Gov. Charlie Crist, has gone from "dead last" in solar production to second in the nation, even though the state itself no longer offers solar incentives. Read More:

Solar incentives make sense

Florida's Governor announced Solar Plan

The Governor of Florida announced on Friday his budget proposal to the legislature, which included $186 million dollars for green and renewable technologies.
$10 million was designated for continuation of the Solar Rebate Program, $176 million was from Federal Funding sources, meaning, the ONLY money the Governor proposed be taken out of State money, was for the Solar Rebate Program.
This is very significant and the Governor is to be congratulated for elevating the Solar Rebate Program to the level of not just relying on Federal Funds, but making the program a State of Florida priority.
Thank you to all the folks who participated in the conference call with the Governor's Chief of Staff, Legislative Affairs Director and Energy Office Director. I am sure your participation was a significant part of their final decision.
Our work as the solar industry now begins. With the Governor's recommendation in hand, we must now convince the Legislature to adopt his recommendation.
Here is the The Governor's full proposal:
Green Energy Technologies – To ensure continued progress toward advancing Florida’s energy future and growing Florida’s low-carbon economy, Governor Crist proposed $10 million for solar energy rebates. Additionally, almost all of $176 million in federal funding received in Fiscal Year 2009-10 will be expended this year in the following ways:
· $126 million for the State Energy Program providing opportunities for state agencies, local governments and businesses to deploy renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies, resulting in economic development and job growth in Florida’s clean technology sector. Projects will include:
· Solar for Schools and Shelters, $10 million
· Solar Energy (Water Heating) Loans, $10 million
· Solar Energy Rebate Program, $14.4 million
· E-85/B20 Public Fueling - Conversion Revolving Loans, $5 million
· Compressed Natural Gas Fleet Fueling Facilities – Matching Grants, $4 million
· Florida Residential Retrofit Program, $15 million
· Shovel Ready Energy Project Grants, $ 19.5 million
· Florida Clean Energy Grants, $10 million
· Florida Energy Opportunity Fund, $36 million
· $30.4 million for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant to assist local governments, state agencies and citizens with programs to reduce fossil fuel emissions, total energy use, and improve energy efficiency in transportation, building and other sectors. Projects will include:
· Competitive Grants to Local Governments, $18.6 million
· Sunshine State Buildings Initiative, $8.4 million
· Energy Conservation Initiatives and Program Administration, $3.2 million
· $17.5 million for the Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate program to provide consumer rebates for qualifying new ENERGY STAR appliances.
· $1.8 million for the Energy Assurance Grant Program to develop new energy emergency response plans and revise existing ones to address Smart Grid applications and vulnerabilities, critical infrastructure, cyber security and energy supply systems.

Profit from the "Solar Shift"

The Solar Energy Sector: Profit From the “Solar Shift” With These Five Firms

by David Fessler, Energy and Infrastructure ExpertThursday, January 21, 2010: Issue #1180
“Skill to do comes of doing.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

This simple statement fits the progress of the solar energy sector over the past 50 years.
In terms of that filtering down to solar stocks, however, the progress is more intermittent. The solar energy sector was one of the bright investment spots in 2007 and 2008, but was conspicuously absent from the big rally of 2009.
A closer look reveals that there isn’t actually too much holding the sector back in the United States. And I’ve got five companies aiming to take advantage of this up-and-coming area…
From Science Project to Mainstream Power Source… Almost
Back in 1954, Daryl Chapin and Calvin Fuller created the first photovoltaic (PV) solar cells, based on polysilicon technology. Despite the breakthrough, early PV cells were expensive and progress stalled before it ever really got going.
But through technological advances, panel efficiency (the amount of solar energy that is converted into electrical energy) has risen steadily. There are at least a dozen new panel technologies manufactured commercially – all with an eye toward lowering the cost-per-watt. Polysilicon panels and CIGS panels (Copper, Indium, Gallium, Selenide) are currently the two largest technologies in commercial use.
Commercial PV solar panels now capture 10-20% of the sun’s energy – a number that is expected to climb to about 30% over the next 10 years or so. But what about the nitty-gritty – the cost?
Wanted: Parity In the Solar Energy Sector
One of the drawbacks of a burgeoning technology like solar power is the high cost. And make no mistake… cost is the important issue here.
In order for solar power to reach widespread price-convergence with conventional power sources (a term referred to as grid-parity), the cost of silicon-based panels has to hit about $1 per watt.
However, the price currently stands at $4 per watt. That number is falling fast, though – it dropped by 20% in 2009 alone. For less-efficient thin-film panels, the cost is about half that number.
And thanks to a large dose of federal and state government stimulus money, plus the recently renewed Solar Investment Tax Credit, a few high-demand locations like California and New Jersey are already there.
According to solar research firm GTM Research, 11 states will have likely surpassed grid convergence in the commercial sector by 2012, while 10 will have reached it on the residential side.
For consumers and investors alike, here’s why grid-parity is so important: once it’s achieved on a widespread basis, commercial utility projects will soar, particularly given the growing dislike for fossil fuel power plants. Residential demand will explode, too – a development expected to fuel an estimated 40% of the sector’s future growth.
And if you don’t believe it can work, just take a look at one of Europe’s big boys…

The German Example: A Model of Solar Energy Success
Germany is a great example of how the shift to increased solar power can work.
In 2000, the German government passed “The Renewable Energy Sources Act” (known as EEG in Germany). It was a paradigm-shifting event for Germany. Citizens knew they could all become energy producers. And grid systems operators are committed to not only accepting the power they produce, but paying fixed fees for it.
Today, with those fees declining every year, the EEG’s benefits are powerful…
Germany is on track to become the leading solar market in the world. It currently produces nearly half of all the world’s solar electricity and fulfills nearly 15% of Germany’s total electricity needs. The EEG plan has them on track to increase that to 27% by 2020.
The German solar energy sector now employs over 230,000 people.
Thanks to solar power, Germany has reduced its CO2 greenhouse gas emissions by over 100 million tons per year.
It should be easy to replicate a model in the United States, right?
read rest of article: http://www.investmentu.com/IUEL/2010/January/the-solar-energy-sector.html

Risky Business: Investors embrace equity markets | Business News | Exec Digital USA

Possible indication of a turn
Risky Business: Investors embrace equity markets Business News Exec Digital USA

Saudi's Going Solar

DHAHRAN: A prominent expert in the field of renewable energy technology has called on Saudi Arabia to invest heavily in solar technology. Professor Ali Sayigh, director general of the UK-based World Renewable Energy Network, was speaking at a public lecture on solar energy organized by the Center of Research for Excellence in Renewable Energy at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM).
“Saudi Arabia has the resources to allocate substantial funds for research in this particular field. Keep oil under ground or maybe use it for better purposes, such as for producing medicines or chemicals. There is no point in burning it all up,” he said. “Just as you have a basket of currencies, have a basket of energies: Oil, gas and renewables. There is no harm in that.”
Sayigh lamented the fact that Saudi Arabia was spending “not more than $10 million” on solar energy research. “Abu Dhabi is spending $13 billion through the Masdar Initiative. The American government is spending $450 million. The American private sector is spending more than $2 billion. Europe is similarly spending in billions, not millions.” Read more of this article: http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1&section=0&article=131387&d=18&m=1&y=2010&pix=kingdom.jpg&category=Kingdom

Wal-Mart Inc. Completes a Mega Solar Project

LA Times
January 18, 2010 12:57 pm

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. keeps moving ahead with its plan to shift its power supply to renewable energy with the completion of its largest solar-power project yet.
Earlier this month, Wal-Mart completed three other solar projects in Paramount, Baldwin Park and San Bernardino.
This time, the mega-corporation has wrapped up the installation of more than 5,300 solar panels across nearly 7 acres at its Apple Valley distribution center. The setup will generate 1 megawatt of power, the equivalent of the supply needed by 175 homes.
The company’s solar initiative was first announced in May 2007 and expanded in April 2009 to aim for 10 to 20 solar facilities in California over 18 months. A month later, in May, a San Bernardino Superior Court judge blocked the discount retailer’s plan for a Yucca Valley supercenter, in part because Wal-Mart’s proposal did not include solar-power provisions.
-- Tiffany Hsu
Photo: The entire Apple Valley solar array. Credit: Wal-Mart

Google is Hungry for Solar

Already a significant investor in renewables companies, Google is seeking permission to buy and sell energy like a large utility.

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Google floats idea to harness wave power
The US internet search and advertising giant has filed an application with regulators to become a wholesale electricity power marketer, with the aim of accessing more renewable energy and thereby saving money.
Google’s search engine and vast array of web services run on a network of power-hungry server computers packed into huge warehouses, known as data centres.
The company does not disclose the size of its energy bill, but publicly available information provides a sense of the scale.
Touting the efficiency of its data centres, it said last January that an average internet search consumes 0.0003 kilowatt hours of energy.
In November, 9.479 billion searches were performed using Google in the US, according to comScore, which tracks the internet-search market.
That suggests a month of US internet searches on Google consumes 2.8 gigawatt hours of energy.
A new subsidiary, Google Energy, “was formed to identify and develop opportunities to contain and manage the cost of energy for Google”, the company says in a filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
“In addition to engaging in sales of electricity that are unregulated by the commission, [Google Energy] proposes to act as a power marketer, purchasing electricity and reselling it to wholesale customers.”
It is also seeking permission to arrange transmission and fuel supplies, “to facilitate efficient trade in the bulk power market”.
Google aims to access more renewable resources as it strives to become carbon-neutral, and intends to use green energy credits and carbon offsets.
Benjamin Romano, Seattle
Published: Friday, January 15 2010

Oklahoma could be OK for Solar Power

BY JAY F. MARKS The Oklahoman
Published: January 15, 2010

That is likely the reason Oklahoma is among the states with the highest potential for harnessing solar energy.
The same is true for wind, which is why western Oklahoma is awash with towering turbines, but it’s hard to find signs the state is taking advantage of the sun’s rays.
Engineer Albert Janco is a long-time proponent of renewable energy. He said alternative energy sources such as solar and wind can help the United States end its dependence on foreign oil, a goal that should be part of a sorely needed comprehensive energy policy.
"It’s a matter of survival,” he said.
Analysis by the Oklahoma Wind Power Initiative showed the state is in a good position to use solar radiation — which is free and available everywhere — but the technology to turn it into electricity is expensive and hard to incorporate into the current utility power grid.
University of Oklahoma professor Scott Greene, the initiative’s director, said there are several companies working on small-scale solar projects for homes or businesses.
Some companies have expressed interest in potentially developing large, utility-scale farms in southern Oklahoma.
"Right now, the cost of solar is significantly greater than wind, but the costs are dropping rapidly,” Greene said. "My opinion is that large-scale solar in Oklahoma is about 10 or so years away.”
Solar power systems produce no pollution and typically are very reliable, according to the initiative’s analysis, but it takes up a lot of space.
"Storage devices such as large fuel cells or batteries are not very efficient or cheap,” the report states. "Continued technological progress will lead to an almost inevitable conclusion that solar energy conversion systems will become a major contributor for the world’s future energy needs.”
Oklahoma Commerce Secretary Natalie Shirley is confident solar energy is part of the state’s future.
"We are paving the way for a bright future in alternative energy development and manufacturing in Oklahoma,” Shirley said in September when a state group went to Germany for a solar energy conference. "Our renewable energy sources, including solar, are making the state’s energy portfolio stronger and more diverse.
"Oklahoma has transformed itself to a top-tier renewable energy producer and provider.”
Sunny productsBob Willis of Edmond’s Sunrise Alternative Energy said solar power is a viable option for those looking to cut down on the amount of electricity they have to buy.
His company installs solar panels in conjunction with other alternative energy measures to minimize electricity use.
"There’s some good products out there,” Willis said.
He said people are starting to get interested in ways to use less electricity, but solar power likely won’t become a big commodity in Oklahoma as long as utility costs remain low.
In most cases, it will take as many as 20 years to offset the cost of installing solar panels to generate power, Willis said.
Willis said use of solar power in Oklahoma will increase if utility rates rise or legislators enact some kind of incentive program.
He said more people should consider installing solar panels.
"It just sits there and makes power,” he said. Read more: http://www.newsok.com/solar-energy-in-oklahoma-could-have-hot-future/article/3432230?custom_click=pod_headline_technology#ixzz0cgv9iHwo

What are the Pros & Cons of Solar?

By Shannon Bell
1/14/2010

What are the Pros and Cons of Solar Energy?
Solar energy has been gaining interest among many people as an alternative to conventional power resources. The high costs and pollution associated with commodities such as oil, gas and coal are becoming more evident all the time. More research is being conducted on solar energy than ever before. While it has many benefits, it also has a few disadvantages.
What are the advantages and drawbacks of solar energy?
Advantages:
After paying for solar panels, it costs nothing to harness the energy of the sun to help power homes and the electric devices associated with them. As long as the sun shines, your solar panels will convert the sunlight into electricity.
Fossil fuels are a finite resource, and their costs are constantly increasing. Political conflicts with countries that are main suppliers of these resources can result in massive price hikes. Sunlight is a constantly renewable supplier of electricity.
You can install as few or as many solar panels as you need, depending upon your energy requirements. As long as you live in an area with sufficient sunshine, you may be able to generate a significant amount of power.
If you live in an area that is not part of an electrical grid, you can still use solar energy to power your home.
Solar energy does not cause air pollution. Unlike fossil fuels, solar energy does not release pollutants into the air. Its production is also quiet and odor-free, unlike that of fossil fuels.
It is possible to store solar energy by way of backup batteries. It can be stored for short periods, or even longer. Many companies are developing "power towers" that are capable of storing electricity generated by the sun for considerably longer periods of time.
Disadvantages:
The amount of electricity produced by the sun depends upon the amount of sunlight received in a given area. If you live in a region that does not have a great deal of sunlight, or is prone to pollutants in the air, your solar panels will not generate as much power.
The initial installation of solar panels can be expensive, even though the investment will pay off over time. Also, you will need an ideal location for your panels. If you plan to install a large number of panels, your property must be able to accommodate them.
Solar energy is not produced at night, although some energy may be stored in batteries.
Solar panels may be damaged by the elements. If you live in an area with severe weather conditions, you may have a more difficult time in determining the ideal placement of solar panels.
About the Author
Shannon Bell writes for http://www.residentialsolarpanels.org/ a non commercial blog focused on her Photovoltaic experiences to help people understand how and why they should save energy investing in solar power. She writes on Solar Power for Homes to help people learn how to start save energy from the scratch and then apply those experience to the next level.

Will current Utility Companies Be overtaken by Renewable Energy Companies?

by Jennifer Kho, Contributor
California, United States [RenewableEnergyWorld.com]

Renewable energy has got buzz, growth and growing government support. But it's no secret that it still makes up a small portion of the overall energy mix. As interest in renewables increases, the question has begun coming up more and more often: When will renewable energy companies catch up to conventional energy companies? That is, when will we see an Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. or ConocoPhilips of renewables?
In other words, the next BP of renewables could be BP.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought more attention to this question with his prediction, repeated over the last several months, that clean energy would overthrow energy incumbents within the next decade. “We’re going to democratize the energy system in this country and take it away from the incumbents over the next 10 years,” he said at the Solar Power International conference in Anaheim last October.
As a new year — and new decade — begins, many hope it will launch a new era of growth and profit for renewable energy after a year of financial suffering. It's also a time when companies, as well as individuals, traditionally take stock of where they are and set new goals and resolutions. So it seems like a fitting time to examine this question and take a look at various predictions of when this might happen.
Total Energy
One of the most obvious ways to attempt to answer the question is by looking at how much of the world's energy comes from renewables today. According to the International Energy Agency's World Energy Outlook in 2008, renewables made up 18 percent — or 3,470 terawatt hours — of the global electricity generation in 2006, with most of that coming from hydroelectric and wind power. In the same report, the agency forecast renewable-electricity generation would overtake natural gas, becoming the world's second-largest source of electricity after coal, "soon after 2010." According to those predictions, renewables are on track to account for 4,970 terawatt hours in 2010 and more than 7,700 terawatt hours, or 23 percent of the global electricity production, in 2030.
That expected growth might have been slowed by financial difficulties this year. According to the 2009 World Energy Outlook, investment in renewables-based power generation "fell proportionately more than that in other types of generating capacity" in late 2008 and early 2009. The report forecast that investment in those projects may have declined by nearly one-fifth this year, and would have dropped by almost 30 percent without government stimulus packages worldwide. Even if renewables do still overtake natural gas by 2015, that isn't an apples-to-apples comparison as it compares all types of renewable electricity, including hydro, wind, solar and more, to only one type of fossil fuel.
Looking at the numbers for just one type of renewable energy, such as solar, for example, shows renewables are far behind in total production. Adam Krop, vice president for equity research at Ardour Capital Investments, said his company estimates that solar will likely only be about 1 percent of the total global electricity generating capacity for the foreseeable future — and that's an aggressive target. In the United States, which is a small solar market today, solar electricity accounts for only 0.01 percent of the total, he said, but could grow to 0.5 percent by 2020. "Growing from 0.01 percent to 0.5 percent still represents rapid growth, but growing to the size of conventional energy companies is not likely," he said.
As independent analyst Peter Lynch puts it, "If the solar industry doubled every year for the next 20 years, it wouldn't even be a significant number."
Meanwhile, an early release of this year's U.S. Department of Energy's International Energy Annual forecasts that the electricity generated from renewables worldwide will match that of natural gas in 2015, but sink slightly below it through 2030 (see chart here titled “Figure 6:World Electricity Generation by Fuel”). Renewables make up a much smaller portion of the total energy (not just electricity) usage, however. According to the report, renewables made up only 41.5 quadrillion Btu of the total world energy consumption compared with 28.5 quadrillion Btu for nuclear, 115.5 quadrillion Btu for natural gas, 136 quadrillion Btu for coal and 175.2 quadrillion Btu for liquids, including biofuels.
Profits and Revenues
But finding a single company large enough to rank among the energy majors isn't the same as comparing global energy output or usage. A common way of determining the size of a public company is its market capitalization, or the total value of all the shares owned by investors. Ardour's Krop pointed out that at $323.72 billion as of Dec. 31, Exxon Mobil's market cap is still 28 times larger than that of First Solar, the largest stock in his solar group, at $11.52 billion. It's also 26 times larger than Danish wind company Vestas Wind Systems' market cap of 64.57 billion kroner, or $12.47 billion. "My sense is that my solar group will not likely approach conventional energy company size in the foreseeable future," he said.
Another way to compare renewable- and conventional-energy companies is through their revenues and profits. Let's compare Vestas, the largest pure-play wind-turbine manufacturer, to Exxon Mobil, which sits at the very top of the Fortune 500. Exxon Mobil saw its revenue grow 18.8 percent to a whopping $442.851 billion last year as its profit grew 11.4 percent to $45.22 billion. Meanwhile, Vestas saw its revenue grow 24 percent to €6.03 billion last year — valued at $8.51 billion at the time of its annual report, according to Hoover's Inc. — while its profit grew 75.6 percent to €511 million.
If Vestas continued to grow at exactly the same annual rate, which is unlikely, it would catch up to Exxon Mobil's 2008 revenue in 18.7 years, and reach its profit in seven and a half years. (In dollar terms, revenue grew only 18.9 percent to $8.51 billion in 2008 from $7.15 billion in 2007, according to Hoover's. At that rate, it would take 23.3 years. But the discrepancy has to do with exchange rate differences, so we've instead compared euros to euros above.)
But unsurprisingly, Vestas' growth has slowed in 2009. In the first nine months of 2009, the company reported €4.13 billion in revenue, up 16.2 percent from €3.55 billion in the same period the previous year, and €264 million in profit, up 35.4 percent from the first nine months of 2008. According to its guidance, Vestas anticipates revenue of €7.2 billion for 2009, which would represent growth of 19.4 percent.
Of course, this is a simplistic way of looking at this question, as the growth of renewable energy isn't linear. Many as-yet-unknown factors play into the equation. For example, government incentives and other policies play a huge role in determining the market for renewable energy today, as well as the price of renewable projects compared to the ever-changing price of the traditional energy it might be competing with. "Until the industry can get along without government incentives, it will be at the mercy of how government incentives are structured," said Alfonso Velosa, a research director at Gartner Inc. He pointed to the consequences of the Spanish feed-in tariff, which more than quadrupled the country's solar market to 2.5 gigawatts in 2008 only to cut the program to 500 megawatts in 2009, leading to an oversupply of panels and shrinking panel prices globally.
Infrastructure challenges such as electrical transmission or biofuel distribution, as well as the need to figure out how to smooth and control the intermittent electricity from sources such as solar and wind, also stand in the way, he said. Financing for these projects will also likely need to improve before a renewable company will reach the Fortune 500. "Financing is the No. 1 concern for any renewable-energy project; it goes hand in hand with finding a customer," Velosa said.
Companies that help arrange financing for their customers, such as SunPower Corp., which offers power-purchase agreements through financing partnerships with the likes of Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, could have a big advantage, he said, adding that he expects to see more companies get into financing. All together, Velosa said, he expects to see world-scale renewable-energy companies emerge in 15 to 20 years.
Independent analyst Peter Lynch also forecasts it will take at least 10 years — and potentially "decades," as fossil-fuel companies continue to receive subsidies and government support far beyond renewables — to see companies at that size.
Shares and Returns
From an investor perspective, what matters most isn't a company's market cap or energy output, but the potential returns — or growth in share price — which depends, in part, on anticipated future revenue and profit. As Lynch pointed out, "Investors could care less which company is bigger, but care instead which company is going to grow the most," he said.
"Solar companies are going to grow a heck of a lot faster [than conventional energy companies]. They have potentially far greater room to grow; therefore, their stocks probably have equally greater potential to grow."
It's easier to invest in solar than in wind because the sector has far more pure play companies, or "more items on the menu," he said. For example, GE is a big player in wind power, but has so many other businesses that the wind part of the company doesn't drive the stock. "You don't buy GE because they have a good wind turbine," Lynch said.
Solar stocks dramatically outperformed the market in 2005, 2006 and 2007, although they fell way down in 2008, he said (see chart on returns, below). Lynch predicts that solar will be the fastest-growing segment of the energy industry, with returns exceeding those in oil and gas, but doesn't expect solar companies' market caps will overtake those of the oil and gas giants. Not all renewable-energy sectors perform similarly, though. He pointed out that biofuel stocks are down 50 to 80 percent over the last three years.
Short Answer: In a Long Time
From all of these different angles, it's obvious that renewable energy companies are a long way from catching up with fossil-fuel energy industry giants. In addition to all the above-noted variables, David Jones, editor of the Platts Renewable Energy Report, said he doesn't expect to see a renewable-energy company on the Fortune 500 until governments set a market price on carbon emissions. "Until that takes place, companies and other organizations will naturally release carbon because it doesn't cost anything," he said. "Once a price gets put on those emissions, renewables will be much more competitive." Europe already has a carbon emissions trading program, and the United States also is considering one in several proposed climate bills.
In addition, Jones said prices need to keep coming down to make renewable energy affordable for the majority of customers, and the industry needs to grow large enough so that renewable energy is accessible as an everyday option for most people. "I think there will be a time when utilities automatically add [a green power] option on their bills."
Consumer awareness and marketing is another big factor. "What you're going to need is some sort of consumer revolution in which renewable energy becomes a standard feature of energy generation," he said. "It's got to be in the consumers' interest beyond trying to make a difference. … It has to be really attractive to people as a product."
Overall, with a worldwide market, Jones said its always possible renewables could see explosive growth — and in fact solar is already becoming mainstream in some markets — but added that he'd be very hard pressed to predict a year — or even a decade – when a renewable company will reach that size. "In a nutshell, it's going to take a while," he said. Manufacturers of smaller-scale systems that are mass-produced and sold in large volumes to consumers are most likely to get to the Fortune 500, he predicts.
Still, keep in mind that looking at the state of pure play renewable companies hardly tells the whole story of the success and growth of clean energy. After all, many existing energy companies, including oil companies and major utilities, are getting involved in renewable energy, and Gartner’s Velosa said he expects that trend to keep growing. BP Solar, for example, has some advantages — such as experience in the energy industry, a familiarity of the market dynamics involved, the relationships and the ability to get financing — from its parent company, he said. And even though wind may make up a small part GE, the company is a major player in the sector.
Velosa expects to see large energy-generation and –distribution companies get more involved in renewables, leading to more mergers and acquisitions and other impacts. "Global companies are very interested in this because they see a market segment that has higher growth than the overall energy industry does," he said. In other words, the next BP of renewables could be BP.
And of course, a spot on the Fortune 500 isn't the only measure of success. Dan Adler, director of the California Clean Energy Fund, said while he wants the renewable industry to be huge and profitable, his gut reaction to the question of when renewable-energy companies would catch up to conventional energy players was "hopefully never." He would like to see the renewable industry retain a larger number of players rather than the few energy giants that exist in oil, gas and coal today.
While oil companies, for example, have to be big because oil's so expensive to produce and oil resources are more centralized, one of the goals — and strengths — of renewable energy is its diversity and the ability to distribute its production, Adler said. "The nature of the technology doesn't require the kind of scale and vertical integration [of oil companies]," he said. "If we start to see a lot of consolidation, we may be moving away from that strength."
Freelancer Jennifer Kho has been covering green technology since 2004, when she was a reporter at Red Herring magazine. She has more than nine years of reporting experience, most recently serving as the editor of Greentech Media. Her stories have appeared in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, BusinessWeek.com, CNN.com, Earth2Tech, Cleantechnica, MIT's Technology Review, and TheStreet.com.

Wisconsin First in Midwest to Introduce Feed-in Tariff Bill in 2010 - Renewable Energy World

Wisconsin First in Midwest to Introduce Feed-in Tariff Bill in 2010 - Renewable Energy World

New Jersey university agrees to 3.5 Mw energy panel

Monday, January 11, 2010 at 2:50:13 Cooler Plant PM - by Danny Vo
An agreement has been reached between William Paterson University, Nautilus Solar Power, and SunDurance Energy to construct the largest solar energy facility at a university in the U.S.The project, which will include the installation of solar energy projects on the rooftop and parking lot of the Wayne, New Jersey university campus, will initially aim to generate three megawatts of solar power with the completion of its first phase this summer.The second part of the project, which will add another 500 kilowatts to bring the power generated by the facility to 3.5 megawatts, is currently scheduled to go online sometime in 2011.SunDurance, a New Jersey-based solar system installer, will design and construct the project, which will be funded and operated by Nautilus Solar."The project will contribute to a reduction of air pollution and improve the air quality in New Jersey, while creating green jobs in the region. We are looking forward to installing similar solar facilities at other schools and universities," said Laura Stern, President of Nautilus Solar. In total, the solar power system is projected to cut the university's spending on energy by $4.3 million over the 15-year Purchase Power Agreement it will sign with Nautilus Solar.

Solar Manufacture Sued

Saleswoman says company owes her for squandered deal
Sunday, January 10, 2010 3:21 AM
By Doug Caruso
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
A solar-panel company that has been approved for more than $15 million in state loans and grants is being sued in federal court by a saleswoman who says the company couldn't produce the panels it promised after she found a willing buyer.
Gov. Ted Strickland and Vice President Joe Biden have both offered the company, Willard & Kelsey Solar Group, based in suburban Toledo, as a model for "green" energy firms that could help rescue the state's economy.
But in her lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in Toledo, Karen Stripling says she secured orders with a European buyer for $230 million in panels last year, only to find that Willard & Kelsey couldn't produce them.
She's seeking the $14.95 million commission she says she would have been due from the sale. Her suit says the company's owners knew they couldn't produce the panels and made promises they couldn't keep.
Matt Cox, an attorney for Willard & Kelsey, said Stripling's claims are unfounded and she is due no money because her contract specified that she wouldn't get paid unless the company got paid.
"No money was owed because no money was paid to Willard & Kelsey," he said.
According to Stripling's suit, the company used the order she had set up in its February application to the state for a $10 million loan.
"Willard & Kelsey used this putative deal as further evidence of its profitability," the suit says. It also says the company never produced the high-efficiency, low-cost solar panels it promised and never had its performance certified.
State officials say Ohio's investment in the company is safe.
In August, the state Controlling Board authorized $10 million in loans for Willard & Kelsey from the state's 2008 Advanced Energy Job Stimulus program.
But the company won't get the money until it installs new manufacturing lines that employ more than 400 workers, said Mark Shanahan, energy adviser to Strickland.
"We're really comfortable that this is an investment in advanced renewable-energy technology in a part of the state that is really becoming a center of excellence in the solar-energy industry," Shanahan said.
When the stimulus loans were announced in the summer, company officials said they expected the expansion to begin in June 2010.
In 2008, the state approved $5 million in loans, a $500,000 grant and job-creation tax credits for the company, which said it planned eventually to begin producing more than 1 million high-tech solar panels called thin-cell photovoltaic panels each year.
The 2008 loan and grant helped buy the equipment the company could use to develop its product.
The job-creation tax credits are worth about $3.5 million over 10 years, but only if the company creates the promised 400 jobs, said Bob Grevey, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Development.
dcaruso@dispatch.com

Google Energy to start disrupting the utility industry

There is no doubt about it but Google is a disruptive company.
First Google disrupted search, then advertising, then video (with their acquisition of YouTube), and then Office applications with the launch and continued development of Google Apps for Domains. Most recently Google has disrupted the mobile phone industry, first with the launch of their Android operating system and just a couple of days ago with the launch of their Nexus One mobile phone.
What then should we make of Google’s recent creation of a subsidiary called Google Energy LLC and Google Energy’s request to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to buy and sell electricity on the wholesale market [PDF]?
Given Google has already invested in solar power generation, given further that Google has invested in wind and geothermal power generation technologies (as part of its RE < href="http://www.google.org/rec.html" target="_blank">project), and given that Google has already launched its first product in the Smart Grid space, Google PowerMeter, should we now expect Google to start disrupting the utility industry as well?
Curious about what all this meant I contacted Google spokesperson Niki Fenwick to try to get some answers – see my questions and her responses below:
TR: What was the thinking behind Google’s setting up Google Energy? Why is Google applying to the FERC for permission to trade in electricity?
NF: Google is interested in procuring more renewable energy as part of our carbon neutrality commitment, and the ability to buy and sell energy on the wholesale market could give us more flexibility in doing so. We made this filing so we can have more flexibility in procuring power for Google’s own operations, including our data centers.
TR: Google has made some investments in renewable generation (solar, geothermal and wind), does Google hope to take on the utilities by selling electricity? How does this tie into Google’s PowerMeter project?
NF: This move does not signal our intent to operate as a retail provider and is not related to our free Google PowerMeter home energy monitoring software. We simply want to have the flexibility to explore various renewable energy purchase and sale agreements (that means we can buy electricity wholesale, rather than through a utility).
TR: Will Google Energy be used to develop more Smart Grid products?
NF: We don’t have any plans to announce at this time.
TR: How does this tie into Google’s partnership with GE?
NF: This move isn’t related to our partnership with GE.
So there you have it, according to Google this application to trade in electricity on the wholesale market is simply to gain more flexibility in procuring power for Google’s own operations, as part of Google’s carbon neutrality commitment.
Google have no plans to become a retail electricity provider.
For now. Things change.
After all, it is not so long ago that Google were denying rumours that they were developing a Google phone!
Related articles:
Google seeks to trade wholesale power in U.S. (financialpost.com)
Will Google Energy Power Its Data Centers? (datacenterknowledge.com)
Ramon Nuez: Google is Going into the Electricity Business (huffingtonpost.com)
Google launches Google Energy, hoping to bring more green energy to its datacenters (engadget.com)
Google applies to become electricity marketer (infoworld.com)
Google seeks to become energy trader (theregister.co.uk)

Funds that give you tax breaks for going green

From The Sunday Times
January 10, 2010
Investors are being offered tax breaks for going green with a new breed of venture capital trust (VCT) that invests in clean-energy companies.
VCTs are a type of fund that give investors 30% tax relief on new investments of up to £200,000, in addition to tax-free growth and dividends. They were created to boost growing companies, so they are a suitable match for the fledgling clean-technology sector, particularly as firms have been struggling to access bank finance.
The value of green VCTs has tripled from just £12.5m two years ago to about £37.5m now, according to Martin Churchill of Tax Efficient Review, an investment advisory firm.
He thinks they could become even more popular, driven partly by changes to the rules on pensions tax relief, which will be reduced from 50% for those on £150,000 to 20% at £180,000 from next April. This is prompting investors to supplement their pension savings with alternatives such as VCTs.
“VCTs were never designed to generate large capital growth but rather a steady, reliable return,” said Churchill, “so if you are looking for an alternative to your current pension and something to provide a stable tax-free income stream, as well as something that’s good for the environment, then these funds are a good option.”
The clean-energy industry’s most recent boost came from the Crown Estate, which last week awarded a handful of energy companies £100 billion-worth of contracts to build large-scale, offshore wind farms as part of the government’s plan to derive a third of the UK’s energy from wind by 2020.
However, government subsidies for smaller onshore wind farms — and other forms of green power — are likely to be more attractive to VCTs.
In April, a new system of “feed-in tariffs” will be introduced, under which households and businesses will be able to sell back to the grid the energy they generate, whether that’s through wind farms, solar panels, or combined heat and power units.
The tariffs apply only to “local-scale” projects that generate up to five megawatts of energy at a typical cost of between £1m to £20m. VCTs can invest only in firms or projects with maximum gross assets of £7m.
Matt Taylor of Foresight Group, the alternative asset manager, which recently launched two green-themed VCTs, said the firm was looking to expand its environmental portfolio this year to take advantage of the feed-in tariffs.
For example, if Tesco owns a large industrial site on which it wants to install wind turbines, it could use a VCT to provide part of the finance. Those turbines could generate up to 5MW of electricity, the sale price for which would be guaranteed under the feed-in tariffs — in effect a guaranteed income stream.
“Feed-in tariffs provide greater predictability for investors and we believe there will be a strong demand as a result, so we are now looking to invest in onshore wind, as well as hydro and biomass power projects,” said Taylor.
VCTs that invest in environmental assets have largely beaten more general schemes, according to Richard Allen, a consultant for Allenbridge, the tax shelter specialist.
He points to Climate Change Capital’s Ventus Funds, which have £50m invested in small to medium-sized onshore renewable energy projects in the UK.
The funds have outperformed the bulk of their peer group, delivering an average annual return of 5.3% since their 2005 launch. When taking into account the 30% tax break on VCTs, the average return jumps to 14.4%, according to Allenbridge.
Matthew Ridley of Ventus said the firm would likely seek further fundraising this year to broaden its stake in a range of clean energy sectors, including onshore wind, landfill gas, hydro-electric and biomass.
Another new green VCT comes from Acuity Capital. It is seeking to raise £20m to back environmental projects that convert household and commercial waste such as leftover food into a form of renewable energy that can be used to heat and light homes and even power cars.
The targeted annual dividend is 10%, equating to 13.3% gross. After factoring in the upfront 30% tax relief, this will amount to a handsome 19% return.
Nick Ross, the firm’s managing partner, said the idea for the green rubbish fund grew out of legislation aimed at reducing the amount of waste local authorities and businesses send to landfill.
Britain currently dumps about 270m tonnes of rubbish into landfill each year. The government has a national target to cut household waste by at least 40% this year and halve municipal waste volumes. To meet its objective it has imposed an annually increasing tax on each tonne of rubbish sent to landfill.
The current tax rate is £48 a tonne. The National Audit Office estimates the fines could more than double by 2013.
“Acuity’s fund is attractive because the earnings are backed up by the obligation on local authorities and companies to reduce the amount of waste they send to landfill,” said Churchill.
Kavita Patel of Martineau, the advisory firm, said: “There are some good returns to be made in this market and it’s something that is close to the heart of most people, so a number of managers are gaining interest in environmental VCTs.”
However, she cautions that VCTs should still be viewed as high-risk investments. “The difficulty is that many environmental projects only come good over the longer term, whereas newer VCTs tend to wind-down after just five or seven years.”
An additional difficulty is that investments in a single company are currently capped at £1m, but the nature of most environmental projects means they need significant financial backing.
VCT GUIDE
- VCTs invest in unquoted businesses with gross assets of up to £7m.
- They attract 30% upfront tax relief on investments of up to £200,000 a year. Investments qualify if held for five years.
- Tax-free growth and dividends.
- Some VCTs are “planned exit” or “limited life”. They usually aim to wind up after five years and are used for tax breaks. The Revenue is considering a clampdown.
- A VCT can keep 30% in cash. Of the other 70%, 30% must be invested in the firm’s shares.
Read the full article: Funds that give you tax breaks for going green - Times Online

Obama Awards $2.3 Billion In Renewable Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits

in News Departments > Policy Watch
by SI Staff on Friday 08 January 2010
President Obama has announced the awarding of $2.3 billion in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for clean energy manufacturing projects across the U.S.A total of 183 projects in 43 states will create tens of thousands of clean energy jobs and encourage the domestic manufacturing of advanced clean energy technologies including solar, wind and efficiency and energy management technologies, the White House says.The investment tax credits, worth up to 30% of each planned project, will leverage private capital for a total investment of nearly $7.7 billion in high-tech manufacturing in the U.S. The projects were competitively selected through a rigorous merit review process.Recipients include Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries Inc., which plans to produce a double anti-reflective coating for glass to make solar cells more efficient. The tax credit will help to expand the manufacture of one of the transparent conductive oxide coatings for solar cell glass.An Excel file with the complete list of tax-credit recipients is available here.SOURCE: The White House

$3 million in fed funds means 120 jobs in Lee County

By Brian Liberatore • bliberatore@news-press.com • January 6, 2010
County leaders hope to leverage federal dollars to spur fledgling renewable energy and energy efficiency industries in the region. As a first step, commissioners accepted a $3 million check Tuesday from Washington.
"We really hope that this is the first of several grants," said Paul Wingard, deputy director of Lee's transportation department. "Hopefully this is just the beginning."
The money from the federal Department of Energy will go to a handful of energy efficiency improvements - new light bulbs, better traffic-light timing - and help with construction of a biodiesel fuel plant on Edison Avenue in Fort Myers.
Though light bulbs and traffic lights have little economic impact, county officials are hoping for more substantial grant awards this year. Lee is in the running for a $38.4 million grant to install solar water heaters for about 11,000 properties across Southwest Florida and a $122 million grant to fund research and equipment at FGCU's upcoming $400 million Innovation Hub - a research park near the Southwest Florida Regional Airport.
The federal government has awarded Lee $31 million in grants as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
"We want to diversify beyond the tourism and construction industries," said Commission Chairwoman Tammy Hall. "We look at renewable energy as a valuable component of that."
In a region that is living through the consequences of over-reliance on two industries, the prospect of high-tech, high-paying research and development jobs is attractive, said Jennifer Berg, spokeswoman for the Lee County Economic Development Office.
The American Solar Energy Society estimated in a 2009 study that in 20 years renewable energy and energy efficiency industries will account for 37 million jobs. The county is among the worst in the nation for unemployment. The latest figures put the rate at 13.9 percent.
Lee estimates the $3 million grant will help generate about 121 jobs in the - including 92 jobs associated with the biofuel plant. plant itself, which is under construction, will employ about 15, said Roy Benton III, one of the plant's owners. But the process will employ farmers who will grow the crops to create the fuel as well as people to haul the fuel and others who will use the glycerol, a byproduct of the fuel production.

"We're talking hundreds of jobs," Benton said.
The plant should open later this year.
Lee is well positioned for renewable energy jobs, said Rich Galvano of Galvano Development, the company building FGCU's innovation hub.
"We've got the three big items," Galvano said. "The university, the airport and the sun. If you want to study solar energy, you want to see the sun."
The real estate bust and an overabundance of housing have driven home prices to record lows - a boon to home buyers and one of few benefits from the region's housing market decline. With more affordable housing, Lee has become more attractive to companies looking for locations, said Joe Shepard, the vice president of finance for FGCU.
But Lee is not the only area attracted to the industry. The region is competing against municipalities in California, Colorado and Pennsylvania - places with established renewable energy industries, said Amy Sauer with the Environmental and Energy Study Institute in Washington, D.C.
"A lot of (renewable energy development) can be attributed to state-led efforts," Sauer said. Other states have more attractive incentives and stricter emissions controls, which help motivate alternative energy and energy efficiency initiatives."
Florida, Sauer noted, is moving in that direction.
Shepard agreed.
On one side of the political aisle, Shepard said, people are urging energy independence and a break from the hostile oil-producing countries. On the other end, politicians are calling for energy use that won't jeopardize the environment.
"You've got both the right and the left agreeing that we need to do this," Shepard said.

Rebates, tax credits help make solar energy more affordable in Florida

By Susan Salisbury
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 11:37 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 3, 2010
Posted: 6:47 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009

Brian and Emily O'Mahoney believe firmly in solar energy. Earlier this year, they invested $57,000 in sun-powered equipment for their house in The Shores in Jupiter. That included a solar water heater, a solar electricity generating system with 26 photovoltaic panels and a solar-powered pool pump.
Granted, most people aren't willing to spend that much. But a solar water heater costs around $5,000 for an average-size house and saves 30 percent of the typical electric bill. The payback time is about four years. That's how long it takes to recoup the money spent on the solar in savings on electricity.
"It's insane not to have a solar water heater," Brian O'Mahoney said. "Our water heater has been running off the grid since it was put in."
The O'Mahoneys are reaping the benefits in the form of tiny Florida Power & Light Co. bills this year and for years to come. Their energy usage has dropped to an average of 29 kilowatt hours a day from 57 kilowatt hours a day.
Their lowest FPL bill ever was in May, a mere $39. July and August were the biggest, at $150 and $140. Before Abundant Energy Inc. in Jupiter installed the solar system, their average bill was about $250 a month for their 2,800-square-foot house.
The O'Mahoneys are slated to receive $30,000 in state and federal rebates and tax credits, Brian O'Mahoney said.
But for those homeowners tinkering with the idea of going solar now, the outlook is murkier.
Though this summer Florida received $14.4 million in federal stimulus money to provide rebates for solar electrical systems and water heaters, the fund was quickly depleted because of a backup of applications. There's nothing left.
"That money was already spoken for, due to people in the queue going back to December 2008," said Bruce Kershner, executive director of Florida Solar Energy Industries Association in Longwood.
The state had funded the program with $5 million in 2008, and with $3.5 million and $2.5 million in the two prior years.
Even if the legislature doesn't find a way to fund the program further, new incentive programs are expected to be coming in 2010.
On Dec. 1 the Florida Public Service Commission ordered FPL and the state's other investor-owned utilities to provide up to $24.5 million in incentives for solar water heaters and photovoltaic systems. FPL's share is $15 million a year, beginning in 2010, but the utility has until March to file its implementation plan.
The program will cost customers, even those who do not participate, an estimated 18 cents a month, according to the PSC.
In addition, the Governor's Energy Office expects to roll out a $10 million low-interest loan program, also with federal stimulus funds, for solar water heaters in 2010.
While people who purchase solar pool heaters don't receive any tax credits, because it's considered a luxury item, Kershner said the payback for pool heaters is that people can enjoy their pool more days.
"If you want to maximize use of your pool, figure out the best way to heat it," Kershner said. "By far, heating with solar is most economical."
Prior to 2006, the state had no rebate programs, and the federal government offered no solar tax credits. But pool heater installations was what kept the solar contractors in business, with about 15,000 sold each year.
Kershner cautions consumers looking into purchasing solar equipment to make sure they hire a licensed contractor by going to www.flaseia.org to see a list of licensed firms. All the organization's members are licensed, Kershner said.

Do Your Own Energy Audit, Here is the Tool

By George Musser
Solar at Home - January 3, 2010
Scientific American's George Musser will be chronicling his experiences installing solar panels in Solar at Home (formerly 60-Second Solar).
The last piece of my solar array fell into place three weeks ago when the utility installed two new meters on my house, one that registers solar energy generation (for determining tradable credits) and one that registers net home consumption (for billing). So far, my array has produced as much as 8.1 kilowatt-hours per day, which is actually a bit more than the PV Watts calculator predicts for a system of my size. But the job isn't over yet. It may never be.


Fighting energy waste is a never-ending battle. In an earlier post, I mentioned The Energy Detective, which measures the total electricity consumption of your house. To track down specific power hogs, a portable meter such as Kill-a-Watt is invaluable. With it, I recently went around the house checking how much power our electronic appliances and adaptors consumed in standby mode. Bracing myself for a torrent of waste, I was pleasantly surprised that most devices drew less than one watt.

The suckiest vampire proved to be the Wii (10 watts in standby mode), so we're more diligent now about powering it down. A handheld-vacuum charger drew three watts even when the battery was full-up, so now I make sure to unplug it between chargings. A USB hub and UPS each drew 2 watts, and we didn't really need either, so we removed them. It's not much, but it adds up, and it's easy to fix.

With an Amazon gift certificate my mom gave me for Christmas, I got another handy tool: a Black & Decker Thermal Leak Detector. An affordable version of the multi-thousand-dollar thermal imagers used by professional home energy auditor, it gives temperature readings, though not full thermal images. And boy is it great! Best gift my mom ever got me.
The sensor resembles a laser-tag pistol. You point it at a surface, a readout tells you the temperature, and—here's where it gets fun—a laser pointer changes color to red, blue, or green depending on whether the temperature is hotter than, colder than, or equal to a reference temperature (namely, the temperature of whatever the detector was pointing to when you turned it on). So you can see at a glance where heat is leaking out. A switch lets you set the amount the temperature needs to deviate from the reference for the light to change color.
The image at the top of this post shows two readings on the wall above a window in my daughter's room. It matches the thermal image taken by my auditor. I've already found lots of places to caulk or insulate. Best of all, by taking before and after readings, you can see what good your efforts have wrought. For instance, the light turned blue when I passed the sensor over an outlet, so I added a sealer under the wallplate—and the temperature jumped by six degrees F. With all the work we've done to button up our house, I appreciate having some proof it actually does some good.
Black & Decker thermal sensor reading in George's house, courtesy of George

The Renewable Energy Business -- Defining Your Core Competency

Posted on January 3, 2010
The Renewable Energy Business
Each week, half a dozen or so people write into us at 2GreenEnergy from all over the world wanting some level of help with clean energy ideas. Normally, "help" means "funding." It’s true that we’re connected with a team of boutique investment bankers in Manhattan, and that we routinely pass the business plans that seem most solid to us along to them.
But I have to confess that I have a morbid fascination with the business plans that I consider to be fatally flawed (plans that, of course, I do not pass along). I've even developed a private set of categories for them.
First, there are the clearly specious ideas in terms of basic physics, e.g., a wind turbine that ostensibly captures three times as much energy as the conventional three blades. Wrongo, sir; this is not possible, since the conventional system already harvests approximately 60% of the wind "flux," i.e., the wind passing through the circle defined by the turning tips of the blades.
Then, of course, you have perpetual motions machines, of which we receive at least one per month. This category is actually composed, in my mind, of two sub-categories: "crackpots" (i.e., people who seem to believe their story) and "charlatans" (i.e., people who don’t).
The other broad category of fatally flawed plans includes those who have clearly bitten off more than they can chew. They’re inventors who have no sense whatsoever that the hard work is just beginning – perhaps a guy with a legitimate breakthrough who somehow thinks that all the R&D, marketing, manufacturing and distribution are minor afterthoughts.
I sometimes find myself giving someone news that I’m quite certain he’d rather not hear, e.g., "Your concept could change the world. But there is one problem. You’re a visionary …. but you’re not a businessman, nor a financier, nor a patent attorney, nor a human resources executive, nor a manufacturer, nor a distributor. Let me ask you to consider a simple solution, employed by smart people all over the world: sell or license your idea. Let me help you sell it to a large, fully funded organization that wants to bolster its position technologically and gain further competitive advantage. Or let’s talk about setting up a carefully protected licensing relationship with a large enterprise with established manufacturing practices and existing, well-supported distribution channels."
It’s really the concept of core competency that came into vogue in 1980s. Do what you’re good at. Don’t limit your success by turning a personal weakness into a gating factor to your company’s progress.
And in no place is this rule more applicable than in the world of clean energy – destined to become soon a multi-trillion dollar industry. If you can cut a licensing deal for your technology that captures a millionth of that market, you’ll be doing just fine.

to read more on this arthicle visit: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2010/01/the-renewable-energy-business-defining-your-core-competency

The Renewable Energy Business -- Defining Your Core Competency

Posted on January 3, 2010
The Renewable Energy Business
Each week, half a dozen or so people write into us at 2GreenEnergy from all over the world wanting some level of help with clean energy ideas. Normally, "help" means "funding." It’s true that we’re connected with a team of boutique investment bankers in Manhattan, and that we routinely pass the business plans that seem most solid to us along to them.
But I have to confess that I have a morbid fascination with the business plans that I consider to be fatally flawed (plans that, of course, I do not pass along). I've even developed a private set of categories for them.
First, there are the clearly specious ideas in terms of basic physics, e.g., a wind turbine that ostensibly captures three times as much energy as the conventional three blades. Wrongo, sir; this is not possible, since the conventional system already harvests approximately 60% of the wind "flux," i.e., the wind passing through the circle defined by the turning tips of the blades.
Then, of course, you have perpetual motions machines, of which we receive at least one per month. This category is actually composed, in my mind, of two sub-categories: "crackpots" (i.e., people who seem to believe their story) and "charlatans" (i.e., people who don’t).
The other broad category of fatally flawed plans includes those who have clearly bitten off more than they can chew. They’re inventors who have no sense whatsoever that the hard work is just beginning – perhaps a guy with a legitimate breakthrough who somehow thinks that all the R&D, marketing, manufacturing and distribution are minor afterthoughts.
I sometimes find myself giving someone news that I’m quite certain he’d rather not hear, e.g., "Your concept could change the world. But there is one problem. You’re a visionary …. but you’re not a businessman, nor a financier, nor a patent attorney, nor a human resources executive, nor a manufacturer, nor a distributor. Let me ask you to consider a simple solution, employed by smart people all over the world: sell or license your idea. Let me help you sell it to a large, fully funded organization that wants to bolster its position technologically and gain further competitive advantage. Or let’s talk about setting up a carefully protected licensing relationship with a large enterprise with established manufacturing practices and existing, well-supported distribution channels."
It’s really the concept of core competency that came into vogue in 1980s. Do what you’re good at. Don’t limit your success by turning a personal weakness into a gating factor to your company’s progress.
And in no place is this rule more applicable than in the world of clean energy – destined to become soon a multi-trillion dollar industry. If you can cut a licensing deal for your technology that captures a millionth of that market, you’ll be doing just fine.
to read more on this arthicle visit: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/blog/post/2010/01/the-renewable-energy-business-defining-your-core-competency

Home owner pays only $7 a month for electricity

Reported by: Kyle Burke Email: kburke@abc15.com Last Update: 1/03 2:32 pm
How a Valley couple pays just $7 a month for electricity

One Valley saves big with solar power SURPRISE, AZ -- Leo and JoAnna Mankiewicz actually smile when they receive their power bill each month.That's because it is usually only about $7.The couple converted their home to solar power back in 2005, and ever since then have been reaping the benefits.The system cost about $22,000 when it was put in, but APS paid for half of the cost, so then after the tax rebates, the couple only actually paid about $8,000."In the time that we've owned it, it has, up to this point in 2009, it has now paid for itself," said Leo, "Now it's just all gravy."The system will produce about 12 kilowatt hours on an average winter day, and in the summer it can be as much as 20 kilowatt hours.For about 9 months out of the year, the couple only uses about 5 kilowatt hours each day.Because the system is tied directly into the city power grid, any power above and beyond what the couple uses goes out to the city, and the couple gets credited for the extra power.They accumulate those credits and use them during the peak summer months.The couple is able to maximize the benefit of the solar power by conserving their energy usage with energy efficient appliances, dual pane windows and extra insulation throughout the house.Because of the abundance of sunny days, Leo and JoAnn believe that Arizona should become a leader in the conversion to solar power."I think the better solution is the distributed energy production where you have one on every house, one on every building," Leo said. "There should be one on every school and public building."
Copyright 2010 The E.W. Scripps Co. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Energy Credits Question & Answers

Glink, Ilyce - Real Estate Matters
Published The baltimore Sun
January 2, 2010
Q: Regarding the tax credit for home replacement windows in 2009 and 2010 that meet certain energy performance criteria: I have the documentation, but how do I claim this credit? Is there a separate IRS form or, if not, a 1040 line for it?A: Because there is so much emphasis on the energy tax credits, I thought we'd start with a review of what's available.According to the IRS, taxpayers may claim a tax credit of up to 30 percent of the cost of certain energy-efficient property or improvements for 2009, but the tax credit is limited to $1,500.Some of the items listed as permitted for the tax credit are high-efficiency heat pumps, air conditioners and water heaters, and energy-efficient windows, doors, insulation materials and certain roofs. If you plan to install solar energy panels, wind energy projects and some geothermal heat pumps, you may qualify for the credit without a dollar limitation.In each instance, you must make sure that the work you are doing to the home would qualify for the tax credit. Don't forget to keep all of your paperwork as evidence that you purchased the items and that you made these improvements to your home. You'll need that when it comes time to claim your tax credit.I asked Bill Nemeth, an enrolled agent based in Atlanta, how the credit can be claimed, since the final form has not yet been issued by the IRS."The 2009 residential energy credits are claimed by filling out form 5695 and carrying the calculated credit over to the second page of the 1040, line 52," Nemeth wrote in an e-mail.The IRS's Form 5695 has not yet been made final, but you can download it for free from the IRS.gov Web site once it is finalized. Simply go to IRS.gov and type the form number into the search engine. The link to the 2009 version of 5695 should pop up.Find out more about the residential energy tax credits at this IRS.gov page: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=154657,00.html.(Ilyce R. Glink's latest eBooks are "Save Your House From Foreclosure" and "Divorce and Your Finances," which can be purchased at www.thinkglink.com. If you have questions, you can call her radio show toll-free (800-972-8255) any Sunday, from 11a-1p EST or contact her through her Web site, www.thinkglink.com.)
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Power & Light discussion of fuel choice

Renewable energy it also makes Cents!
Published: January 02, 2010 10:50 pm
Light and Power to discuss fuel choice
Costs are similar, but each source has drawbacksBy SHERI McWHIRTERsmcwhirter@record-eagle.com
TRAVERSE CITY -- Local public utility officials will hash over a pair of power-generating techniques as they search for new energy sources.
The Traverse City Light & Power board will discuss wood-fueled biomass energy production and natural gas electric generation at its Monday afternoon meeting. It's dubbed a pros-and-cons discussion about the energy sources as officials work toward finding new base load power.
"We're going through the whole planning process ... to figure out where we're going to go with our energy future," said Jim Carruthers, a board member and Traverse City commissioner. "We need to generate our own energy. Buying it off the market will make us more vulnerable to price changes."
Light & Power will lose access in a year to its coal-based energy contract with a downstate company. That contract provided 50 percent of the publicly owned utility's demand for more than 25 years.
In addition, the utility intends to achieve 30 percent renewable energy by 2020, beyond the state's renewable portfolio standard of 10 percent by the end of 2015.
Ed Rice, Light & Power's executive director, said costs between biomass and natural gas are comparable, but there are benefits and drawbacks to both.
"It depends on how you view biomass, perhaps as a renewable resource, while natural gas is a fossil fuel and there's a finite supply," Rice said, adding natural gas commodity pricing can be volatile.
Board member Jim Hoogesteger said his focus is to keep costs low so rates don't dramatically increase for Light & Power customers, no matter the source.
Mike Coco, board vice-chairman, said officials are approaching a long-term energy decision for the community, one that could impact the area's power sources for between 20 and 50 years.
"Our alternatives for base load generation are limited and the elephant in the room is coal," Coco said.
Coco wants the public to attend Monday's meeting to share ideas about what energy source is most preferred, he said.
That won't be the last opportunity for the public to make comments.
A series of public forums will be scheduled this month and maybe into early February, an effort to gauge public sentiment on whether Light & Power should pursue plans for several small wood-fueled biomass plants, further explore natural gas electric generation or continue to buy coal-fired power from the open market, among other options.
Light & Power consultant Keith Schneider is working with board members to develop an action plan for making such choices. The plan includes a public information program that will consider public opinions about utility plans that currently are focused on biomass technologies.
Schneider said Light & Power's renewable energy goal puts the utility at the "top of the heap" among its counterparts. Now it's up to the utility's board members to decide how to achieve it, he said.
Monday's meeting will be at 4 p.m. at the Light & Power service center, 1131 Hastings St. in Traverse City.

Coke Shines in New Solar Deal

ALEX SALKEVER
Posted 5:30 PM 12/17/09 Technology, Coca-Cola Company

Coca-Cola (KO) announced another major green initiative in the teeth of the Copenhagen eco-frenzy on December 14, as the world's biggest beverage company pushes ahead with an aggressive green agenda. Coca-Cola announced it had signed an agreement with Spanish utility Endesa to install a large three megawatt solar installation on rooftops of two Coca-Cola buildings in Seville, Spain. The project will use solar panels made by Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), a maker of thin-film flexible solar panels based in Rochester Hills, Mich.When completed, the project will be the largest rooftop project to date for the giant Spanish utility and one of the largest rooftop projects in the world in terms of power generating capacity. The installation will generate enough power for close to 1,000 homes. Endesa will own the solar installation and sell the power back to Coca-Cola at a fixed price, an increasingly popular arrangement in Europe and the U.S. that is called a power purchase agreement (PPA). To date, rooftop solar installations have generally been smaller, even in commercial settings, due to weight and space constants. The new crop of more efficient thin-film panels, made by companies like Energy Conversion Devices, are making it much easier to put more photovoltaic capacity on the tops of commercial and government buildings.
As concern grows in the business community about global warming and greenhouse gases, more large multinationals have stepped forward with aggressive programs to shift away from fossil fuels and towards more sustainable production systems. Just last week, Coca-Cola announced an ambitious plan to eliminate all the company's HFC-containing refrigeration systems. HFC is a refrigerant that replaced its ozone destroying predecessor CFC. But HFC also contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. Coca-Cola estimated that its shift away from HFC will, over the life of the project, eliminate the equivalent of emissions from millions of cars. The program will cost hundreds of millions of dollars but could be well worth it to the soda pop giant as it continues to not only move toward green but also to cash in sustainability brownie points with consumers and shoppers.
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Coke Shines in New Solar Deal - DailyFinance##