Sacramento California Solar News – The sun never shined brighter in Sacramento as now with some solar statistical information was added to the regions numbers. Sacramento established itself long ago as a leader in solar energy deployment both from a utility standpoint and also helping local Sacramento homes and businesses install solar. Read More

Solar ranking shines brighter
SMUD adds 20 megawatts to U.S. database, making region tops in per-capita capacity. Sacramento Business Journal Melanie Turner STAFF WRITER

Leaders behind a movement to strengthen the Sacramento region’s clean-energy technology industry are celebrating a power boost this week. Additional solar systems in Sacramento County, with a capacity of 20.2 megawatts, that had not been accounted for were added to a national database this week.

That put the six-county region’s solar capacity ahead of the seven-county Bay Area in per-capita installed solar photovoltaic capacity.

And by establishing Sacramento as a leader in solar technology, it could help attract solar manufacturers, installers and users to the region.

Ryan Sharp, executive director of the Center for Strategic Economic Research, said the National Renewable Energy Laboratory database is important because analysts use the data to look at market acceptance of solar technology, or at specific projects in an area. “It allows analysts to look at not only what’s going on with solar in one region, but allows for comparisons across the country,” he said.

“If researchers are looking at this database, Sacramento should put its best foot forward so analysts get a true market picture of the accurate acceptance of solar photovoltaic technology.”

That’s just what economic development leaders recently worked to do. Now, after an update to the database was submitted by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), the region’s installed solar kilowatt capacity per 10,000 population jumped from 127 to 217, surpassing the Bay Area’s 196.

While the National Renewable Energy Laboratory database does not calculate solar installations on a per-capita basis, local researchers are using NREL data to do so. “Our analysts and outside analysts use it as well,” NREL spokesman Joe Verrengia said of the solar photovoltaic database. “It’s one of the few national repositories of photovoltaic information that is as close to up-to-the-minute as possible.”

NREL geographers developed Open PV (solar), a free software tool, so people in the rapidly expanding solar sector could keep abreast of the latest installations, capacities and costs. “The whole idea here is there are a number of written reports done almost on a yearly basis to try to get an estimate of the status of the solar photovoltaic market in the United States,” said Ted Quinby, an applications developer at NREL in Golden, Colo.

Every time such a report would come out, “the next day it was out of date,” Quinby said. So Quinby and NREL geographer Chris Helm developed the software tool, and openpv.nrel.gov was launched in October. It lets people track where solar systems are being installed and allows installers to use the data to determine their positions in the market.

The Open PV database relies on self-reporting. Data uploads are accepted from utility companies, local and state governments and the public. “It’s accurate to the degree that there’s self-reporting,” Verrengia said. “It relies on people in the solar photovoltaic community adding to that.”

NREL moderates the site and works to maintain its viability. Reports are run, for example, to flag duplicate submissions. While it’s not all inclusive, the site is the “best solar snapshot that is comparable across the nation that exists,” Sharp said.

Bob Burris, a former economic researcher and deputy director for the Sacramento Area Commerce & Trade Organization, agreed that the solar site is “informative and credible.” To ensure the region does all it can to position itself as a clean-tech hub, SACTO executives examined the database and noticed what they thought was a “glaring” omission in Sacramento County.

SACTO brought this to SMUD’s attention. The utility, in turn, determined the number of solar installations listed for the county was, in fact, low. SMUD submitted new information last week, increasing the region’s capacity from 28.6 megawatts to 48.8 megawatts.

“We’re very, very interested in collaborating with our economic development partners and (Rep. Doris) Matsui’s office on opportunities to develop the solar clean-tech economy here in the Sacramento California region,” SMUD program manager Greg Hribar said. “If this information helps us position the region for economic growth, we’re happy to help.”

While the seven-county Bay Area still has greater solar capacity than Sacramento 118 solar megawatts compared to the Sacramento region’s 48.8 the Bay Area’s population is three times the size.

Separate calculations have been conducted by the Center for Strategic Economic Research and SACTO, the region’s leading facilitator of economic development, taking into account both solar capacity listed in the national database and the populations of each region.

“It’s the best way to think about comparability when you’re talking about markets that are completely different sizes,” Sharp said.

In each case on a per-capita basis, the Sacramento region’s solar capacity surpasses the Bay Area. According to SACTO calculations, Sacramento leads all metro areas in the state in solar power panels, including San Diego, the Inland Empire and Los Angeles, when populations are factored in.

And even without accounting for population differences, the Sacramento region has a greater solar capacity than both San Diego and Los Angeles, according to SACTO.

Both the Bay Area and the Sacramento region solar construction already were far ahead of Denver, Portland, Oregon, and Austin Texas, all regions looking to be national leaders in the clean technology industry, when it comes to straight solar capacity. And Burris noted that according to the NREL data, the Sacramento region, the Bay Area and San Diego combined have more solar installations than any other state.

Phoenix Arizona Solar News – With an eye to helping stimulate job growth, Arizona is opening the solar bid process to small solar installation companies. It would be sweet if there were more public solar projects brought on by the economic stimulus package. Many thanks to the leaders in Washington and in particular to the president for their assistance in pointing this country back on a course of growth and new local jobs by using solar renewable energy. Read More -

Marketwatch
APS Seeks Solar Installers for Small Solar Projects
Company Issues Request for Proposal

PHOENIX Arizona — With a goal of helping Arizona move toward a cleaner energy future, Arizona Public Service Co. has issued a request for proposal that seeks solar electric panel systems for five high-profile government and non-profit organizations. Each location, which requires its own individual proposal, will be fitted with a 10 to 30-kilowatt photovoltaic system.

While five locations have been identified, details of the submitted proposals will ultimately determine how many of the sites are selected to receive solar panels. If chosen, the non-profit entities and government-owned facilities will receive all the energy produced by their site’s solar system. APS will receive the renewable energy credits, which will go toward helping the company meet the requirements of the Arizona Corporation Commission’s Renewable Energy Standard.

Funding for the installations is expected from two sources. A majority will come from the Energy Office of the Arizona Department of Commerce’s Distributed Energy Leadership (Utilities) Program, which is funded with federal stimulus dollars (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). The second solar funding source, pending ACC approval, is the APS Renewable Energy Incentive Program.

As part of the development process, solar installers must meet all reporting requirements of the Arizona Department of Commerce and all requirements related to the accounting and disbursement of federal funds pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

RFP solar bid submissions are due by noon (AZ time), Monday, September 27, 2010. Additional information, including the locations for the projects, is available online at aps.com/rfp.

APS, Arizona’s largest and longest-serving electricity utility, serves more than 1.1 million customers in 11 of the state’s 15 counties. With headquarters in Phoenix, APS is the largest principal of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. This is all welcome solar news.

California Solar News – Renewable energy in general and solar energy and wind electrical generation in particular have a bright future, that is a long as we keep electing forward thinking politicians. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s commitment to solar and other green iniatives have been a source of irritation to some in the Grand Old Party (Republican) community. “Is he for real” is often the comments we hear. If anyone thinks Arnold Schwarzenegger is not for real must have been living in a cave for the last several years. It is a shame we could not see another 4 years of Arnold in Sacramento but, alas, that is not to be. I hope California will continue to vote for progress, vote for more clean energy jobs and put someone in Sacramento that will continue moving solar forward. Read More –

California Leads In Clean Energy, But Challenges Loom
NPR
by LAUREN SOMMER

California has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to renewable power, and the state’s clean energy business is flourishing. One of the first large-scale wind farms in the country was built just outside the Bay Area at the Altamont Pass, and this year, California regulators are reviewing twice as many renewable power contracts as last year.

More of those projects are coming online, including a 16-acre solar farm outside of Sacramento a few weeks ago. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants 33 percent of California’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2020. That includes solar installations like this one on the roof of a Sam’s Club store in Glendora, California. The reason for this boom has to do with ambitious clean energy goals the state announced in 2002. But reaching those goals is proving to be a challenge.

Aiming Too High?

California’s long-term goal is for utilities is get one-third of their electricity from renewable sources like solar and wind energy by 2020. In the short term, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants that number to be 20 percent by the end of this year.

“California is a world leader in protecting the environment and in fighting global warming, and we have done an extraordinary job, not only for California but also inspiring other states and other nations to do exactly the same,” Schwarzenegger said when announcing the 33 percent goal two years ago.

California isn’t expected to meet its short-term goal, though it is estimated that the state will clock in close to their target at around 18 to 19 percent. Thanks to a three-year grace period, the state’s utilities won’t be penalized for being a year or two behind.

But many believe the governor’s goal for 2020 will be even harder to hit. According to the California Public Utilities Commission, it will require an unprecedented effort, at least a doubling of transmission lines and a doubling of renewable energy, thanks to a growing energy appetite.

“I think a lot of people have doubts about whether or not the utilities can do it,” says Tom Bottorff, a senior vice president at PG&E Corporation. “I’m in the camp that believes that it’s feasible and doable, and we’re working very hard to make sure that happens.”

Economic Challenges

Bottorff says the company has signed more than 100 contracts with solar, wind and geothermal developers, “but we’re concerned whether all those projects that we’ve contracted with will actually come online,” he says. “It’s been a tough economy.”

In most cases, it’s up to developers to find the financing to build solar and wind farms. But financing has been hard to come by since the economic downturn, though developers have had some help recently from the federal stimulus funding.

“That’s been critical, and we’re very thankful that those opportunities are available,” Bottorff says.

Red Tape

The other challenge, Bottorff says, is California’s complex permitting process. Since many solar and wind projects cover hundreds of acres in environmentally sensitive areas, developers must navigate local, state and federal agencies for permission to build.

“I would probably describe it as painful, tortuous and highly complicated,” says Michael Picker, the governor’s senior adviser for renewable energy facilities. “The reality is that each one of the projects that we permit this year will immediately become the largest in the world.”

Picker is talking about some of the huge solar farms that are caught up in the state’s permitting process. Many have run into major delays. The state is relying on solar power for the 33 percent goal, and these projects will have to succeed if the state is going to hit the goal by 2020.

California Renewable Energy News – The Wall Street Journal calls California the hub of this “economic slowdown”. I am sure they are right. Housing is the backbone of this country and California has alway lead the country in permits and construction jobs. We must reinvent ourselves and quickly expand the renewable energy industry to get out of this. Solar and wind energy are the future because they both create jobs that cannot be shipped overseas. Read More -

Taft Independent
By John Means

Like most of California, Taft and the Southern San Joaquin Valley are experiencing double-digit unemployment rates and financially stressed local economies. Six Valley counties – Kern, Fresno, Stanislaus, Merced, San Joaquin and Madera – are on the Associated Press July index of the nation’s 20 most economically stressed counties. The index measures “financial strain” by examining unemployment, bankruptcy filings and foreclosures.

Calling California the epicenter of the national housing bust, The Wall Street Journal reported the state’s construction industry continues to hemorrhage jobs. Of the nation’s 12 metropolitan areas with jobless rates of 15 percent or higher in June, 10 were in California.

If the Southern San Joaquin Valley is to recover from this deep and persistent recession, new jobs must be found to replace those that have been lost.

The Kern Community College District and the West Kern Community College District have teamed up with community and industry groups, including the Kern Economic Development Corp. and Employers’ Training Resource, in a search for new jobs. A recent labor market survey revealed more than 2,000 new jobs are expected to be created in the wind and solar industries, specifically at utility-size energy generation plants in the Southern San Joaquin Valley and eastern Kern County.

The region’s climate, geography and natural resources have made it a pioneer in wind, solar, thermal and biomass energy generation development. Processing a record number of applications, area planners liken the new renewable energy projects to a modern-day gold rush. Just days ago, ground was broken east of Tehachapi for what is predicted to be the nation’s largest wind energy project.

To fill the jobs that this fast-growing industry is creating, workers must be trained. And that’s what Taft College in the West Kern Community College District, and Bakersfield College, Cero Coso Community College and Porterville College in the Kern Community College District intend to do with funding from state and federal grants. Providing green energy training here at home helps insure this industry that it will have a locally trained, capable workforce.

The renewable energy technician training programs started with a $707,000 grant in October from the California Clean Energy Workforce Training Program, which is administered by the California Energy Commission, and with a $2.4 million grant in March from the U.S. Labor Department.

But the industry itself also is stepping forward to help train workers. The renewable energy company enXco is contributing $160,000 to the Kern Community College District-led training effort for solar and wind. The donation will leverage federal and state funds and provide trainees with a direct conduit into good-paying jobs. It will also fund scholarships and paid internships to provide trainees with hands-on experience working alongside enXco’s operations and maintenance teams in Kern County wind projects.

A wholly owned American subsidiary of the international renewable energy corporation EDF Energies Nouvelles, enXco is a major player in the renewable energy industry in Kern County, as well as throughout the state and nation. The company recognizes the growing need for trained workers to operate its wind and solar panel plants.

Wind and solar companies also are helping create the training curriculum. The first half of the course focuses wind/solar technician trainees on mechanical and electrical skills. The second half provides specialization in either wind or solar technology. Eventually specialties in thermal energy and biomass will be offered.

State and federal grants allocated to begin this program require proof that the training is meeting industry needs. This generous donation by enXco is an exciting vote of confidence in the Kern Community College District’s innovative and collaborative solar and wind training program.

As a contributor to the community, enXco is committed to maintaining an ongoing partnership with the colleges to ensure the quality and relevance of the renewable energy training. The company will continue to help revise the curriculum and update equipment so that trainees can find good-paying jobs when they complete their studies.

The growth of Kern County’s renewable commercial and residential power energy industry provides hope for the region’s economic recovery, hope for residents who deserve to find new and exciting jobs, and hope that we will all have a cleaner, less polluted future.

California Solar News – There is enough solar energy in the deserts of California to power all of Los Angeles. 1,600 kilowatt hours of solar energy falls on every square 11 square feet of land surface annually. That is equal to the amount of energy that is found in 1 barrel of oil. Big difference though, when the oil is consumed, its gone, except for what pumped into the air. Solar panels produce no emission, there are no moving parts to maintain and a solar panel will keep producing electricity for a minimum of 25 years! O ya, almost forgot, there is one more thing… with solar, there is no war required. Read More -

NY Times
California Desert on Pace to Become World’s Solar Capital
By SCOTT STREATER of Greenwire

Southern California is poised to become the world’s solar power capital as the Obama administration continues to stamp its approval on large-scale renewable energy projects across the Mojave and Colorado deserts.

Since Aug. 1, the Bureau of Land Management has issued final environmental impact statements (EISs) for three commercial solar plants that, once built, will cover nearly 20,000 acres of BLM land in the desert regions and produce enough electricity to power nearly 1.6 million homes.

Final EISs were issued on Friday to Tessera Solar’s 850-megawatt Calico Solar plant and BrightSource Energy Inc.’s 392-megawatt Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. Both plants are to be built in sparsely populated eastern San Bernardino County, California’s largest county.

The Calico and Ivanpah EISs follow the release of a final environmental impact statement for Tessera Solar’s 709-megawatt Imperial Valley project in Imperial County, which borders Arizona and Mexico in the southeast corner of the state (Land Letter, Aug. 5).

While the issuance of a final EIS does not authorize construction, which is a state responsibility, it removes the last major regulatory hurdle in getting a large-scale energy project involving federal land off the ground.

Collectively, the Tessera and BrightSource projects would produce more than triple the amount of solar power currently produced in the United States. And they are just the first of more than a dozen plants nearing final approval on federal lands in Arizona, California and Nevada.

By the end of August, BLM plans to publish final EISs for three more commercial solar projects in the agency’s California Desert District, said Linda Resseguie, BLM’s solar program lead in Washington, D.C. And another three solar plants are expected to reach the final EIS stage by the end of the year, Resseguie said.

These nine California plants, if fully built, would cover 41,229 acres of BLM land and have the panels capacity to generate 4,580 megawatts of commercial electricity, enough to power 3.8 million businesses and homes, according to federal estimates.

“It’s huge,” Ken Zweibel, director of the George Washington University Solar Institute, said of the projects moving toward final approval. “These projects are going to change the very nature of solar energy in the world because there is nothing of this magnitude or scale that’s going on.”

Industry officials, too, are excited about the Obama administration’s commitment to solar power after years of positive statements from federal agencies supporting the renewables sector, but with few new power plants to show for it.

“Our perspective is that finally the logjam seems to be loosening,” said Monique Hanis, a spokeswoman for the Solar Energy Industries Association. “We’re talking about gigawatts of electricity that can power tens of millions of homes.”

A looming deadline

But concerns remain about the pace of permitting.

The nine solar projects in Southern California, along with one in Arizona and four in Nevada, have been placed by the Interior Department on a “fast-track” permitting schedule that should qualify developers to receive lucrative federal grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The projects, however, must be under construction by Dec. 31 to receive federal stimulus dollars.

“It’s taken a while, and we are now getting near the end of the year,” Hanis said.

And not all of the fast-tracked projects are on pace to meet that year-end deadline.

Examples include the proposed 550-megawatt Desert Sunlight Solar Farm project in Riverside County, Calif., and three Nevada projects totaling 610 megawatts, Resseguie said.

The Desert Sunlight project “will likely not be permitted by the end of 2010,” said Alan Bernheimer, a spokesman for First Solar Inc., the project’s Tempe, Ariz.-based developer.

First Solar officials said the project could still qualify for economic stimulus funding because the company has proposed by year’s end to manufacture a significant number of the photovoltaic solar panels needed for the project, thus qualifying as beginning construction by the deadline, Bernheimer said.

“While it’s true that the permit is needed before construction can start, projects may also qualify if significant physical work begins offsite by the end of 2010, such as solar manufacturing components for the project,” he said in an e-mail to Land Letter.

Resseguie acknowledged that permitting multiple large-scale solar power projects on such a tight schedule has placed the agency on a steep learning curve.

“It is definitely new for the BLM, the size and scope for these types of projects,” she said. “It’s new for the solar companies, too, because we just don’t have this large development anywhere else. So there are definitely going to be issues that we have not encountered anywhere else.”

Sacramento California Solar Commentary – The market for off-grid solar has traditionally only counted for very small segment of the total photovoltaic installations in America, about 2 – 3%. Globally, most of the planet is not serviced by electrical utilities so off-grid or stand alone solar accounts for up to 10% of the total solar installations. Many of those are small solar kits that go up in developing countries.

Having said that, it is apparent, there is a movement underfoot of people who feel the need to be self-sufficient. More and more concerned Americans are installing small solar kits. Our sales of off-grid solar kits has skyrocketed this year. We think that is great for many reasons, the least of which is the real concern that our aging grid and expanding power needs are going to outrun our supply of electricity. The concern is not without merit. Solar is right for everyone. From small portable solar chargers to solar kits that allow the DIY person to assemble a unit that will supply power when needed. Read More -

Green energy at the grass roots, living off-the-grid of big electric utilities
Christian Science Monitors Editorial Board

An estimated 750,000 American households have chosen to live “off the grid,” generating their own electricity through renewable sources. These are the greenest of energy pioneers in the campaign against climate change. But their choices also point to a larger issue in the drive to tap noncarbon energy sources: how can electricity from solar and wind best be delivered to consumers who decide to stay on the public utility grid?

Even with progress in renewable energy, the big electric utilities will be around for quite some time. And they will still need to rely on coal, oil, or gas, although perhaps in forms that emit fewer greenhouse gases. But the push for clean energy in many states and in Congress is also running into the need to build some 5,000 miles of transmission lines to carry electricity from the wind-rich Midwest and solar-intense Southwest to heavily populated areas.

This is no easy task. The obstacles could prove to be a bottleneck for the growth of renewable energy like solar and wind. The taking of land for new lines by governments, for example, could be as big an effort as the construction of the Interstate highway system. Another issue is the cost burden: should consumers pay for new electric lines or the companies that generate power from renewables?

One alternative to erecting new high-voltage lines across America are local, self-contained “green” producers of electricity that are tied together into so-called solar microgrids. Cities such as Austin, Texas, and Sacramento, California, are venturing toward these “home-grown” islands of power. And the US military also plans to have some bases generate their own renewable power.

Solar microgrids can supplement big utilities, but their main purpose is to improve the reliability of electricity, enhance security from terror attacks, and support green energy as a solution to climate change.

Alas, many public utilities are using their political clout with the states and Washington to continue the reliance on big “base load” generation and long-distance distribution of electricity. Their arguments are often technical, such as the variability of installing solar and wind.

But solar and wind microgrids are being helped by better technologies, such as more efficient solar panels and new ways to store electricity in order to overcome the intermittent nature of wind and solar. According to a report from Pike Research, the number of microgrids worldwide will grow from fewer than 100 today to more than 2,000 by 2015, with the United States leading the way.

With other climate-change bills stalled in Congress, the ability to generate local power with solar and wind that won’t add to carbon pollution can’t be ignored. Cities like Sacramento can help lead the way for solar for all of us.

SAN JOSE, Santa Cruz California News – A bay area company, Power Integrations, announced that it has completed the installation of commercial solar for its San Jose headquarters. The company’s innovative technology enables compact, energy-efficient power supplies in a wide range of electronic products, in AC-DC, DC-DC and LED lighting applications. The solar installations includes more than two thousand solar panels covering a fourty four thousand sqare fool parking area. This solar panel installation is among the tenth largest photovoltaic power installs in Silicon Valley. The solar installation will provide all the electricity for two buildings where over 100 employees work in the company’s computer chip operation.

The solar parking lot installation represents a serious commitment to helping resolve this countries energy demands while creating local jobs. Our hat is off to this San Jose bay area technology company who becomes our newest solar hero for its leadership. Read More

Silicon Valley Technology Company Leads the Way in Sustainable Energy with a 600 Kilowatt Solar Installation
Renewable Energy World
By Kathy Coulston / San Jose, California

A Santa Cruz, California solar company, designed a $3.6 million solar installation for Power Integrations, a leading high-voltage integrated circuit manufacturer, known for its energy efficient products. The company is headquartered in Edenvale Technology Park in San Jose.

The project is expected to reduce 10,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the next 25 years. The City of San Jose’s Mayor, Chuck Reed applauded the company for helping the city achieve its Green Vision Goals.

Honoring the company’s commitment to sustainable solar energy in the community, local government officials, U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, Councilmember Ash Kalra, and Silicon Valley Leadership Group President and CEO Carl Guardino was on hand at the facility for a “solar powering on” event Thursday.

When the project began in 2009, the scope was limited to solar on the roofs of two buildings with a total potential of 200 kW. The Power Integrations team quickly concluded that their investment needed to cover a significantly larger portion of their usage. Solar Technologies determined that by using the parking facility, approximately 50% of their usage would be offset. A new plan was developed that covered a 44,448 square-foot lot.

As the scope of the system grew, Solar Technologies the installer of the system, called upon two established solar partners, Atlas-Pellizzari Electric of Redwood City and Legacy Roofing of San Jose. Atlas-Pellizzari took over the responsibilities for system construction with Legacy managing the construction of the parking structures.

“Large commercial photovoltaic installation require the teamwork of multiple engineering disciplines. Solar is a long term investment that requires full consideration of the vendor’s capabilities. The finished project provides shaded areas for vehicle parking, while producing clean energy to power the facility and reduce electric bills. Balu Balakrishnan, president and CEO of Power Integrations, estimates that the system will pay for itself in twelve years through accumulated energy savings.

Power Integrations is committed to energy efficiency compliance and the company made a bold move with this sizeable installation. The array uses 2,531 Sharp panels and two SatCon inverters.

The system will power two buildings, including their chip testing operations with 100 employees and produce lighting for their parking facilities. The project is expected to reduce 10,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the next 25 years. A data feed solar monitoring the system production can be viewed at www.powerint.com/solar.

“We are proud to be part of this project, working with an innovative company who is setting new standards for resource conservation in Silicon Valley. With a system of this magnitude, Power Integrations has established its position as a role-model for a sustainable future,” said Matt Ledna, Director of solar Sales and Marketing.

The City of San Jose’s Mayor, Chuck Reed applauded the company for helping the city achieve its Green Vision Goals through the smart application of solar.

California News – Solar thermal systems minimize the impact on the environment and reduce energy consumption for heating and hot water. For homes as well as commercial buildings in California, solar is a good choice. The California Energy Commission must agree because they approved two renewable energy contracts. Read More

California Approves Solar Thermal Contract (from)
Energy Portal EU

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved two renewable energy contracts for Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), furthering the state’s progress towards its renewable energy goals. PG&E received approval for a 25-year power purchase agreement with Rice Solar Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of Solar Reserve, LLC. Under the agreement, PG&E will procure an average of 448 GWh of renewable energy from the 150 megawatt (MW) solar thermal facility, which is being developed in Rice, California. Commercial operation is expected in October 2013.

The CPUC also approved a two-year extension to an existing qualifying facility contract between PG&E and Air Products Manufacturing Corporation, a successor to Stockton California CoGen Company. The contract facilitates the conversion of the Stockton California Cogeneration plant, which currently generates electricity from petroleum coke and tire-derived fuel, to a facility partially powered with Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS)-eligible biomass. Pursuant to the agreement, the 45 MW Stockton CoGen facility is expected to dedicate between 20-25 percent of its capacity to biomass fuel while the parties negotiate a long-term agreement for conversion of up to 50 percent biomass.

The CPUC’s RPS program requires California investor-owned utilities, energy service providers, and community choice aggregators operating in California to obtain 20 percent of their retail sales from renewable energy sources by 2010 such as solar. On November 17, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger signed an Executive Order (S-14-08) that established a 33 percent by 2020 RPS goal. For the latest information about the utilities’ progress towards the state’s RPS goal, access the CPUC’s Quarterly

California, contract, renewables target, solar thermal

Sacramento California Solar News – Feed-in-Tariff coming to Sacramento soon. Whats a feed-in-tariff? A “feed-in tariff” is a public policy designed to encourage the adaption of sustainable energy such as solar. It has three key components the first of which is guaranteed access to the grid. It also needs long term contracts for the electricity produced and purchase prices that are based on fair market rates. That already exists for commercial solar farms but not for small solar systems. For a number of reasons, there is a great need to support renewable electricity in general and solar Photovoltaic (solar) electricity in particular in this country and in California that are imbedded in jobs and our national security policies.

The success story of solar deployment in Germany speaks for itself. Germany has one of the simplest feed-in tariff systems in the world. Feed-in tariffs are the driver of high-quality solar electricity systems. Many solar electricity support programs are based on an investment subsidy in order to reduce the barrier of high up-front capital costs. The drawback of such an approach is the missing incentive to invest in high quality solar electricity systems and to ensure their efficient operation and maintenance. If the customer receives a fixed payment per installed capacity unit, there is no incentive to go for high-quality products, which usually means a higher price, or to operate the system at the highest possible level. With the feed-in tariff the return on investment is heavily dependent on the performance of the solar system. The customer gets his return on investment with each kWh that is fed into the grid. Therefore maximizing the power output of the solar system over its whole lifetime is essential to the customer, ensuring that the solar system will be well operated and maintained. Read More

From NY Times – Variations on the policy that jumpstarted Germany’s decade-long boom in rooftop solar systems are taking root in more cities in the United States.

The policy, called a feed-in tariff, offers small-scale residential producers of solar energy long-term contracts (usually at above-market rates) for the electricity they sell. Last week, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which serves 1.4 million people, approved a feed-in tariff that allows residential Sacramento homeowners with solar panels a chance to sign up for 10, 15 or 20 years of guaranteed payments. The policy will take effect next January. The city of Gainesville, Fla., adopted a feed-in tariff this spring, as did Vermont. Washington state also has such a policy, and Hawaii is currently considering one.

While feed-in tariffs are most closely associated with solar photovoltaic panels, utilities managing the programs in Vermont and Sacramento will also pay a set price for electricity generated from other renewable energy sources, like wind.

The Sacramento program is open to homeowners who are not participating in another program, called net metering, which allows anyone whose system is producing more electricity than they need to sell the excess back to the utility, thus reducing their electric bill. But once their bill falls to zero, the residential homeowner gets no more money from the system.

Jon Bertolino, a spokesman for the Sacramento California utility, said that customers with land to spare had been asking whether, if they put up small solar farms, the utility would buy the excess electricity.

As long as they are not part of the net-metering program and not seeking the $2.80 $1.90- to $2.20 per watt ratepayer subsidy for their new panels under the state’s “Million Solar Roofs” program, Mr. Bertolino said, small generators can sell their power to S.M.U.D. (Sacramento Municipal Utility District) The rates would depend on the time of day the power is generated, ranging from a low of 5 or 6 cents a kilowatt-hour to 30 cents on a hot summer afternoon; the size of eligible systems is capped at 5 megawatts (and the program overall has a 100-megawatt cap).

The Vermont law caps the size of individual systems at 2.2 megawatts. Solar energy fetches a fixed price of 30 cents a kilowatt-hour, and other forms of renewables fetch lower rates.

California Solar News- Solar energy panels are now a viable alternative to grid tied energy. The facts are that your solar payment in whatever form you choose to finance combined with a small remaining utility payment is cheaper that if you did nothing. Simply by putting solar on your roof you can immadeatly put money in you pocket each month. As the system ages, the amount of money you save increases. The financial sectors are just starting to take notice. Five years from now, this country will be scrambling to provide solar to everyone because of solar’s afford-ability, economic sence and the good paying local jobs solar creates. Read More

Trevor Curwin, Special to CNBC Business News – While some investors feel they’re still waiting for the sun to rise on the solar energy industry, it’s already high noon for some parts of the sector. In some places in the U.S. today, solar photovoltaic, PV, technology the iconic glass panels being deployed on home and business rooftops, already allows users to beat what their local utility charges for electricity generated from coal-fired power plants.

“It makes sense if you look at it as a retail utility ratepayer,” says Ted Sullivan, senior analyst at Lux Research. “We’re there today.” For example, Californian utilities charge up to 40 cents/kwh for retail power users, while an installed solar PV system costs up to 18 cents/kwh.

The cost-benefit analysis, of course, depends mainly on local issues, like the rates utilities charge, the premium cost of using energy at peak demand times and the intensity of the sun in any given area. Generally speaking though, solar energy users can expect a quick return on investment for installing PV panels and enjoy cheap energy for the system’s lifetime, often guaranteed for 20 years or more.

Solar industry insiders argue that promoting out solar technology in a distributed manner,from the “end user up” rather than from the “power plant down”, better captures the real value of solar energy, versus trying to compare the cost of kilowatt generated from coal versus one generated from solar, or “grid parity.”

“As an industry we’ve allowed ourselves to be painted into a corner,” says Doug Payne, executive director of the solar industry trade group SolarTech, about aiming for grid parity while minimizing the industry’s real efforts at saving their customers’ money over retail electricity costs.

Large-scale, solar-power plant initiatives by utilities such as PG&E and Edison International are in place mostly to satisfy state mandates for renewable power generation and, to date, cost far more than coal’s generation price of 8 cents/kwh or less. Proponents are also trying to move beyond another drawback, the intermittent nature of utility-scale, solar power; since the sun doesn’t shine all day, solar power isn’t dispatchable on a moment’s notice, and thus requires pairing with another energy source or storage system that isn’t commercially viable yet. This also increases a solar power
plant’s costs.

Analysts say the issue largely disappears with the demand-side model. Utilities won’t be swapping a 100-megawatt solar farm for a 100-megawatt coal-fired power plant to distribute power. Instead, distribution will be served by installing solar panels on rooftops, adding a few kilowatts of power at a time. This model makes “economic viability visible on the horizon,” says Deutsche Bank’s solar research team, which predicts that distributed solar power generation costs could hit 10 cents/kwh or less in some geographies within three to six years.

SolarTech’s Payne says commercial electricity users can benefit even sooner. “We’re at a tipping point on the next 12-to-24 months,” he says. In the near future, several developments could make solar energy even more cost effective and coal-fired power more expensive. The efficiency of the photovoltaic cells themselves has increased, with PV panels achieving an all-time high of 23 percent efficiency in the field, but Payne and others warn that won’t continue indefinitely.

Additional savings will come from squeezing supply-chain costs by “commoditizing” solar panel modules from panel makers
like Canadian Solar and sourcing module components efficiently from materials firms like Applied Materials. Standardizing installation procedures will also reduce labor costs. “It’ll happen much the same way that formula one car technology trickles down to mass production vehicles,” says Payne..

Meanwhile, the coal-fired, power-plant model is challenged more than ever, facing higher commodity prices, greater regulation and mechanical obsolescence. The nation’s portfolio of coal-fired power plants, with an average age of over 40 years, will need replacing soon, and while a national cap-and-trade law seems to be dead, the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as regional associations of state governments, may soon fill the climate change regulatory void.

For utilities, any new carbon-emissions rules will raise the replacement price for these plants, and will force them to look at other fuel sources, including solar, for future projects. While the solar sector is still young, the economic viability of commercial and residential solar PV is proving itself, analysts say, and with some government assistance at this crucial stage, it could provide much needed economic and job growth.

“Creating a vibrant solar PV industry in the US can be done but thus far has not been,” says the Deutsche Bank report. “The US can either wait for solar PV electricity costs to decline and then chase an industry established elsewhere, or lead with the development of a solar PV industry.”