Posts Tagged by solar
Guest Post: Arizona Utility Signs up to Solar, Biogas and Wind PPAs
| January 4, 2011 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Renewables - Business |
Tucson Electric Power has signed up to solar photovoltaic array projects with capacities of 35MW, 25MW and 5MW; single-axis tracking PV arrays with capacities of 12MW, 4MW and two of 5MW each, a concentrating PV plant with capacity of 12MW and two of 2MW each; a 50MW wind project; and a 2.2MW landfill gas generator project. The desert city company emphasises that none of the projects require water. The utility company expects to be buying power from the first of these renewable energy projects in 2012.
[The Vector] Nanotechnology – A Disappointment? (Part Two)
| December 17, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Energy Storage |
(continued from an earlier article)
Down in the Quantum World
Nano particles are less than 100 nanomicrons in width, meaning that a human hair is approximately 80,000nm wide. Down at the molecular level, materials behave differently to the way they behave in larger volumes. Because so little is known about material behaviour at nano level at the International Forum on Chemical Safety at Dakar in 2008, 71 governments and 12 international organizations recommended the application of the Precautionary Principle to it. The principle states that anyone proposing a new initiative in a risky area must prove their initiative is safe before they carry it out.
Yet, according to the Friends of the Earth report, regulatory systems in the United States, Europe, Australia, Japan and other countries treat all particles the same; that is, they do not recognise that nanoparticles of familiar substances may have novel properties and novel risks. Carbon nanotubes for use in electronics, energy applications and vehicle parts may be associated with the cancer mesothelioma, for example. Although many nanomaterials now in commercial use pose greater toxicity risks than the same materials in larger particle form, if a substance has been approved in bulk form, it remains legal to sell it in nano form. Read More
Nanotechnology – A Sandwich Without the Beef? (Part One)
| December 13, 2010 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Energy Storage |
The ability of nanotechnologies to deliver cost-effective renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions has come under attack in a recently released report by the environmental campaigning organisation Friends of the Earth.
The nano technology industry has over-promised and under-delivered, according to the report. The performance of nano-based renewables has been considerably less than predicted. Efficiency of solar energy conversion by nano solar panels is still about 10% behind that achieved by silicon panels, while the energy and environmental costs of the nanotechnology industry are far higher than expected.
From Guest Blogger SolarLighting: Can We Copy the solar success of NJ to the Other States of the US?
| September 27, 2010 | Posted by solarlighting under Photo-voltaics |
We are very glad to see that the solar industry is developing fast in the US. It is now a major economic driver for the country. When generating great amount of electricity, the solar industry is also creating many job opportunities for the US. As for this solar industry I mean PV, because most of equipments use electricity rather than thermal energy, so you will see solar street light rather than solar Thermal Street light. All states are trying to improve their local solar deployment. It is obvious that the California is leading the solar development of the country, accounting for about 50% of the PV install in the country.
[The Vector] Solar Thermal – Getting Competitive
| August 8, 2010 | Posted by Aedan-Kernan under Solar Thermal |
The Spanish Solucar PS10. Source: afloresm
Spain is world leader in utility-scale solar power generation with a capacity of more than 430 MW, following commissioning of their latest plant in the North West of the country. The United States’ utility scale solar generation is a little over 420 MW. Within a year another 600MW will come onstream in Spain and by 2013 solar capacity will have reached 2.5 GW, according to Protermosolar, the country’s generation industry association.
Despite Spain’s enthusiastic promotion of solar generation, there are other areas of the world where solar can operate much more efficiently. Countries in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the southern states of the US, have higher solar power generation potential. The German-led Desertec project to generate power for Europe in the Sahara continues to progress. A number of North African countries, including Egypt, are interested in getting involved.
At the same time, utility-scale solar generation is becoming more competitive. Reports that suggest this include the following:
2GreenEnergy at the Intersolar Show
| July 12, 2010 | Posted by Craig Shields under Solar Thermal |
I’m headed up to San Francisco to the Intersolar show tomorrow morning for a couple of days of meetings, and, of course, checking out the show itself.
I just realized that I’m entering my fourth decade of attending trade shows now. I remember seeing a gawky kid with glasses at a show in the early 80s, and someone said, “Oh, that’s Bill Gates. He has a software company. I wonder if it will go anywhere?” Since then, I can’t count how many events I’m traipsed through in Europe and North America, on some mission or another.
One thing I find interesting is what I call the “tone” of the show. Of course, the promoters of all shows represent that theirs is the most exciting event in the universe — even in subject matter areas that most people find dull as dishwater. But beneath the loud music and the flashing lights, I try to read the true feelings that underlie the show.
A good example is the auto shows, which I often attend to see the alternate fuel vehicles and to meet the people associated with them. The car shows in Los Angeles and Detroit these last couple of years still have the glitz and the pretty girls — but there is something palpably wrong: people aren’t buying cars, and the OEMs are obviously scaling way back — on everything: promotions — even entire product annoucements. People still wear smiles — because it’s their job to do so — but you can almost hear them thinking, “Wow, this is terrible.”
It will be interesting to see what Intersolar is like. Obviously, the solar industry is under some real pressure, with precipitous drops in PV prices with the attendent distressed margins, and a horrible environment for capital formation. Then you have what could be called the recalcitrance of the traditional energy industry. As I’ve often said, these fossil fuel people aren’t going away anytime soon — ecological disaster or no. I would think that this, combined with the overall economic climate, would tend to cast a kind of pallor over the place.
On the other hand, the solar thermal industry — far less mature than PV — boasts some terrific breakthroughs in technologies that are very interesting indeed.
We’ll see what happens — and what that “tone” will be like. I’ll update you on my travels. If you happen to be there and want to say hello, please hit “contact.”
The Greening of Bermuda
| September 4, 2009 | Posted by Craig Shields under Renewables - Politics |
Over the next few days, I’ll be posting a few articles on my company’s work with the island nation of Bermuda. From the standpoint of the raw facts, Bermuda is probably the best candidate on the planet to “go green” in a big way. As a people, they’re wealthy and enlightened. As a tourist destination, they’re anxious to make a statement. As a physical locale, they suffer from the pollution of their power plant’s historic reliance upon diesel. And as a candidate for electric transportation, can anything be more auspicious than expensive gas, high tariffs on internal combustion engine cars, short driving distances and low speed limits?
At this point, I would like to introduce you to the Bermuda Electric Light, Power & Traction Company or BELCO – the power utility that is wrestling with a great number of alternatives to fossil fuels: solar, wind, tidal, etc. I invite you to read the reports of the vendors that have been asked to create proposals for five different green technologies. As you read these documents, perhaps you’ll be thinking along the same lines that I am: How many do they really need? Isn’t one better (probably FAR better) than the other four?
I’m always amused by the pundits who say that we in the US need to blend many different alternative fuels. Outside of politics, exactly why? Given the configuration of our land mass vis-à-vis the sun’s path, our predominant wind patterns, the location and depth of our subterranean pockets of heat, the flow of our rivers, and the nature of our ocean currents, isn’t there one best solution? I think so.
