The Born's (site 32) are ready for you to visit their home on October 1st as part of the 5th annual Illinois Solar Tour.  Their home is equipped with a 5 kW PV array to provide the majority of their electricity needs and to charge their new Chevy Volt.


 
      

The IPA’s draft plan proposes to buy all SRECs (solar renewable energy credits) needed to comply with the Illinois Solar Carve Out through a competitive auction designed with large, utility-scale projects in mind.  If past procurements serve as an example, participation requirements will be too complex and transaction costs will be too high for distributed solar developers and owners to participate.  There is no separate procurement program proposed for small and mid-size rooftop and ground mounted systems.  Without a separate procurement program, it is likely that our state’s very aggressive Solar Carve Out (which will require output from about 600 MW of installed solar by 2015) will be met entirely with SRECs from utility-scale solar projects, some located outside of Illinois.

ELPC strongly encourages you to submit comments on the 2012 Draft Procurement Plan and tell the IPA that Illinois needs a solar procurement program that will drive real expansion in Illinois’ solar industry.   A template is attached to provide some sample language and comments, but unique and personal comments will carry more weight than a standard form letter, so please make sure to modify this so that it reflects your own voice.  Please abstain from using these comments to promote any single project or individual agenda, but focus on the broad policy objective.

Comments are due next Wednesday, September 14th, at 5:00 pm and should be emailed to the IPA in care of Julie Musselman Oost.  There are public hearings on the Draft Plan on September 9th in Springfield and September 13th in Chicago

Illinois State University will receive $850,000 to design, populate and maintain a comprehensive national database of utility rates an rate design.

University of Chicago will receive $1,500,000 to develop new nanocrystal-based materials for next-generation solar cells.  The nanocrystals will be fabricated by very inexpensive and scalable wet chemistry which will allow combining the advantages of conventional inorganic semiconductors with inexpensive fabrication.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will receive $1,192,250 to develop new materials for contacts used in cadmium-telluride PV cells.  Contacts are used on the front and back of solar cells to allow current to flow to an external circuit.  The new materials will reduce the back-contact barrier to zero, increasing the current flow and thus the efficiency of the PV cell.

For a full list of awards by state, click here.

News Media Contact: (202) 586-4940
For Immediate Release: Thursday, September 1, 2011
 
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced more than $145 million for projects to help shape the next generation of solar energy technologies and ensure that the United States remains a leader in this global market. Sixty-nine projects in 24 states will accelerate research and development to increase efficiency, lower costs and advance cutting-edge technologies. Funded through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the projects will also improve materials, manufacturing processes and supply chains for a wide range of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and components of solar energy systems. Some of these investments also support efforts that will shorten the overall timeline from prototype to production and streamline building codes, zoning laws, permitting rules, and business processes for installing solar energy systems.
 
“America is in a world race to produce cost-competitive renewable energy that can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, create manufacturing jobs across the nation, and improve our energy security,” said Secretary Chu. “The projects announced today under DOE’s SunShot Initiative will spur American innovation to help reduce the costs of clean, renewable solar energy and re-establish U.S. global leadership in this fast growing industry.”
 
The SunShot Initiative seeks to make solar energy systems more cost-competitive, without long-term subsidies, by reducing the cost of these systems about 75 percent by the end of the decade. The achievement of the SunShot Initiative goals will encourage rapid, widespread adoption of solar energy systems across the United States.
 
SunShot is driving innovation in the way solar energy systems are conceived, designed, manufactured, and installed. The awards announced today will target improvements across the research, development, and demonstration pipeline, from next generation technologies 7-10 years away from commercial readiness, to scientific and technological improvements which can be rapidly implemented within 5 years. The programs will create entirely new and more economical approaches to collecting solar energy and tackle fundamental challenges to ramp up use of these renewable energy technologies.
 
The six categories of projects announced today are:
 
Extreme Balance of System Hardware Cost Reductions – Nine projects to receive $42 million.
These projects will conduct research and development of new balance of system (BOS) hardware, or solar system components including power inverters and mounting racks but excluding solar panels or cells, that is inexpensive, safe, and highly reliable. BOS accounts for more than 40 percent of the total installed cost of solar energy systems and represents a major opportunity to achieve significant cost reductions.
 
Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency – Eighteen projects to receive $35.8 million.
Combining both the technical and funding resources of U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, this joint program will support research that aims to eliminate the significant gap between the efficiencies of prototype cells achieved in the laboratory and the efficiencies of cells produced on manufacturing lines. The projects under this award address cost and efficiency barriers, advance fundamental PV cell research, and develop materials and processes for more efficient, cost-effective photovoltaic cells.

Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems: Advanced Concepts – Eight projects to receive $25.9 million.
These projects will develop electronics and build smarter, more interactive systems and components so that solar energy can be integrated into the electric power distribution and transmission grid at higher levels. These technologies will help advance a smart grid that will handle two-way flows of power and communication, in contrast to the one-way power flow and limited communication that exists today.
 
Transformational PV Science and Technology: Next Generation Photovoltaics II – Twenty-three projects to receive $22.2 million.
These awards will fund applied research into technologies that greatly increase efficiency, lower costs, create secure and sustainable supply chains and perform more reliably than the current PV technologies. Investing in new classes of photovoltaic technology feeds the industry with the new innovations it will need to compete in the future and will help achieve the goals of the Sunshot Initiative.
 
Reducing Market Barriers and Non-Hardware Balance of System Costs – Seven projects to receive $13.6 million.
These awards will provide funding to create tools and develop methods to reduce the cost of non-hardware components for installed solar energy systems. These projects will develop software design tools and databases that can be used by local jurisdictions and installers, and tools to streamline building codes, zoning laws, permitting rules, and business processes for installing solar systems.
 
SunShot Incubator – Four projects to receive $5.8 million.
These projects will fund two different tiers of transformational projects. The first accelerates development of new technologies from concept to commercial viability. The second level of funding supports efforts that shorten the overall timeline from laboratory scale development to pilot line manufacture. The SunShot Incubator Program is an expansion of DOE's successful PV Technology Incubator Program, launched in 2007, which to date has funded $60 million in projects that have been leveraged into $1.3 billion in private investment.
 
For a full list of award by project category, visit HERE.
 
For a full list of awards by state, visit HERE.
 
DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy invests in clean energy technologies that strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil. Learn more about the SunShot Initiative and DOE's efforts to expand safe, readily available, and inexpensive solar energy across the nation by the end of the decade.
 

Date: Today, Sep 1, 2011 (11:30am-1pm PT; 12:30 - 2pm MT, 1:30 - 3pm CT; 2:30pm-4:00pm ET)

The webinar will be moderated by Karin Sinclair (SWD co-chair) from NREL. The speaker will be Shawn Shaw, with The Cadmus Group.

During this webinar, Mr. Shaw will discuss some of the challenges of estimating the energy output of small wind turbines. These systems, typically installed at the residential and light commercial scales, do not have the benefit of expensive meteorological studies to make accurate energy yield predictions. Instead, there are various computer models, rules of thumb, and assumptions made to calculate annual energy yield. However, these approaches are not always consistent with actual, measured, performance data. In addition to discussing these general challenges, tools, and techniques, Mr. Shaw will demonstrate the use of online tools, such as the Small Wind Energy Evaluation Tool (SWEET) to improve the accuracy of pre-installation performance predictions.

Webinar Call-in information (No registration required):

https://www.mymeetings.com/nc/join.php?i=PW4096461&p=7825509&t=c
Dial-in Number: 888-995-9569
Passcode: 7825509

Chris Stimpson
Solar Nation Executive Campaigner
chris@solar-nation.org
www.solar-nation.org
720-420-7930
301-956-0303 (m)

Washington, DC, USA – August 30, 2011 – Empower Energies, LLC, a global renewable energy investment advisory services and development company headquartered outside Washington, DC, announced the availability of new funding sources for renewable energy projects, with an emphasis on North American ventures.
 
“We're looking to immediately secure more bankable renewable energy projects,” said Len Jornlin, President and CEO of Empower Energies. “Over the next 45 days we're prioritizing projects for domestic investors and several visiting international due diligence teams on site visits to the US.”
 
The company's consortium of investors is seeking to finance or acquire clean energy projects, developers, or manufacturers according to the criteria listed at: http://bit.ly/rr8pCr. This group will also consider co-investment in renewable energy funds.
 
“We are exclusively focused on Renewables,” Jornlin noted. “That is our forte. Our partners are primarily interested in solar, wind, and biomass projects, and in developers with "live‟ projects.”
 
Empower Energies offers extensive financing and development expertise in the renewable energy business worldwide. Since 1994, its management team has experience in the pioneering clean energy companies of their time on the ground in more than 45 countries across Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
 
Empower Energies provides fit-for-market solutions which accelerate development and entry or expansion into growing markets. Working closely with a unique mix of financing partners, the company understands and manages risk – especially in emerging markets – and delivers attractive returns on investment and measurable local economic development.
 
Although the organization specializes in emerging clean energy markets worldwide, Empower Energies is a US-based company, and is currently focused on the rapidly-developing North American marketplace.
 
“Solar, in particular, has been a cyclical business,” Jornlin continued. “Investment has traditionally focused where government support intersects with a strong technology base, manufacturing capacity, local development capability, and an engaged public. Right now no markets are hotter than the United States and Canada.”
 
Empower Energies helps local developers do more faster with less risk, by providing financial resources, proven expertise, and global relationships. The company provides select partners in emerging clean energy markets with an array of branded, adaptable tools and services engineered to enable accelerated time-to-market, ROI, and risk management.
 
Since its founding in 2009, Empower Energies has originated and executed confidential investor transactions amounting to more than $378 million, including the monetization of „orphaned‟ or distressed solar and wind projects.
 
 
About Empower Energies, LLC
 
Founded to finance and develop clean energy projects globally, Empower Energies, LLC (EmpowerEnergies.com) also specializes in helping overseas Renewable Energy companies compress their North American market entry timeline. With a focus on solar electric projects, the organization's principals provide extensive experience in solar photovoltaic CPV, biomass and other renewable energy technologies as well. Empower Energies has significant experience across the solar value chain, and offers a successful track record since 1994 in established and emerging solar markets around the world. To date, Empower Energies has provided investment advisory services and clean energy investment opportunities valued at $378 million. The company is headquartered just outside Washington, DC, in Frederick, MD, USA.
 
 
Contact
 
Ed Schmidt
Schmidt Advertising & Design
77 East Main Street Newark, DE USA 19711
phone: 302-454-7233
fax: 302-454-7366
ed@schmidt-ad-de.com

While renewable energy gains momentum, people tend to think that the larger the energy installment, the better.  Companies invest in fields of wind turbines and solar panels, and these are shown to the public to demonstrate the infrastructure and technology of which the U.S. is capable.  While these large-scale installments definitely have their benefits, small-scale systems may be overlooked!

Small-scale solar has many advantages compared to large-scale, concentrated solar power systems.  To differentiate the two types, a small-scale system feeds the direct energy load of a given facility.  A large-scale system feeds the energy into a grid, which is then distributed (Read more).

First, location, location, location!  Small-scale systems are installed on rooftops and grounds of businesses or homes that are otherwise underutilized.  In large-scale solar, the placement of systems covers acres of land, consuming areas that could be used for other construction, agriculture, or wildlife habitats.  As these larger systems are often placed in remote locations, there is also a transmission cost.  This cost is both in the construction of transmission lines and in the energy lost in the transmission.  “According to the EIA, line losses accounted for 6.5% of total electricity generation in 2007” (Read more).  Why not build the solar system directly where the energy is needed?

Secondly, installing a small-scale system directly where the need is also allows for all areas of the state to benefit.  If a large-scale solar system is constructed in Chicago, will the residents in East St. Louis feel direct benefits?  With distributed solar, residents throughout the state can benefit as they install systems locally.

A new study, "Solar Power Generation in the U.S.: Too expensive or a bargain?," looks at the benefits that solar power generation delivers to utilities, ratepayers and taxpayers. This study shows that there is anywhere from 3-10 cents/kWh of hidden value specifically derived from distributed solar generation.  This is generally due to reduced distribution energy losses, reduced distribution capacity wear, and enhanced grid stability (Read more).

But these benefits are just the tip of the iceberg!  Join ISEA for the 2011 Illinois Solar Tour on October 1st to visit some local homes and businesses with small-scale systems and learn more.  The Illinois Solar Tour is a FREE self-guided event that demonstrates how Illinois homes and businesses are using solar, wind, geothermal, passive solar design, and energy efficiency to be energy independent.  Check out the official Solar Tour site and register!

 

 

When asking Chicago residents why they have not invested in solar for their homes or businesses, what is a common response?  “Have you seen how much snow we get 6 months out of the year?”  The idea that snow detracts from solar energy production is a common one.  With the right solar installation techniques, though, it is not a valid reason to halt solar investment in chillier states.

Bill Marion, principal scientist in the PV performance and reliability lab and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, CO, studied the effects of snow on PV system performance.  Looking at Boulder, CO and Middleton, WI, he did find that PV output can reach zero when snow is piled on a flat roof. 

What is the solution? If the roof is not tilted, Marion suggests that a ground-mount system is ideal.  Preferably, one with a good tilt angle and a significant gap between the bottom of the module and the ground to give snow a generous deposition depth as it slides off the glass.  Marion plans to follow snow’s impact on PV output this winter as well, in order to create guidelines on how to mount modules to maximize the amount of snow fall-off.

With the issue of snow covered, what about the belief that Chicago is too cold and cloudy for efficient solar energy?  In reality Midwest states do experience a good amount of sun. 

“Michigan has an average of 4.2 hours of peak sunlight per day each year, according to Mark Hagerty, President and Founder of Michigan Solar Solutions. ‘Florida, the Sunshine State only has a little over five hours. Interestingly, Germany leads the world in the percentage of electricity generated by solar, but has less than four hours of peak sunlight a day,’ says Hagerty.”

Additionally, solar panels are actually more efficient in cooler temperatures than in hot ones (Read more here).

So what is your excuse for not investing in solar energy?  If you want to see local solar in action, join the Illinois Solar Energy Association’s 2011 Solar Tour!  The Tour is a free public event to demonstrate how home and business owners are utilizing solar, wind, geothermal, passive solar design, and energy efficiency to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels and be energy independent.  Stay updates on the 2011 Solar Tour and other ISEA events through our Facebook and Twitter pages.