Colorado 6th for solar-energy jobs

Colorado's solar industry has 3,600 direct jobs, ranking the state sixth in the nation, according to a nationwide survey on the industry's employment creation. The survey from the nonprofit Solar Foundation says most Colorado solar jobs are in installation and manufacturing. It says Colorado has 266 solar companies, and that the per-capita ratio of solar workers to total employment is one to 755, seventh highest in the nation. The Washington, D.C.-based Solar Foundation says Colorado ranks fifth in the nation for the number of homes powered by solar, at 43,048, and eighth for its "maximum solar resource." Nationwide, the report finds a national solar employment base at the end of 2012 of more than 119,000 jobs, an increase of 13.2 percent from 2011. California ranked first with the number of solar jobs and solar jobs per capita, followed by Arizona. The Solar Foundation has compiled the information into a solar map that will be used to track solar jobs in the coming years. "These jobs figures demonstrate that the U.S. solar industry remains a powerful source of job creation," said Andrea Luecke, Solar Foundation director. "In comparing our estimates with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we find that California now has more solar workers than actors and that there are more solar jobs in Texas than there are ranchers. Economies of scale are also making our industry more labor efficient, requiring only one-third the number of workers to install a megawatt of solar today as it did in 2010." Rounding out the top 10 are New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New York, Texas, Michigan and Ohio.

Colorado bill to put more solar in rural parts of state moves forward

While Colorado requires its investor-owned utilities to source 30 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2020, the large state has a lot of smaller municipal and electric co-ops that—at least till now—have only had to source 10 percent of their power from renewables by 2020. Now that Colorado Senate Bill 252 recently passed its second reading in the state Senate, that may be slated to change. The would increase the amount of renewable energy, like solar, wind, geothermal and biomass, that co-op would have to keep in their generation portfolio to 25 percent by 2020. Under the legislation, “The standard is effectively raised for large co-ops like Tri-State Generation & Transmission (which supplies most of the state's co-ops) and the large co-ops like Intermountain Rural Electric,” said Colorado Renewable Energy Society CEO Lorrie McAllister. “The investor owned utilities were starting from 20 percent and increased to 30 percent by 2020 in 2010. The rural electric cooperatives are starting from 10 percent and have until 2020 (7 years) to reach the 25 percent standard,” McAllister said. “They have a relatively greater distance to go in a shorter timeframe. It is definitely achievable, but we didn't want to create a hardship for the co-ops." The bill is supported by at least some of the Senators who represent regions with co-op utilities. “Senator Gail Schwartz, one of the bill's main sponsors, serves Chaffee, Delta, Eagle, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Lake and Pitkin counties, all of which are served by rural electric co-ops,” McAllister said. While investor-owned utilities provide power for most of the market in Colorado—Xcel Energy is the state’s largest utility, the co-op and municipal utilities service a wide swath of the state. If passed by the House and Senate, the legislation would help ensure that the state’s momentum toward cleaner energy continues. And that even as Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy (the state’s two investor-owned utilities) meet their renewable portfolio requirements, that the jobs created in the renewable energy sector are kept.

Bill increasing renewable standard for rural co-ops passes committee

A move to bolster Colorado's renewable energy standard by requiring an increase in renewable power for rural electric cooperatives was approved late Monday by a state legislative committee after nearly seven hours of debate. The target of the legislation, which would require that 25 percent of electricity come from renewable sources, is not the small, rural cooperatives but Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association. Tri-State, Colorado's second-largest utility, provides wholesale electricity to 18 rural cooperatives serving more than a million customers and currently has a 10 percent renewable power requirement. "Tri-State provides about 20 percent of the state's electricity, but it really hasn't had to meet the same standards as other big utilities," said John Nielsen, energy program director at Western Resource Advocates an environmental policy center. The bill — sponsored by Senate President John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and House Speaker Mark Ferrandino, D-Denver — passed on a 3-2 party line vote in the Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee. Colorado's two investor-owned utilities — Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy — must by state law generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Tri-State and rural electric cooperative officials told the committee that the 25 percent target by 2020 was asking for too much to fast. "If enacted will cost Tri-State between $2 and $4 billion in the next six years," Rick Gordon, chairman of Tri-State's board, testified. At $3 billion, Gordon estimated that it could boost rates 20 percent. Ron Binz, the former chairman of the state Public Utilities Commission and an industry analyst, disputed Tri-State's cost estimates, noting that Xcel has paid much less for its wind power. Tri-State's figures were "incredible," Binz said. "As in not believable." The bill was strongly supported by environmental groups and the renewable energy industry, which said that it would boost investment and jobs in the state. With Xcel projected to meet its renewable standard through 2028 and other utilities meeting their targets, renewable energy has stalled in Colorado. In 2011, Colorado was fifth in the solar installations, but was 12th in 2012, said T.J Slocum, regional manager for REC Solar, a solar installation company. "We've been a leader. We've slipped," he said. The officials from rural cooperatives and rural counties called the bill "a war on rural Colorado." "I own a bar. I'd like you to pass a law that everyone has to drink 25 percent more. Everyone is feathering their own nest," Moffat County Commissioner Tom Mathers said. The bill also includes a provision to count fugitive methane emissions from coal mines as eligible for being included as a renewable energy resource. State and federal environmental officials as well as environmental groups have been trying to promote efforts to capture the gas which is an air pollutant.

Solar plane prepares for flight across America

A solar-powered plane that has delighted aviation fans in Europe is preparing to fly across North America. The Swiss creators of the Solar Impulse plan to announce Thursday which U.S. cities the experimental plane will visit during its "Across America" tour that kicks off in May. Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg will display the aircraft and discuss the cross-country voyage at a news conference at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View. The Solar Impulse is powered by about 12,000 photovoltaic cells that cover its massive wings and allow it to fly day and night without jet fuel. It has the wing span of a commercial airplane but the weight of a family car, making it vulnerable to bad weather. Solar Impulse is planning an around-the-world flight in 2015.

First-Ever Solar Community Breaks Ground in Grand Valley

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Foundation for the first house in the River Trail subdivision is well underway. "It is the first of its kind, I believe, on the Western Slope of Colorado that's going to have this magnitude of homes," said Michael Queally with Apex Realty. All of the houses in the development off 31 1/2 and D roads will be equipped with energy efficient appliances, as well as solar panels. "Buildings in the United States consume about 40 percent of energy," explained Lou Villaire, co-owner of Alasta Solar. "We can achieve Energy Star standards using an insulated slab, advanced construction techniques and advanced framing," said Darin Carei, president of Senergy Builders. Each home in the solar community is built with efficiency in mind, as well as the homeowner's pocket book. "It will reduce consumers' energy costs by two-thirds of a normal code-built house of this size, shape and dimensions," added Carei. "We are designing the solar electric system to provide 100-plus percent of the electricity that the average homeowner needs," said Villaire. Officials say these kinds of communities are the way of the future. "We're starting to think about solar differently. In other words, instead of actually adding it to a home, it is part of the home you purchase," explained Villaire. Besides inspiring views, the neighborhood's location is prime for taking advantage of the "green" lifestyle. "It is adjacent to the Colorado River. The River Front Trail is right out your front door," said Queally. A bus line even runs right across the street along D Road. "It's kind of the whole package wrapped up together into one," added Queally. Each yard will also be xeriscaped for minimal upkeep. Officials hope to build around 200 homes in the next three years. The first model home should be ready in 60 to 75 days.

At last, a home: Carei focuses on self sufficiency

Of basic human needs fulfilled — a big drink of water, a stomach full of food, a clean set of clothes — it could be argued that a roof overhead offers the most complex emotional fulfillment. For all the platitudes about home being an attitude rather than a place, there’s tremendous security in sturdy walls to keep out the rain. Home may be a state of mind, but it’s also a safe place to sleep, a haven at the end of the day, a necessity for a healthy, happy life. Darin Carei is passionate about home: making it lasting and energy-efficient, helping secure it for others, establishing it as a pillar in a self-sufficient life. Carei, 52, is president of EnergyWise Companies, which offers among its services consultation on energyefficient building and design, energy audits, Energy Star rating, general contracting through Senergy Builders and, with the July merger with Atlasta Solar Center, solar sales and installation. During the workday, home is a place that efficiently keeps the cold out and the power bills low, that will stand for decades, that doesn’t stomp an enormous carbon footprint. “Take responsibility for your impact” — it’s painted on the wall inside the showroom at EnergyWise’s new location at 1111 S. Seventh St. During Carei’s off hours, though, home is more about belief: that everybody should have one, that he’s been blessed with abilities and resources and it’s his responsibility to share them, that no goal is too lofty if it means more people have a safe, secure place to live. “Darin’s passion is self-sufficiency,” said longtime friend John Mok-Lamme. “He’s all about the hand up, not the hand out, seeing people move toward self-sufficiency.” His passion stems, in large part, from his faith in God, said his wife of 26 years, Tammera. But it also stems from walking through this world with a sense that people are connected and have a responsibility to look out for each other. And it stems from a commitment to the home he found in the Grand Valley. Originally from southern New Jersey, Carei met a girl when he was a student at Rutgers University. She moved to Grand Junction and he followed, and when she returned to New Jersey he stayed here, enrolling in Mesa College to study economics. As part of his studies, he interned at the Energy Information Office, helping to publish the Solar Directory and organize the Solar Home Tour. That planted a seed that germinated for decades, because the road was winding on his way to energy-efficient building. First, it was his passion for cars, particularly British ones (yes, they are notorious for breaking down; yes, he’s heard all the jokes). He went to work for Metric Motors, which he eventually bought and renamed Metric Automotive Inc. He ran that business until 1994, when he sold it and it eventually became Rocky Mountain Subaru. At that point, with a wife and two young kids, he returned to Mesa to finish his degree while also operating an art gallery and a specialty auto finance company. In 1997, he became a partner in Grace Homes Real Estate and Construction. As a general contractor, he built more than 1,500 homes and learned a sobering fact: buildings consume more energy than transportation or industry — “I read that 70 percent of our energy is being consumed by buildings,” Carei said. “I started to think there has to be a better way. I got really interested in energy consumption and energy efficiency and the science of efficient building.” EnergyWise Companies was founded in 2008, and as its president, Carei oversees many avenues that lead to increased energy efficiency. As consultants, EnergyWise is certified to give Energy Star ratings to homes and buildings, using technology that includes infrared imaging. But even before that, Carei and the rest of the EnergyWise team consult on blueprints and at each step in the construction process, with the ultimate goal of increasing energy efficiency and lowering costs for homeowners. It has taken some careful explaining, since a common perception is that energy-efficient building costs more. “But I think people appreciate an energy efficient home in the long run,” he said. “Energy efficiency is a cost that has the fastest return on your investment.” And ultimately, it’s about having a good home, because everybody deserves one. He and Tammera bought their first one together on the corner of G Road and Seventh Street when he was 28 because “home ownership was a priority for us from the very beginning,” Tammera said. “I do think home ownership is a stabilizing factor in our society,” he explained. On the road to home ownership is establishing a safe and secure home. In that vein, he served as board chair of Homeward Bound of the Grand Valley, a board member of Grand Valley Catholic Outreach and Housing Resources of Western Colorado and as a co-founder and board chair of Karis Inc. Karis was built on the experiences of the Faith Foundation, a Christian nonprofit group that Carei founded and that fundraised for human services efforts in the Grand Valley. One such effort was an idea to buy previously owned modular homes, refurbish them and make them available to families with low incomes, which resulted in nine homes in Candlewood Park. Karis is the engine behind The House, a place for homeless teens where they not only have a safe place to stay, but get help accessing education and resources. “Before The House, they were taken to DYS and that’s not the place to be taken if you have serious decisions to make,” Carei said. “It was years of searching and fundraising to get this going, and it’s truly by God’s grace that it exists.” It is a home for teens that otherwise wouldn’t have one, and it underscores the importance of the security and joy that home can provide. Carei goes to his own home each night, the home he and Tammera were able to build, to daughter Summer, 14 — son Bryan, 24, and daughter Jessica, 26, have their own homes now — to a life of work and entrepreneurship, of big ideas. He goes home, and that means a lot.

Solar Energy International (SEI) Responds to Colorado's Million Solar Roofs Campaign with Expansion of Solar Training Offerings Throughout the State

In response to the Colorado Solar Energy Industry Association's recent release of their Million Solar Roofs Campaign Solar Energy International (SEI) has expanded the amount of Colorado based training opportunities for 2013. Christopher Turek, Director of Online and Student Services for SEI said, "The increase of residential solar installations across the state is going to increase the need to a highly trained workforce here in the state of Colorado. SEI stands ready to be the preferred training provider for the thousands of solar professionals it will take to reach this goal of a Million Solar Roofs." "As an initial response to this campaign from COSEIA, SEI has expanded our Colorado based solar training opportunities and are offering over 50 workshops, online courses, and hands-on lab opportunities in Paonia, Boulder and Online in 2013. All of these courses and workshops qualify for credit towards graduating from SEI's Solar Professionals Certificate Program." 2013 Training Opportunities in Colorado Include: *ST101: Solar Hot Water Design and Installation *PV101: Solar Electric Design and Installation (Grid-Direct) *PV110: Solar Water Pumping *PV202: Advanced PV System Design and the NEC (Grid-Direct) *PV201L: Solar Electric Lab Week (Grid-Direct) *PV301L: Solar Electric Lab Week (Battery-Based) *PV351L: PV Systems - Tools and Techniques for Operation and Maintenance Lab Week (Grid-Direct) SEI has been the solar industry's leading technical solar training provider for solar installers and other related solar professionals for over 20 years. Many SEI students go on to achieve the required amount of real world experience to sit for leading industry certifications. In a recent study it was revealed that SEI has trained over a 1/3 of all North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners, the nation's leading certification entity. NABCEP is the nation's most established certification body for solar industry professionals; in 2010, its program was adopted as a standard benchmark in Colorado House Bill 10-1001. The intention was to require that appropriately trained professionals supervise solar PV project installations in order for the projects to qualify for ratepayer-funded incentives. Blake Jones, CEO of Namaste Solar in Boulder Colorado said, "SEI is, of course, very well respected by Namaste Solar and the rest of the Solar Industry. This is taken into account when reviewing employment applicants' resumes and where they received their training. Establishment of the SEI Solar Professionals Certificate Program will help formalize proof of a rigorous training program completion and make it easier to distinguish training certificate holders from other employment applicants." The goal of COSEIA's campaign is to drastically increase the amount of solar applications across the state, both in Photovoltaic applications for generation of electricity as well as Solar Thermal applications for heating and cooling applications of solar energy technology. From the COSEIA website, "You can help make this vision a reality by joining the Million Solar Roofs campaign. The goal is provide about 3 Gigawatts of solar energy in Colorado by 2030 through a combination of photovoltaic electric systems and solar thermal heating and cooling systems. We want to encourage and enable solar energy of all kinds and all sizes—from small arrays on homes to large utility-scale projects, and from community solar gardens to industrial rooftop projects." "When we envision generating enough energy to power a million solar roofs in Colorado by 2030, we are talking about a ten-fold increase in the amount of solar already installed in our state." "Currently, Colorado has nearly 300 megawatts of solar thermal and solar electric systems installed on more than 10,000 homes and businesses. We want to set the stage to scale up our use of the sun's energy from niche market to mainstream source. A ten-fold increase would represent about 3 Gigawatts of solar and if we can generate more- so much the better." About Solar Energy International (SEI) Solar Energy International (SEI) was founded in 1991 as a nonprofit educational organization to help others to use renewable energy resources and sustainable building technologies through education and technical assistance. Our vision is focused on helping create a more sustainable future for our planet and its inhabitants. Through our work, we see clear opportunities to influence people's thinking and behaviors towards energy efficiency and the use of natural, sustainable methods of energy production and utilization.

Colorado Springs Utilities Get More Solar Power

Colorado Springs Utilities will expand its solar gardening program by adding 10 megawatts eligible for rebates in the next three years, a major increase from the two megawatts developed under a pilot program that ended in 2012. Solar gardens allow residents to invest in solar power without having panels attached to their homes, which is useful especially for those who rent and those whose rooftops aren't conducive to panel installation. How rebates are handled will change from an up-front payout to a performance-based incentive, whereby Utilities pays for kilowatt hours generated instead of capacity installed, explains David Amster-Olszewski, owner of solar-garden provider SunShare. The change stems from a city audit that found several problems, including deviation from a requirement that subscribers were supposed to pay their obligation to the developer prior to the developer being paid the incentive. Amster-Olszewski says the change means the rebate will be paid over 20 years, forcing the solar garden developer to be accountable for the project long-term. "Instead of getting the rebates upfront, now they have a strong incentive to keep the system running for 20 years," he says in an e-mail. The program, sanctioned by a majority of the Utilities Board, which is made up of City Council members, will add three megawatts this year, three in 2014 and four in 2015. Reimbursement rates for the solar power bought by Utilities will be 16 cents per kilowatt hour this year, 12 cents in 2014 and 10 cents for 2015. That will cost ratepayers $21 million over the next 20 years, Utilities officials say. "What they're trying to get to is zero," says Utilities spokesman Dave Grossman, "where the industry can get by on its own without being subsidized." Council is expected to vote on the program's new tariff on April 9. The effective date of the program hasn't been determined, Grossman says.

Grand Junction Energy Expo Demonstration, Education and the Future

Despite the chilly weather, Two Rivers Convention Center was abuzz with the 8th Annual Energy Forum and Expo on Friday. The day featured 63 vendors, as well as several expert speakers, showcasing the future of energy development on the Western Slope. "We provide monitoring for any type of environmental conditions. We do a lot of oil and gas monitoring," explained Zachary Liesenfeld with InterTech Environmental Engineering. "There's any number of things that they're requiring and that's what you're seeing here today," added Brian Ahlberg with Airgas. "The different business that represent the industry are amazing out here today," said Becky Soper with Brady Trucking. Vendors ranged from oil and gas giants like Encana, to accessory providers like Rocky Mountain Hats and Boots. Solar and wind companies were also there, explaining and demonstrating their renewable energies that have a small footprint. The expo didn't just provide a platform to showcase the latest energy developments. It was also a place to educate consumers. "If they have any questions, they can come by and talk to us. We can explain to them what we're doing and if there's any problems, we can address those then," said Travis Dove with Encana. The John McConnell Math & Science Center even offers an energy science and policy class, whose students made demonstrations available to attendees. "You get to learn about the environment and where our energy comes from. [You can weigh] the pros and cons of everything," said Amy Espinoza, a sophomore at Fruita Monument High School. "There's a lot here and a lot to learn," added Liesenfeld. More than 1,000 people attended the Energy Forum and Expo. To see the complete list of vendors and speakers, visit www.EnergyExpoCO.com .

Aspinall federal building in Grand Junction gets an energy overhaul

The 95-year-old Wayne N. Aspinall Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Grand Junction will be rededicated Wednesday after a 23-month renovation to make the historic building energy-efficient and sustainable. The goal of the U.S. General Services Administration's $15 million project was to not only preserve the anchor of the Grand Junction community, but also to convert it into a facility that produces as much energy as it consumes. It would be the first net-zero energy building among the 478 historic buildings managed nationally by the GSA, and it is designed to achieve LEED Platinum status. The three-story building, built in 1918, originally functioned as a post office and courthouse. A large extension was added in 1939, and the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It currently houses nine federal agencies. The modernization includes installation of 385 solar panels on the roof, as well as a geothermal system of wells and pipes that rely on the constant temperature of the ground in order to heat and cool the building. A private, formal rededication ceremony will be held Feb. 20 at 1:30 p.m., followed by a public open house and self-guided tours at 4 p.m. The building is named after Wayne Aspinall, who served from 1949-73 in the U.S. House of Representatives from Colorado's 4th District. The project was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Former Colorado Senate majority spokesman to head solar association

COSEIA Stern, settling into his new, solar-powered digs. He’s worked on campaigns for Democrats [2] for years, and now Eddie Stern [3] is hoping he shines in his new position. Stern, the former director of communications for the Colorado Senate Majority [4], has been hired as the director of the Colorado Solar Energy Association [5], the group formed in 1989 that represents hundreds of solar industry members across the state. “We’re excited to welcome Eddie to the COSEIA team,” said Annie Lappé, Vice President of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association [6] board of directors. “Eddie brings political savviness and communications expertise to the organization, gained from years of working throughout Colorado – from the Western Slope, Southern Colorado to the Front Range. Eddie is perfectly poised to help COSEIA continue its mission of expanding Colorado’s solar energy industry.” Stern, who also has worked on the staff of former Congressman John Salazar [7], was looking forward to his new job. “The solar energy industry employs thousands of Coloradans and has positioned Colorado as a national hub of sustainable energy development,” he said. “I want to thank Neal Lurie, COSEIA’s outgoing Executive Director for his work helping to grow Colorado’s solar energy industry. I’m incredibly excited to be a part of this organization.”

Solar Power Colorado Theme Set for Feb 5-6

Conference to highlight utility CEO panel. Colorado’s largest solar energy gathering of the year is drawing leading industry executives from around the nation who want to be part of paving The Path to a Million Solar Roofs. Solar Power Colorado highlight a ‘State of the Industry’ panel with leading solar CEOs sharing their views on the road ahead. This year’s conference also includes an insightful discussion on solar-utility partnerships with utility CEOs, including David Eves, President and CEO of Public Service Company of Colorado. The conference runs February 5 and 6 at The Westin in Westminster. “Solar energy is now a $100 billion global industry,” said Neal Lurie, Executive Director of the nonprofit Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association which organizes the conference. “As Colorado pioneers its path to a Million Solar Roofs, we’re excited to bring solar executives and utility leaders together to build partnerships for future growth.” Chief executives from a range of leading solar companies will share their insights. Confirmed speakers include: Danny Kennedy, Founder of Sungevity; Ole Pilgaard, President of Heliodyne; Blake Jones, President and CEO of Namaste Solar, Julia Hamm, Executive Director of the national Solar Energy Power Association, and Paul Spencer, President and Founder of the Clean Energy Collective. In addition to David Eves of Public Service Company of Colorado (Xcel Energy), Del Worley, CEO of Holy Cross Energy will offer a co-op perspective on solar and other utility leaders will also speak. Policy leaders confirmed include former Gov. Bill Ritter and state senator Gail Schwartz. The event will provide the empetus for pushing the Path to a Million Solar Roofs. The goal is provide about 3 Gigawatts of solar energy in Colorado by 2030 through a combination of photovoltaic electric systems and solar thermal heating and cooling systems. The campaign includes efforts to boost public outreach, utility partnerships and public-private collaborations to encourage the growth of solar energy from small arrays on homes to large utility-scale projects, and from community solar gardens to industrial rooftop projects. To reach this goal, solar would supply nearly a fifth of our state’s energy needs. Attendees will learn the latest about a variety of innovative programs including the COSEIA-led Solar Friendly Communities ( www.solarcommunities.org [2]) and how it is making a tangible difference in driving down the cost of going solar.

Colorado's solar-power goal: Grow it tenfold

Colorado’s solar-power industry is readying a “Million Solar Roofs” campaign to raise the amount of solar power generated in the state to 3,000 megawatts — nearly one-fifth of the state’s electricity use. Currently, solar-power systems generate nearly 300 megawatts of electricity in Colorado, Neal Lurie, executive director of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA), said Wednesday in an interview. “It’s a bold step, but when you look at how solar costs have come down in the last few years, we think it’s achievable,” Lurie said. The campaign will kick off Feb. 5-6 during COSEIA’s annual Solar Power Colorado conference, held this year at The Westin in Westminster. Lurie said now is a good time for the campaign because the cost of solar-power systems has dropped about 75 percent in three years, while utility bills have risen steadily. “When we see how things are trending, we are at the cusp of a new chapter in solar,” Lurie said. “There are new opportunities on the horizon that we could only dream about a few years ago, but we need to start charting a path to get there.“We’re announcing the Million Solar Roofs campaign, and taking a step back to look at what it takes for Colorado to get a million solar roofs.”Lurie said the campaign will focus on four main areas: • Reducing so-called “soft costs,” such as for permits. COSEIA has launched a effort called Solar Friendly Communities to help governments streamline inspection and permitting practices for solar-power systems.In November, Denver was named the first “Solar Friendly Community” in the nation for changes the city made to its solar-power permitting process. • Ensuring regulatory stability and removing regulatory barriers for the solar-power industry. • Working on new partnerships across different industry sectors, such as finance, insurance and supply companies, in order to reduce costs. • Launching a “Go Solar Colorado” outreach program to encourage people and businesses to use solar power. Speakers at the conference will include David Eves, president and CEO of Public Service Co. of Colorado (PSCo), a division of Xcel Energy Inc.; and Del Worley, CEO of Holy Cross Energy, a rural co-op that serves about 55,000 consumers in Eagle, Pitkin, Garfield, Mesa and Gunnison counties. Several executives from solar-power companies also will speak.

Year's Largest Solar Industry Meeting in Westminster

Colorado's largest solar energy gathering of the year is drawing leading industry executives from around the nation who want to be part of paving The Path to a Million Solar Roofs. Solar Power Colorado is slated for February 5 and 6 at The Westin in Westminster as the annual gathering of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association. The conference is the year's biggest business-to-business opportunity for networking with solar industry executives, identifying new market opportunities and learning about exciting new solar products at the Expo Hall. Registration is now open, and there are prime locations available for exhibitors. But prices go up after January 25, so register today at this website. With an anticipated 500 industry leaders in attendance, Solar Power Colorado will kick off the Million Solar Roofs campaign and lay the groundwork for this exciting initiative to dramatically increase the amount of all kinds of solar energy in use in Colorado. Through keynote addresses and expert panels, solar leaders will flesh out the vision and develop concrete steps to reach this ambitious goal. Solar is already a $100 billion industry globally and Colorado is widely recognized as a national leader. David Eves, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Public Service Company of Colorado (Xcel Energy) will share insights into the future of solar from the perspective of Colorado's largest utility. Del Worley, CEO of Holy Cross Energy will offer a co-op perspective on solar and other utility leaders will also speak. Policy leaders confirmed include former Gov. Bill Ritter and state senator Gail Schwartz. Chief executives from a range of leading solar companies will share their insights. Confirmed speakers include: Danny Kennedy, Founder of Sungevity; Ole Pilgaard, President of Heliodyne; Blake Jones, President and CEO of Namaste Solar, Julia Hamm, Executive Director of the national Solar Energy Power Association, and Paul Spencer, President and Founder of the Clean Energy Collective. These speakers and others will help lay the Path to a Million Solar Roofs. The goal is provide about 3 Gigawatts of solar energy in Colorado by 2030 through a combination of photovoltaic electric systems and solar thermal heating and cooling systems. The campaign will enlist public support, utility partnerships and public-private collaborations to encourage the growth of solar energy from small arrays on homes to large utility-scale projects, and from community solar gardens to industrial rooftop projects. To reach this goal, solar would supply about a fifth of our state's energy needs. "We are excited to outline our Million Solar Roofs campaign at the conference and to enlist industry leaders to help us flesh out the details and to develop an effective plan for reaching this ambitious goal,'' said Neal Lurie, executive director of COSEIA. Attendees will learn the latest about a variety of innovative programs including the COSEIA-led Solar Friendly Communities and how it is making a tangible difference in driving down the cost of going solar. Community solar gardens have debuted across Colorado in the past year and a panel of experts will share lessons they have learned. A panel featuring representatives from leading retailers will examine why some of the biggest brands in America are so keen to go solar. Throughout the two days of the conference, the exhibit hall will be chock full of the latest and greatest in all kinds of solar technology from about 100 organizations. And new for 2013 will be a stage where product trainings and presentations will increase the educational content. For more information about exhibit hall opportunities or registration, please contact Jason Henderson at COSEIA (jhenderson@coseia.org).

Biggest US Community Solar Project Opens in Colorado

Biggest US Community Solar Project Opens in Colorado The biggest community solar garden in the US has opened in southwestern Colorado, the San Miguel Power Association Community Solar Array. At 1.1 megawatts (MW), covering 7 acres, it can serve over 200 customers that live in the territory of rural electric coop San Miguel Power Association. Solar garden pioneer Clean Energy Collective built and maintains the array. People can buy individual solar panels for $705 after rebates - they can buy just one panel or as many panels as they want to offset their electricity and receive credit for the power produced on their monthly utility bills. The price includes the same tax credits and electricity discounts as if the panels were installed on a customer's roof, and they don't have to worry about maintenance or repairs. Clean Energy Collective maintains the panels for 50 years. "We are leveraging scalability to the benefit of individual panel owners. You don't even need a roof to adopt clean energy today, says Paul Spencer, founder and CEO of Clean Energy Collective. This is Clean Energy Collective's 15th solar garden that's operating or under construction, representing more than 5.3 MW of community-sited solar PV. By the end of 2013, the group expects to reach about 10 MW and by 2015, 100 MW. In June, it began construction of the Kit Carson community solar garden in New Mexico, which will sit atop parking lots and a school. Community solar legislation failed in California after lobbying efforts by PG&E, but it will be re-introduced early next year. Last month, the world's biggest community solar garden came online in the UK - the 5 MW project serves 1500 households.

2-megawatt solar farm proposed in Grand Junction

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - The City Council of Grand Junction is considering whether to approve using city property for a solar energy farm. Xcel Energy and Ecoplexus would initiate and run the proposed 2-megawatt solar farm. Energy generated at the solar farm would be divided up among subscribers like School District 51 and Colorado Mesa University. The Daily Sentinel reports that according to a city report on the project, construction is expected to occur next summer for about three months and create up to 20 jobs if the propos

Colorado's solar industry continues to gather steam

Colorado's solar industry continues to gather steam The solar industry continues to gather steam in Colorado, even as many subsidies have been changed or reduced. Colorado was one of only five states to increase its third quarter photovoltaic (PV) solar portfolio more than 5 megawatts in the third quarter of this year, compared to last year’s third quarter, according to a report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research released on Dec. 11. Overall, the U.S. solar PV market grew by 684 megawatts in the third quarter of 2012, 44 percent more than in the third quarter of 2011. Neal Lurie, the Executive Director of the Colorado chapter of SEIA, attributed much of that growth mostly to reduced installation costs. Most of the growth appears to be coming from larger or third-party installations, especially after the changes to the Xcel Solar*Rewards program last year eliminated up-front rebates for residential solar PV installation. “Costs for solar modules have decreased up to 70 percent in the past three years,” said Lurie, noting that Colorado has been a top-10 state for solar PV & thermal for most of the past decade. Jesse Morris, a solar consultant with the Rocky Mountain Institute in Snowmass, said the changes to the Xcel Solar*Rewards program mean there are a better incentives for larger commercial and third-party installations that can take advantage of the federal tax incentive and business equipment depreciation. “In 2011, Colorado ranked 5th in the nation as far as solar installs go, although we've been leapfrogged by Arizona and Hawaii more recently thanks to a combination of large incentives and good sunlight,” Morris said. While Xcel continues to rebate much of the PV installation that hooks into its grid – small residential systems are given larger rebates than larger commercial and utility-sized systems – it no longer offers an up front rebate for residential installations. For a 4-killowatt residential solar system, that rebate was about $8,000 in the first year, a rebate that Xcel now pays out over a 10- or 20-year term with monthly checks or reduction to utility bills. “Essentially, that has stretched out the time it takes to get the return on that investment well beyond 10 years,” said John Shaw the sales manager for Solectria Renewables’ Mountain West office in Denver. “The average ROI time for a commercial installation that can take advantage on the federal incentives and depreciation is seven years.” But while incentives may not be as large as other states, Colorado has moved to create other means of increasing solar power, Morris said. Some of the most significant moves were placing a $500 cap on residential permit fees and creating the Solar Communities program, he said, which enables utility customers to participate in a solar program even if they can not place solar panels on their roofs. Through Xcel’s Solar*Rewards program, the Solar Communities program is designed to produce 4.5 megawatts of new solar electricity, by allowing project developers to build “solar gardens.” Developers could then sell shares in these systems, which are limited to a 500-kilowatt maximum, to utility customers. When the program opened its doors in August it had received applications for three times the power it was trying to generate within 30 minutes and applications were closed one hour after the program was opened. Many of these solar gardens will be built in the Denver-Boulder area. Denver has also been named the country’s first “Solar Friendly Community” in a program begun by COSEI and RMI. In fact, the program was essentially created by looking at the best practices initiated by Denver over the last four years, which includes a $50 over-the-counter permit fee for standard residential rooftop installation, said Jessica Scott, the city’s sustainability strategist. Homeowners who want to enjoy the benefit of solar power without the up-front costs also have options in third-party installers – companies that install, maintain and own a home’s solar panels and charge a fixed rate for the electricity they generate. That allows these companies to also take advantage over the tax incentives and depreciation. Ronald M. Abramson, chief executive and chairman of NexGen Energy Partners LLC, said the ability to “monetize” those incentives are a very important part of his third-party installation business, but not the only way to create profits in the renewable energy field. “If you look at incentives they really create some incredible cycles in business. You only have to look at what happened with all the layoffs in the wind energy field to see the negative consequences,” said Abramson, whose company also installs wind systems. “I think we can be competitive now. I’d rather see an elimination of subsidies for the fossil fuel industry so we’d all be playing on an even field.”

Colorado receives $4.2 million to make solar energy cost-competitive

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Friday that it is investing $4.2 million in a Colorado project "that will help advance affordable, reliable clean energy for U.S. families and businesses." The money is part of the department's SunShot Initiative. The initiative is a collaborative national push to make solar energy cost competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, based in Boulder, will research methods to understand cloud impact and develop short-term prediction techniques based on its work. The project will also work with the Energy Department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association to improve the accuracy of solar forecasts and share the results of the work with industry and academia. "The price of solar panels has fallen dramatically in recent years, but we also need to reduce the cost and time required to actually install them in homes and businesses and help utility companies better integrate renewable energy into the grid," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "Projects like these can help reduce the cost of solar power and make it easier for American families and businesses to access clean, affordable energy." The announcement is part of a broader $8 million investment by the Energy Department to help utilities and grid operators better forecast when, where and how much solar power will be produced at U.S. solar energy plants. The department says enhanced solar forecasting technologies will help power system operators to integrate the cost-competitive, reliable solar energy into the electricity grid and provide clean, renewable energy to U.S. consumers. The Energy Department says that reducing the installed cost of solar energy system by about 75 percent will drive widespread, large-scale adoption of this renewable energy technology and restore U.S. leadership in the global clean energy race

Is Colorado's "new energy economy" still viable in light of recent setbacks in the industry? Yes

Mark Twain famously said, "The report of my death was an exaggeration." Today, we read similar reports concerning the demise of Colorado's "new energy economy." The fact is, due to comprehensive efforts toward regulatory, legislative and programmatic reform taken during the Ritter administration, Colorado's new energy sector continues to thrive, serving a growing market here and around the globe. Clean Edge, Inc., has ranked Colorado's new energy economy fifth in the country for the second year in a row. Colorado has moved up to third in the country (behind California and Massachusetts) for venture capital directed toward innovative advanced-energy companies. These are companies that will not only supply Colorado consumers with clean and secure advanced-energy technologies, but that also will serve a rapidly growing global market. Smart grid companies like Boulder-based Tendril are developing products for our domestic market, as well as finding international markets to serve. Another, Spirae, is virtually running a utility grid in Denmark — from its offices in Fort Collins! The stimulus bill allowed hundreds of companies to set up shop and trained thousands of Coloradans for careers in advanced energy. The low-income weatherization program in Colorado went from serving about 4,000 families per year to over 8,000 per year. Those families have seen their utility bills go down by an average of 40 percent, leaving more money in their pockets at the end of the month and their homes more comfortable. Today, Xcel is on track to meet Colorado's nation-leading renewable energy standard early while staying within the 2 percent cost cap. In 2007, Colorado had electricity rates 19 percent below the national average. In 2011 — after four years of record renewable deployment and economic development — Colorado's rates were 22 percent below the national average. The 400 megawatts of new wind announced last week cost less than other traditional resources, saving money for Xcel's ratepayers while protecting them from future fuel-price increases. Solar is also strong in Colorado. Even in a recession and an uncertain economic environment, Colorado installed 91 MW of solar last year, enough to power nearly 19,000 homes every year. The costs to install solar have dropped 70 percent in the past three years and the industry has contributed $1 billion to Colorado's economy. Even more important: Today, solar is a $93 billion global industry, up from $17 billion only five years ago. Just ask Colorado's Juwi Solar, now one of the leading solar developers in the world. But what about Solyndra and Abound Solar? It is true that increased competition globally (and China flooding the market) has made it a tough marketplace for solar manufacturers, although falling prices are also what is making solar more affordable and speeding installation. Just as with any early high-growth industry, consolidation will occur. Some companies will be swallowed up or just won't be able to compete. While this may be painful, it is a sign of growing maturity in the industry and will lead to a stronger sector overall. In the wind industry, Colorado has experienced some temporary setbacks with layoffs in the Vestas plants due to congressional inaction on the production tax credit. The industry and financial markets need certainty, and once they have it Colorado manufacturing plants will again provide the North American market with the latest turbine technology Vestas has to offer. Over the past five years, wind energy has experienced a staggering 25 percent average growth rate. A recent International Energy Association report predicts another 40 percent growth in renewable generation over the next five years. Colorado is well-positioned to meet this global demand. While our political leaders need to ensure a stable policy and regulatory environment for the industry, Colorado's new energy economy is on a strong and stable footing that will provide the state with economic, energy and environmental benefits for generations to come. Tom Plant, former energy chief under Gov. Bill Ritter, is now vice president for state policy for Advanced Energy Economy in Nederland.

Grand Junction Water Treatment Plant to Receive New Solar Panels

Grand Junction Water Treatment Plant to Receive New Solar Panels The Grand Junction City Council has approved the purchase of solar panels for the city's water treatment plant. Officials say after looking over 11 applicants for the project, they have decided to go with Sunsense Solar out of Carbondale. The company has built solar panels for several other locations in the city including the Two Rivers Convention Center and the Visitor and Convention Bureau. "For the water treatment plant we'll save roughly $10,000 a year in a $5 million water enterprise fund ... every dollar, even every penny that we save is one that we don't have to give to Xcel Energy that we can use for something else, or keep our rates just a little lower," said Terry Franklin, utilities and streets manager of Grand Junction. The solar panels would add 55 kilowatts (kW) to the current plant, which runs on a 100-kW system.

Layoffs in Colorado New Energy Economy

The resilience of Colorado's vaunted "new energy economy" is being tested after a series of job cuts, financial setbacks and political firestorms. The latest loss was Phillips 66's announcement last week that it is pulling the plug on a major alternative-fuels research-and-development center that was planned on the former StorageTek site in Louisville. That followed the recent news that Vestas Wind Systems was making its biggest round of Colorado layoffs, bringing the job-cut tally to about 500. The Weld County district attorney's office is investigating the failure of Colorado solar-panel manufacturer Abound Solar, and congressional Republicans are asking tough questions about Abound's federal loan guarantees. Also in the loss column is General Electric's recent decision to suspend development of the proposed $300 million PrimeStar Solar plant in Aurora that would have employed 355 workers. At the least, the setbacks are a speed bump in Colorado's effort to maintain a leadership status in renewable energy. At worst, they could significantly impair growth of the industry. The combined layoffs, plant closure and mothballed projects in Colorado represent the loss of more than 1,000 existing and projected jobs, plus millions of dollars of tax revenue and spinoff economic activity. Hard times for the green industries stem from a combination of technical challenges, low-cost foreign competition and an uncertain outlook for government support of alternative energy. "It's not just Colorado," said William Yeatman, an energy analyst with the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based free-market think tank. "Renewable-energy manufacturing is taking a beating across the country, primarily due to the fact that federal subsidies have run their course," he said. "The 2009 stimulus has been spent, and the wind production-tax credit is set to expire in December. Without taxpayer handouts, these green industries simply cannot compete." Volatility expected Advocates for renewable energy say tax credits and loan guarantees are necessary tools for the wind and solar industries to survive and grow until they reach scales to compete with other power sources. Former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, who coined the term "new energy economy" during his 2006 gubernatorial campaign, said he remains convinced that Colorado will be a center for renewable-energy commerce and research despite the recent spate of layoffs and bankruptcies. "People still see Colorado as a state that moved forward with an aggressive agenda," said Ritter, a Democrat who now serves as director of the Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University. "There is going to be some volatility within this industry," he said. "But what I would argue is that we will not go backwards. The public demand for clean energy is very strong. And our R&D corridor is as strong as any place in the nation." Ritter blamed layoffs at manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems on "congressional inaction" to extend the expiring wind-energy production-tax credit, or PTC. "If the PTC comes back for three years, Vestas would be at full-tilt boogie," he said. Failure to extend the PTC would devastate the wind-energy industry, according to a report by Navigant Consulting, commissioned by the American Wind Energy Association. Wind-supported jobs in the U.S. would drop nearly in half, from 78,000 in 2012 to 41,000 in 2013, the report said. Installations of wind generation would decline from 12 gigawatts this year to 2 gigawatts next year. Investment in wind energy would fall from $15.6 billion in 2012 to $5.5 billion next year. While solar energy is not affected by the production-tax credit — solar has its own investment-tax credit through 2016 — the industry is not immune from problems. The Chapter 7 bankruptcy and subsequent closure of solar-panel manufacturer Abound Solar this year has become a hot issue in political and government circles. While Abound officials blamed the shutdown on crippling competition from low-cost Chinese manufacturers, others — chiefly Republicans in Congress — say Abound was selling faulty equipment. They are investigating to determine if the U.S. Department of Energy was aware of Abound's technical problems before it authorized a $400 million loan guarantee in 2010. Abound drew about $70 million in guaranteed loans. The DOE has estimated that U.S. taxpayers will be on the hook for about $40 million to $60 million following Abound's liquidation. The Weld County district attorney's office is saying little about its investigation of Abound, reported this month by 7News. "I can confirm that there is an investigation into Abound Solar from our office," said spokesman Heath Montgomery. "As it pertains to the nature of that investigation, I can't comment on that." House investigation U.S. Rep. Cory Gardner, a Colorado Republican whose district includes Abound's former office and manufacturing sites, serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is investigating the Abound loans. "Did the DOE rush to issue a loan guarantee on a product that wasn't ready for prime time?" Gardner said. "We need to know what the DOE knew and when they knew it." He said the investigation seeks to address the issue of the government "picking winners and losers" through the issuance of loan guarantees to a handful of companies. Gardner said he supports a short-term extension of the wind-production tax credit because, unlike selective solar loan guarantees, any company producing wind power can claim the tax credit. DOE spokesman Damien LaVera declined to comment specifically on the House investigation. He noted that Abound, since its founding in 2007 under the name AVA Solar, had Republican and Democratic backing as it requested government incentives for operations in Colorado and Indiana. "Abound had strong bipartisan support — first in the form of a grant from DOE under the Bush administration, and later in the form of letters and public statements from members of Congress from Colorado and Indiana and the governor of Indiana," LaVera said. Namaste Solar of Boulder, one of Colorado's largest solar-system installers, has used Abound panels for two projects. On one of the installations, using an early version of Abound panels, the equipment malfunctioned and needed to be replaced. The second project using a later version operated normally. Blake Jones, president of Namaste, said he was intrigued with the idea of using a Colorado-based supplier. But Abound was "late to the game" compared to more established panel manufacturers, Jones said, and had difficulty scaling up its production enough to be cost-competitive. Jones said the failure of Abound is not representative of the solar manufacturing sector, nor should it be used as a reason to curtail financial incentives to the industry. "Oil and gas is subsidized; nuclear is subsidized," he said. "The playing field needs to be leveled in order to support the solar industry during its maturation phase. I do believe we'll reach a point where unsubsidized solar can compete with other technologies."

Government to streamline solar development in West

SAN FRANCISCO – Federal officials on Friday approved a plan that sets aside 445 square miles of public land for the development of large-scale solar power plants, cementing a new government approach to renewable energy development in the West after years of delays and false starts. At a news conference in Las Vegas, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar called the new plan a “roadmap ... that will lead to faster, smarter utility-scale solar development on public lands.” The plan replaces the department’s previous first-come, first-served system of approving solar projects, which let developers choose where they wanted to build utility-scale solar sites and allowed for land speculation. The department no longer will decide projects within the zones on a case-by-case basis as it had since 2005, when solar developers began filing applications. Instead, the department will direct development to land it has identified as having fewer wildlife and natural-resource obstacles. The government is establishing 17 new “solar energy zones” on 285,000 acres in six states: California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. More than half of the land – 153,627 acres – is in Southern California. Interior also established 19 million acres – nearly 30,000 square miles – of so-called “variance zones” that will allow developers to propose solar projects in those areas. Environmental and other review of projects proposed in variance zones would be handled on a case-by-case basis. The Obama administration has authorized 10,000 megawatts of solar, wind and geothermal projects that, when built, would provide enough energy to power more than 3.5 million homes, Salazar said. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu said the effort will help the U.S. stay competitive. “There is a global race to develop renewable energy technologies – and this effort will help us win this race by expanding solar energy production while reducing permitting costs,” Chu said. The new solar energy zones were chosen because they are near existing power lines, allowing for quick delivery to energy-hungry cities. Also, the chosen sites have fewer of the environmental concerns – such as endangered desert tortoise habitat – that have plagued other projects. Environmental groups such as the Nature Conservancy that had been critical of the federal government’s previous approach to solar development in the desert applauded the new plan. “We can develop the clean, renewable energy that is essential to our future while protecting our iconic desert landscapes by directing development to areas that are more degraded,” said Michael Powelson, the conservancy’s North American director of energy programs. Some solar developers that already are building projects were complimentary of the new approach, saying it will help diversify the country’s energy portfolio more quickly. Still, some cautioned that the new plan could still get mired in the same pattern of delay and inefficiency that hampered previous efforts, and they urged the government to continue pushing solar projects forward. “The Bureau of Land Management must ensure pending projects do not get bogged down in more bureaucratic processes,” said Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association. Salazar said the country four years ago was importing 60 percent of its oil, and that number has dropped to 45 percent today. “We can see the energy independence of the United States within our grasp,” he said.

Colorado Leaders Aim to Lead Nation in Clean Energy

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.- One of the issues talked about at the Club 20 debates hits close to home for Coloradans and that's energy. Natural gas, wind, solar and coal are just a few. The way people get from point A to B is changing, and many hope it will continue to change for the better. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., said, “I don’t want my daughters to have to buy their oil from the Persian Gulf. That doesn’t make any sense for them to have to do that. We ought to fix this problem.” Those behind the vehicles that are not well known for being environmentally friendly are fighting back against the stereotypes. Paul Witt, a spokesperson for Ford Motor Company, said, “You need a truck with a lot of capacity and that can haul, but on the other hand, you still want a truck that is going to be burning cleaner and burning cheaper. This is a great option for you." With just a flip of a switch a person can go from using gasoline to compressed natural gas, known as CNG. “You can switch it while you’re driving. It doesn’t affect the operation, the engine at all,” Witt said. In 2011, CNG filling stations were opened in Rifle and Grand Junction. “CNG burns cleaner, it reduces emissions, it’s got about the same power per unit volume as gasoline does, and it’s cheaper," said Witt. There are also plans for more filling stations. David Ludlam, the executive director for the West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association, said, “There’s a collaborative effort in the Roaring Fork Valley and there’s also a collaborative effort in Grand Junction to add additional stations. We are trying to get one in every municipality on the I-70 corridor.” “We have incredible entrepreneurial horsepower in this state that’s thinking about how we create a 21st century energy equation for our people. I think our state could be the leader of 50 states.” The West Slope Colorado Oil and Gas Association says that teamwork with political leaders is a huge asset as they move forward. “Thanks to Senator Bennet and Governor Hickenlooper’s great leadership, they’ve helped take what we’ve achieved locally and help bring a national voice, the need for national infrastructure," said Ludlam. Parties involved with the CNG movement are ready to see it expand, and they say Colorado should lead the way.

Solar Friendly Communities in Colorado

Solar Friendly Communities, a coalition of Denver, Fort Collins, Golden, Boulder County, the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) have joined to help bring down the cost of installing solar in Colorado by streamlining permitting and inspection. The project is supported by a SunShot Initiative grant as one of the 22 national Rooftop Solar Challenge teams. The nearly $500,000 grant is aimed at reducing permitting and interconnection costs by 25 percent through online tools, hands-on support and quantifiable progress assessments, according to the Department of Energy. The problem is local permitting and inspection processes add about $2,500 to the cost of each residential system, according to some recent reports. In addition, the permitting requirements vary dramatically across states like Colorado. For instance, the coalition said Colorado has more than 200 municipalities, 64 counties and 65 utilities, each with their own permitting and inspection processes. The workshops, being held in Centennial, on Sept. 18; Denver, on Sept. 19 and Boulder on Sept. 20, mark the introduction of the coalition’s “12 Best Practices: A Roadmap to a Solar Friendly Community”. “The workshops are primarily intended for municipal and county officials as many of the best practices we recommend involved local permitting, inspection and policy issues,” said Rebecca Cantwell, senior program director for Solar Friendly Communities. “But the workshops are open to all and we expect more than 60 attendees including community members, business leaders, solar installers and municipal leaders.” The coalition launched in February, 2012 and this represents a step forward in its goals to lower costs. “We have been working with our core partner communities of Denver, Boulder County, Fort Collins and Golden since February and held in-depth workshops with each community in May and June to review their current practices and explore opportunities for streamlining,” Cantwell said. Chief building and key permitting officials from each jurisdiction participated. “We have been working with them individually on a variety of topics identified in the workshops since then,” she said. Since the initial meetings, the campaign has been doing outreach in the communities. “We have been working with a solar industry group and other stakeholders to understand what steps would be most helpful in helping them overcome barriers to solar deployment,” Cantwell said. The outreach and earlier meetings, as well as discussions with representatives of local governments, industry, and other stakeholders allowed them to create the roadmap. “Dozens of stakeholders were involved in many different conversations. The product of these months of work will be explained and presented at the workshops,” she said.

Solar gardens to bloom on Colorado rooftop, farm field and parking lot

Where do you plant a solar [3] garden? In Colorado [4] they’ll be found on the roof of an old airplane hangar, on pillars hovering over a vegetable field and a school parking lot. Those are a few of the places that the first solar gardens – photovoltaic arrays that residents will able to buy shares in – are set to be built under a new program [5]. Xcel Energy, the state’s largest electricity utility, Tuesday announced that it had awarded contracts for its first 10 solar gardens – totaling 4.5 megawatts. “This is very exciting for the solar industry,” said Blake Jones, chief executive officer of Namaste Solar, a Boulder-based installer participating on two of the projects. Only about a quarter of the nation’s rooftops are big enough and sunny enough for rooftop solar, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden and not everyone can afford a rooftop array that can cost $12,000 to $180,00 in Colorado. Solar gardens enable people who don’t have a sunny roof or the money to buy a full array to buy or lease a piece of an array — in some cases for as little as $1,000. The Colorado Community Solar Garden Act was passed in 2010 to promote the community solar installations and directed the state Public Utilities Commission to include gardens in renewable energy plans. Xcel’s new incentive program for 18 megawatts of gardens in the next two years came out of that effort. Xcel opened it program on August 15th and within 30 minutes had three times as many applications [6] as it could fill. Operators will get paid on a sliding scale — 14 cents to 10 cents — for each kilowatt-hour the garden produces. Residents will get a credit on their bill of about 6.8 cents a kilowatt-hour. The Carbondale-based Clean Energy Collective, a private developer specializing in solar gardens, will develop six projects. Among them are two gardens in Denver, where space is at a premium. One 400-kiolwatt array will cover the curved roof of the Lowry Hangar 2 and another 500-kilowatt installation will form a parking lot awning at the Evie Dennis school campus. At the Golden Hoof Sustainable Demonstration Farm, in East Boulder, the collective will build a 500-kilowatt solar garden on pillars over a farm field. “We’ve looked for innovative solutions for each community,” said Paul Spencer, chief executive officer of Clean Energy Collective. The collective’s other solar gardens include one 108-kilowatt project in Arvada and two 500-kilowatt units in Breckenridge. Solar Panel Hosting, Namaste Solar and Solar Power Financial teamed-up to win 497-kilowatt projects in Aurora and Saugache County. “Installation will be similar to any other array,” Namaste’s Jones said. “The more complex aspect will be dealing with subscribers.” Community Energy Solar, a Boulder-based project developer, and Bella Energy, another Boulder-based commercial solar installer are developing two 500-kilowatt projects in the City of Lafayette. The projects will be on municipal land, one is adjacent to Lafayette’s water treatment plant and the city will be the prime customer for the garden, said Community Energy’s Eric Blank. Lafayette officials and Community Energy executives are planning to donate output to low-income families, who would become subscribers to the garden for free. “These ten projects are in areas that serve a million people, so the gardens will only be able to take a fraction of a percent of the potential customers,” said the Clean Energy Collective’s Spencer. Information about the projects can be found at Xcel’s solar garden site [7].

Black Hills Energy pulling plug on solar program in southern Colorado

Black Hills Energy, which serves Pueblo and 52 towns and cities in southern Colorado, is set to pull the plug on its solar panel incentive program. The Rapid City, S.D.-based utility is proposing cutting its current program by about 75 percent, according to a renewable energy plan filled with the Colorado Public Utilities Commission. Low natural gas prices make adding renewable energy sources uneconomical, said Christopher Burke, vice president for Colorado utility operations. "This is a pretty good punch in the gut," said JD Johnson, owner of SolStore, a Pueblo-base solar installer. "We are just looking for some consistency." The move by Black Hills comes after Xcel Energy, the largest electric utility in the state with 1.4 million customers, trimmed its Solar Rewards program. As investor-owned utilities, Xcel and Black Hills are required by state law to generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Xcel says that it will meet the standard in 2018. Black Hills gets 12.5 percent of its power from renewable sources and will file another renewable energy plan in 2015. "We will get there," said Burke. In 2010, Black Hills, which serves 94,000 Colorado customers, suspended its solar rebate program, sparking criticism from some PUC commissioners and negotiations between the utility and the solar industry. In a settlement, Black Hills agreed to provide incentives for almost 1 megawatt of projects in 2011 with a comparable number of installations this year, said Neal Lurie, executive director of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group. The Black Hills program offers a direct rebate up to $3,000 for the cost of the system and a 9.5-cent credit for every kilowatt-hour put onto the grid by a small residential installation, for a nine-year period. Under Black Hills' proposal, the utility would add no new capacity but take 238 kilowatts of remaining capacity from the settlement for use in 2013 and 2014. The solar energy industry association's Lurie said he hopes continuing talks with the utility will lead to a larger program. "The low natural gas price has changed the business model," said Black Hill's Burke. "It has made it a lot less cost effective to incorporate renewables in our portfolio, especially solar which is the most expensive." Black Hills recently spent $487 million on two new gas-fired power plants in Pueblo and received PUC approval for a $10.5 million rate increase. That boosted the average monthly residential bill by $17.50, a nearly 5 percent increase. "With the price of electricity going up people are looking for alternatives," said SolStore's Johnson. "Black Hills is taking one of those away." Read more: Black Hills Energy pulling plug on solar program in southern Colorado - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21385680/black-hills-energy-pulling-plug-solar-program-southern#ixzz24QxKQMU3 Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

Xcel flooded with solar garden applications

Xcel flooded with solar garden applications Earlier this week, Xcel Energy began accepting applications for the first time from developers who want to build small solar gardens in Colorado. Just 30 minutes later, the company closed down the process, having already received proposals to build about three times the capacity allowed. "It really does show that there was a niche out there that wasn't being previously addressed," said Xcel spokesman Mark Stutz. The idea behind solar gardens, called the Solar Rewards Community program by Xcel, is to allow people who aren't able to install solar panels on their properties -- such as renters and condo owners, who don't own their roofs, and homeowners with shady roofs -- to harness solar power (and the available rebates). "Solar Rewards Community makes solar energy available to a new, broad group of customers and we are pleased with the interest shown today," David Eves, president and CEO of Xcel's Colorado operation, said Wednesday when the utility began accepting applications. And while the interest in developing solar gardens appears to be strong, until recently, solar gardens weren't legal in Colorado. That changed in 2010 when state Rep. Claire Levy, D-Boulder, introduced a bill into the General Assembly outlining rules for the community solar arrays. The bill was signed into law that June by Gov. Bill Ritter. "When I proposed the legislation in 2010, I didn't know how feasible it was going to be and how much demand there was," Levy said. "The fact that they sold out in 30 minutes -- it says that there is still a lot of potential for small-scale solar development." The legislation divides solar gardens into two types: those smaller than 500 kilowatts, and those with a capacity between 500 kilowatts and 2 megawatts in size. The total capacity of each type of solar garden is also limited for the first three years of the program. The idea, Levy said, was to make sure that the program would work and to make sure that small local solar providers -- which focus mostly on rooftop installations -- were not negatively affected by a big surge in solar garden development. After three years, future limits will be set by the Public Utilities Commission, said Levy, who noted that the PUC will be able to take into account the amount of demand at that time. The limit set for the capacity of all smaller solar gardens -- the ones for which applications were accepted Wednesday -- for this round is 4.5 megawatts. At least one of the small gardens will be built in the Boulder area, according to the Clean Energy Collective, a Carbondale-based company that won approval this week from Xcel to build six solar gardens in the utility's service area, including one just east of Boulder. The 500-kilowatt solar garden will be built on property of the Golden Hoof Sustainable Demonstration Farm, and the solar panels themselves will be artistically grouped into "solar trees" on the north side of the property, according to the collective. The garden will be incorporated into the program's educational program. "It worked out that it was a really nice approach to creating an ideal location for having a community solar array and being part of a sustainable environment and an educational environment," said Thomas Sweeney, Clean Energy Collective's chief operating officer. The permitting process has not yet begun for the solar garden, but Sweeney said rules created by Xcel say that the project must be finished within a year. A full list of which project applications were accepted -- which may include other Boulder-area gardens -- will be released next week, according to Xcel.

Two Grand Junction energy companies merge

Two Grand Junction energy companies merge Altasta Solar Center & EnergyWise Companies will now operate together as one entity August, 9 2012 Caitlin Row crow@gjfreepress.com To create Grand Junction's newest one-stop energy shop, Atlasta Solar Center and EnergyWise Companies recently joined forces in everything but name. Now, EnergyWise's energy efficiency and conservation methods, along with Atlasta's solar-production installations, will be offered under one umbrella. According to EnergyWise founder and president Darin Carei, operations for EnergyWise and Atlasta merged July 1. This came on the heels of another big event, the retirement of Atlasta's owner and founder Virgil Boggess. “Right now, (both companies) will maintain their own identities, but we're merging into one location,” Carei said. “We're looking actively for a brand-new building.” As one of the first solar companies in Grand Junction, Atlasta has been installing solar technologies in the Grand Valley since 1979. From its inception, it sold and installed solar thermal technologies. Then it added “off-grid solar” and “a steady increase of solar with grid tie photovoltaic systems being installed valleywide in commercial, residential, and utility applications,” its website said. EnergyWise formed locally in 2008 to perform energy efficiency services, such as audits, building improvements and ENERGY STAR® certifications. It works with new and existing buildings, and it provides insulation installations, air-sealing, crawl-space retrofits, specialized retrofit services and general contracting. “It always makes sense to look at conservation, and the demand side of energy before looking at production,” Altasta solar sales representative Lou Villaire said. “If you reduce consumption first, then you may pay less for a solar installation. ... EnergyWise can come in before the solar is done, and do an energy audit. It's a relatively simple procedure. You may find good opportunities for savings, and — through low- to no-cost measures — reduce your energy bill by 20 percent. That will in turn reduce your solar installation cost, as you may not need as big of a solar set-up.” Even though Atlasta and EnergyWise joined forces to provide full-service energy offerings, customers may pick and choose from its wide variety of services to fit their needs. “If someone comes to us with a relatively new home, we'd just do solar,” Villaire said. “You don't have to do a solar installation if you just need an energy audit.” For more information about EnergyWise, visit www.energywisecompanies.com. For more information about Atlasta, visit www.atlastasolar.com.

Solar gardens nourished by Xcel incentives set to bloom in Colorado

Solar gardens are poised to sprout across Colorado — from Fort Collins to Leadville to the Paradox Valley near Utah — and some are already taking root. Looking to take advantage of a new incentive program from Xcel Energy, the state's largest electric-utility company, community groups and developers are crafting garden proposals. Solar gardens enable people who don't have a sunny roof or the money to buy a full array to buy or lease a piece of an array — in some cases for as little as $1,000. "This is a way to make solar available to all our customers," said Robin Kittel, Xcel's director of regulatory administration. "We are also looking for creative low-income projects." More than a dozen states — including Massachusetts, Washington, Illinois, Arizona, Nevada and California — are promoting solar gardens, according to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council. But Colorado could set the pace for the nation. The state has a solar-garden law, developers specializing in the collective solar installations and innovative private financing. "There are a lot of elements that just come together in Colorado," said Jesse Morris, an analyst with the Rocky Mountain Institute, an energy consultant in Snowmass. In Leadville, 20 residents and a private school are proposing a small, 50-kilowatt solar garden near the base of Mount Elbert. Just off Interstate 70, at the Garfield County Airport near Rifle, the country's largest community solar garden — 858 kilowatts — is up and running. About 200 people have bought a piece of the garden's 3,575 panels. The complex was built by the Carbondale-based Clean Energy Collective, a private developer specializing in solar gardens. "This is a big, untapped market," said Paul Spencer, the collective's president and founder. "We've worked to develop a business model without subsidies, but the Xcel program will open up solar gardens to 55 percent of the state." The collective is hoping to use the Xcel incentive program to build a solar garden in Denver's Lowry neighborhood. But even without the Xcel incentive, the company is building a 1.2-megawatt garden in the Paradox Valley desert, in southwest Colorado, in cooperation with the San Miguel Power Association, and it has a contract with Colorado Springs Utilities for a garden. There are already two other solar-garden projects in Colorado Springs by SunShare LLC, a 1-year-old startup. One 575-kilowatt garden went into operation in December at Venetucci Farm, and the other 573-kilowatt project is under construction at a church. "I had seen solar gardens in Europe and wondered why we didn't have them here," said David Amster-Olszewski, 25, president of SunShare. "The answer was that there were regulatory and financial roadblocks, but those are being removed." Xcel will be offering incentives for 9 megawatts of solar gardens in 2012 and another 9 megawatts in 2013, divided among small systems (10 to 50 kilowatts), medium-size systems (50 kilowatts to 500 kilowatts) and large systems of 500 kilowatts to 2 megawatts. Operators will get paid on a sliding scale — 14 cents to 10 cents — for each kilowatt-hour the garden produces. Residents will get a credit on their bill of about 6.8 cents a kilowatt-hour. "There is a lot of interest," said Amster-Olszewski. "It looks like it is going to be somewhat of a raffle." There are, however, obstacles: The cost of the systems runs into the millions of dollars, and finding a piece of land large enough for a garden may be difficult in urban areas. "There is a lot of organizing and politics," said Jeff Evans, sales manager for solar installer Simple Solar. Simple Solar tried and failed to put together a garden project in Grand Junction. Still, groups and individuals across the state — from Aurora to Fairplay to Saguache County — are trying to organize solar gardens, said Joy Hughes, founder of the Westminster-based Solar Gardens Institute, a nonprofit advocacy group. "There is huge interest because this is a way that people who would never have access to solar power can participate," Hughes said. "It is a way to bring communities together." Only about a quarter of the nation's rooftops are big enough and sunny enough for rooftop solar, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden. And with the price of a rooftop array ranging from $12,000 to $180,000 in Colorado, not everyone can afford one. While sharing panels might sound simple, the details are complex. Issues include whether individuals can sell their shares and how they will be credited for the energy produced. The Colorado Community Solar Garden Act — sponsored by Claire Levy, a Boulder Democrat, and passed in 2010 — sought to address those issues. The act directed the Public Utilities Commission to include gardens in the state's renewable- energy plans. Xcel's new incentive program for 18 megawatts of gardens in the next two years came out of that effort. In Leadville, the High County Conservation Center organized the local group and was able to get a site on county land 7 miles from town. Solar Panel Hosting, a for-profit spin-off from the Solar Gardens Institute, is set to develop and manage the garden. If the project is selected, Xcel will pay the developer and its financial backers, under a 20-year contract, 14 cents for every kilowatt-hour the garden generates — as small gardens get the highest incentive. Residents will buy into the garden at $2,000 to $3,000 a kilowatt — depending on financing and construction costs, according to Lynne Greene, energy director at the conservation center. "I'm buying 1 kilowatt, which covers about a third of my electricity use," said Greene, who is a Leadville resident. Homeowners will get a credit on their bill for their share of the garden equal to Xcel's base residential rate, minus transmission and renewable-energy charges. The payback on the investment is estimated to be about 10 to 15 years, Greene said. Finding financing for solar gardens is a new challenge, since it is a new and expensive product. The energy collective has worked with private investors, who gain some federal tax credits as well as a return, and also JPMorgan Chase, Spencer said. But financing for homeowners looking to buy into a solar garden remains a challenge. Sooper Credit Union, which initially served King Soopers employees and now operates in four states, has jumped into that market as the first solar-garden lender in the country. Working with the energy collective, the credit union is offering three- to 10-year loans with interest rates of 2.25 percent to 6.5 percent to consumers and businesses. "At the outset, you are paying a little more than the benefit, but at some point you catch up," said Don Kester, the credit union's chief executive. "Our main business is car loans, but this looks to be a promising market — and it's green," Kester said. Read more: Solar gardens nourished by Xcel incentives set to bloom in Colorado - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_21073777/solar-gardnes-nourished-by-xcel-incentives-set-bloom#ixzz22vemLZYY Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse

Forecast for local solar industry: sunny

Forecast for local solar industry: sunny Article date: Jul 31 2012 Given increases in both the number of solar energy systems and businesses installing them in Mesa County, the outlook for the industry appears as bright as the sun from which a growing amount of electricity is produced. Financial incentives and technological advances — not to mention all that sunshine — are expected to drive additional growth, said Lou Villaire, founder of the Grand Valley Solar Center and sales manager at Atlasta Solar Center in Grand Junction. Lou Villaire, sales manager at Atlasta Solar Center in Grand Junction, expects third-party financing and technological advances to continue to bolster growth in the solar energy industyr in Mesa County. (Business Times photo by Phil Castle) The trends bode well not only for solar energy companies, but also the overall economy, Villaire said. “It’s making a modest, but significant, impact on the local economy, and we’d like to see that continue.” Villaire detailed some of the results of a study conducted by the Grand Valley Solar Center, a market research entity, in conjunction with the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association and Colorado Mesa University. The complete results of the study should be released within a month. Since 2006, more than 1,200 residential and commercial photovoltaic systems have been installed in Mesa County. The pace of installations has quickened to a total of between five and 10 residential and commercial systems a week, Villaire said. Ten to 15 companies are directly engaged in the solar energy industry in the county. Those companies collectively employ 40 to 50 people and indirectly account for another 25 to 30 jobs, he said. The numbers point to what’s estimated as an industry worth between $10 million and $15 million annually, Villaire said. Business similarly has increased at Atlasta Solar over the past five years, as has staffing, Villaire said. Mesa County constitutes something of a hot spot for solar energy in one of the top states for growth in the industry, Villaire said. Customers enjoy a sense of self-sufficiency from their solar systems as well as satisfaction from doing their part to generate electricity from a clean and renewable source, he said. But Villaire also attributes growth in the local solar industry in large part to financial incentives and technological advances that have made solar systems more widely available at a lower cost. A state law requiring utilities to generate an increasing proportion of power from renewable energy sources led to rebates for the installation of solar systems. Federal tax credits also are available, he said. At the same time, technological advances have made it possible to connect photovoltaic systems into the power grid and eliminate the need for battery storage. Mass production and imported solar energy panels have brought down prices, he added. One of the most significant developments of all has been the emergence of third-party arrangements in which companies and organizations pay for the purchase and installation of solar systems, then lease the electricity generated by those systems to home owners, businesses and other end users, Villaire said. The companies and organizations take advantage of the rebates and tax credits, while end users purchase solar power at what are usually lower rates and without any upfront costs. That makes solar energy available to to just about anyone with a home or building and good credit, he added. Although utility rebates have decreased and tax credits are scheduled to expire in 2016, Villaire expects the solar energy industry to continue to grow on the basis of cost. Even as the price of solar panels decreases, the price of electricity purchased from utilities increases, he said. Given the combination of recent growth and what’s expected to be continued growth, Villaire said the outlook for the solar industry appears, in a word, well … “sunny.”

Local solar energy market growing

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo (KKCO) The industry is not only booming on the Western Slope, but worldwide. A new study by Colorado Mesa University and the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association show that solar energy is now the single fastest growing energy source in the world. Since 2006, the U.S. solar market has grown by 110% per year. Experts say more affordable options are leading to increased demand. Solar used to be too expensive for many people, but times have changed. "The availability of the solar lease," says Dr. Lou Villaire with the Grand Valley Solar Center. That's one of the reasons for the huge increase in solar sales. "Now, so many more people can get into solar for their home without outlaying any capital, and immediately begin to save money on their bills," explains Villaire, also a salesman at Atlasta Solar Center in Grand Juncton. Since 2006, more than 1,200 residential and commercial solar electric systems have been installed in the Grand Valley. "We've had no problems with the panels at all," says Ladonna Ishida. Ishida bought and installed solar panels on her Orchard Mesa home in 2009 for $26,000, but saved $17,000 in rebates and tax credits. "You see your meter going backwards, and you have a 9 or 10 dollar electric bill, and it's like I can live with that," adds Ishida, who plans to recoup the costs in no time. "We're really energy conscious so we don't have lights on all the time, and don't run computers needlessly, so I think we'll recoup it before 12 years." Mesa county now represents a 15 million dollar annual solar industry. "We started as a company in 2005 with two people, myself as one of them, and my husband; and we've grown to 20 employees," says Heidi Ihrke, owner of High Noon Solar in Grand Junction. Now, over a dozen residential and commercial solar systems are being installed in the Grand Valley every week. "All of this has been very much a collective effort in making a real positive impact on the local economy," says Villaire. There are currently over a dozen solar companies in the Grand Valley, employing nearly 100 people. Colorado is also among the top five states in solar energy growth. Installing solar panels also makes you eligible for rebates, and state and federal tax credits. However, officials say you'd better hurry, because as demand increases, rebates and tax incentives are decreasing.

Solar power spreads in valley

By Matthew Berger Thursday, July 26, 2012 Solar power installation is accelerating in Mesa County, according to an upcoming report from industry groups. Residential and commercial systems are being installed at a rate of 10 to 15 each week, they said, more than double the weekly rate last year. The pace means installations in 2012 are expected to roughly double the total from last year. That has brought the cumulative total of residential and commercial solar systems installed in Mesa County since 2006 to more than 1,200 and given rise to a local solar industry that supports around 80 jobs and does around $15 million in annual sales. Those installations are now also offsetting eight to 10 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year, according to Lou Villaire of Grand Valley Solar Center and Atlasta Solar. Villaire spoke to the annual Western Slope stakeholders meeting of the Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association Wednesday afternoon at Colorado Mesa University. The report on the growth of solar in Mesa County is being produced by Grand Valley Solar Center, COSEIA and CMU’s Natural Resource Center and is expected to be released this fall. The report is an update of one released several years ago, Villaire said, and shows that since then growth of the solar industry on the Western Slope and Mesa County in particular has accelerated. One big driver of that trend is a leasing program through which residential customers can pay a monthly rate to lease the solar equipment rather than buy the expensive equipment all at once at the start, Villaire said. He called the program a game-changer, comparing it to the way in which cellphones were able to replace many landline phones. “You can now get the same amount of electricity (from solar) and pay less for it,” he said, noting that a lease agreement can typically involve paying nothing down and $60 to $75 a month to a third-party solar leasing company over a 20-year contract. Neil Lurie, executive director of COSEIA, said installing solar is already cost-effective and will only become more so if those costs go down a little bit more. “Today, it’s economically attractive. Tomorrow, it could be a no-brainer,” he said Wednesday. Speaking of the state as a whole, Lurie said Colorado is now the top state in the country in solar jobs per capita and that over the past four years the number of solar businesses in Colorado has jumped from 40 to 400. Solar in Colorado may get another boost in the coming years after the U.S. Department of the Interior announced Tuesday it had identified 17 tracts of public land across the southwestern U.S. on which utility-scale solar projects could be feasible. Four of those sites are in Colorado, all around the San Luis Valley area. The sites were chosen because solar development there would have fewer impacts on wildlife or other resources than elsewhere and the identification of these sites allows development of large solar projects there to be streamlined, the agency said.

New Report Shows Fast Growing Solar Market in Grand Junction and Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) visits Western Slope for Annual Solar Industry Stakeholder Meeting.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: New Report Shows Fast Growing Solar Market in Grand Junction and Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) visits Western Slope for Annual Solar Industry Stakeholder Meeting. Grand Junction, Mesa County, Wednesday 25 July 2012, 2-5 PM, Colorado Mesa University, University Center, West Ballroom, 2nd Floor. Solar Energy is now the single fastest growing energy source in the world. Since 2006, the U.S. solar market is growing by 110% percent per year. Colorado is among the top five (5) US states in solar growth. Colorado now has a growing solar energy market spurring nearly $1 billion in clean tech investment, deploying 200 megawatts of solar, and creating thousands of quality jobs at more than 400 Colorado solar companies. And according to a new report from the Grand Valley Solar Center and the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) Natural Resource Center, The Western Slope of Colorado, specifically Mesa County, is experiencing tremendous solar growth that has a large local economic impact. Since 2006, there have been over 1200 residential and commercial solar electric systems installed in the Grand Valley. In Mesa County, this now represents a $10-15 million annual industry. In the Grand Valley, there are 10-15 companies directly engaged in the solar industry. Initial estimates indicate that the industry in the Grand Valley now directly employs 40-50 people, and indirectly employs another 25-30. The pace of solar installations in Mesa County has increased so much in 2012, that 5-10 residential and commercial solar electric systems are now being installed in Mesa County every week! The full Report “Residential and Commercial Customer Sited Solar In Grand Junction, CO” will be released in the Fall of 2012 by the Grand Valley Solar Center and the CMU Natural Resource Center. CMU Business Department student interns contributed to the New GJ Solar Market Report in 2012. The New GJ Solar Market Report Press Conference, offering highlights of the upcoming report, will take place from 2-2:30PM, and then the COSEIA Western Slope Annual Stakeholder Meeting will take place from 3-5PM. Contacts: Dr. Lou Villaire, Grand Valley Solar Center, lvillaire@yahoo.com, 970.314.4413, http://grandvalleysolarcenter.blogspot.com/ Rebecca Cantwell, Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association, 1536 Wynkoop Suite 300, Denver CO 80202, 720-209-6000, rcantwell@coseia.org, www.coseia.org

GE Suspends Solar Factory Plans

General Electric Co. (GE) has stopped construction of a solar-panel factory in Colorado in the latest sign of the U.S. solar manufacturing industry's decline. GE initially planned to make thin-film solar panels at a factory in Aurora, Colo., using a cadmium telluride technology developed by PrimeStar, which GE acquired in 2011. GE planned to use the panels in solar farms that it would develop, or sell them to other developers. GE now plans to continue its solar power-plant development business, but the company has put the solar-panel factory on hold, said Lindsay Theile, a GE spokeswoman. Ms. Theile cited steep price declines and a global oversupply of panels as factors in GE's change of plan. Plunging solar-panel prices amid an influx of cheap Chinese panels and a global oversupply of solar manufacturing capacity have driven smaller solar firms out of business, while larger companies have struggled against falling profits and stock prices. The difficulties prompted SolarWorld AG's (SWV.XE) U.S. unit and other U.S. firms to file a trade case against Chinese rivals. The competition and lower prices have benefited developers and investors in solar projects, which are eligible for federal tax credits and other incentives. The U.S. Department of Commerce has slapped preliminary antidumping duties of 31% to 250% on panels made with Chinese solar cells. While that case has been pending, U.S. solar-panel makers have continued to struggle. Solar-panel maker Abound Solar, of Colorado, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection last week after taking more than $68 million in federal loans to expand manufacturing. California solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC filed for bankruptcy last September after accepting more than $500 million in federal loans, triggering criticism of the Obama administration's clean-energy policies. Other companies have decided to curtail production or stop making solar panels. U.S. solar-power giant First Solar Inc. (FSLR) said earlier this year it would shut its German factory by the end of the year, cut 2,000 jobs and halt work on a new factory it had planned to open in Arizona. First Solar, which also builds solar farms, has seen its market capitalization fall by more than 85% to $1.26 billion. In June, Germany-based glass maker Schott Glas AG said it would stop making solar panels at its Albuquerque factory as part of a larger effort to end production of solar panels made with silicon. Developing and owning solar-power projects have been more lucrative than making the panels, thanks to federal subsidies and state renewable-energy requirements. The MidAmerican Energy Holdings unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB) started a renewable-energy company earlier this year after it bought a large California solar farm from First Solar. Other power companies, such as NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE) and NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) also own solar farms. In January, GE said it would provide the solar equipment for a 23-megawatt solar farm in Illinois being built by Invenergy. The solar panels are being supplied by Showa Shell Sekiyu's (5002.TO) Solar Frontier unit. GE also is supplying the inverters and racking equipment. Although GE is putting its Colorado solar-panel factory on hold for at least 18 months, company researchers will continue working to improve the company's thin-film technology, Ms. Theile said