Source: UWIG

The Utility Wind Integration Group is pleased to make available on its web site the summary table Central Wind Power Forecasting Programs in North America by Regional Transmission Organizations and Electric Utilities.

Published in December 2009 as a report by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the document was compiled by Jennifer Rogers and Kevin Porter of Exeter Associates. Covering PJM Interconnection, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Midwest ISO, New York ISO, California ISO, Southern California Edison, Hydro Quebec, Xcel Energy (Colorado), Ontario Independent Electricity System Operator, Alberta Electric System Operator, and Bonneville Power Administration, the table addresses the implementation of central wind power forecasting by electric utilities and regional transmission organizations in North America. The first part of the table focuses on electric utilities and regional transmission organizations that have central wind power forecasting in place; the second part focuses on electric utilities and regional transmission organizations that plan to adopt central wind power forecasting in 2010. Table entries are organized as follows:

• When the wind power forecast was put into operation, or will be in operation.
• What wind power forecast vendor and model is used.
• What wind power forecast tools and techniques are used.
• What applications are the wind power forecast used for.
• How wind power forecasts are paid for.
• What data is required, by wind turbine and wind project.
• How the wind power forecast is conducted.
• Whether a ramp forecast is prepared.
• How the wind power forecast was performed.

Download the Summary Table

Source: Reuters

The US Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) identified 31 renewable energy projects that have met the required milestones to remain on the fast-track list for expedited processing.

With the December 2010 deadline for obtaining incentive funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act only a year off, BLM Director Bob Abbey guaranteed full environmental analysis and public review for the projects to meet the timeline.

Abbey said that this first wave of projects (14 solar, 7 wind, 3 geothermal, and 7 transmission) range in scale from as small as 24 megawatts (MW) up to 986 MW, large enough to supply power to 900,000 homes. Technologies vary, as does acreage involved, but he said “they represent the first generation of large-scale renewable energy projects to be carefully sited on public lands over the next several years.”

Fast-track projects are those where the companies involved have demonstrated to the BLM that they have made sufficient progress to formally start the environmental review and public participation process.

The list includes numerous high-profile projects, including: BrightSource Energy’s Ivanpah, Solar Millennium’s Chevron 1 and 2, Duke Energy’s Searchlight, Ormat’s McGuinness Hills, and Iberdrola’s Tule Wind Project.

“The fast-track process is about focusing our staff and resources on the most promising renewable energy projects,” said Abbey, “not about cutting corners, especially when it comes to environmental analyses or opportunities for public participation.”

All renewable energy projects proposed for BLM-managed lands will receive the full environmental review required by the National Environmental Protection Act and will include the same opportunities for public involvement required for all other land-use decisions, BLM said.

Source: SeattlePI

Tiny, glitter-sized solar cells have been developed by the Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories. It might turn out to be the perfect alternative energy preference for the holiday season. This project is funded by the American government. The dimensions of the snowflake sized crystalline-silicon photovoltaic cells are merely 14-20 micrometers thick and measure 0.25 to 1 millimeters across i.e. only 10% as thick as regular ones. They also consume an estimated 100 times less silicon to produce the same amount of electricity compared to standard solar cells. Their efficiency level is 14.9%.

The USP of the snowflake sized crystalline-silicon photovoltaic cells is their size. Because of their infinitesimally small size, the glitter solar particles can be installed in a wide range of products needing energy. Another USP of the snowflake sized crystalline-silicon photovoltaic cells is they have the capability to fit into any given pattern shape or size such as fabrics. So they will convert your clothes into solar power generators. If we ponder a bit and visualize these tiny, glitter-sized solar cells can turn a person into a walking solar battery charger if they are fitted into clothing.

Because of their minuscule size they are also less prone to shading and heating effects. Their built-in tiny electrical contacts also make them sturdy and durable. Shade and heat often hinders the performance of larger solar cell performance. The sequin-like solar cell technology hopefully will soon appear on from high-tech items such as satellites to right on down to back-backers’ tents to help recharge electronics. If everything goes right these cells can revolutionize the way solar energy is used.

These cells attain their minuscule size due to the application of the techniques like microelectronic and micro electromechanical systems (MEMS). There techniques are usually applied to make today’s electronic circuits. Greg Nielson is the lead investigator of this project. According to him, the research team has identified more than 20 benefits of scale for its micro photovoltaic (MPV) cells. Manufacturers often look for new applications, improved performance, reduced costs and higher efficiencies in a product because these qualities help them produce and market a product easily. Researcher Murat Okandan also comes forth with his views, “For large-scale power generation one of the biggest benefits is a significant reduction in manufacturing and installation costs compared with current solar cell techniques.”

Greg Nielson says, “Eventually units could be mass-produced and wrapped around any shape including building-integrated solar, tents and even clothing.”

These tiny, glitter-sized solar cells can be utilized by different walks of life such as hunters, hikers or military personnel. They are often away from the usual amenities of the cities. In the field they can utilize tiny, glitter-sized solar cells to recharge batteries for phones, cameras and other electronic devices as they move or sleep. Even better, such micro engineered panels could have circuits imprinted that would help perform other functions.

Vipin Gupta is the Sandia’s field engineer. He shares his opinion, “Photovoltaic modules made from these micro sized cells for the rooftops of homes and warehouses could have intelligent controls, inverters and even storage built in at the chip level.”

Source: Reuters

• Thin film to account for 31 pct of solar panels in 2013
• Technology had 14 pct market share in 2008
• Research says First Solar established market viability

Solar panels that use thin-film technology in place of traditional silicon-based materials will more than double their share of the solar panel market by 2013, according to a report issued on Tuesday by industry research firm iSuppli.

Thin-film panels, such as those made by First Solar Inc (FSLR.O), the largest U.S. solar power company, are cheaper to make per watt of electricity than are standard panels.

The average thin-film solar panel price is expected to decline nearly 18 percent in 2010 to $1.40 per watt, iSuppli said. Average prices for silicon-based panels are expected to drop 20 percent to $2.00 per watt in 2010.

Panels than employ thin-film technology are expected to claim 31 percent of the global solar panel market by 2013, up from 14 percent in 2008.

“The market viability of thin film has been solidly established by First Solar Inc as it rockets to become the world’s top solar panel maker this year, with more than a gigawatt of production,” said Greg Sheppard, chief research officer for iSuppli in a statement.

Most solar panels, like those made by Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd (STP.N) and California-based SunPower Corp (SPWRA.O), rely on polysilicon as a key raw material, while thin-film panel makers use a variety of different materials to turn sunlight into electricity.

Sheppard added that First Solar has driven its cost of production to less than 90 cents per watt, keeping its costs at about half the level of its competitors that use silicon-based technology.

Thin-film panels’ cost advantage has helped attract Japan’s Sharp Corp (6753.T) to expand into the thin film market. Solar equipment suppliers, such as Applied Materials Inc (AMAT.O) and Swiss technology group Oerlikon’s (OERL.VX) solar arm, are ramping up in thin-film space as well.

Source: Reuters

Investing in wind power offers safer, less volatile returns in the current market environment than the solar sector, a fund manager of KBC’s asset management arm told Reuters. “We as investors like strong, steady growth, which is why we currently favor wind more than solar, which is expected to see more volatility in the short term,” said Treasa Ni Chonghaile, manager of KBC’s Eco Alternative Energy fund.

The solar sector is in the process of wide-ranging consolidation, triggered by cell and module oversupply that has plagued the industry and has forced some players to file for bankruptcy, while other are suffering major losses.

The wind industry, however, has seen most of its consolidation activity already, with a handful of players, such as India’s Suzlon Energy Ltd, Germany’s Nordex AG and Denmark’s Vestas Wind Systems A/S emerging as global players, along with bigger conglomerates, notably Siemens AG and General Electric Co.

Ni Chonghaile’s fund, currently about 236 million euros ($348 million), has gained 16.1 percent to October 29 from January, underperforming the FTSE clean tech index, which gained 21.4 percent in the same period.

About 35 percent of the fund is invested in companies active in the wind sector, compared with about 28 percent for the solar industry.

“The wind sector has a more mature technology, benefits from government support and is more cost-competitive versus solar,” Ni Chonghaile said.

In Germany, for example, feed-in tariffs for solar companies are on average much higher than those for wind power, meaning wind energy companies produce at more competitive levels vis-a-vis their solar peers.

Top picks in Ni Chonghaile’s portfolio include wind market leader Vestas, Spain’s Iberdrola Renovables SA — the world’s leading renewable energy generator — and U.S. solar cell maker First Solar Inc.

Ni Chonghaile’s fund also holds shares in Novera Energy Ltd, an operator of landfill gas sites, which is trying to fend off a takeover offer by private-equity backed peer Infinis Energy, saying the bid was “wholly inadequate.”

“We like the company’s assets. This is one of the reasons why we, too, think that Infinis’ bid is undervaluing the company,” Ni Chonghaile said.

Apple’s iPhone has apps for Car 2.0, for home energy management and for fuel efficiency. Now here’s one for clean power that I wasn’t expecting to see: a wind speed tester courtesy of small wind turbine maker Mariah Power. Todd Woody profiles the app in the New York Times’ Green Inc. blog this morning, and says the application uses the iPhone’s microphone to capture the sound of the wind and then utilizes an algorithm to tune out the surrounding noise and calculate the wind decibel speed.

Voila, you have a handy-dandy way of finding out if your backyard (or rooftop) would make a good location for a small wind turbine. (iPhone apps Wind Meter and Wind Speed also do this.) Presumably, farmers, residents and companies putting up larger wind turbines in rural areas, and making money off of wind power, will want to check wind mapping charts and lean on a reliable way to test wind speeds. Launching the application is probably as much about marketing Mariah’s brand name as it is about offering a real tool.

But Mariah — named for the song “They Call the Wind Mariah” from the Clint Eastwood musical film “Paint Your Wagon,” — has real technology of its own. The 4-year-old company based in Reno, Nev., builds a slim 30-foot-tall vertical-axis turbine that can turn low-speed gusts of wind into electricity. The turbine costs about $4,000, plus $1,000 for installation, has straight blades that spin vertically to produce up to 1.2 kilowatts of power — roughly 2,000 kilowatt-hours per year — and delivers a cost of ownership of 12.4 cents per kilowatt-hour over 20 years. The company also claims the vertical axis enables the turbine to spin more slowly — just two to three times the speed of the wind — making it quieter than the usual pinwheel-shaped turbines.

Late last year, Mariah raised its second round of funding from Noventi Ventures, Greenhouse Capital, BigSky Partners and the Sierra Angels. The company only officially launched the turbine, Windspire, in June, and says by last November it had received more than 4,000 orders. By the end of this year, Mariah has said, it hopes to ramp up to 1,000 turbines per month in production.

The iPhone has clearly emerged as the platform of choice for mobile innovation, with its easy-to-use developer tools, and interesting device functions (microphone, GPS, and motion capabilities). Early adopter iPhone users are also the types that are increasingly interested in clean power — if their residents could support a small wind turbine, they would surely want to know about it.

The idea of installing small wind tubines — defined as 100 kilowatts or less by wind trade group the American Wind Energy Association — has emerged over the past year as a growing trend. Well, the small wind biz can go nowhere but up, given the vast majority of wind turbines are large utility scale beasts. But according to the AWEA, the small wind industry in the U.S. grew 78 percent in 2008 to 80 MW, adding 17.3 MW of installed capacity. That’s up from a growth of just 14 percent in 2007.

Content by Earth2Tech

Source: Reuters

Executives from solar power companies see clearer skies in 2010 for the beleaguered industry, even as quarterly reports from heavyweights like First Solar Inc and SunPower Corp have disappointed investors and dragged down shares.

The industry has struggled to emerge this year from tight credit markets, a global glut of panels and falling prices.

“I think we’re already in the middle of a turnaround. We’ve kind of gone through the low point of the recent past,” said Steven Chan, Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd’s chief strategy officer, in an interview with Reuters.

Executives from Sharp Corp, BP’s solar unit and other solar power players shared similar optimism about the sector’s outlook in 2010 at the Solar Power International conference being held in Anaheim, California, this week.

The industry, which grew at a clip of more than 40 percent for several years, has suffered in the recession, but solar companies kept a bullish attitude on growth next year.

Executives cited various forces that could drive growth in 2010, including U.S. stimulus funds for green projects, extended tax incentives and new financing.

“I call it a warming up,” said Ron Kenedi, vice president of Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group, in an interview at the conference.

Kenedi said work on government projects has been a “bright spot,” while BP Solar Chief Executive Reyad Fezzani said new subsidies in markets like India will spur industry growth and that Italy has built up a lot of momentum.

Fezzani predicted the sector could grow globally 50 percent next year and warned that pent-up demand could even spark fresh supply issues.

“It may be that the supply chain may get tight again … Quite frankly the way this market can shift from long to short and back remains the biggest challenge,” Fezzani said during a panel discussion at the conference.

He cited reports that companies that make inverters are running short on inventory, and Suntech’s Chan said his company was juggling how to allocate panels among its customers amid good signs for sales for the first quarter of 2010.

Inverters convert the direct current produced by solar cells into alternating current compatible with the U.S. electrical grid.

PANEL PRICES AT PLATEAU

While panel prices have tumbled about 50 percent over the last year, companies said that the decline is slowing or has even stalled.

Chan said panel prices have been stable in the fourth quarter and they will decline about 8 percent to 10 percent in 2010.

Still, more polysilicon is expected to come onto the market, putting margin pressure on producers of the material, which is used in the majority of panels, said Olaf Koester, chief executive of Solon’s U.S. unit, based in Tucson, Arizona.

Some in the industry also remain wary that financing has yet to fully recover. BP’s Fezzani said that companies still need banks to provide financing in a timely way.

“They have the intent, they have the resources, they’ve hired the lawyers to do the due diligence. But, frankly, the issue is they’re not signing the checks and it’s causing delays,” Fezzani told reporters at the conference.

Source: Reuters

The Philippine government aims to approve contracts to explore and develop the country’s massive geothermal energy resources, which could attract more than $2.5 billion in private investment, an official said.

The Philippines, the world’s second-largest developer of geothermal energy, plans to approve 19 deals in the next five months to allow foreign and domestic companies access to geothermal projects, the division chief for geothermal energy at the Philippine Energy Department, Alejandro Oanes, told Reuters.

Philippine power producer Energy Development Corp and Envent, a unit of Geysir Green Energy, one of Iceland’s biggest geothermal energy companies, were among groups vying for contracts to tap the country’s geothermal resources, he said.

“Incentives for renewable projects are giving (the country’s) geothermal development a much needed boost,” said Oanes in a telephone interview from Manila.

Tax holidays and tariff exemptions for renewable energy projects are boosting investment in clean energy in the Philippines, with the government recently awarding 87 contracts to develop alternative energy sources.

Geothermal power accounted for 17 percent of the country’s total power mix at the end of 2008, with installed capacity close to 2,000 megawatts, energy department data showed.

The government was issuing tenders for the development of 10 geothermal sites and negotiating nine more deals directly with various companies, Oanes said. Combined, the deals could harness more than 620 megawatts of geothermal energy.

Geothermal sites covered in the deals include Mount Isarog, in Camarines Sur province, where about 70 MW of geothermal power could be developed. The government is also looking at resources in Mount Labo, Camarines Norte with a potential capacity of 65 MW.

Other provinces identified with geothermal resources include Benguet, Cagayan, Palawan, Oriental Mindoro, Surigao del Norte and Laguna.

Wind-Hydrogen-Diesel on Ramea Island, Canada

A wind-hydrogen-diesel energy system is being developed and installed in the off-grid community of Ramea Island, Newfoundland. When completed, it is expected that this state-of-the-art project, which is unique to Canada, will allow the shutting down of all diesel generators on Ramea Island during periods of low energy demand. This will allow the power utility (Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro) to provide its customers with clean wind power, either directly via wind turbines, or from stored hydrogen, created by using excess wind-generated electricity.

It is expected that the system will be commissioned in 2009 and will undergo performance monitoring further research and development following its commissioning.

The electrical grid of Ramea Island, which currently relies on diesel and wind power, will incorporate a hydrogen storage and generator system. In this isolated power system, hydrogen will be produced from water electrolysis when the wind power output exceeds the load. The hydrogen gas will be accumulated in storage tanks. When the power output from the wind turbines is not sufficient to meet the community load, the stored hydrogen will power a generator which will provide electricity to the community.

Ramea Island Wind-Hydrogen-Diesel System Configuration

The system is made up of the following components:

• Control System – This must be compatible with each component’s control system and with the existing wind-diesel control system
• Wind Turbines – It is planned that the project will add three new wind turbines to supplement the existing ones. This wind capacity will contribute towards the goal of meeting 100% of the Island’s electrical demand with clean sources in certain circumstances
• Hydrogen Electrolyzer and Storage – A hydrogen electrolyzer will convert the electricity generated by the wind turbines into hydrogen which will be stored at the site in vessels
• Hydrogen Powered Generator – A 250 kW generator (consisting of internal combustion engines driving synchronous generators) will convert the stored hydrogen into electricity

The project is being led by Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro , with support from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency , the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador , and from Natural Resources Canada .

Additional partners include Memorial University , the University of New Brunswick , and Frontier Power Systems.

Additional resources:

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro news release announcing the project .