THIN FILM SOLAR PANELS

Archive for June, 2010

With the evidence of our gluttony for oil now rudely lapping at our shores, at the G-20 meeting that just wrapped up in Toronto, Obama pressed for and got agreement from other world leaders to actually end fossil fuel subsidies, by erasing the word “voluntary” in the agreement, the Los Angeles Times is reporting.

Despite the earlier fears of environmentalists that it would be merely a voluntary “goal”,  at the last minute a newly muscular non-voluntary end to fossil energy subsidies, was inserted into the final language of the G-20 agreement, at the request of the US President. America.gov found that fossil fuel subsidies amounted to $558 billion worldwide in 2008.

The top 20 nations at the G-20 have now also agreed to ongoing reviews to check on how well each of them lives up to the commitment.
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The Indian government has set up a solar securities fund which would ensure that project developers of large-scale solar photovoltaic projects get paid at premium to the utility tariffs.

The $70 million fund would be used to release finances to the project developers who are refused payments by state electricity boards under power-purchase agreements. The government now allows grid-connected solar power projects to forge independent agreements with transmission companies thus allowing them to choose to whom the project developers want to sell the electricity.

India recently announced the National Solar Mission which aims at increasing the solar energy installments to 20,000 MW by 2020. The first stage of the this Mission which concludes in 2013 could see 1,100 MW of grid-connected solar PV power plants. Since the capital cost, manufacturing cost and the payback period of investments are considerably high to attract sustainable flow of investments, the Indian government has announced several incentives and subsidies for the solar manufacturing industry as well as the project developers.

One of such incentives is the high tariff rates that the transmission companies have to pay to the project developers, this reduces the payback period and attracts investors. The tariff rates from coal-fired power plants is as low as a third of these recently announced tariff rates. (more…)

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck – or a really great ducklike thingamajig.  Apply that maxim to energy, and you get some insight into why more Americans are shedding fossil fuels in favor of wind power and other forms of clean, renewable energy.  After all, if it gets the same job done at far lower risk and with less cost over the long run, what’s not to like? Case in point: even though the housing market has not recovered from its crash, sales of small home-scaled wind turbines increased last year by almost 10,000 units.

The wind turbine sales report was just released by the American Wind Energy Association (naturally), fresh on the heels of its new collaboration with the United Steel Workers labor union and other partners to push for more green jobs through a national renewable energy policy. To hammer home the point, AWEA sent a gigantic 131-foot made-in-the-U.S.A. wind turbine blade  to Congress, inscribed with 6,000 signatures from wind power and green jobs supporters.  And guess who partnered in that ?  GE.  That’s right, GE.

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Today, President Obama told twenty three senators who met at the White House to discuss proposed climate legislation, to use the funds of polluters, not taxpayers, in order to fund the replacement of existing fossil energy with new climate-safe energy.

Senators coming out of the meeting say that President Obama told them that the climate and clean energy bill must put a price on carbon emissions. “The president was very clear about putting a price on carbon and limiting greenhouse gas emissions,” said Senator John Kerry.

“He was very strong about the need to put a price on carbon and make polluters pay,” said Senator Joe Lieberman, adding “He made a very passionate and, I think, effective argument that polluters should pay.”

And Obama’s own words, even before the Gulf Coast gusher this year made it clear that he believes a price on pollution is needed.

“Does it make sense for us to start pricing in the fact that this thing is really bad for the environment?  And if we do, then can we do it in a way that doesn’t involve some big bureaucracy in a control and command system, but just says, look, we’re just going to — there’s going to be a price to pollution.  And then everybody can adapt and decide which are the — which are the best energies.”
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If you are a Californian who’s been wanting to put on solar, but your spouse has objections on aesthetic grounds, you now have an alternative. There are now more CSI-approved choices for building-integrated solar (BIPV) modules in the updated list this month at GosolarCalifornia. Expected performance of all the new BIPV is listed at the CSI-EPBB site.

California has just approved the SRS-Energy curved thinfilm tile. These can be added to your terracotta-colored clay tile roof like this… (more…)