A new player has elevated the game for solar PV manufacturers.  Solyndra, a California-based company, manufacturers thin film solar panels in the shape of a cylinder.  The panels are designed for installation on commercial rooftops – think large, flat rooftops at big box retailers.

The shape of the panels is not only unique, but also advantageous.  They are able to optimize energy output by absorbing direct, indirect, and diffuse sunlight.  In addition to catching sun from more angles, the shape allows wind to pass through, rather than catching currents like tilted PV panels on flat rooftops.  Check out the company’s video highlighting Solyndra’s unique approach to reshaping solar power by clicking here.

We’re not the first to catch the wave of excitement about Solyndra’s new twist on solar rooftops.  The company was the first to receive a loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy.  The $535 million loan, granted under Title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, has been put towards construction of a second production facility.  The new warehouse will increase the company’s product output by over 400%, from 110 MW to 610 MW per year.  If output is maximized each year for the next thirty years, Solyndra argues that its products will cut over 350 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Remember how Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) in California withdrew from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, citing disagreements with the Chamber’s refusal to take climate change seriously? PG&E has been one of the strongest supporters of solar energy adoption in the country, and supports a carbon cap and other climate change measures included in the Waxman-Markey bill struggling in Congress.

Other Chamber members have withdrawn or voiced apprehension for the same reason, including New Mexico utility PNM and Nike (which resigned from the board today though retained its membership).  The Chamber released a statement yesterday to address this issue: it’s hackles are officially up at all the bad press. The press release insists that the Chamber does support climate change legislation, just not this manifestation:

We oppose the Waxman-Markey bill because it is neither comprehensive nor international, and it falls short on moving renewable and alternative technologies into the marketplace and enabling our transition to a lower carbon future. It would also impose carbon tariffs on goods imported into the United States, a move that would almost certainly spur retaliation from global trading partners.

Tony Kreindler, of the environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund, told Reuters that it seems like the Chamber and other trade groups (notably ACCE) are

…lagging behind where their members actually are and I think what we’re seeing now is companies that have already made up their minds (on climate change) are losing patience…Lots of companies want a bill to get the uncertainty out of the process.

Certainly, no climate change legislation is going to please everyone. But if some of the country’s largest corporations–and the ones who stand to gain or lose the most by such legislation, like utility companies–are supporting current efforts, it seems like trade associations should be shaping themselves to members’ views rather than continuing to politicize internal beliefs.

Today, Chairman and CEO Ralph Izzo of New Jersey’s PSEG made an official call for an updated national transmission policy. PSEG’s press release reports:

“We need a national energy and transmission policy that maximizes the growth of renewables while minimizing the costs,” said Izzo.  He further called for a national renewable energy portfolio standard, a cap on greenhouse gas emissions and a transmission policy that does not favor one type of renewable project or location over another.

Izzo also came out against the proposal for a national transmission “superhighway”, saying that such an effort would end up just supporting coal plants. He said such a pipeline would make it easier for energy produced in the middle of the country to reach coastal states, currently leaders in renewable energy development (such as New Jersey, as it happens). Solar power plants and other clean energy sources count transmission and distribution as among their most serious challenges. Izzo wants to see a transmission policy that supports renewable energy generation without favoritism as to technology or location.

Izzo’s statement came during today’s Washington, DC Energy Daily’s Transmission Siting Policy Summit. His strong support for a national renewable portfolio standard (RPS) and carbon cap is in line with PSEG’s own efforts to boost solar energy within New Jersey: the state pioneered a true renewable energy certificate (REC) trading market as a way to incentivize solar adoption, one component of their approach to meeting energy and emission goals mandated by Governor Corzine’s state RPS.

The Indian state of Gujarat will soon be home to the world’s largest solar power complex, provided that it successfully acquires the thousands acres of land needed for the project by the end of the year. The $10 billion, 3,000-megawatt initiative will raise funding with the help of the Clinton Foundation and aims to develop an array of technologies, including solar panels and solar thermal plants. If successful, there’s little question as to the implications of the project: resource-poor India will be several steps closer to meeting energy demand for its burgeoning population while simultaneously addressing calls for it to reduce emissions.

As a country that sees over 300 days of sunshine a year and expects to undergo a fivefold increase in electricity demand over the next two decades, India has long been regarded as an ideal place for solar power to take root. Furthermore, the western state of Gujarat, which contains large swaths of arid land, is an especially suitable spot for solar generation. One of India’s fastest developing states, Gujarat has attracted domestic and foreign investment alike, though its chief minister, Narendra Modi, is under scrutiny for his alleged connection with riots in the state in 2002, which led to the slaughter of 2,000 people, according to the Financial Times article cited above.

Though its politics are contentious, one cannot deny Gujarat’s dedication to growth. According to Arvind Mahajan, the executive director of KPMG Advisory Services, a global financial services network, the region has already announced lucrative subsides for the first 500MW of solar capacity to be developed in Gujarat, though the remaining 2,500 MW have yet to be addressed.

Mahajan said the state hopes to develop a solar industry cluster, with facilities for the manufacture of solar plants located in the area along with the generation plants. Gujarat has already engaged solar energy companies such as US-based AES Solar Energy and Spanish provider Abengoa to build capacity separately from the initiative with the Clinton Foundation.

On the other hand, it’s been over a year since India announced its National Action Plan on Climate Change and its concomitant National Solar Mission. Out of the 20,000MW of solar capacity it has pledged to install by 2020, it has currently only hit the 5MW mark. So far, there’s been lots of fanfare but little action—let’s hope that won’t remain the case for long.

Schott Solar AG, the German solar panel manufacturer, will extend guarantee conditions for two of its photovoltaic module lines. As reported by Renewable Energy World, the group will now offer a “25-year performance guarantee on glass-foil modules and a 30-year guarantee on double glass modules.” Earlier this month, Schott announced its plans to raise the warranty to 25 years on its line of POLY panels:

“This warranty extension further reinforces SCHOTT Solar’s position as a high quality manufacturer of photovoltaic modules,” said Mark Finocchario, President and CEO of SCHOTT Solar. “We are able offer our customers a 25-year performance warranty because of our strict manufacturing controls. Independent tests have proven time and again the excellent longevity and performance stability of SCHOTT Solar’s quality modules.”

When it comes to solar PV, product warranties are particularly important for a number of reasons. First, all solar panels slowly degrade over time. A 220-watt panel today, for instance, inevitably produces less electricity that it will 15 or 20 years down the line. While such degradation is slow — and while some panels manufactured in the 1970s are still putting out power — manufacturers offer decades-long warranties to reassure the buyer that their products will perform as advertised. A typical warranty in the industry guarantees that a panel will produce electricity for 10 years at 90 percent of its rated power output, and for 20 years at 80 percent of its rated power output.

Second, in order to function, panels must be outside — which means that they’re exposed to nature’s elements. The quality of a panel’s glazing and casing are important considerations, and are usually included in warranty provisions. Be sure to read the details, however — some panel makers limit coverage if the panels are placed in unusually harsh conditions, like marine environments.

Finally, while interest has grown in recent years, solar PV has yet to hit the mainstream. Potential buyers have a lot of questions and, in some instances, concerns. To be successful, manufacturers of PV equipment must back their products. End of story. Interestingly, there’s been something of a herd effect within the industry: one manufacturer raising the warranty bar increases pressure on all others to do so as well. We’ll see if Schott’s recent moves contribute to this trend.

Stay tuned. Next time I’ll be writing about rated power output and output tolerance. Fun stuff!

Two months ago, Walmart Puerto Rico announced a partnership with SunEdison to deploy rooftop solar systems at five Walmart PR stores, with plans pending for a total of 23 installations over the next five years. The initiative — which will be the largest renewable energy project ever developed on the island — is a prominent, recent example of Puerto Rico’s growing interest in solar energy.

This interest is well founded. Like other islands — notably Hawaii, as another U.S. reference — Puerto Rico imports most of its energy. The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) currently generates about two-thirds of the island’s electricity from oil, all of which is imported. The rest of demand is met with imported coal and natural gas, with just a few percentage points met with hydroelectric, solar and wind. (See this fact sheet from the Energy Information Agency for more details.)

Partly as a result of the island’s dependence on fuel imports, electricity rates in Puerto Rico are high. When I was there in August to attend a solar PV installation class, the going rate was around 20 cents per kWh, about double the U.S. average. While price hedging can help lessen the impact of $147-a-barrel-oil — a price reached last July — the fiscal imperative to minimize exposure to inflation and price spikes is particularly strong for Puerto Rico. Put simply, the island needs more homegrown power.

Policymakers and officials at PREPA have started to acknowledge this, establishing a number of important policies to encourage the adoption of solar, wind, and other renewable-energy technologies. In 2007, the island enacted net-metering rules, followed in 2008 by a sizable solar energy tax credit for individuals and businesses. While there’s still a long way to go before solar truly takes hold, these recent policy moves — coupled with high rates for conventional power — appear to be encouraging new solar projects.

I was lucky enough to see one — a commercial mono-crystaline installation at Aireko Enterprises, a construction firm based in Caguas, just south of San Juan. Even though it was overcast and late in the day, the system was still putting out kWs — though, to be honest, I don’t remember at what rate.

Solar at Aireko Enterprises (Caguas, Puerto Rico)

The installation incorporates mono-crystaline SolarWorld panels, along with SMA Sunny Tower inverters and related equipment. For a look at the system’s real-time and historical performance, visit the project’s SMA Sunny Portal. Almost as impressive as seeing the installation itself was peeking at the electricity production data. While small compared to utility-scale installations, this was a serious system — and the biggest I’ve seen to date.

UPDATE: Work on Walmart PR’s first system — also in Caguas, a 895-kW installation at the Walmart Supercenter — should be underway by the end of this year.

On the heels of GridWeek 2009, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a draft list of 77 standards intended to insure interoperability of new smart grid technologies and devices.

One of the biggest concerns with smart grid implementation is that the many devices and services coming into the market can communicate energy data seamlessly. This is specifically important for solar energy so that the full potential of solar technology can be taken to the next level. For example, let’s imagine that transportation has been electrified and your rooftop solar panels are configured to power your home and work smoothly to charge your first-generation plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV).  If it’s raining and solar energy is low, the house may decide to draw some power from your PHEV’s battery. This ability for devices to communicate is key to optimizing and cleaning our electricity supply and usage. Yet if the technology employed to draw power from PHEV batteries at the office parking garage is unable to “speak” with your older PHEV, we are in effect not optimizing our grid to full potential. Although an example that won’t come to fruition for quite some time, it illustrates the importance in establishing standards so that we have the smartest approach as technologies change and improve.

In his announcement this past Thursday, Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke argued that our smart grid

[E]fforts will fail to achieve their promise if we don’t knit together the various technologies that will make our current dumb electric grid smart. And that is what this NIST project is all about.

To find out more about the interoperability standards proposed, click here. The Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards Release 1.0 is is now open for a month-long public comment period.

A few months after a solar panel installation was performed at one of Baghdad’s medical centers, CNN got in there to talk with Dr. Thamer Al-Musawi, one of the doctors at the Al-Dakhil Medical Center. The 64-panel, battery-backed array is designed to support the refrigeration, fans, and lighting of the center, though does not extend to heating/cooling. The solar installation was one of two within Baghdad funded by the U.S. and supported by the Iraqi Health Ministry.

Ideally, this means the clinic could stop using generators, with their expensive fuel and occasional unreliability, during the city’s frequent power outages. But right now there has been a setback–it looks like someone has tampered with a circuit board so that the building can’t draw power from the batteries. It seems to be a short-term problem, and hopefully the system will be fully operational again soon. When the solar panels are providing power to the clinic 24 hours a day, the clinic will be able to better treat Baghdad residents: both by being open longer, and by having a reliable supply of vaccines and other medicines that require constant refrigeration.

Solar is not always the most cost-effective alternate power source due to the high cost of batteries, but in some situations it can still make a great deal of sense. When essential medical equipment is in question, especially, a solar installation with battery backup can be a great solution. We have no shortage of stories about misappropriation of funds or U.S.-funded projects gone wrong in Iraq–it’s a pleasure to see that solar power in this oil nation, in this small but highly important application, is one of the war’s success stories.

News sources: CNN, OfficialWire

Attention, solar home aficionados! The Department of Energy-sponsored Solar Decathlon is mere weeks away, beginning October 8th on the Mall in Washington, DC. If you’re not familiar with it, the Solar Decathlon is a design competition for teams of university students world-wide. Each competition cycle is two years: in the first year, teams submit their initial ideas for a solar-powered home (net-zero energy consumption is the goal, though not the mandate). Of the applicants, 20 are selected to actually build their homes in the second year and transport them whole to Washington for a three-week showcase and contest.

California Solar Home: University of Santa Clara's Solar Decathlon Entry, 2009

When we attended the Decathlon in 2007, we were so impressed with the range of creativity, professional design, and clever incorporation of solar into these small (800 square foot max) homes. This year, the line-up looks even more exciting. You can view each team’s design and hear their statements of purpose on the Decathlon website, or, for an easy glance-over, check out one of our favorite green design blog’s aggregate of the homes.

Last year, a team from Germany won with their solar-panel-louvred, retractable-floor modern beauty; this year, will a domestic team win the day? Stay tuned.

Washington, DC was flooded this week with energy industry veterans and newbies alike at the GridWeek 2009 conference.  The nation’s biggest annual smart grid event brought together consultants, vendors, utilities, and individuals from across the spectrum who share one common goal: to upgrade our electrical grid and bring it into the 21st century.

Many are in agreement that once policy is in place, the first step to enhancing our grid is for utilities to install advanced meters.  And while we’re in agreement that an advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) is critical in developing a smart grid, we’re also interested in the backbone of the grid itself: the transmission and distribution infrastructure.  On the second day of GridWeek I sat down with GE’s John McDonald, general manager of Marketing for GE Energy Transmission and Distribution, to talk about what is going on with the backbone of our grid and what solutions GE has to offer.

Aging transformers are one of the most serious problems facing our current T&D infrastructure.  What exactly is a transformer?  Well, transformers essentially step up voltage when it leaves the power plant and step down voltage before it enters localized distribution lines and our homes and business.  This graphic from the Energy Information Agency does an excellent job of showing exactly where transformers “fit” within our power grid.

According to GE, more than 50% of the transformers currently in use in the United States are at or approaching the end of their design lifecycle.  The average age of a transformer is 42 and the failure rate of these critical devices increases with age.  When a transformer fails, individuals and businesses can lose power.  Such failures, depending on the scale, can come at a serious cost to the ratepayer, let alone the negative effects that a power outage can have on the economy as a whole.

Since 1990, utilities have not invested very heavily in transformer maintenance.  According to McDonald, we are essentially “playing catch-up” to make sure our transformers are healthy and operational for years to come.  To address the issue, GE has launched the Smart Grid Asset Optimization program, which can apparently reduce the risk of unplanned outages and unexpected failure by up to 80% for a full range of transformers simply by monitoring existing equipment.

What GE offers is appealing to utilities because it can save money and safely squeeze what we can from our current infrastructure.  Utilities are unable to replace all aging transformers immediately.  McDonald says that instead of buying new transformers, which can cost anywhere from $2 – $5 million, we can assess the health and essentially “extend the lifetime” of currently held assets.   While many in the smart grid world are focused on installing new components at fairly high price tags, it’s refreshing to hear of a strategy that focuses on working with what we have.  Extending the lifetime of our transformers will give utilities the time to better plan for whole-system upgrades in the future.

For more information on GE and the role it is playing in making the smart grid a reality, visit the newly launched interactive website www.itsyoursmartgrid.com.  We’ll be bringing you more stories from our interviews and encounters at the GridWeek conference over the next few weeks.  As we’re learning, upgrading our grid is key to bringing more solar, and other renewable energy resources, online.