THIN FILM SOLAR PANELS

Archive for October, 2010

This article is the second in a series about the potential for private renewable energy companies to access the large (and growing) market for clean energy within the federal government by John K. Norris of MyEnergySolution.

The U.S. Market for Energy Efficiency

As I wrote about earlier, the market for solar power and energy efficiency within the federal government is huge and largely untapped. Pursuant to Presidential Executive Order 13423, federal agencies are required to improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions of the agency, through a substantial reduction in energy usage (up to 30%). Following up on this initial directive, President Obama signed Presidential Executive Order 13514 which stated beginning in 2020 and thereafter, all new federal buildings that enter the planning process will be designed to achieve zero net energy by 2030 and urges federal agencies to manage existing building systems to reduce the consumption of energy, water, and materials, and identify alternatives to renovation that lower a buildings operational cost. Finally, this order requires that all federal agencies establish and implement energy efficient practices for at least 15% of each agency’s building inventory by fiscal year 2015.

In addition to these executive moves, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the federal agency responsible for the management and procurement of most federal office buildings, has pushed itself to the forefront of the green building revolution. GSA has a fiscal year 2011 capital investment program of $1.4 billion to support green building, including $676 million for new construction and $703 million for renovation and alteration.

The GSA Leasing Process

In a typical build-to-suit for the federal government, private developers submit bids to GSA in response to another federal agencies’ request for office space. The winning bidder then signs a 10-20 year lease with the federal government for that office space. Critically, the federal government renews existing leases on procured office space approximately 90% of the time, providing landlords a reliable source of cash flow over an extended period of time.

Importantly, a large portion of the federal government’s office space was built and leased to the government well prior to the energy efficiency requirements of Presidential Executive Orders 13423 and 13514 with a large number of existing leases expiring over the next few years. In fiscal year 2011 (commencing on October 1, 2010), 128 leases expire for 6.1 million square feet; in fiscal year 2012, 107 leases expire for 6.4 million square feet; and in fiscal year 2013, 123 leases expire for 7.2 million square feet.

As stated above, the new government procurements will require energy efficient measures be incorporated into the design of the building requirement from the beginning. But what about the renewal of existing leases? As stated above, President Obama has required that all federal agencies have at least 15% of its inventory incorporate energy efficiency guidelines by fiscal year 2015. How will this impact lease renewals and will the federal government continue to renew existing leases with private landlords if those buildings do not comply with Presidential Executive Orders 13423 and 13514?

Energy Efficient Retrofits and GSA Lease Renewal

GSA has not put out definitive guidance on the matter but within the industry, it looks as if GSA might be using the leverage of lease renewal to force private landlords into energy efficient retrofits to meet federal requirements.

To start, GSA is already beginning to measure its inventory in advance of the 2015 deadline. By December 2010, GSA is scheduled to assess at least 5% of its owned buildings greater than 5,000 gross square feet and at least 5% of its leases greater than 5,000 gross square feet for compliance with federal energy efficiency requirements for the purpose of tracking leased assets that already meet such requirements. GSA has also required additional information on green building and energy efficient measures for all applications for improvements and lease renewals for federal buildings. Finally, GSA has created “Build Green Coordinators” in each of its 11 building regions for the purpose of providing private developers with technical assistance concerning green lease solicitation build-out requirements and LEED certifications.

Undoubtedly, this will have an impact on whether GSA will renew an existing lease with a private landlord. If an existing office building can be retrofitted to be energy efficient, this would be a much simpler and less costly way for GSA and other federal agencies to meet the energy efficient inventory standards. GSA could always elect to re-procure a project but that is costly and more importantly, time consuming. It has been my professional experience that a lease renewal in an existing leased building, even with major modifications such as requiring the building to be LEED certified and incorporating renewable energy systems, can be done by GSA, the agency occupant and the landlord, in just a few months. Whereas, a re-procuring of new space to meet the “sustainability” requirements will take GSA and the agency, several years to develop the new specifications, bid the new specifications, award the lease contract and then actually have the project built and occupied.

Not only does the existing landlord benefit by retaining a AAA lessee at renewal, even with large capital investments in the “green building” mandates, many of the sustainable improvements reduce the operating expenses the landlord is responsible for paying under the gross lease contract.

How to Find Landlords of Expiring GSA Leases

Finding landlords with expiring leases with the U.S. government is not easy but can be found with publicly available resources. First, download GSA’s list of lease building inventory. You will notice that every lease in all 11 of GSA’s regions are listed including information on rentable square feet, annual rent amount, landlord name and lease expiration date. Filter out all of those leases that are not for buildings of 5,000 square feet or more and have lease expirations greater than 5 years. The landlord name should be attached which you can cross reference with the U.S. Small Business Administration to retrieve publicly available contact information which can be a starting point for your lead generation process. Move the middle of the page and enter the landlord’s name under the “Searching for a Specific Profile” to retrieve the available information.

Note of caution: sometimes the name of the landlord as listed on the lease inventory is not complete, so when it’s entered into search box, the landlord’s contact information can not be found. The landlord and other lease information on the GSA lease inventory is entered by GSA personnel.

Finally, as an experienced developer of U.S. government buildings, I would recommend that solar and energy efficiency professionals be prepared to discuss the following with the landlord:

• Is the landlord is aware of the federal requirements for energy efficiency and how GSA is going to enact them on the property owners they lease from? Solar and energy professional must be able to discuss the details of the GSA enforcement program.
• Has GSA has contacted the landlord regarding a renewal or extension of the lease for the their premises? If so, has GSA discussed any new green technology improvements specifically for meeting any new “sustainability” requirements or bringing the building to a certain LEED level certification?
• Be prepared to discuss how solar power and energy efficient improvements can help the landlord comply with the “sustainability” requirements and how the cost of a solar power system or other energy efficient improvements can be incorporated into the tenant improvement package (such costs may vey well be paid for by GSA as a reimbursable tenant improvement expense but there isn’t a clear cut policy on this issue at the moment).
• Be prepared to discuss a range of financing options and how they might impact the owner’s on-going operating expenses.
• When requesting a site visit or face-to-face meeting, be familiar with the layout of the landlord’s property and be prepared to make recommendations at that meeting.

One final note of caution, some of the landlords are going to be experienced developers and construction guys and may know a lot about the federal “sustainability” requirements — even solar systems. However, there a lot of mom/pop owners out there, particularly with the smaller buildings — between 5000 to 20,000 square feet, who purchased their property via a 1031 exchange that are not knowledgeable about these matters nor can they afford to lose the federal government as a tenant.

John Keller Norris is the founder of Del Sol Capital Partners, LLC and is located in La Jolla, CA. Mr. Norris has been actively involved in the bidding, procurement, development and management of office space for the U.S. Government in the western U.S. Included in that process is the research, design and implementation of cost effective energy management systems in U.S. government leasehold facilities. Mr. Norris graduated from the Ohio State University with a B.S. degree in Finance and Accounting and received an MBA from San Diego State University. You may contact Mr. Norris at john@delsolcp.com.

Photo Credit: dolanh via flickr under a CC license

With Lake Mead predicted to run dry by 2021, energy which does not use water is going to be even more crucial to the energy future of the Southwest. Coal plants providing a quarter of Queensland’s electricity in Australia had to get shut down during Australia’s 14 year drought, because they needed a running river to keep them going. Nuclear plants in Europe have been shut down in drought summers for the same reason.

When push comes to shove, we humans really need to drink water more than we need to keep the lights on.

So one way that the West can really safeguard future energy supplies is to require that our energy come from sources that need no water. Although the California CEC just approved one wet-cooled solar thermal project (Abengoa Solar – 250 MW in the Mojave desert), most of the new solar projects now going ahead in the West as part of the US doubling of renewables by the Recovery Act are being required to use dry cooling – even though it’s more expensive.

it is being held to a higher standard of environmental purity than coal, nuclear and gas, all of which use more water than solar to make energy.

As an example of this higher standard for solar, last week Arizona’s public utility rule-making organization, the ACC (Arizona Corporation Commission) voted to require that the proposed $2 billion 340 MW Hualapai Valley Solar thermal project be completely revised to use dry-cooling technologies.

In this case the developer had struck a deal with a city to reuse waste water for more than half of its cooling needs. But it also proposed to use some groundwater. It costs more to dry-cool solar, so this may now kill the project, which had been financed on the assumption that it could be approved using the cheaper wet-cooling.

After all, it uses less water than the nuclear, gas and coal plants that have been consistently approved over the last fifty years, and half of the water it would use was effluent. But that is just the double standard that the new solar plants have to meet to hurdle the permitting process.

Now the developer has to go back and round up new financing (that might not be found) to support the longer payback using more expensive dry-cooling.

It has always seemed unfair to me, that now that solar is finally moving forward, that it is hobbled by comparatively minor environmental objections. While it is true that solar impacts local tortoise habitat, fossil fuels completely disrupts habitats worldwide for not just tortoises, and pine bark beetles, but all the rest of us co-inhabitants of this ecosystem. And not just for this generation, but for hundreds of thousands of years.

The comparison is simply not there. The water issue has always seemed to be a similarly trumped-up objection, especially when gas plants are being approved at a good clip.

However, in a water-constrained future, this higher standard may just turn out to be what makes solar the winning technology for the future of the West. Western drought has long been predicted by climate science (the next century will be like a permanent 1930s) along with the other effects of climate destabilization like ice melting in the Arctic and heavier precipitation for other regions.

Given the dire nature of our future in the West, it may be that dry-cooled solar becomes one of our best energy options. Along with wind, it is the only way to make electricity that uses no water at all.

Given our choices, paying a little more for energy that can keep supplying power in the future even when the rivers run dry eventually might just not seem so expensive after all.

Image: Creative Greenius
Susan Kraemer@Twitter

Carbon sequestration technology is still in its infancy so it stands to reason that researchers are pursuing any number of odd and unusual avenues, and among these the eggshell thing has to be among the oddest. Researchers at the University of Calcutta have found that eggshell membranes can absorb almost seven times their weight in carbon dioxide, making them an ideal sponge to soak up excess quantities of this greenhouse gas.

Eggshells and Membranes

Anyone who has ever cracked an egg can discern the thin membrane that clings to the inside of an eggshell. To make any kind of dent in global carbon dioxide emissions, there would have to be a highly efficient method of separating the membrane from the shell. The Calcutta team found that a weak acid can do the trick, but that would be impracticable on a commercial scale. A mechanical method would be preferable. It’s possible that the egg farmer of the future will be able to market egg membranes as a value-added byproduct, much as biogas technology has provided the livestock industry with a means of producing marketable fertilizer.

Expose Your Eggshells

Lead researcher Basab Chaudhuri suggests that until eggshell membrane salvage is commercially viable, it might help if we all just let our eggshells air out a bit after emptying their contents. That’s not as far-fetched as it may seem.  There’s a lot of eggs cycling through the world these days. India consumes about 1.6 million tonnes (that’s a metric ton, or 2,305 pounds) of eggs annually all by itself, and some nations are encouraging a sharp increase in egg consumption, South Africa being one example. The U.S. is no slouch either – for example about half a billion eggs were recalled in a salmonella outbreak last summer, barely causing a ripple in the market. Global egg consumption is expected to reach about 1,154 billion eggs by 2015.

Image: Eggshells by dfinnecy on flickr.com.

What’s one of the hardest things to do after getting released from prison? Finding a job. With clean tech, and especially solar energy, booming, helping such people get trained for and find jobs in the solar industry is a great way to re-assimilate them into society and ensure they get on their own two feet quickly. It looks like Florida is taking the lead on that front.

With a $740,000 grant from the federal government, the Florida Department of Corrections is about to establish a program for “training inmates nearing release to become certified in Photovoltaic System (solar panel) installation.”

The International Business Times reports:

The Department’s Teaching and Enhancing Careers in High technology (TECH) program will be established at Sago Palm Work Camp in Palm Beach county, which recently became the third prison dedicated to preparing soon-to-be released inmates for their successful re-entry into society. Re-entry facilities house inmates with three years or less on their sentences who are returning to specific counties, and ramp up their educational, vocational and treatment classes so they’ll be better prepared to find employment and keep it upon release.

The grant funds will be used to provide remedial academic tutoring; a nine month, 1,200 hour Electrical Technology Career and Technical Education component; on-the-job training; peer mentoring; case management; and post-release career assistance. The Department will partner with a fully licensed and accredited technical center in the Palm Beach area to provide Solar PV System training, leading to inmates earning a North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners certificate prior to release. Training will include a mobile training unit that houses a PV demonstration module so inmates can gain hands-on experience

Great to see my home state of Florida taking the lead on both inmate re-integration into society and advancement of clean tech like solar.

The grant Florida was awarded was part of the Department of Justice’s Second Chance Act Technology Careers Training Demonstration Projects for Incarcerated Adults.

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Photo Credit: Chandra Marsono via flickr (CC license)

Ever wish you could just stick some solar panels on your roof? Yeah, not likely you have, but whether you have wished that or not, the truth is you can.

Lumeta Inc. is one company that has developed “peel ‘n stick” solar panels that are available for use on homes or other buildings.

The PowerPly 400 panels use monocrystalline technology (a material commonly used in photovoltaic solar cells) and can be installed in 60% of the time required to install a tradition solar PV system. Additionally, there is no need to mount racks and labor costs can be reduced by up to 50%.

As you could easily presume, these solar panels weigh considerably less as well, 40% less. This, combined with low-height design, prevents water from pooling on the roof, something that can ruin both roofs and modules.

Concerned about if the solar panels are sticky enough? Don’t be. CalFinder Solar reports that ”the ‘sticky’ properties of this adhesive, which is compatible with metals, modified bitumens (tar) and single-ply roofing membranes, exceed all wind uplift requirements for roof-mounted solar modules.”

Of course, these solar panels are quite easy to install. Lumeta details the installation process with a short video right on their site. And as they write, it just requires these 7 steps:

1. Mark the array with chalk lines prior to installation
2. Peel the release paper off of the butyl adhesive and lower module
3. Adhere module to roof, applying firm pressure with a broom
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until all modules are installed
5. Line up battens or Oly Blocks between junction boxes and thread wire
6. Connect the wires to the junction boxes
7. Complete electrical assembly as you would any PV system

Currently, these solar panels can only be purchased directly from Lumeta and only in quantities greater than 250 kW.

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Photos via Lumeta