Posts Tagged by photovoltaics
The Value of the NegaWatt
| May 16, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Photo-voltaics |
I had a lovely phone chat last evening with a young lady, a high school senior who was working on a paper for school and wanted to ask a few questions about solar energy. In particular, she wanted to know the cost of converting her entire town (Arcadia, CA — 56,000 people, let’s say 20,000 households) to 100% solar.
Understandably, she hadn’t thought through some of the implications. Read More
Solar Thermal Deserves Our Support
| May 13, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Solar Thermal |
Here’s a good article on a recently completed solar thermal tower (aka concentrated solar power or CSP) in the desert between Las Vegas and Reno, NV.
The thing to like about solar thermal, as we’ve often discussed here, is that it affords us a fairly low-cost way of storing energy and delivering it when the sun isn’t shining. This is due to the fact that in today’s world, we can store heat energy (in vats of molten salt) far less expensively than we can store electrical energy (in batteries). Thus solar thermal installations can be treated as baseload, delivering power on a consistent 24X7 basis.
That’s the good news. Read More
Pros and Cons of Solar Energy from Photovoltaics
| March 12, 2012 | Posted by Craig Shields under Photo-voltaics |
Here’s another short video for young people and newcomers to the subject of renewable energy. In this brief talk on solar energy and photovoltaics (solar panels), I provide my thinking on the strengths and weaknesses of solar power. Hope you enjoy.
The Basic Renewable Energy Technologies
| November 26, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
Energy Videos for Newcomers
| October 13, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Science |
I’ve been preparing to make a few videos for newcomers to the subject of clean energy that answer basic questions on renewable energy, fossil fuels, nuclear energy, and the energy-related challenges we face. I’ll be recording a series of short talks, aided by graphics, that point out that all our energy sources go back to the Big Bang, and come forward through time to us as follows:
Solar power is nuclear, of course, as all that hydrogen that became our sun billions of years ago undergoes fusion and emits enormous amounts of energy. That which we accumulated over hundreds of millions of years as fossil fuels (ancient biomass) we extract and burn as oil, coal, and natural gas. That which we receive right now, or in the very recent past, we have the potential to harvest as renewables: photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, wind, new biomass, run-of-river hydro, ocean current, and wave. Read More
Gigawatt Solar Project Switches from CSP to PV
| August 22, 2011 | Posted by Craig Shields under Solar Thermal |
I was disappointed to learn that the gigawatt solar project in Blythe, CA decided to switch from CSP to PV. The issue, at least on the surface, is “bankability,” i.e., maturity of the technology, along with the obvious fact that the price of PV is falling sharply – 30% in 2010 alone. But at a certain point, I’m hoping that someone somewhere sees the awesome potential of CSP and really starts to crank on it.
When that happens, we’ll start to see ideas like Ahura Energy start to come into greater focus, if you’ll pardon the pun.
Solar thermal, of course, comes in many different flavors — some (like Ahura) claiming to have made breakthroughs in cost and/or efficiency. I’ve met with these people, like the concept as I understand it, but still haven’t been told the details of the secret sauce.
"Grid Parity" – What Does It Mean and When Will It Happen?
| October 1, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Business |
![](http://i708.photobucket.com/albums/ww83/craigshields/eckhart_michael.jpg ""Grid Parity" – What Does It Mean and When Will It Happen?")
At the Renewable Energy Finance Forum you’ll hear largely about the wins, where developers have taken the most mature clean energy technologies, addressed the many financial risk factors, and presented a can’t-lose package to a bank or other funding entity. That means that you’ll hear about solar (photovoltaics) and wind FAR more often than still-nascent technologies like geothermal, hydro, concentrating solar power, etc.
That’s understandable, since if people don’t make money bringing clean energy along, it’s not going to happen. And no one wants to take unnecessary risks, especially in this climate.
The point of “grid parity,” i.e., the point that an incremental megawatt of solar is the exact same cost as an incremental megawatt of gas or coal, is projected to occur somewhere between early 2014 and late 2018. This is based on the fact that although natural gas prices are low and are expected to remain so, the cost of PV is falling steadily.
When this happens, of course, one should expect an explosion of solar development. Even the utilities in the South (great progressive social thinkers that they are) who have routinely said, “Suh, if clean energy means mah costs go up one penny pah kilowatt-hour, we’re not intahrested,” will be buying and selling clean without a problem.
[The Vector] PV Inverter Demand Booming – For Now
| August 10, 2010 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Photo-voltaics |
PV - inverters have created a production bottleneck. Picture source: Mhassan abdollahi
In 2010 producers are expected to ship 13.9 GW of inverters – an increase of more than 66% – and the growth would be even greater if a sever component shortage was not limiting inverter production. Prices are expected to stabilize despite the dramatic output growth. 14.6 GW of new PV capacity are expected to be added worldwide in 2010 says The World Market for PV Inverters – 2010’, published July 2010. The figures are based on surveys of inverter suppliers undertaken by IMS Research, together with estimates of demand in 40 countries around the globe.
The development of utility-scale solar plants is changing the shape of the market for PV inverters. Here’s how:
About Bruce Allen, Contributor to “Renewable Energy Facts and Fantasies” – Solar Photovoltaics
| August 1, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Photo-voltaics |
Bruce Allen is supremely well-qualified to have contibuted to the book’s chapter on photovoltaics. His recent book Reaching the Solar Tipping Point describes the key technologies and applications that are enabling solar energy to become a primary cost-effective energy source. He has designed solar concentrator systems sold worldwide and worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, under contract to NASA, DOD and the US Missile Defense Agency.
Gallium Arsenide in Photovoltaics
| June 2, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Photo-voltaics |
For anyone who may be interested, here’s a link to an article Shannon Combs wrote on an apparent breakthrough at the University of Illinois in the use of gallium arsenide in photovoltaics.
