Concentrating Solar Power Reaches a Tipping Point

CSP developers have signed contracts for 8,700 MW of CSP projects - enough to power New York City.   Their operation and maintenance, as well as the manufacturing of their components, are expected to create tens of thousands of jobs in America..

CSP technology consists of systems that concentrate radiation from the sun to produce thermal energy for various uses.    Thermal energy storage allows for the utility to tailor the electricity output of a CSP plant to meet demand.

Because of higher than PV efficiency rates and the ability to store energy - CSP's are becoming a more popular option for utility sized solar projects.

Source:   Solar Today.   Read the full article.

PV Market Outlook: Cautious Optimism for 2010

 Opportunities in the photovoltaics market in 2010 remain strong, say industry analysts participating in a PV World survey, but as Alfonso Velosa of Gartner cautions, "the challenges appear to be stronger than the opportunities at the moment."

Such guarded optimism for the year ahead is the general consensus among analysts, with worldwide growth opportunities confronting several to-be-determined factors, such as the stability of the global economy, the fate of government incentives, feed-in-tarrif (FIT) restructuring in Germany, and overall sliding module prices.

Some analysts believe certain aspects of PV manufacturing — specifically, thin-film — have bright days ahead in 2010. Says Bob Klenke of ITM Marketing, "The significant increase in thin film manufacturing will dominate the demand for new manufacturing equipment, accounting for approximately 50% of capital investment over the next decade. Virtually every company involved in the electronics supply chain should ask themselves how they can benefit from this unique growth opportunity."

Overall, however, as analyst Paula Mints of Navigant Consulting observes, "Despite eagerness to leave a painful 2009 behind, hang on tight PV industry, because 2010 promises to be a bumpy ride."

Source:  Photovoltaics World magazine    Read full article here. 

PACE Funding: Breakthrough Idea For Financing Solar Projects

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bonds have the potential to transform the energy efficiency and distributed solar energy markets by offering property owners financing to offset the high upfront costs of retrofits and solar systems. PACE financing programs have already been named one of the "Breakthrough Ideas for 2010” by Harvard Business Review and a "World Changing Idea” by Scientific American.

PACE bonds offer real estate owners upfront financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy systems, which the owner pays back through property taxes over a 15-20 year time period.

Originally developed in Berkeley, California the PACE financing model has been spreading rapidly across the United States. In the past 18 months, PACE-enabling legislation has been adopted in 18 states. PACE programs have already been successfully implemented in a number of cities and counties including Berkeley and Sonoma County. Currently, a number of large municipalities including Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco are poised to implement their own programs in the next few months.

Despite the rapid increase in PACE programs, there are still a number of questions surrounding PACE programs. Mortgaging agencies, such as Fannie and Freddie Mac, have raised concerns over the senior position of debt from the retrofit to existing mortgage debt. Solar companies have questioned stipulations in PACE programs which require energy consumption reductions before solar power systems can be financed.

Source:  AltaTerra Research Network    Read full article here.

SunPower Corp Now Offers PV Panels with 19.5% Efficiency

SunPower Corp. has unveiled its new SunPower E19 Series solar panels, a product line that offers modules in a 96-cell or 72-cell configuration, with efficiencies of 19 percent or greater.


The SunPower E19 Series includes the E19 318-watt, 96-cell solar panel with an efficiency rating of 19.5 percent and the E19 238-watt, 72-cell solar panel with an efficiency of 19.1 percent.


The company said the modules feature larger, more powerful all-back contact solar cells that deliver three percent more surface area per cell, boosting panel efficiency by reducing unutilized space. The panels also have an anti-reflective coating that allow for more diffuse off-angle light to be captured, generating more energy per rated watt than a conventional solar panel.


Source:   Renewable Energy World - Read full article here.

First Solar - Top PV Manufacturer in 2009

Thin-film solar module manufacturer, First Solar topped the rankings list for PV module suppliers in 2009, surpassing all of its crystalline rivals to ship more than a gigawatt (GW) of modules and become the industry's largest supplier, according to the latest analysis from IMS Research.

Although, the top ten suppliers that feature in IMS Research's rankings did not change in 2009, the previous year’s leader, Suntech, fell to second place, followed once again by Sharp in third. No other supplier came even close to the growth that  First Solar saw in 2009 in terms of megawatts, but Trina Solar climbed two places, increasing its annual shipments by nearly 90%.

Source:  Renewable Energy World   Read the full article here.

Emerging Solar Markets in North Africa and Middle East

The UN, World Bank, African Development Bank, IFC, and League of Arab States were just a few of the speakers at MENASOL 2010 held in Cairo on May 4-5. Over 250 solar professionals attended not only from the MENA region but many international companies in Europe and the USA. The key reason for all delegates to attend was to get the inside track on how to finance, develop and build utility scale solar projects in the MENA region.

A clear message from all the speakers was that the solar potential for the regions was immeasurable and was defiantly shaping up to be the leading region that could harness the solar power and develop a booming industry for either domestic use or export to Europe.

The biggest European initiatives including the DESERTEC Foundation and Mediterranean Solar Plan outlined the bright future that could make Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt the powerhouse for the rest of Europe.

It would not be fair to mention the recent activities in Saudi Arabia that which are pro actively working towards creating a solar industry as big or even bigger then the oil sector. An impressive statement, but with the government and private companies sharing the same vision, Saudi Arabia could once again be a leading energy provider.  And it doesn’t stop there as they are also looking at being a manufacturing base to supply the  PV and CSP community.

The future of solar for each country was discussed by government agencies and ministries and the practicalities of developing this projects were discussed by leading players such as Abengoa, Acciona as well as top research institutions such as DLR which gave the full picture on capacity building in region and how these projects can transform the education and employment of a country.

Obviously lots of steps need to be taken as there are many challenges that lay ahead, including the security for international investment, subsides & regulations. All of these were discussed and created interesting debate among the participants during the panel discussions and Q&A.

Heidi Hafes, Event Director,  New Solar Today said ‘The high level of participation and mix between the commercial and private sector was key to making this event so successful for those involved. Governments were able to use it as a platform to attract investment and businesses were able to develop the company strategy for the region. It is a well known fact that building relationships is fundamental to generate business, and even more so in the region…and having spoken to many of the participants this was definitely achieved.’

MENASOL 2010 has defiantly created some excitement for the solar industry and offered a realistic perspective of what the future holds for the MENA region.

    For more information or if you would like to purchase the presentations please contact:
Heidi Hafes, Event Director, New Solar Today

+44 207 375 7206
heidi@newsolartoday.com

Japan to Launch Solar-Sail-Powered Craft

This rendering provided by JAXA depicts what Ikaros 

might look like cruising the cosmos with its sail unfurled. JAXA

After lots of talk and testing, Japanese researchers are ready to go space sailing. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) announced its intention to launch its first "space yacht" propelled by solar sails into the heavens on May 18. Ikaros -- the Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun -- will cruise through the solar system powered by solar particles that bounce of its giant, ultra-thin sails.

Source:   Popular Science  To read the full article click here.