In 2011, American renewable energy investment in solar and wind technologies dominated the global market, propelling the United States past China into the leadership position, according to Ernst & Young's latest quarterly, "Renewable Energy Country Attractiveness Index (CAI)," released today. Ernst & Young also issued a new forward-looking report—"United States Renewable Attractiveness Indices"—that benchmarks the US state investments that were the driving force behind this shift, offering insight into the nation's diverse renewable energy markets, energy infrastructures and their suitability for individual technologies. Most notably, the report highlights that, despite uncertain macroeconomic conditions, renewable energy—particularly in states like Massachusetts, Colorado, Texas and California—is positioned very favorably to benefit from future investments.
While California's dominance of the All Renewables Index was anticipated, the top five rankings of states like Colorado, Massachusetts and Texas demonstrate a commitment to growing energy infrastructures across the nation. For instance, New Mexico and Colorado came in second and third respectively in the All Renewable Index because of consistent growth and strong potential across all renewable energy technologies. Massachusetts and Texas tied for fifth with a strong draw for solar and wind investment respectively.
In addition to providing a baseline for future reports which will be released semiannually, the United States Renewable Attractiveness Indices looks at issues that will enhance or impair further development in the renewable energy markets, such as incentives like the Production Tax Credit, wind power's key incentive. The continuance of this tax credit would have a significant impact on what has become a thriving domestic manufacturing sector.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Previewing solar policy in 2012 and beyond
Policy, particularly at the state and even at the company level, has a large impact on solar and other renewables. It’s helped California, Colorado and New Jersey, among other states, increase the presence of renewables and has driven jobs growth.
But policy, either enacted by a legislature or by regulators, can also hinder the development and growth of the solar industry. During Solar Power Colorado, Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association’s (COSEIA) annual conference, a panel of policy experts discussed what legislation and policy, good and bad, is likely in the coming years.
One thing that’s definitely starting to change is how utilities work with distributed generation.
“One thing that’s happening is an increase in utilities wanting to get into the business of selling solar,” said Annie Carmichael, the Vote Solar Initiative’s solar policy director.
She cited Arizona’s APS, a utility which last year started selling solar systems to schools and public buildings. The utility offers a third-party ownership option, allowing the entities to install solar with no upfront costs, like residential solar leases.
“They don't lose revenue or a connection with their customers,” she said.
On the other side of things, utilities may try to push legislation that adds charges to homes and businesses bills for going solar, according to Carmichael.
“The other thing we're seeing, which is definitely coming to Colorado this year, is the proposal of network-use charges and standby charges for net-metered customers,” she said. “San Diego Gas and Electric introduced a standby charge of $10 to $40 for a solar installation.”
Ultimately Vote Solar and others were able to stop the utility from enacting the policy.
But other utilities are likely to push for similar policies and legislation in other states.
“The message [utilities are using] here is that net-metering is an unfair subsidy. That it's a cost shift, where low-income customers are subsidizing wealthy solar customers,” Carmichael said.
The bodies that regulate solar and energy, like Colorado’s Governor’s Energy Office (GEO), are also changing as the industry matures.
“We really are trying to understand where are the market failures and the market barriers that are preventing economic activity from occurring,” said GEO Director TJ Deora. That’s partly because the GEO is switching to a much tighter budget now that federal monies and its other funding streams are drying up.
The office is not working on doling out incentives as much as it is interested in creating an environment for job creation, energy security and lowered long-term consumer costs and providing environmental protection, according to Deora.
“We think there's plenty of opportunity within all those areas where we can keep ourselves busy,” he said. “GEO wants to bring societal Interest and profits together, really to do it through policy and through stakeholders who understand where these alignments might be.”
Colorado’s renewable portfolio standard requires investor-owned utilities, which supply about 60 percent of the state’s customers with electricity, to source 30 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2020. The state’s rural energy authorities (REAs) and municipal utilities are only required to source 10 percent of their electricity from renewables by that date.
That may change, said Pete Maysmith, executive director of Colorado Conservation Voters.
“REAs are becoming more interested in renewables as the price comes down,” he said. “That's great to hear. I think a lot of people believe we need to raise that standard up.”
Colorado may do more to drive renewable energy growth by designing legislation that designates solar-specific communities.
Legislatures may also look to California’s Million Solar Roofs initiative to create ways to increase solar in the state, Maysmith said
But policy, either enacted by a legislature or by regulators, can also hinder the development and growth of the solar industry. During Solar Power Colorado, Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association’s (COSEIA) annual conference, a panel of policy experts discussed what legislation and policy, good and bad, is likely in the coming years.
One thing that’s definitely starting to change is how utilities work with distributed generation.
“One thing that’s happening is an increase in utilities wanting to get into the business of selling solar,” said Annie Carmichael, the Vote Solar Initiative’s solar policy director.
She cited Arizona’s APS, a utility which last year started selling solar systems to schools and public buildings. The utility offers a third-party ownership option, allowing the entities to install solar with no upfront costs, like residential solar leases.
“They don't lose revenue or a connection with their customers,” she said.
On the other side of things, utilities may try to push legislation that adds charges to homes and businesses bills for going solar, according to Carmichael.
“The other thing we're seeing, which is definitely coming to Colorado this year, is the proposal of network-use charges and standby charges for net-metered customers,” she said. “San Diego Gas and Electric introduced a standby charge of $10 to $40 for a solar installation.”
Ultimately Vote Solar and others were able to stop the utility from enacting the policy.
But other utilities are likely to push for similar policies and legislation in other states.
“The message [utilities are using] here is that net-metering is an unfair subsidy. That it's a cost shift, where low-income customers are subsidizing wealthy solar customers,” Carmichael said.
The bodies that regulate solar and energy, like Colorado’s Governor’s Energy Office (GEO), are also changing as the industry matures.
“We really are trying to understand where are the market failures and the market barriers that are preventing economic activity from occurring,” said GEO Director TJ Deora. That’s partly because the GEO is switching to a much tighter budget now that federal monies and its other funding streams are drying up.
The office is not working on doling out incentives as much as it is interested in creating an environment for job creation, energy security and lowered long-term consumer costs and providing environmental protection, according to Deora.
“We think there's plenty of opportunity within all those areas where we can keep ourselves busy,” he said. “GEO wants to bring societal Interest and profits together, really to do it through policy and through stakeholders who understand where these alignments might be.”
Colorado’s renewable portfolio standard requires investor-owned utilities, which supply about 60 percent of the state’s customers with electricity, to source 30 percent of their electricity from renewables by 2020. The state’s rural energy authorities (REAs) and municipal utilities are only required to source 10 percent of their electricity from renewables by that date.
That may change, said Pete Maysmith, executive director of Colorado Conservation Voters.
“REAs are becoming more interested in renewables as the price comes down,” he said. “That's great to hear. I think a lot of people believe we need to raise that standard up.”
Colorado may do more to drive renewable energy growth by designing legislation that designates solar-specific communities.
Legislatures may also look to California’s Million Solar Roofs initiative to create ways to increase solar in the state, Maysmith said
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Solar Power Colorado 2012: The potential for solar thermal
Here at Solar Power Colorado, solar thermal was referred to as the sleeping giant of renewable energy. That’s probably because, while solar PV efficiency currently tops out at about 20%, commercially available solar thermal efficiencies can be up to 80% efficient.
Solar thermal is a loose term for any device that uses the sun’s heat, rather than converting its energy into electricity, which accounts for its improved efficiency over PV. Solar thermal most often comes in the form of panels with a liquid underneath them. That liquid can then be used to heat water, the air inside a home, a pool, or even provide electricity and cooling when hooked up to a sterling engine, like the systems provided by Cool Energy.
In 2008, 28GW of solar thermal were installed worldwide, with China making up 78% of that. By contrast, the US had less than 1% of the market. Solar thermal systems are installed on more than 60 million homes in China and 10 million in European. In the US, fewer than 1 million homes have solar thermal of any kind. According to Tony Montgomery, Energy Organizer for the Colorado Environmental Coalition and co-Founder of the Solar Thermal Alliance of Colorado, “China is going full bore about developing every energy source they can. Many countries only have policies for solar thermal, while we have everything but.”
In 2010, there was about 5MW installed in the US. The Colorado Solar Thermal Alliance estimates that number could conservatively be 780MW by 2050. That means that it will be a $1 billion dollar industry, employing almost 25,000 people nationally by then. Of solar thermal costs, 2/3 are related to labor, meaning more money stays in the community where it is installed, a huge benefit for communities struggling in a tough economy.
Because solar thermal can run the gamut from simple, passive hot water heating to utility-scale concentrating solar power, one of the largest obstacles has been figuring out how solar thermal fits into existing renewable energy policy.
The EU, United Kingdom, and Canada are all making solar thermal an important part in their renewable energy plans for the future. The EU, for example, has the goal in place to generate 50% of heating requirements through solar thermal by 2050. That’s quite a lot for a continent with decidedly less sunshine than we get here.
Consistent policies and incentives are needed to allow us to catch up with the rest of the world. The problem becomes quantifying the energetic advantage of a solar thermal system. The renewable portfolio standard (RPS), arguably the most important policy driver for renewable energy, is based on electricity generation, so measures of electricity and fuel not used for heating are difficult to monetize. As a result, there is no impetus for utilities to encourage solar thermal because it reduces their business without contributing to their RPS requirements.
One approach would be to broaden demand-side management and efficiency incentives to include solar thermal. Another would be to create a second renewable portfolio standard, this one centered on Btu (British thermal units, the most common measure of heat), which could apply to biomass, geothermal, and solar thermal.
Currently, most homes are heated by natural gas, which has created an additional obstacle for solar thermal because it is so cheap and isn’t considered as dirty as other forms of carbon-based energy. Despite this, a solar thermal system can pay for itself in as little as 5 years because of its efficiency; a fact that hasn’t caught on with the public, yet. But, the members of the Solar Thermal Alliance of Colorado are confident that once policy catches up with technology and the public learns about its advantages, solar thermal is going to awaken and become a vital part of our energy portfolio.
Written by Sydney Kaufman, Contributing Editor, US, Solar Novus Today
Solar thermal is a loose term for any device that uses the sun’s heat, rather than converting its energy into electricity, which accounts for its improved efficiency over PV. Solar thermal most often comes in the form of panels with a liquid underneath them. That liquid can then be used to heat water, the air inside a home, a pool, or even provide electricity and cooling when hooked up to a sterling engine, like the systems provided by Cool Energy.
In 2008, 28GW of solar thermal were installed worldwide, with China making up 78% of that. By contrast, the US had less than 1% of the market. Solar thermal systems are installed on more than 60 million homes in China and 10 million in European. In the US, fewer than 1 million homes have solar thermal of any kind. According to Tony Montgomery, Energy Organizer for the Colorado Environmental Coalition and co-Founder of the Solar Thermal Alliance of Colorado, “China is going full bore about developing every energy source they can. Many countries only have policies for solar thermal, while we have everything but.”
In 2010, there was about 5MW installed in the US. The Colorado Solar Thermal Alliance estimates that number could conservatively be 780MW by 2050. That means that it will be a $1 billion dollar industry, employing almost 25,000 people nationally by then. Of solar thermal costs, 2/3 are related to labor, meaning more money stays in the community where it is installed, a huge benefit for communities struggling in a tough economy.
Because solar thermal can run the gamut from simple, passive hot water heating to utility-scale concentrating solar power, one of the largest obstacles has been figuring out how solar thermal fits into existing renewable energy policy.
The EU, United Kingdom, and Canada are all making solar thermal an important part in their renewable energy plans for the future. The EU, for example, has the goal in place to generate 50% of heating requirements through solar thermal by 2050. That’s quite a lot for a continent with decidedly less sunshine than we get here.
Consistent policies and incentives are needed to allow us to catch up with the rest of the world. The problem becomes quantifying the energetic advantage of a solar thermal system. The renewable portfolio standard (RPS), arguably the most important policy driver for renewable energy, is based on electricity generation, so measures of electricity and fuel not used for heating are difficult to monetize. As a result, there is no impetus for utilities to encourage solar thermal because it reduces their business without contributing to their RPS requirements.
One approach would be to broaden demand-side management and efficiency incentives to include solar thermal. Another would be to create a second renewable portfolio standard, this one centered on Btu (British thermal units, the most common measure of heat), which could apply to biomass, geothermal, and solar thermal.
Currently, most homes are heated by natural gas, which has created an additional obstacle for solar thermal because it is so cheap and isn’t considered as dirty as other forms of carbon-based energy. Despite this, a solar thermal system can pay for itself in as little as 5 years because of its efficiency; a fact that hasn’t caught on with the public, yet. But, the members of the Solar Thermal Alliance of Colorado are confident that once policy catches up with technology and the public learns about its advantages, solar thermal is going to awaken and become a vital part of our energy portfolio.
Written by Sydney Kaufman, Contributing Editor, US, Solar Novus Today
Monday, February 6, 2012
COSEIA all set for 2012 Solar Power Colorado conference and expo
COSEIA all set for 2012 Solar Power Colorado conference and expo
Theo Romeo
Feb 02, 2012
On Feb. 09, Colorado’s solar industry puts all its chips on the table.
The 2012 Solar Power Colorado conference and expo, hosted by the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, gets underway next week at the Embassy Suites Conference Center in Loveland, Colo. And there are a few notable changes from last year’s event, which had sold out nearly a week before the doors opened.
First, CEO of Solar Energy Industries Association Rhone Resch will join three other industry heavy hitters—Paula Mints, Navigant's principal solar analyst; Travis Bradford, author of the book Solar Revolution; and national policy expert Adam Browning, executive director of the Vote Solar Initiative—for the “State of the Industry” panel, taking place from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 09.
“We have a huge number of solar leaders who are flying in to go to this event,” said Neal Lurie, COSEIA’s executive director. “That’s a huge vote of confidence in the future of the Colorado solar market.”
Another notable difference will be that Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper will deliver the keynote address this year.
“Having Governor Hickenlooper participate in Solar Power Colorado reinforces his commitment to the state’s solar sector,” said Neal. “We have seen a huge amount of interest in collaborating with local governments to help streamline permit processes and reduce non-hardware costs of going solar.”
In fact, Hickenlooper signed a bill which limited solar permitting fees in the state last July.
The final and maybe most interesting changes to this year’s event are that COSEIA decided to shorten the conference and expo from three days down to two—oh, and there will be gambling.
That’s not a typo.
So why only two days?
“We regained out sanity,” joked Lurie. “Putting together a major conference requires a significant amount of coordination. We’d rather be able to pack in a huge number of fun activities over two days.”
And one of those activities is a casino/networking night.
If you’ve ever been to a trade conference, there is normally some type of networking event. You grab a few drinks, and look for people you know, talk to them, and stare at the strangers around you, who are staring right back.
“It can be hard for professionals to come into a room and meet,” said Lurie. “Playing blackjack or poker can really break the ice.”
In addition to Colorado solar installers, developers, financiers and energy leaders, there will be another group holding their cards close to their chests at the casino night.
“We’ve also seen a huge interest from outside organizations,” said Lurie. “A broad range of solar businesses who haven’t been involved in COSEIA in the past are participating—Trina Solar, Jinko—companies that weren’t here last year. There’s a continued interest in the Colorado marketplace.”
And there should be.
Per capita, Colorado has more solar jobs than any other state. It recently was awarded a DOE grant for solar projects. It’s the home of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and COSEIA has been working its butt off.
Last year, the organization set up an event that connected solar developers and financiers and completed the Solar Thermal Roadmap, which outlined how the state can be a leader in the emerging technology.
So what will 2012 bring to the Colorado solar market?
You’ll find out next week.
Solar Power Colorado is open to the public, and as of this writing, there is still room available. You can register at www.coseia.org.
Theo Romeo
Feb 02, 2012
On Feb. 09, Colorado’s solar industry puts all its chips on the table.
The 2012 Solar Power Colorado conference and expo, hosted by the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, gets underway next week at the Embassy Suites Conference Center in Loveland, Colo. And there are a few notable changes from last year’s event, which had sold out nearly a week before the doors opened.
First, CEO of Solar Energy Industries Association Rhone Resch will join three other industry heavy hitters—Paula Mints, Navigant's principal solar analyst; Travis Bradford, author of the book Solar Revolution; and national policy expert Adam Browning, executive director of the Vote Solar Initiative—for the “State of the Industry” panel, taking place from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Feb. 09.
“We have a huge number of solar leaders who are flying in to go to this event,” said Neal Lurie, COSEIA’s executive director. “That’s a huge vote of confidence in the future of the Colorado solar market.”
Another notable difference will be that Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper will deliver the keynote address this year.
“Having Governor Hickenlooper participate in Solar Power Colorado reinforces his commitment to the state’s solar sector,” said Neal. “We have seen a huge amount of interest in collaborating with local governments to help streamline permit processes and reduce non-hardware costs of going solar.”
In fact, Hickenlooper signed a bill which limited solar permitting fees in the state last July.
The final and maybe most interesting changes to this year’s event are that COSEIA decided to shorten the conference and expo from three days down to two—oh, and there will be gambling.
That’s not a typo.
So why only two days?
“We regained out sanity,” joked Lurie. “Putting together a major conference requires a significant amount of coordination. We’d rather be able to pack in a huge number of fun activities over two days.”
And one of those activities is a casino/networking night.
If you’ve ever been to a trade conference, there is normally some type of networking event. You grab a few drinks, and look for people you know, talk to them, and stare at the strangers around you, who are staring right back.
“It can be hard for professionals to come into a room and meet,” said Lurie. “Playing blackjack or poker can really break the ice.”
In addition to Colorado solar installers, developers, financiers and energy leaders, there will be another group holding their cards close to their chests at the casino night.
“We’ve also seen a huge interest from outside organizations,” said Lurie. “A broad range of solar businesses who haven’t been involved in COSEIA in the past are participating—Trina Solar, Jinko—companies that weren’t here last year. There’s a continued interest in the Colorado marketplace.”
And there should be.
Per capita, Colorado has more solar jobs than any other state. It recently was awarded a DOE grant for solar projects. It’s the home of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and COSEIA has been working its butt off.
Last year, the organization set up an event that connected solar developers and financiers and completed the Solar Thermal Roadmap, which outlined how the state can be a leader in the emerging technology.
So what will 2012 bring to the Colorado solar market?
You’ll find out next week.
Solar Power Colorado is open to the public, and as of this writing, there is still room available. You can register at www.coseia.org.
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