Category Archives: Solar Photovoltiac News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Greeniverse LLC Receives 2013 Best of Denton Award Denton Award Program Honors the Achievement DENTON December 11, 2013 -- Greeniverse LLC has been selected for the 2013 Best of Denton Award in the Solar Energy Equipment category by the Denton Award Program. Each year, the Denton Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Denton area a great place to live, work and play. Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2013 Denton Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Denton Award Program and data provided by third parties. About Denton Award Program The Denton Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Denton area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value. The Denton Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community's contributions to the U.S. economy. SOURCE: Denton Award Program CONTACT: Denton Award Program Email: PublicRelations@bestofbusinessawards.org URL: http://www.bestofbusinessawards.org via Press Release.

Are Solar Panels Facing the Wrong Direction? New study finds that west-facing panels are far superior for cutting peak demand. Katherine Tweed November 14, 2013 West-facing rooftop solar panels produced 49 percent more electricity during peak demand compared to south-facing panels, according to a new study from Pecan Street Research Institute. The research is the first of its kind to evaluate the energy production of solar panels oriented in different directions. Pecan Street analyzed 50 homes in the Austin, Texas area. Some had only south-facing panels, others had west-facing panels, and some had both. South-facing panels produced a 54 percent peak reduction overall, while west-facing solar PV panels produced a 65 percent peak reduction. “There’s no other residential demand response tool generating 60 percent reductions,” said Brewster McCracken, CEO of Pecan Street. “Those are pretty extraordinary peak reductions.” When the data was normalized for a 5.5-kilowatt system, the panels turned to the west generated nearly 50 percent more electricity during peak demand hours than did their southern-facing counterparts. Homes with west-facing systems also produced slightly more electricity, with those panels producing 37 percent of total daily electricity use, compared to 35 percent for the south-facing panels. During times of peak demand, which is defined as 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Texas's ERCOT territory, 84 percent of electricity in west-facing systems was used in the home. The information could help inform utility rebate programs for rooftop solar panels and demand response programs. Most homes currently have south-facing panels. For the research, Pecan Street paid a premium to participants to induce them to turn their panels westward. If more utilities were to move to dynamic pricing models, where power cost more during days of high peak demand, west-facing panels could potentially be more attractive to certain households with high peak loads. The next round of research will also include information about the pitch of the roof. Panels on flat roofs tend to have higher rates of electricity generation, but most homes in the U.S. have pitched roofs, as did all of the participants in the first study. Pecan Street will also look beyond Austin in the next stage of the study. McCracken said there are plans to include homes in Colorado, Dallas and potentially California. TAGS: demand response, grid edge, peak demand, peak reduction, pecan street, residential solar, solar pv Katherine Tweed SPONSOR RELATED CONTENT: via Are Solar Panels Facing the Wrong Direction? : Greentech Media.

By: Bonnie Gonzalez

by Staff Writers San Francisco CA (SPX) Sep 25, 2012 SolarAid and SunFunder will launch an innovative financing partnership to bring solar power to over 20,000 people in Eastern Zambia. SunFunder is providing up to $50,000 in loans to SolarAid through its social enterprise SunnyMoney, in 2012. The first loan, for $10,000, will finance the purchase of 781 solar-powered lights. These lights will be sold to Zambian families who currently live without power. The money for this loan will be raised through SunFunder's crowdfunding platform, which allows anyone to invest money into the project in amounts starting at $25. Richard Turner, Director of Fundraising for SolarAid is excited about the potential. "Families in Africa are prepared to buy solar lights to replace kerosene and candles. These brilliant little lights can transform the lives of a family by reducing the amount they spend on kerosene, and providing a safe clean light to use. "We just need the capital to buy these magical lights and get them to remote areas. Sunfunder can help make that happen and we are delighted to be partnering with this amazing initiative". SolarAid owns SunnyMoney the brand and company which works to build trust in solar products in Africa to help create a market for solar lights. This market approach is more sustainable than aid. SunFunder is a new platform for anyone to invest in high-impact solar projects, unlocking access to clean, affordable energy around the world. SunFunder solves the biggest problem facing solar businesses working to deploy affordable solar technology in off-grid markets: access to financing. SunFunder, which specializes in off-grid markets where power is most needed, unlocks a significant new source of capital for solar: individual investors who will be able to place money into high-quality, vetted projects. "This partnership has the potential to make clean affordable solar energy a reality where it is needed the most," said Ryan Levinson, CEO and founder of SunFunder. Investors who place money into a project are repaid over a period of six months to two years, earning back their principal plus interest-based "Impact Points" that can be used to reinvest in new projects. Investors are also able to track their project's performance and impact. The project that launches with SolarAid will provide solar-powered lights to families in the Chadiza district of Eastern Zambia using distribution through local schools. Working through schools allows SolarAid to overcome the trust barrier typically faced when introducing a new technology such as solar lights. All of the target schools in the Chadiza zone of the Eastern Province are remote and not connected to the electric grid, instead relying on kerosene lanterns and candles for light.

Austin Energy’s VOST might be the answer to the NEM controversy. HERMAN K. TRABISH: AUGUST 24, 2012   Ten U.S. utilities currently account for 70 percent of all net energy metering (NEM) -- but most solar companies and utilities are thinking about it. Innovative financing, unprecedentedly low panel costs and local mandates are increasing the prevalence of photovoltaic solar-generated electricity. But utilities and ratepayers without solar are concerned about potential cost inequities. Austin Energy (AE), the progressive municipally owned Texas utility, may have a solution. NEM allows solar system owners to roll their meters backward as they earn retail rates for the electricity their systems send into the grid. In sunny places, bills can roll back to zero. This may shift some costs to the utility and the utility’s other ratepayers. When a PV system owner doesn’t pay a bill, it deprives the utility of income although that utility is still serving that customer. When PV system owners don’t pay for electricity, they also don’t pay ancillary charges for transmission and distribution system operations and maintenance even though both their electricity consumption and production use the infrastructure. That could make such payments higher for other ratepayers. The result is a growing clamor from non-solar owning ratepayers and utilities to end NEM. Solar advocates say NEM is vital to the growth of solar. It plays a pivotal role in the decision to bear the large upfront costs of installing solar because it significantly reduces the “payback period” for system purchasers. The rapidly expanding third-party-ownership model is eliminating the hurdle of upfront costs for residential rooftop solar. But NEM remains essential to the new financing scheme’s funders because it hastens the return on their investment. AE has been involved in solar for decades, explained AE Solar Incentives Program Manager Leslie Libby. It has long provided NEM because “costs were so high it was never going to be able to compete with coal or nuclear.” AE’s analysis, Libby added, is that even NEM, without a rebate on the system cost, is inadequate. “We still need to overcome the obstacle of upfront capital costs.” Because of considerations pertaining to the deregulated Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) electricity market, AE does not allow third-party ownership in its service territory, although, Libby noted, as solar approaches grid parity, a transition to third-party ownership will likely be necessary. Solar supporters at AE could see solar delivering an array of up-to-then unquantified benefits to a city that basks under one of the richest U.S. solar resources. “If we quantified them," Libby said, “we could pay more for solar.” The result was Austin Energy’s Value of Solar Tariff (VOST), an alternative to NEM that moves from a production-based incentive to a hard value that balances out in the utility’s bookkeeping. It may satisfy utilities, ratepayers and solar advocates. The VOST was derived from analyses by PG&E, Sandia Labs, Clean Power Research and others. It was, Libby said, “an inclusive process” that recognized the multiple added benefitssolar brought the municipality, including: 1. Energy value for predictably priced point-of-consumption electricity production; 2. Generation value for the avoided cost of building traditional generation; 3. Environmental value for reduced emissions and pollution; 4. Transmission and distribution system value for reduced burdens on existing wires and infrastructure and the eliminated need for new wires and infrastructure; 5. Disaster recovery value for serving when central stations go offline; 6. Reactive power value for stabilizing voltage drops that cause outages; and 7. Loss savings value for preventing all the above-named losses. In the 12.8 cents per kilowatt-hour 2011 update of the annually revalued tariff, “the value for solar went up,” Libby said, because the times “when solar is produced match [the times] when ERCOT needs power.” Beginning in October, AE’s solar system owners will be billed the same five-tiered, seasonally adjusted rates ranging from 1.8 cents to 11.4 cents per kilowatt-hour and the $10 monthly Customer Charge levied on all other AE electricity consumers. No meters will roll backwards. But solar owners will also be credited with 12.8 cents for every kilowatt-hour they send to AE. Theoretically, there should be no revenue loss to utilities or undue burden to other ratepayers because AE will only be paying for value it receives. Solaria Vice President for External Relations and Vote Solar co-founder David Hochschild, who helped lead the recent fight to protect California’s NEM, said AE’s VOST is still an unknown. Its viability as a solar support, he noted, depends entirely on where the tariff is set. But, he added, “it’s good to see Austin Energy showing leadership.” The VOST applies only to AE’s residential solar. AE bills list it as the residential solar rate. Some AE promotional materials call it Gross Metering. “What it is not,” Libby insisted, is an incentive. It is a credit applied to our customer’s bill for bringing this valuable resource into our service territory. That resource has a value to Austin Energy and we are going to credit them for that value.” What made the VOST “palatable both internally and externally,” Libby said, “is that a residential solar system owner is billed like every other customer for their total consumption. The brilliance of it is this piece. Solar system owners are no longer a special class of customer.” At the same time, she added, “we don’t have non-solar-owners hounding us anymore. But system owners get credited at the rate the utility has agreed is the value of bringing this resource into Austin. So far, it makes sense to everybody.”

By Holbert Janson August 3, 2012 San Antonio may soon become the solar energy capital of Texas.  A large new solar electricity project there will be the largest in the U.S. when completed.  Texas is already a leader in wind electricity and natural gas production.  Completion of the San Antonio solar project will also vault the state into the top 5 states for solar energy production. The project is a collaboration between CPS Energy, the municipally owned utility who provides electricity toSan Antonio, and OCI Solar Power who will build and operate the 400 megawatt solar power facility.  An output of this size is enough to power around 70,000 homes.  CPS Energy and OSI Solar Power have entered into a 25 year power purchase agreement meaning the city agrees to purchase power from the facility over that timeframe. OSI estimates that the project will create around 800 long term jobs and pump around $700 million annually into the local economy.  The company will also be locating itsU.S.headquarters inSan Antonio.  The San Antonioproject is part of a larger push by OSI, a South Korean owned company, into the sustainable energy market in North American.  In addition to this project the company has around 40 other projects of various sizes throughout theU.S. There are several factors that give Texas an advantage in solar energy.  Texas has the most open land of the lower 48 states, much of which is bathed with sunlight most of the year.  The state has a mature energy industry and large labor force that is cheap compared to other parts of the country.  The state was recently named the number one state for business by CNBC.  Beyond these factors Texas electricity providers will be hungry for electricity for the next few decades as it struggles to come up with enough power to serve the growing population and relatively strong economy.