Solar Industry First

NJATC ANNOUNCES PUBLICATION OF ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY’S FIRST PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEMS TEXTBOOKVisit http://www.ibew.org for further information.Photovoltaic Systems – the first comprehensive guide to the installation of commercial and residential solar energy systems. BETHESDA, MD (July 9, 2007) – The National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee for the Electrical Industry (NJATC) announced the publication of a groundbreaking work, Photovoltaic Systems – the first comprehensive guide to the installation of commercial and residential solar energy systems.
COMPANY PROFILESClick Here

Need a better energy storage system? Start using ultracapacitors.
Says Todd Stafford, senior director of instrumentation, alternative energy and International Training Center operations for NJATC, “Renewable resources such as solar power have become increasingly important, but no authoritative reference to the design, installation and evaluation of photovoltaic (PV) systems existed within the industry. This work is not just the first but the only textbook currently available in the field.” Authored by Jim Dunlop, leading renewable energy expert and curriculum specialist for NJATC, with Stafford as technical editor, the textbook covers the principles of photovoltaics – the direct conversion of solar energy into electricity -- and how to effectively incorporate it into stand-alone or utility-connected electrical systems. Detailed illustrations clarify the concepts behind PV-system operation, while photographs of actual installations show how components are integrated to form complete PV systems. What’s more, an accompanying CD-ROM provides interactive worksheets, quizzes, calculators, video clips and animated graphics depicting PV principles and operation and links to additional resources. The work is published and available through American Technical Publications. Explains Stafford, NJATC – a joint program of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) – has been training journeymen in the design and installation of solar energy systems for more than a decade. “The new textbook is the culmination of years of experience, and now stands at the center of our training, together with other specially developed course materials” says Stafford, “Our journeymen come to the course with thousands of hours of experience in wiring and general construction. Our course marries those skill sets to the creation of stateof- the-art solar energy systems. It’s the only course of its kind in the industry, and it’s producing the highly skilled workers creating today’s efficient and cost-effective PV systems.” ABOUT IBEW, NECA and NJATC Through their joint marketing organization – the National Labor-Management Cooperation Committee (NLMCC) of the organized electrical construction industry – NECA and IBEW together work to: • Reach customers with accurate information about the industry; and • Achieve better internal communication between labor and management. With 750,000 members who work in a wide variety of fields – including construction, utilities, telecommunications and manufacturing – the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is among the largest member unions in the AFL-CIO. The IBEW was founded in 1891. For more information, visit www.ibew.org. Voice of the $100 billion industry responsible for bringing lighting, power and communications to buildings and communities across the United States, the National Electrical Contractors Association was founded in 1901. NECA’s national office and 119 local chapters advance the industry through advocacy, education, research and standards development. For more information, visit www.necanet.org. The mission of the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC) is to develop and standardize training to educate the members of the IBEW and NECA, ensuring and providing the electrical construction industry with the most highly trained and highly skilled workforce possible. For more information, visit www.njatc.org.

Fox News Reports on New Solar Shingles

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,285652,00.html

It seems that solar is in the air, and everybody is paying attention. This article on Fox news popped up the other day and features commentary from the National Institute of Standards and Technology and their evaluation of new photovoltaic technology.

The article covers some of the basics on PV technology and is furthering the visibility of Solar as a great source of alternative energy. Personally, I can't wait until they commercialize thin film to the point that I can use it economically to paint my house.

TAGS: solar, photovoltaic, fox news, PV technology, NIST, testing solar, thin film solar

Really Big Solar

Thanks to the Floating Ark blog this afternoon; which is authored by Japhet Els, and his pointing me to an article about the largest PV solar installation in the world. Here are the record holders

Solar Pope?

Looks like God may be on the side of PV technology. The Vatican has decided to make a large photovoltaic installation to lighten their carbon footprint. Here is the article in the Catholic News. Kudos to the pope.

“The Vatican's Paul VI Centre is to get a green makeover with the installation of a giant rooftop garden of solar panels that will power all of the building's heating, cooling and lighting needs year-round.

Even though Vatican City State is not a signatory of the Kyoto Protocol, a binding international environmental pact to cut greenhouse gases, its inaugural solar project marks a major move in trying to reduce its own so-called carbon footprint, that is, the amount of carbon dioxide released through burning fossil fuels.The carbon dioxide-slashing solar panels will be installed sometime in 2008 after prototypes, environmental impact reports and other studies have been completed, Cuscianna said.”

TAGS: Vatican solar, solar pope, Catholic Church, Energy Installation

Solar Videos

California Law Supports Alternative Energy

I have spent the bulk of my career around power and fuel plants and used to spend time jumping from one natural gas pipeline to another. In each of these facilities, I can tell you that pollution emissions were a priority, and CO2 emissions were not. It was not a matter of non-compliance, it was just that nobody was talking about or concerned with CO2. With that in mind, facilities that burned natural gas were generally preferred from an installation and emissions point of view. A natural gas power plant is generally much more portable than coal burning facilities, required less overall maintenance and was much cleaner burning; making it the favorite installation for many utilities. However, thanks to a new law in California, the preference for natural gas may be about to change.

New legislation is steadily moving the economics of power away from combustion-related power generation and toward renewable energy. An announcement was made last week that the California Energy Commission has imposed new rules that forbid municipal utilities from signing power supply contract with generation facilities that use coal combustion, unless those facilities provide a way to store or otherwise eliminate CO2 emissions. Now granted coal is not natural gas, and I have not personally read the new rules yet. However, if the coal rule is a harbinger of additional rules against other combustion technologies (natural gas) then the cost of power creation for utilities that use combustion is going to get a lot more expensive. Alternatively, the incentives put forward in the state in favor of renewable solar and wind technologies may help to shift the economics such that PG&E and other utilities substantially increase their investment in new energy technologies.

Let’s face it; local government is always going to be a utilities largest customer. If that customer says I can’t buy from you unless you assure me that greenhouse gases are controlled, the utility will likely make the changes. Hopefully, the economics play out so that the utilities make changes toward alternative energy.

TAGS: PG&E, California Energy Commission, natural gas, alternative energy, greenhouse gas storage, co2 emissions, CO2 laws

How else can you get the power company to pay you?

This is exactly why I think Solar is a good idea.

My Solar Neighbors

Undoubtedly, California is a hotbed of new and exciting solar technologies. Although the current US solar market is very small in comparison to the renewable activities in China, Europe, and even Australia, we do have our share of innovation. The intrepid American entrepreneur is making swift strides into this exciting industry and revolutionizing the technologies and associated costs of a solar installation.

What does this have to do with my neighbor up the street? Actually, I used to live in Lake Forest, California, and before that I lived in Aliso Viejo, California in Orange County. At this point I would be asking so what. However, in this area a two companies that are making some significant headway into the California solar market.

The first company is an organization in Aliso Viejo entitled XsunX. This small but innovative company has developed and is actively commercializing thin film photovoltaic technology. The obvious advantage of this technology is that the photovoltaic substrate can be applied directly to window glass; which significantly increases the available surface area for a solar installation. If XsunX can get the bugs worked out of their technology and bring down the unit cost; they can make integrating a PV power plant that meets the load demands of an entire commercial building a reality. Currently XsunX is looking for a US based manufacturing facility to expand commercialize their technology.

The other neighbor of mine is the Southern California office of Akeena Solar. This fast growing installation house is beginning to show a presence in most major markets of Southern California. It appears that their growth has been fueled primarily by the residential market, but they are a full service operation and are able to perform a complete site survey and installation for commercial and government buildings as well.

TAGS: XsunX, Akeena, thin film photovoltaic, panel manufacturing, solar glass

Panel Shortage Not Over, but Soon

The panel shortage and general shortage of silicon is far from over, but it is nice to know that panel manufacturers are planning to ramp up production to address the increasing demand that the 20% annual growth of the solar industry is creating. A recent article by Diane Lindquist in the San Diego Tribune details Kyocera’s Tijuana manufacturing facility and the overall position of the company in the solar industry.

Regarding the capacity of the Kyocera manufacturing facility, the article states:

“Increased silicon output should have production at capacity by the beginning of 2008. And construction has begun on an adjacent building that will quadruple by 2011 the number of panels the Kyocera operation builds for North America and
South America.”

Of the big three solar panel companies, Kyocera seems to be moving into a dominant position with vertical integration and decent distribution in the fastest growing markets. Now if they can only maintain the lead in technological innovation, they will be well positioned for the future.

TAGS: Kyocera, Tijuana, Solar Panels, Silicon Shortage, San Diego Tribune, Diane Lindquist, solar capacity

Rebate Debacle Rebuked

This year there has been a significant drop in the number ofCalifornia solar rebate applications; and indeed, many small installers have suffered an slowdown in their business this year. This is primarily due to an un-intended clause in the recentCalifornia rebate policy that required rebate recipients to purchase time of use power contracts. For a residential customer, this essentially made the cost per solar watt, the same as the peak rate (highest daily rate) from the utility. The consequence of this is that power would cost more from a person who made the investment in solar, than it would from the utility.

Now this obviously is a contradiction to the Governor’s million solar roofs program which is an ambitious goal to cut California’s dependence on fossil-based energies. In order to address this problem the Governor is rushing an amended bill through the California Legislature to fix the obvious fly in the ointment. The LA Time story has the details of this change and the benefits that removing the problem-causing clause will have.

Personally, I commend the Governor for taking steps to address this issue. I have been reading a number of solar blogs lately, and there seems to be discussion of conspiracy around the legislated loophole. Regardless, I will do my part to make sure the million roofs number happens.

Tags: California, Governor, LA Times, Million Solar Roofs, Legislature, California Rebate