Glorious Day For Solar Cars Parade at Victoria Square of Adelaide, Australia (credit: sunisthefuture-Susan SUn Nunamaker). It is Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015 (Adelaide time) but Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015 in some parts of the world.
The Solar Car Parade of World Solar Challenge will start at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015 (Adelaide time…although it is still Oct. 24, 2015 in some parts of the world), at Victoria Square of Adelaide, Australia. It’s a glorious day for Solar Car Parade and a glorious time for Solar Energy Future!
Solar Car Parade of World Solar Challenge 2015 at Victoria Square in Adelaide, Australia (credit: sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
Below is the video of the Solar Cars that came in on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015. A great big applause for all of these teams, students, and supporters for their time, energy, and effort. It’s been a great learning opportunity for all of us! More will be posted and video uploaded later.
Below is the video of all of the solar cars that participated in World Solar Challenge 2015 Solar Car Parade on Oct. 25, 2015, at the Victoria Square of Adelaide, Australia:
You may also be interested in these posts from the past, below:
Solar Independence Day, 2015 (credit: composite of The Spirit of’76 painted by A.M. Willard (L) & photograph by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker via photoshop work by Susan Sun Nunamaker)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
2015 is a momentous year for us, the Solar Enthusiasts! That is why I wanted to create a special image for the July 4/5, 2015 weekend post (above). For this image, I learned to use photoshop during the weekend of July 4/5, 2015!
July fireworks behind the Washington Monument, Public Domain-U.S.Airforce Employee
I am simply ecstatic! In the end of June, 2015, I came across some data (for PV projects as part of a 600-megawatt procurement, some new data on developer bids was just released by Austin Energy) that I want to share with you. According to Austin Energy’s vice president of resource planning Khalil Shalabi, the utility received offers for 7,976 megawatts of project after issuing a request for bids in April. Of those bids, 1,295 megawatts of projects were priced below 4 cents per kilowatt-hour. During a presentation before the Austin city council, Shalabi displayed an exponentially declining curve for PV projects in Texas,
Austin Solar Prices (Source: Austin Energy)
he said, “If you continue the curve, you can see that if the cost points continue along this sort of exponentially declining curve, we expect to see prices out in the future that are possibly below $20 a megawatt-hour.” Wow! $20 a megawatt-hour translates into 2 cents per kilowatt-hour (between 2018-2019)! That is definitely cost competitive (costing less than any other energy source if the cost of the plants, insurance, environmental costs, and operating costs are all being taken into consideration) when compared to all other energy sources.
Another exciting break-through is the fact that Solar has reached the 1% mark of global electricity demand. The actual figure may be even slightly higher than the cumulative capacity (178 GW) that’s being presented below because some countries (such as USA) did not include distributed solar into the calculations. With such an exponential growth, it will not be too surprising if/when solar will reach 10% of global electricity demand by 2025. According to EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industry Association), in three European countries: Italy, Germany, and Greece, solar PV supplies more than 7% of the electricity demand.
Global Solar PV (Source: Solar Power Europe), Tweeted by Jigar Shah
Globally, Europe is the world’s largest player with more than 88 GW installed at the end of 2014. China is now the fastest growing solar country/market, installing 10.6 GW in 2014, followed by Japan with 9.7 GW, and the USA in third place with just over 6.5 GW in 2014. Solar Power Europe (SPE) indicates that capacity could reach 540 GW in five years’ time in a high growth scenario and would reach 396 GW in a low-support case.
In 2015, according toGlobalData, China is likely to retain its world leading status, with US becoming the second, Japan third, and followed by Germany and India, for annual solar addition. China has revised its annual target to 17.8 GW and is well on its way, given that about 5 GW of solar capacity was already installed in Q1. “In the US, annual installations are expected to remain high during 2015 and 2016 owing to tax incentives for power stations that come online before the end of 2016. Solar additions in 2015 are expected to hit 7-8 GW largely due to continued policy support.””Japan’s lucrative solar PV policies have been attracting an increasing amount of investment since 2012, with annual installed capacity in 2014 reaching 8-9 GW, the country’s highest ever installed capacity in a single year. However, annual installations in 2015 are unlikely to reach 2014 levels.” I just want to remind us all that the solar/renewable energy world would not have come thus far if it were not for spear-heading effort and policy by Germany’s Hermann Scheer. I am thrilled to see both China and India (two nations with the most populace on planet earth) are making a great deal of effort in development of solar future.
These are all signs of what is to come….the Solar Tsunami that will bring about the change of our entire planet’s energy matrix mix. Dear friends and viewers/readers of Sun Is The Future, time to wake up to and share the fact that cost of solar is dramatically lower than what it used to be. We are ready to unshackle ourselves from the fossil fuel, and be ready for a much healthier, cleaner, and brighter Solar Energy Future!
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any comments and suggestions are welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
France is in favor of the Solar and Green Future (credit: sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
C., thank you for alerting me to the law that was recently (in March, 2015) passed by the French governing body, requiring roof tops of new French commercial buildings to be either partially covered by solar panels
Solar PV (credit: sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
or plants. This law was the product of compromise between French environmentalists and the more conservative members of the parliament. Initially, the French environmental activists wanted to make it mandatory to have all new buildings to be covered with green roofs, but the Socialist government convinced these activists to limit the scope of the law to new commercial buildings/rooftops.
Hopefully, this law will enable France to catch up to its neighbors. Solar PV capacity in France has increased much more slowly than in Germany, Spain or Italy in the past, Reuters reported in November of 2014. In June of last year, France had 5,095 megawatts of PV capacity, accounting for 1 percent of the energy consumption in the first half of 2014. Neighboring Germany had almost 37,000 MW.
Other places such as Australia, Germany, Canada, and Britain already have green roofs as part of their urban landscape. As a matter of fact, Toronto has mandatory green roofs as part of its by-laws since 1998.
Green Roof of Chicago City Hall ( attribution: Tony The Tiger)
Green roof of British Horse Society Head Quarters ( attribution: Sky Garden Ltd)
Green roof of Tongyang downtown apartment complex (attribution: Vmenkov)
Green roof of the Mountain Equipment Co-op store in Toronto, Canada (attribution: Sookie)
This law will certainly help to reduce the energy needed due to urban heat island(especially notable during summer and winter) and rainwater retension (by reducing runoff problems). Please refer to the video below:
“This draft law is a very positive step forward and a concrete lever for greener and smarter cities,” said James Watson, CEO of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association. “There are so many unused rooftops in our cities today and solar photovoltaics is the perfect solution to make the best out of them as it can be seamlessly integrated in an urban setting.” Watson added that rooftops, large or small, represent 70 percent of the installed solar capacity in France.
“Solar electricity produced on your roof can partially or entirely instantaneously cover your own power needs,” Watson said.
In addition to cost saving, please keep in mind that in 2014, solar energy production saved about 110 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions globally.
Perhaps all governments throughout our planet should consider utilizing surface areas of the rooftops.
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any comments and suggestions are welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
During this 4-part series of posts (started on March 20, 2015) about the importance of collaborations and Chinese solar companies, another company worth noting is BYD Company, an acronym derived from the phrase “Build Your Dream“. BYD Co Ltd (simplified Chinese: 比亚迪股份有限公司;traditional Chinese: 比亞迪股份有限公司; pinyin: Bǐyàdí Gǔfēn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī) is a Chinese manufacturer of automobiles and rechargeable batteries based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. It has two major subsidiaries, BYD Automobile and BYD Electronic. Hailed for its innovations, BYD has grown to become a major manufacturer of rechargeable batteries, most notably mobile phone batteries. BYD topped the 2010 Bloomberg BusinessweekTech 100 list, a list of large, fast-growing tech companies.
During the World Smart Energy Week 2015 (Feb. 25-27, 2015) in Tokyo, Japan, this has been presented about BYD, below (in italics):
BYD Co., Ltd is a leading-edge provider of green energy technologies that specializes in the IT, automotive, and new energy industries. Being the world’s biggest rechargeable battery manufacturer, BYD also has the largest global market share for cell-phone chargers and keypads. BYD branched out into the auto business in 2003, and has kept a robust yearly growth rate successively. In 2008, Warren Buffett invested $232 million to take a 9.89% stake in BYD. Today, BYD is the fastest-growing Chinese auto company and a global pioneer in the field of new energy vehicles including Dual Mode Electric Models and Pure Electric Models.
Based on its core Fe Battery technology, BYD has worked out a Green City Solution, which aims to electrify urban public transportation systems by transitioning from gasoline and diesel buses and taxis to pure electric ones. In March 2012, BYD and Daimler AG officially announced the entirely new EV brand Denza in China.
In 2014, BYD andStrata (Strata Solar of Chapel Hill, NC) worked together to implement BYD’s world leading battery technology into a series of Strata Solar’s utility farm projects in order to maximize production and efficiencies. Markus Wilhelm, Strata Solar’s CEO said “We have been very impressed with BYD’s focus on solar and storage technology. BYD’s renewable energy division is highly vertically integrated, which benefits from strong engineering competence, and research and production capabilities in panel manufacturing, racking, inverter technology, and comprehensive storage solutions. During our meetings with Chairman Wang and his staff we had the opportunity to confirm Strata’s alignment with BYD’s global vision and strategy for solar energy. Strata’s unique and rapidly growing utility scale solar business will provide BYD with a large and scalable platform for their current and new technology.”
Strata Solar completed nearly 200 MW’s of solar across 30 installations in 2013. Strata added 300 – 400 MW’s in 2014 and has a pipeline of 1.5 gigawatts in the making. Residents in North Carolina have benefited tremendously from such collaborations that they are expanding their reach (to be presented in our next post).
With its combined expertise in PV and storage, BYD is providing comprehensive on-and off-grid solutions in various markets as power storage becomes an important component of PV solution. The company has shipped about half of its storage solutions to solar and the other half to other renewable energy applications.BYD has also collaborated with the U.S. multinational energy company Chevron in a project in the Middle East. For residential PV market in the U.S., where residential users pay the highest prices for electricity in the morning and evening, utilizing the DESS (Distributed Energy Storage System) of BYD, homeowners can tap the stored electricity in the morning and then do the same in the evening after the PV system has provided new energy to the battery. And during the night, the battery can be charged using power provided from the grid at off-peak rates.
Other international collaborative efforts: turning to Taiwanese cell manufacturers or setting up production facility in the U.S. in coming up with a duty-free solution for the U.S. market;expansion of module production plant in South Africa;partnership in Europe via juwi Holding AG in Germany for solar panels; positioning itself for the Japanese large-scale ground-mounted PV market; teaming up with the Canberra-based utility AGL Energy in supplying panels to a 400 MW PV project in Australia. With its chain of R & D centers in Shanghai, Ningbo, and Shenzhen providing strong base and its four 100 MW module production lines in Shanghai, BYD’s competitiveness is assured going forward in energy storage, solar energy products, and transportation vehicles.
It is clear that in order for any company, solar or otherwise, to succeed, the name of the game is: Solving Problems and Collaborations. In our 21st century global economy, barriers such as tariff or anti-dumping tariff no longer works. Our future belongs to those who are able to solve problems and to collaborate with others from all parts of the world. The sooner we all realize this and free ourselves from the obsolete mode of thinking, the better we will be able to play the game of Building Our Economy and Going Green.
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, photographed, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your comments or suggestions will be welcomed via sunisthefuture@gmail.com“”.
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics: www.sunisthefuture.net
IT TAKES EARTHLY COLLABORATIONS (Greeenfield-Shunfeng-Suntech-Youmex) TO GENERATE SUNNY DISPOSITION FOR SOLAR POWER ! THERE IS HOPE & OPTIMISM FOR EARTHLINGS AFTER ALL!
It takes Earthly Collaborations To Generate Sunny Disposition For Solar Power (credit: sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
(Please click on red links and note magenta)
Suntech and Greenfield Form a Strategic Alliance With youmex Providing a Complete Financial Package in the UK (Press Release)
Suntech will supply the alliance’s UK solar projects with its world-class panels
“We are excited to complement our partnership with Greenfield with youmex’s financial services to our customers. We believe that this alliance will serve as another catalyst for growth in the UK’s solar market,” said Eric Luo, CEO of Suntech. Luo, who is also responsible for Shunfeng Photovoltaics International Holding’s acquisition strategy, added that “through our partnership, Suntech and Shunfeng will be able to look at other acquisitions in the market as part of our strategy to become the largest integrated clean energy supplier globally.”
In the alliance, Greenfield will provide EPC services, while youmex will arrange construction loans and long-term project financing as well as selling the PV Solar Power Plants to investors.
“With its fully integrated transaction management of these three tasks, youmex speeds up and assures the whole process of financing and sales for one of the largest PV pipelines in UK,” explains Kai Hartmann, Head of Corporate & Structured Finance at youmex group. “We are very thrilled to be part of the alliance that unites the core competencies, experiences and strengths of these three complementary partners.”
“Together with the expertise of Suntech and youmex, our alliance is well-positioned to solidify a strong presence within the UK’s Solar PV market,” echoed Helmut Kube, Managing Director of Greenfield.
Among its many products for utility-scale projects, Suntech produces 60 Cell polycrystalline modules which are excellent for weak light performance markets such as the UK and are manufactured with advanced cell technology material making them highly resistant to Potential Induced Degradation (PID), thus allowing for high performance under extreme conditions for many years.
“We have great confidence in the quality and sustainability of our products for these projects,” said Luo. “Our polycrystalline silicon modules recently ranked above industry standards in a technical review conducted by UK-based consultancy OST Energy and received the VDE-Quality Tested certification, which recognizes high quality products that go beyond existing standards in the photovoltaic industry.”
About Wuxi Suntech Power Co., Ltd.
Wuxi Suntech Power Co., Ltd., a company incorporated in the PRC in January 2001, produces industry-leading solar products for residential, commercial, industrial, and utility applications. Suntech has delivered more than 30 million photovoltaic panels or 8 GWs of installed capacity to more than 1 thousand customers in more than 80 countries. Suntech’s pioneering R&D creates customer-centric innovations that are driving solar to grid parity against fossil fuels. Suntech’s mission is to provide reliable access to nature’s cleanest and most abundant energy source.
About Greenfield
Greenfield Solar International GmbH & Co. KG is a German EPC company which configures, builds, operates, and maintains photovoltaic roof and ground-mounted installations across Europe and has gained a good reputation for planning, engineering, logistics with procurement and for the turnkey construction of solar farms. Greenfield has built solar farms with a track record of over 650 MW in the last years and brought them to the grid in major European countries such as Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, and United Kingdom.
About youmex group
youmex group, based in Frankfurt, combines special financing solutions with a track record of about 3.5 billion Euros. As a financing platform, youmex acts as a one stop shop by simplifying, accelerating and optimizing financing and capital market transactions for almost 15 years. The Project Finance area focuses on the Real Estate and Clean Energy assets. In particular, youmex arranges bridge, construction, short-term and long-term financing of wind and solar parks for project developers and investors throughout Continental Europe, United Kingdom (UK), South and Middle America. youmex also sells wind and solar power plants as an investment product. youmex is a German Stock Exchange (Deutsche Boerse) Listing Partner and is regulated by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) as a financial services institute.
I really need to share this “Standing Ovation at the InterSolar North America Open Ceremony” with you all, taking place in July of 2014, at Moscone Center of San Francisco, CA.:
California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. was met with a standing ovation as he delivered the keynote remarks at Intersolar North America’s Opening Ceremony 2014. Following the Governor’s remarks, San Francisco’s Mayor Edwin M. Lee took the stage. New York State Senator Kevin S. Parker similarly championed local policies that have grown the solar energy industry significantly in New York. Franz Untersteller, minister of the environment, climate protection and the energy sector, Germany, discussed the major policy incentives implemented in Germany that have played a key role boosting the solar industry. Finally, CALSEIA’s executive director Bernadette Del Chiaro concluded the session with a discussion of California’s solar policies and an inspirational call to action, asking the audience to help quadruple the solar industry in the next six years.
It is important to point out/remind ourselves that:
1. There is much more solar that needs to be installed in the decades to come!
2. There is much more needing to be done. We’ve not yet met the turning point to Sustainability.
3. The cost of PV modules has dropped 80% in the last five years.
4. Solar Industry employs more than 142,000 people in USA (more than 50,000 in CA).
5. We can look to and utilize much of the lessons learned from Germany.
6. Solar is desperately NEEDED now, especially in light of climate change.
7. 16.5% of the electricity supply of CA on any given day is from Solar (without including the 2 GW on rooftops).
8. CA Solar Industry now employs more people than the three investor-owned utility companies combined.
So, let those of us in the rest of the 49 states also align ourselves with this tremendous task of transitioning into the Renewable/Solar Energy Future!
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your questions/comments/suggestions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
With the ever-expanding solar industry, one finds more and more internationally operated photovoltaic company such as Gehrlicher Solar, a company from Germany, with subsidiaries and joint ventures on four continents (including France, India, Spain, South Africa, and Romania). Gehrlicher Solar, one of the most experienced photovoltaic companies in Europe, is founded in 1994, that develops, plans, builds, finances, and operates solar power plants for ground mounting and for roofs, from private houses to multi-megawatt systems. Gehrlicher Solar also plans, sets up, and manages profit-oriented photovoltaic funds and private placements for private and institutional investors. As the solar industry evolves from solely-Save Our Planet Solution into multi-billion dollar with long-term profitability industry, services provided by Gehrlicher Solar becomes more and more relevant every day.
Gehrlicher Solar was acquired by the M + W Group last year and has leveraged the parent company’s financial strength and global reach and built on its already solid reputation as one of the foremost engineering, procurement, construction, operations, and maintenance (EPC O&M) firms in the commercial and utility scale solar market. In 2013, Gehrlicher/M+W more than doubled its annual project installation rate to 82 MW and continued with a robust growth trajectory in the U.S. and Latin America. Gehrlicher/M+W is expanding its capabilities, leading in the integration of energy storage, hybrid power generation, and grid stabilization solutions. Below is an interview with the Sr. Director of Marketing David Hague of Gehrlicher Solar during InterSolar North America 2014, on July 9, 2014, overlooking Yerba Buena Gardens:
Director Hague discusses various emerging market opportunities within the solar industry: from PV + storage technology, control technology stabilizing the grid, to the fact that solar is now cost competitive with the coal (cheapest fossil fuels technology), and the fact that solar is a much easier generating-asset to permit and build than any other generating asset. Solar is very reliable and secure asset.
For further inquiry regarding planning a photovoltaic system or searching for potential partnership with Gehrlicher Solar, please contact:
Gehrlicher Solar Services GmbH
Feldkirchener Str. 2
85540 Haar Germany
Governor John de Jongh, Jr. of the Virgin Islands signed a bill enacting feed-in tariffs in the US territory on May 16, 2004. Act 7586 is a greatly watered down version of the original proposal by Senator Craig W Barshinger. The act directs the territory’s utility to set the tariffs and otherwise administer the program. The tariffs must be approved by the Public Service Commission. Unlike many recent feed-in tariff proposals in North America, the Virgin Islands act includes other renewables an[more]
Facing pressure due in large part to a pipeline of proposed PV installations and increasing electricity demand, the Philippine Department of Energy (DOE) is organizing plans to raise its feed-in tariff (FiT) cap to 10 times more than the current rate.
Since the domestic RHI launched in April 2014, I’ve been hearing people saying that the domestic RHI ‘isn’t such a good return as the feed-in tariff (FiT).
Here is yet another reason why the reductions German energy intensive industry gets when paying surcharges are not subsidies, and therefore none of the EU Commission’s business.
REACH’s wrapup summary of renewable legislation that was considered by Hawaii’s state legislature during its 2014 session, including 100% RE, storage, grid modernization, net-metering, and various renewable energy tax credits.
The Fukui District Court ruled Wednesday that it will not allow the restart of two reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi nuclear plant, now under safety examination by Japan’s top nuclear watchdog. . . It is the first time since the Fukushima nuclear crisis erupted in March 2011 that a Japanese court has ordered a power supplier not to bring a nuclear plant online.
The Danish Energy Agency has published an energy-scenario report and five sub-analyses on the energy system of the future and the challenges that need managing up to 2050 as fossil fuels are phased out and replaced with renewable energy.
Windpower Ownership in Sweden: Business models and motives, the new book by Tore Wizelius helps English-speakers understand how Swedes have taken a sizable ownership of wind energy in spite of their government. In this, his book can serve as an inspiration to community wind advocates worldwide who face many of the same challenges faced in Sweden.[more]
In comparison, the German Chancellor’s office (Bundeskanzleramt) has a 150 kW installation. That’s at least by a factor 10 more than what Obama has installed.
Evance have an innovative new windmill design 90% of the way through development and nearing the production stage, following the manufacture and supply of almost 2,000 of smaller windmills –between 10-20m tall – to Britain and locations across the globe from the USA and Madagascar over the past decade.
However, developers say a lot of the uncertainty around geothermal in the U.S., and part of the reason it hasn’t grown much in recent years, is due to the unreliable nature of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC).
This feed-in tariff news update is made in cooperation with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The views expressed are those of Paul Gipe and are not necessarily those of ILSR.
Gathered and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your questions/comments/suggestions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
April 9, 2014, by Craig Morris: Even when the foreign press reports on the correct numbers, a lot of the terms can still be slightly misleading. Today, we focus on a report at Reuters to help the international audience understand the issues.
April 4, 2014, by Linda Archibald: The man who initiated the Feed-in Tariff (FiT) concept says Malaysia should increase the quota for renewable energy (RE) for its own FiT programme to create enough mass to face potential roadblocks ahead.
April 4, 2014,The Strategy makes clear DECC want this market to grow over the next few years, so it will be key to change the feed-in tariff reduction triggers and the upper tariff band to enable this. We can fix the barriers, but the policy framework must allow the growth we all want to see.
April 4, 2014,The use of the fixed feed‐in systems that have so far been successful in minimizing financing costs is prohibited from January 2015 for all but small installations. This shift to a “market premium” is likely to increase financing costs and might have negative effects on the efficiency of short‐term markets and effectiveness of forward markets.
April 3, 2014, by Craig Morris: While the German government does not specifically plan to change the design of feed-in tariffs for PV this year, the application of the renewables surcharge to solar power directly consumed does change things considerably.
April 3, 2014, by John Parnel: End-market demand was said to have been driven by Japan and the UK, which combined accounted for more than one-third of demand globally as well as setting new quarterly records for PV deployed.
March 28, 2014, by Paul Gipe: In a potentially far-reaching decision, the European Commission has decided that the French system of feed-in tariffs for wind energy on land is not excluded under prohibitions against “state aid,” and is therefore permitted under European Union (EU) regulations. [more]
March 28, 2014,Three German federal states have reached a deal with German Economics and Energy Minister Sigmar Gabriel (SPD) whereby only part of the feed-in tariff surcharge will be applied to new solar photovoltaic systems which supply electricity for the system owner’s use.
March 28, 2014, by Craig Morris: Yesterday, Brussels approved French feed-in tariffs for wind but said it would investigate industry exemptions. In related news, a draft of the latest energy policy proposals leaked earlier this month probably provides so many backdoors for feed-in tariffs as to make the policy viable going forward.
April 7, 2014, by Andrew Dewitt: Japan’s energy policy regime appears dangerously adrift in the context of accelerating climate change. The core problem is agency. On the one hand, Japanese PM Abe Shinzo and the nuclear village appear obsessed with nuclear power restarts and 20th century paradigms of the power economy.
March 31, 2014, by Craig Morris: On Friday, German power provider Eon confirmed that it will shut down a nuclear plant ahead of schedule. The premature discontinuation of lignite excavation also announced that day, however, is a governmental decision, albeit one the firm may have been about to make itself.
March 27, 2014, by Glen Estill: Natural gas in storage in the US continued its decline in the most recent update from the US Energy Information Agency. (Why doesn’t Canada publish this type of data?) The ongoing cold winter reduced the gas in storage to 896 Bcf. This compares with the 5 year average of 1822 Bcf, a reduction of 51%. Gas in storage dropped in the week ended Mar 21 by 57 Bcf. Last year in the same week gas in storage was pretty much the same as the week before.
March 26, 2014, by Bernard Chabot: But as his Figure 1 and, in particular, Figure 3 show, the boom in nuclear mainly took place in the 1970s. Growth continued in the 80s, but began stagnating at the end of the 90s, and has taken a dive since Fukushima.
March 24, 2014, by Glen Estill: Areas with periodic droughts, like California, Australia, and even the US and Canadian west (remember the dust bowl) need to preserve their rivers and aquifers, or face severe economic consequences. In Canada, Alberta and Saskatchewan are especially vulnerable to drought. And these two province rely primarily on thermal electricity generation.
March 23, 2014, by Dave Toke: The Hinkley C nuclear power plant deal that gives the nuclear developers a £92.50 per MWh premium price for 35 years will give nuclear power a clear competitive advantage over solar pv in what will be a growing electricity for motor vehicles market.
March 20, 2014, by Chisaki Watanabe: Japan added 7,044 megawatts of clean energy capacity since it began an incentive program in July 2012 through the end of last year.
March 19, 2014, by Craig Morris: In any normal situation, such hard facts would simply be reported – it’s not like there’s no way to say “carbon emissions are slightly down year-over-year” in German.
March 18, 2014,A majority of respondents continue to oppose bringing idle nuclear reactors back online, despite moves by the Abe administration to allow restarts as soon as this summer, according to an Asahi Shimbun poll.
March 17, 2014, by Glen Estill: Some have forecast that the fracking boom may be close to running it’s course. The depletion rates for fracked gas are very high – that is, the well stops producing very quickly. We may not have the surpluses we think we do. But we can make huge surpluses without fracking if we choose to.
April 3, 2014, by David Suzuki: I think windmills are beautiful. They harness the wind’s power to supply us with heat and light. They provide local jobs. They help clean air and reduce climate change.
March 30, 2014, by Karl-Friedrich LenzDaniel Wetzel at WELT reports on a new nationwide anti-wind organization recently founded in Germany. The name of the new lobby group is “Vernunftkraft” (reason power). I am not linking to them, but I think that’s an interesting name.
March 24, 2014, by Ketan Joshi: Recently, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) released a comprehensive position statement on the curiously invulnerable issue of ‘wind turbine syndrome’. One phrase from the statement caught my eye, because it goes slightly further than other institutions (like the Victorian Department of Health, the National Health and Medical Research Council, or New South Wales Health), in that it mentions the impact of misinformation:
March 19, 2014, by Sarah Taylor: A proposed wind turbine installation near Camp Perry in Northwestern Ohio has recently been halted (see article) by environmental groups that turn out to have connections to the oil, gas and tourism industries.
March 17, 2014,The available Australian and international evidence does not support the view that the infrasound or low frequency sound generated by wind farms, as they are currently regulated in Australia, causes adverse health effects on populations residing in their vicinity. The infrasound and low frequency sound generated by modern wind farms in Australia is well below the level where known health effects occur, and there is no accepted physiological mechanism where sub-audible infrasound could cause heal
March 31, 2014, by Jonathan Migneault: Bob Jeffery, vice-president of the SUN Co-operative board, said the group has made an application with the Ontario Power Authority’s Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program, which offers small green-power generators a chance to sell power to the provincial grid at a guaranteed rate.
March 24, 2014, by Mark Pengilly: SB 1520, which passed the Oregon House and Senate with bipartisan support, has been signed into law by Governor Kitzhaber. The bill allows renewable energy cooperative corporations to be created and capitalized without the requirement of securities registration.
March 19, 2014, by Craig Morris: The switch from state-run water services to the private sector made the public aware of the difference between the two options, but the possibility of energy democracy is poorly understood outside Germany even among proponents of renewables. Do citizens have the right to make their own energy? Should such a right be made law explicitly?
April 7, 2014, by Mike Barnard: Vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT) continue to get attention, press and R&D funding. Antagonists of mainstream wind generation continually point at them as if they were a superior technology. People perpetually re-invent them and believe that they have found something new and exciting. However, they are undeserving of any significant attention, are an inferior technology and definitely aren’t new. Outside of a couple of niches, they are more of a distraction from deployment of effective utility-scale, horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWT) than anything else.
March 24, 2014,The world market for small wind has continued to grow: As of the end of 2012, a cumulative total of at least 806’000 small wind turbines were installed all over the world. This is an increase of 10 % compared with the previous year, when 730’000 units were registered.
This feed-in tariff news update is made in cooperation with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. The views expressed are those of Paul Gipe and not necessarily of ILSR
When I was going through my end-of-the-year check on emails, I came across this wonderful press release from month of December in 2013, shared below:
Hanwha SolarOne announced the completion of a 30 kW solar PV system at the Yuyangguan Town Hope Primary School in Wufeng County, Hubei province. This project marks an important milestone in Hanwha’s ‘Happy Sunshine’ campaign, in which the company has donated PV equipment to welfare and childcare centers across Korea as well as the Osterbek School in Hamburg, Germany and Taneichi kindergarten in Hirono-cho, Japan.
Hanwha SolarOne Brings Light to Chinese Children in Need
New 30kW Solar PV System Successfully Installed at Hope School
Shanghai, Hubei, China, December 17, 2013 — Hanwha SolarOne Co., Ltd. (the “Company,” or “Hanwha SolarOne”), a top-10 global photovoltaic (PV) manufacturer of high-quality, cost-competitive solar modules today announced the completed installation of a 30 kW solar PV system, which will provide continuous power support toYuyangguan Town Hope Primary School in Wufeng County, Hubei province. The completion of this project marks an important milestone in Hanwha SolarOne parent company Hanwha Group’s ‘Happy Sunshine’ campaign. Held in partnership with the China Youth Development Foundation, ‘Happy Sunshine’ aims to improve the operational conditions of local schools while teaching students the value of renewable energy and sustainable development. In attendance during the installation completion ceremony was Mr. Keum Choon-Soo, President of Hanwha Group China Headquarters; Mr. Song Jeong Hoon, Vice President of Hanwha Group China Headquarters; Mr. Guo Qi, Vice President of Hanwha SolarOne; and Mr. Yang Chun Lei, Vice General Secretary of the China Youth Development Foundation.
Here is a video representing Hanwha SolarOne’s philosophy:
In addition to designing and installing the 30 kW distributed rooftop PV system for Yuyangguan Town Hope Primary School, Hanwha SolarOne will provide comprehensive operation and maintenance training to ensure its optimal use. The system will yield an estimated 32,000 kW of clean solar energy every year.
“We are excited to donate and install PV equipment for a Hope School. More than that, we are honored to brighten the lives of these children and bring them new hope through new energy,” said Mr. Keum Choon-Soo, President of Hanwha Group China Headquarters during the ceremony. “As a responsible corporate citizen, Hanwha will continue to bring benefit to the communities we serve and partner with organizations who share our commitment to creating a brighter future.”
Mr. Yang Chun Lei, Vice General Secretary of the China Youth Development Foundation added, “We are extremely grateful for this generous donation from Hanwha Group and Hanwha SolarOne. With Hanwha SolarOne’s advanced technology and beneficial training, we believe that this system will be an effective source of sustainable and reliable energy for Yuyangguan Town Hope Primary School.”
“We are extremely honored to play a meaningful role in this event,” said Mr. Guo Qi, Vice President of Hanwha SolarOne. “Completing the installation of this 30kW Solar PV System at the Hope School marks one of our most significant achievements in corporate social responsibility this year.”
Hanwha SolarOne is committed to contributing to both social and business growth in China. In addition to completing the installation of this 30kW Solar PV System through the ‘Happy Sunshine’ project, the company recently formed a key alliance with Jiangsu Zhongtian Technology Co., Ltd and supplied 50 MW to one of China’s largest state-owned power companies, China Huaneng Group.
Since Hanwha Group’s ‘Happy Sunshine’ began in 2011, it has donated PV equipment to welfare and childcare centers across Korea as well as the Osterbek School in Hamburg, Germany and Taneichi kindergarten in Hirono-cho, Japan to give more children light for their studies.
The Hanwha SolarOne rooftop PV system and guests in attendance at the installation completion ceremony. From the left: Mr. Li Chang Jie, Deputy County Executive of Wufeng County; Mr. Yang Chun Lei, Vice General Secretary of the China Youth Development Foundation; Mr. Keum Choon-Soo, President of Hanwha Group China Headquarters; Mr. Zhang Qun Bo, Principle of Yuyangguan Town Hope Primary School; Mr. Guo Qi, Vice President of Hanwha SolarOne; and Mr. Song Jeong Hoon, Vice President of Hanwha Group China Headquarters. (Credit: Hanwha SolarOne)
Guests in attendance at the installation completion ceremony with the children from the Yuyangguan Town Hope Primary School. From the left: Ms. Zhang Ting Yu, Vice President of Wufeng County People’s Political Consultative Committee; Mr. Li Chang Jie, Deputy County Executive of Wufeng County; Mr. Zhang Qun Bo, Principle of Yuyangguan Town Hope Primary School; Mr. Zhang Yi, Secretary General of the Hubei Youth Development Foundation; Mr. Yang Chun Lei, Deputy Secretary of the China Youth Development Foundation; Mr. Keum Choon-Soo, President of Hanwha Group China Headquarters; Mr. Song Jeong Hoon, Vice President of Hanwha Group China Headquarters; Mr. Guo Qi, Vice President of Hanwha SolarOne; and Mr. Li Gang, Head of Community Culture Department of the China Youth Development Foundation.(Credit: Hanwha SolarOne)
About Hanwha Group
Hanwha Group, founded in 1952, is one of the largest business enterprises in South Korea with 52 domestic affiliates and 90 global network partners in three major sectors: Manufacturing and Construction, Finance, and Services and Leisure. With a 60-year track record of industrial leadership, Hanwha’s Manufacturing and Construction businesses encompass basic chemicals, advanced materials, property development, green energy and total solar energy solutions. The Finance network, covering banking, insurance, asset management and securities, is the second largest non-bank finance group in South Korea. The Services and Leisure sector offers premium lifestyle services and retail and resort businesses. For more information, visit www.hanwha.com.
About Hanwha SolarOne
Hanwha SolarOne Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ: HSOL) is one of the top 10 photovoltaic module manufacturers in the world, providing cost-competitive, high quality PV modules. It is a flagship company of Hanwha Group, one of the largest business enterprises in South Korea. Hanwha SolarOne serves the utility, commercial, government and residential markets through a growing network of third-party distributors, OEM manufacturers and system integrators. The company maintains a strong presence worldwide, with a global business network spanning Europe, North America, Asia, South America, Africa and the Middle East. As a responsible company committed to sustainability, Hanwha SolarOne is an active member of the PV Cycle take-back and recycling program. For more information, please visit: www.hanwha-solarone.com.
Contact person for this press release: Angela Wong Edelman, 201 Baldwin Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401, Angela.wong@edelman.com, 650-762-2800
