California's Wonderful Solar Subisdies

As mentioned recently, China announced massive subsidies to encourage the purchase and installation of solar panels, and the usage of solar-powered electricity. Now, the Golden State has decided to dole out liberal subsidies, too. Catch the link, or read below:

The state of California pays $3.30 a watt for solar panels to power common areas – i.e., parking lots and hallways – and $4.00 a watt for solar panels to provide power to individual apartments, says Richard Raeke, director of project finance at Borrego Solar.

The subsidies can be determined by square footage if the complex is on a centralized master power meter. If 20 percent of a complex's electrical load gets consumed by the common areas, 20 percent of the rebate is at the $3.30 rate and the rest goes at $4.00.

We're really looking at 40 to 60 percent of the cost," he said.

By contrast, standard homeowners get $1.55 a watt in California.

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The state has also created a solar subsidy for low-income individual homes that range from $7 to $5.75. At $7 a watt, the subsidy would cover more than the
cost of installing a solar system now, which can be put in for just under $7 a watt. Nonetheless, the building must be occupied by residents with federal income tax liability ranging from $2,000 to zero.

California set aside $108 million for the Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) program as part of its comprehensive solar initiative. The state's public utility commission fleshed out the program in November 2007. However, it only began accepting applications somewhat recently. The money will be spent over the next four years.

- Brewskie

Huge Chinese Solar Subidies

Asia's mighty and emerging tiger, China, is dead serious about meeting future energy needs, present and future. Here's a look at a recently announced government subsidy program:

The Chinese government on Thursday announced what some industry analysts called the most aggressive and generous solar power subsidy in the world, giving Chinese solar companies a big market boost amid a generally gloomy outlook for short-term growth.

China's solar subsidy plan would offer 20 yuan (about $2.94) per watt for solar photovoltaic installations greater than 50 kilowatts. That would essentially cover half the cost of entire installations at today's low solar panel prices, according to an RBC Capital Markets analyst note.

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Likewise, RBC Capital Markets analysts Stuart Bush and Sandeep Ayyappan noted Friday that the Chinese subsidy plan, while "an unexpected boost to global demand," didn't provide many details on when it would be implemented and how it would be structured.

Still, the Chinese subsidy announcement – combined with European nations' existing feed-in tariffs and other supports for solar power, as well as new and more generous U.S. solar incentives (see Obama Signs Stimulus Package) – gave the analysts hope that prices would stabilize from their downward march, helping to stem the build-up of inventory throughout the silicon solar panel supply chain.

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Of course, China – along with much of Asia – holds the advantage of lower labor costs compared to production facilities in the U.S. and Europe. Asia could produce 82 percent of the world's crystalline silicon solar cells by 2012, up from 71 percent in 2008, according to a new GTM Research report, "PV Technology, Production and Cost, 2009 Forecast: The Anatomy of a Shakeout." (see Go East, Solar Companies).

- Brewskie

U.S. Lags in Solar PV

Gotta do some bad news occasionally to "keep it real." While America has been kicking ass and taking names as the world's new "wind king," sadly, it can't say the same for solar. Here's some sobering statistics from Ecogeek:

• The world’s demand for PV power grew about 110% last year. The world now demands just under 6 GW of PV power. Spain’s share of that 6 GW is 2.46 GW. Our share? A measly 0.36 GW.

• In the last year, China and Taiwan’s market share of solar cell production has risen from 35% to 44%. Meanwhile, our own market share – which was about 45%
  in the mid-90’s – has dropped to about 10%.

• Of the top ten largest PV production plants in the world, guess how many are in the US? Zero, that’s how many.

And eyeball down to the chart and you'll see where where America at. The good news is it's ahead of other industrial powers, Japan and South Korea, but getting lambasted by Germany and Spain - plus, Taiwan and China are burying its star-spangled ass in the PV production department. America is the country that invented PV, for Pete's sake!!

Some other bits from Ecogeek:

So why are we lagging behind? Some might claim that sunny countries like Spain have an easier time capitalizing on sunlight. I would have a hard time believing that Spain has that much more sunlight than the entire Southwest, though.

Others would point out that PV just isn’t our weapon of choice when it comes to utility-scale solar electricity production, compared to solar thermal technologies. As long as you have ample land resources and workable land usage laws, solar thermal can deliver lower cost per watt. So maybe we’re just more of a solar thermal country than a solar PV country.

Really, though, it boils down to policy. European countries like Spain, Germany and Italy are no sunnier than the US, but their policies are. They have been pouring funds into subsidies for renewable power generation – that’s why so many GW were installed. And you know what? Now that the fixed costs are taken care of, these countries have energy-producing assets that run on free fuel. What could be a sounder investment in today’s economic climate?

Ecogeek does make a point on America's embracement of solar thermal. A deal for 1.3 gigawatts of solar thermal projects was recently inked for California. Also, it wasn't that long ago when America lagged in the wind department; now we're the king in wind-produced energy (though Germany still leads in wind energy generated per capita). Like wind, the U.S. has splendid solar potential. Let's get crackin'.

- Brewskie

Veranda: the Apple of Solar?

From earth2tech:

Apple has developed a reputation for sleek, hip and user-friendly computers and electronics. Now, Veranda Solar, a startup based in Portland, Ore. and Oakland, Calif., developing small, easy-to-install solar-power systems, says it wants to become the Apple of consumer solar products. (Updated to reflect that the company works out of both cities.)

How so? Instead of focusing on a new solar chemistry or production technology, the company hopes to differentiate itself with its aesthetics, appeal and ease of use, CEO Capra J’neva says. “We interact with real people to create our products, so we are reducing market risk by understanding the real needs of people who will buy [them],” she told us last week.

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Founded in December, the startup is designing solar-power systems, made up of small (about 24-inch and 60- to 70-watt) panels with rounded corners, that onsumers can install themselves. Veranda’s systems, based on prototypes that were developed at Stanford University with SunPower Corp., will fold flat — making them easy to ship — and snap together. The systems will include the panels, inverter and everything else needed to deliver power into a home, and will be certified to plug right into a standard wall outlet, J’neva said. The idea is that customers will be able to install them with only a screwdriver, mounting them on roofs, windowsills, balconies or walls.

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Veranda expects its systems, which include a panel, an inverter and cables, will start at $600 — or about $400 for just the panels, J’neva said. Veranda expects to sell systems at home-decor and home-improvement stores such as Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and Home Depot, as well as through utilities, direct sales and solar-specialty businesses. The company forecasts it will net $140,355 in sales from 300 customers this year and turn a profit in 2011.

- Brewskie

Liquid Battery Stores Solar Juice

Here's a novel approach developed by Donald Sadoway to store solar power until nightly use:

Without a good way to store electricity on a large scale, solar power is useless at night. One promising storage option is a new kind of battery made with all-liquid active materials. Prototypes suggest that these liquid batteries will cost less than a third as much as today's best batteries and could last significantly longer.

The battery is unlike any other. The electrodes are molten metals, and the electrolyte that conducts current between them is a molten salt. This results in an unusually resilient device that can quickly absorb large amounts of electricity. The electrodes can operate at electrical currents "tens of times higher than any [battery] that's ever been measured," says Donald Sadow­ay, a materials chemistry professor at MIT and one of the battery's inventors. What's more, the materials are cheap, and the design allows for simple manufacturing.

The first prototype consists of a container surrounded by insulating material. The researchers add molten raw materials: antimony on the bottom, an electrolyte such as sodium sulfide in the middle, and magnesium at the top. Since each material has a different density, they naturally remain in distinct layers, which simplifies manufacturing. The container doubles as a current collector, delivering electrons from a power supply, such as solar panels, or carrying them away to the electrical grid to supply electricity to homes and businesses.

-Brewskie