Don’t Be a Party Pooper! How States Can Attract 3rd-Party Owned PPA Financing | Renewable Energy Project Finance 3rd-party owners are helping residential and commercial end-use customers finance new PV projects – but only in certain locations. "Why aren’t they coming to my state", you might ask, "and what can be done to get them here?" Many end users of electricity would like to use on-site photovoltaic (PV) generation to hedge against volatile electric utility bills and reduce climate change impacts. However, PV systems have high initial costs, and they must be properly operated and maintained to deliver expected benefits. As a result, several states have created juicy incentives to reduce the cost of PV to customers, or created renewable mandates to increase the number of new systems. Many of the incentives are production based, to encourage efficient system operation. Enter the 3rd-party owner, who uses a power purchase agreement (PPA) to finance an on-site PV system. However, 3rd-party electricity sales face regulatory and legislative challenges.
Solar Policy Can Advance (Or Delay) Grid Parity By A Decade By Climate Guest Contributor on April 2, 2012 at 12:24 pm "Solar Policy Can Advance (Or Delay) Grid Parity By A Decade" by John Farrell, via Energy Self Reliant States In their excellent interactive graphic, Bloomberg Energy Finance calls solar grid parity (when electricity from solar costs less than grid power) the “golden goal.” It’s an excellent illustration of how the right energy policy can help a nation go gold on solar or wallow in metallurgical obscurity. In the case of the U.S., it may mean delaying grid parity by eight years. In the screenshot below, countries in purple have reached the golden goal in 2012, based on the quality of their solar resource and the cost of grid electricity, as well as a 6% expected return on investment for solar developers. By 2020, the universe of countries has expanded significantly, and includes the United States In the U.S., however, there is high uncertainty. This highlights a huge irony in U.S. energy policy.
Interview with Tom Kimbis of SEIA — Summary Clean Power Published on October 4th, 2011 | by Zachary Shahan Our Google+ “hangout” interview with Tom Kimbis, SEIA’s Vice President of Strategy and External Affairs, just wrapped up. Here’s a short summary of it: Update: after Tom’s review, a few things have been corrected. Well, the interview started with some technical problems, unfortunately, but we ended up getting them fixed and got to ask Tom several questions, for which he responded with some good and useful feedback. Question (reader): “I’d like to know what he feels are the most reliable data sources for installed solar, both utility/commercial and residential. Answer: Tom mentioned SEIA’s collaboration with GTM Research and their quarterly U.S. Answer: Tom mentioned what we have written about many times here on CleanTechnica, that the energy industry has received government support for a long, long time, and for good reason — it’s important for our economy. [There was another question and answer in here that is missing]:
US Solar Industry Adds Jobs at 6.8% Pace Clean Power Published on September 22nd, 2011 | by Andrew The US solar industry has created 6,735 new jobs across the country since August, 2010, a 6.8% growth rate, bringing to 100,237 the number of Americans working in the industry, according to a preview of The Solar Foundation’s “National Solar Jobs Census.” The 6.8% growth rate in US solar industry jobs compares to a nationwide job growth rate of 0.7% from August 2010-August 2011 as reported by the Dept. of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, and a 2% decline in jobs in fossil fuel electric generation. “The U.S. solar industry is creating jobs at a far greater pace than the economy as a whole,” said Andrea Luecke, executive director of The Solar Foundation. “The National Solar Jobs Census series provides a definitive measure of the U.S. solar workforce and its growth over time. The Solar Foundation’s full solar industry jobs census report will be released in Dallas October 17. About the Author
Proposed Solar Development Area Maps View maps showing BLM-administered lands available for solar energy development as identified in the Solar PEIS Record of Decision, including maps of the 17 solar energy zones (SEZs) and the variance areas. Who Should Use these Maps and Why These files provide all users with fast, easy access to downloadable maps of the lands potentially available for solar energy development as identified in the Solar PEIS Record of Decision, in Adobe Acrobat format. These non-interactive maps contain a large amount of data that can be used by anyone; are easy to download, view, or e-mail; and can also be used to create high-quality printed output. Because the data used as the basis for these maps has not been updated or expanded since publication of the Final Solar PEIS, the maps provide a "snapshot" of data used for the PEIS. Solar Energy Zones The 17 SEZs are priority development areas for utility-scale solar energy facilities. Maps of Individual SEZs Land Use Allocations for Solar Energy Development
Interior Opening Up 17 Solar Energy Zones Across Six Western States Clean Power Published on November 6th, 2011 | by Andrew Map courtesty of US Dept. of Interior, BLM Looking to streamline and speed up the process of developing the nation’s solar power potential, the US Dept. of Interior took another step towards opening up public land in six Western states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah – to utility-scale solar power projects. Some 285,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land would be made available, according to the “Supplement to the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development” (Solar PEIS), the revised version of a plan originally proposed in December 2010. The BLM received and reviewed some 80,000 comments on its original plan, as well as obtaining additional data and consulting with cooperating agencies and resource managers, in coming up with the revised version, according to a news release. For more on solar power development on public land, check out: About the Author
Solar Power Below is a quick overview of solar power today. Below the overview, I’ve also added a number of additional solar power stories which are worth exploring if you want to take an even deeper dive into the subject. To get rolling, above is a CNBC interview of me talking about why, very generally, solar power is so important, and also talking about its potential to help the world today. Next is a video about how much the cost of solar has dropped in recent years and what that means, followed by an “About Solar / Why Solar” video that gets into the specifics of the energy and solar energy markets a bit more. The sections below cover: Solar Power’s AbundanceFalling Solar Power CostsSolar Energy Industry GrowthLargest Solar Power Projects If you’re looking for specific information on solar power technology, that’s not included here, but I’d recommend these resources for more on that: Solar Power Abundance! “Comparing finite and renewable planetary energy reserves (Terawatt‐years). Solar Power Costs
National Solar Energy Plan Close to Completion, Conservation Groups Support It Clean Power Published on January 31st, 2012 | by Guest Contributor Solar Energy Plan Map courtesty of US Department of Interior, BLM. by Natural Resources Defense Council Washington, D.C. The solar plan has garnered more than 100,000 comments in the past two years from stakeholders across the country advocating for balanced, guided development that would minimize potential impacts on wildlife and sensitive lands, and reduce uncertainty in permitting. Following are statements from conservation groups and other stakeholders in support of guided solar development: “It’s time to kick our addiction to polluting fuels and create new jobs by increasing clean sources of energy,” said Johanna Wald, senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “We are at a critical juncture in the future of solar development on our public lands,” said Chase Huntley, Director of Renewable Energy Policy at The Wilderness Society. About the Author Guest Contributor is many, many people all at once.
World’s Largest Solar PV Farm to be Built in U.S.? Maybe! Clean Power Published on July 22nd, 2011 | by Tim Tyler The race is on to choose the best location for the world’s largest solar power complex in the United States. Solar power experts have been working behind the scenes on a project that will see the most advanced and the largest solar power farm emerging to change the landscape somewhere in the southeastern United States. By last count, there were seven finalists left, all hoping to have the solar farm in their midst. The International Energy Agency in this year’s global outlook says renewable energy sources will raise their profile in the coming months. National Solar Power, a utility-scale solar power developer, said four were in Florida, two in Georgia and one in North Carolina. NSP plans to establish a 400-megawatt solar project in the winning community, which would make it the world’s largest photovoltaic power plant. The world’s largest solar power plant at present is an 80-megawatt solar project in Ontario, Canada. h/t UPI.com