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Sat, 27 Jun 2009 06:20:00 -0700

Green building of the week from Inhabitat is this tower planned for Rotterdam - Monolab’s Soaring Solar Rotterdam Tower.

Monolab is aiming to take solar power to extreme heights by designing their sky-high Rotterdam Tower with a skin of photovoltaic panels. At 450 meters, the Rotterdam Tower design is intended to connect Europe’s largest port to the city by reaching into the vertical landscape. The tower, which has been designated as a mixed-use building, will incorporate public, commercial, and residential spaces. An intricate series of gondolas, which move up, down, and diagonally across the tower will leave passengers with a bit of vertigo while affording them an amazing view of the city.

Rotterdam Tower is planned to be an extension of the port, and a new manmade connection back to land, thanks to the use of giant arms of steel. An integrated pedestrian boulevard will provide ample accessibility for those on foot. Those interested in getting to higher ground may view the city from the tower’s multiple sky lounges. A large parking structure with the capacity to hold 1000 cars is planned in hopes of liberating the downtown traffic zone and swapping asphalt for park grass.

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Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:54:55 -0700

[In partnership with VEI] Interest in the use of renewable energy sources for the local generation of electrical energy is increasing on a worldwide scale. This trend is also noticeable in Flanders. The total electrical energy generated by renewable sources in Flanders in 2000 was 170.4 GWh, and this rose to 1429.3 GWh in 2006. Photovoltaic panels comprise a fast-growing market.

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Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:20:00 -0700

Age
Friday 19/6/2009 Page: 6

A HOUSEHOLD solar panels credits program will be delayed for at least two months after the Opposition voted to refer the Government"s renewable energy target legislation to a Senate committee. The delay could mean job cuts in the solar industry after several retailers told TheAge this week they could shed hundreds of jobs because of the continuing uncertainty surrounding the legislation.

The legislation could have been voted on as early as next week but will now have to wait until after a Senate committee reports on August 12. The committee investigation was proposed by Family First senator Steve Fielding and backed by the Opposition and independent Nick Xenophon.

Senator Fielding said any job losses in the solar industry caused by the delay were the fault of the Government"s decision to link industry exemptions from the target to the emissions trading scheme, which is likely to be defeated in the Senate next week. That link has angered the Opposition, which has previously stated it would pass the renewable scheme but not the emissions trading scheme.

Clean Energy Council chief executive Matt Warren said yesterday"s delay meant hundreds of jobs could be lost and industry expansion plans to employ more people would be put on hold. "We are in almost disbelief," Mr Warren said. "How can this policy that everyone supports not be getting through?" The Solar Shop, NuSolar and Clear Solar have all said they would halt expansion plans and review staffing if the uncertainty continued.

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Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:16:00 -0700

Age
Thursday 18/6/2009 Page: 7

Solar panel retailers are preparing to cut jobs and halt expansion plans because of uncertainty over the Government"s solar credit program. Retailers contacted yesterday said they would have to collectively review the position of hundreds of staff in their call centres and administration because there is no guarantee the solar credits program will pass the Senate next week, delaying its process for at least two months.

Replacing the $8000 rebate that was abruptly withdrawn last week, the credit program is part of the Government"s renewable energy target legislation currently before Parliament. The legislation has become embroiled in a political dogfight after the Government linked industry exemptions from the target to the passage of its emissions trading scheme, which is likely to be rejected by the Senate next week.

Simon Schauble, chief executive of NuSolar, one of the nation"s largest solar retailers, said he would have to retrench 60 people if the passage of the bill remained uncertain. Mr Schauble added that he would halt recruitment plans for another hundred positions if the fate of the credits program remained in limbo.

The biggest issue is it is stalling momentum in the industry," he said. "We had plans to put on hundreds of people over the next year but we have stopped that until we know what is going on." Paul Wilson, executive director of retailer Clear Solar, said if the legislation does not pass next week he would reconsider the positions of 80 employees.

Chief executive of the Clean Energy Council Matt Warren said a quick survey of members yesterday revealed that solar retailers would shed hundreds of jobs across Victoria if the legislation is delayed. "The Government promised a smooth transition for the solar industry between the rebate and credits system, and the chances of that have now evaporated," he said.

The Opposition was supportive of the renewable energy target legislation, which will mandate that 20% of electricity must cone from renewable energy by 2020, until it was revealed partial exemptions for trade-exposed industry would not be granted until the emissions trading scheme is passed.

The Opposition will attempt to " decouple" the target and trading scheme with a Senate amendment but are split in the party room on whether to vote for the bill if that amendment fails. Opposition resources and energy spokesman Ian MacFarlane, and Nationals Senators Barnaby Joyce and Ron Boswell, are pushing hard to block the bill if it is not amended.

Climate Change Minister Penny Wong yesterday said renewable energy target legislation contained a provision to backdate the solar credit program to any solar panel sold after the end of the rebate program last Monday. "The Government is committed to passing this legislation," she said. "We call on the Opposition to act responsibly and support the renewable energy target."

It is understood the Government"s Senate schedule has listed the renewable legislation bill as "desirable" but not "urgent" to pass next week, which means it will sit behind other bills, including the emissions trading scheme, in order of priority.

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Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:13:00 -0700

www.dailyexaminer.com.au
19th June 2009

IF you"re finding it hard keeping up with changes to government rebates for solar energy systems, you"re not the only one. But here"s an easy explanation for you. Firstly, the Federal Government"s recent removal of the Solar for Homes and Communities Plan only affects power generation systems known as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Solar hot water incentives remain unchanged, meaning people can pay as little as $60 plus installation (about $1500) for a solar hot water system. The government"s new incentive scheme for solar PV systems is based on solar credits - a program which will not be means tested like the previous rebate scheme, and which will be open to the commercial sector.

Basically, in the solar credits program you only pay a%age of the cost of the system and the installer claims the outstanding amount from the government, with that amount dependent on how many RECs the system qualifies for. The government will pay those who install solar PV systems five times the value of the renewable energy certificates (REC) the system qualifies for (up to a 1.5 kW system). So a system that qualifies for 31 RECs will benefit for $6975 worth of credit (based on a $45 REC).

The homeowner may still have to outlay up to $7000 for a 1.5kW system, but several other schemes are there to help further. The Home Sustainability Assessment Scheme, which starts on July 1, offers a free "green" inspection for any household in Australia and may allow access to a $10,000 interest-free "green loan" for use on renewable energy solutions and water and energy-efficiency devices. The inspection may also recommend behavioural changes.

Northern Rivers Renewable Energy operator Trent Rogers is a certified "green loan" assessor. He said he"d already been inundated by homeowners wanting to find out about the scheme. Mr Rogers, who supplies both solar hot water systems and solar PV systems, said there were many ways people could benefit from a combination of government incentive schemes. He said the NSW Government"s proposed feed-in tariff Scheme would pay solar energy producers 60 cents per kW hour of energy produced.

The cost of energy on the current market is about 17 cents per kW hour. In the proposed feed-in tariff system, a house using 20kW hours of power per day but generates 6kW hours from its solar panels would receive a 20 cent credit per day from its electricity provider.

"If a household could cut their consumption down to 15kW hours per day, which is very achievable, their financial benefit is even greater," Mr Rogers said. Money saved and earned through a solar PV system could be used to help repay the $10,000 green loan, Mr Rogers said. "But it"s not just about money. A house with a 1.5kW grid connect system will save 78 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions - 2600 kilograms per year. "Also there is no doubt the price of electricity will rise significantly in the future and people should take action to avoid being caught out."

Murray Kirk, from The Solar Shop in South Grafton, said awareness about solar energy was on the rise because of the incentives and general media attention. "The weather in the Clarence Valley is beautiful for solar," Mr Kirk said. Mr Rogers agreed. "This area is perfectly placed to take advantage of the many incentives on offer. We have plenty of sunshine and people are highly aware of sustainability issues."

What does it mean?

REC - renewable energy certificate: A form of currency created by the Federal Government based on how much renewable energy your system produces. Eg. A 250-litre solar hot water system is awarded an average of 30 RECs ($1350 at today"s rate). RECs are currently valued at about $45 each but vary according to market demand. They can be traded like shares.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) system: A power-generating solar panel system which usually connects to the main electricity grid. The system produces power for the household"s use with the excess being sold back to electricity suppliers.
Solar hot water systems: There are two main types, flat plate and evacuated tube collector. The latter is more expensive but is said to be more efficient.
Solar Credit: Multiplies the value of the REC by five ($225 per solar credit based on today"s REC value of $45). Therefore a 1.5kw grid connect system which qualifies for 31 RECs will make a solar credit value $6975 (based on a $45 REC).
Home Sustainability Assessment Scheme: Offered to all Australian households from July 1. Involves an assessment of water and energy efficiency in the home plus solar energy solutions. Households may qualify for up to $10,000 interest-free loans (over four years) to spend on solutions.
Feed-in tariff Scheme: Proposed by the NSW Government - will pay up to 60 cents per kW hour of solar electricity generated.
The average house uses 15 to 25 kW hours of electricity per day.
A 1.5 kW PV system will generate 6 kW of electricity per day on average.

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Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:31:00 -0700

earth2tech.com
June 17th

If anyone doubts the ability of renewable portfolio standards to spur the adoption of clean energy projects, they should look to California. The state is requiring that electric utilities need to get 20% of their power from solar, wind and other renewables by 2010, prompting utilities to scramble to cut new deals. In the most recent whopper of an agreement, solar thermal developer Solar Millennium said today that it plans to build, own and operate two 242-MW power plants, with an option for a third, for investor-owned utility Southern California Edison. With the backlog of federal permitting for solar projects, however, its ambitious timeline may be slowed.

The solar developer wants to begin construction on the $1 billion plants — on federal land near Ridgecrest, Desert Center, and Blythe, California — by 2010 and start generating power by 2014. Ray Dracker, senior VP of project development for Solar Millennium"s U.S, subsidiary, said the company is still about a year away from finalizing financing arrangements, and the projects will need approval from the Bureau of Land Management and the California Public Utilities Commission. Besides traditional project financiers, Dracker said the company would consider pursuing Department of Energy loan guarantees.

Erlangen, Germany-based Solar Millennium builds solar thermal power plants using parabolic trough technology, in which solar radiation is concentrated by long rows of parabolic mirrors onto piped fluids that drive a steam turbine connected to a generator. The company has developed Europe"s first parabolic trough power plants — the Andasol projects, currently under construction in southern Spain — that once complete will produce about 180 GW-hours of power per year. Solar Millennium says its reflectors are stiffer and therefore more precise under strong winds and produce more power than older trough technologies. And the length of its collector units can be built up to 50% longer than older technologies, leading to cost savings.

But Solar Millennium has not yet built a commercial project in the United States, only installed a demonstration plant with its technology in California. Permitting for the project could be a stumbling block, since the proposed plants would be on federal land. The Bureau of Land Management, which grants permits for renewable energy projects on federal land, reportedly has a backlog of more than 200 proposed solar projects. Solar Millennium is one of the companies on that list, for a 242-MW plant to be built in the Amargosa Valley in Nevada to supply power to Nevada-based utility NV Energy. But the project has not yet been given the go-ahead to begin construction, even though the application was filed in October 2007.

Importantly, Solar Millennium said it wants to begin construction of the California plants before 2010, meaning they would be eligible for stimulus grants from the Treasury Department valued at up to $2.5 billion. So while regulatory approval could be a hurdle, the fact that the company has entered into a power purchase agreement with one of the country"s largest utilities should make potential investors more receptive.

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Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:27:00 -0700

www.reuters.com
Jun 18, 2009

It"s a question we hear all the time: Why doesn"t California have a German-style feed-in tariff for the solar industry? German utilities pay a high price for any solar electricity fed into the grid, with the cost distributed among the country"s ratepayers. The much-esteemed policy made Germany a huge solar market, with 1.5 GWs of new capacity installed last year. For comparison, the United States would need 6 GWs of annual solar installations, 20 times more than it has today, to reach the same level of market penetration.

But at a luncheon Wednesday to discuss solar trends in advance of the Intersolar North America conference next month, some California solar insiders voiced skepticism about whether a German-style feed-in tariff would be the end-all policy for the state.

In fact, California already has a feed-in tariff, but it"s ineffective because the price is low, based on prices for natural gas. The state also has a net-metering program in which solar customers use the electricity they generate for their own use, then feed excess electricity into the grid, running their meters backward. In addition, California has a solar incentive program, which offers declining rebates for solar projects, and a renewable portfolio standard, which requires utilities to get 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010.

So how about it: Why hasn"t California copied Germany for its much-lauded feed-in tariff? Here are some of the reasons California solar insiders have put forth:

A feed-in tariff doesn"t factor in where and when the electricity is generated: Because a feed-in tariff pays the same price for any kW-hour of solar electricity, it doesn"t encourage generation when and where the electricity is most needed, said Sheldon Kimber, vice president of development for Recurrent Energy, which installs and finances solar projects. "One thing the feed-in tariff doesn"t do is expose everybody to different market signals on the grid, such as time-of-use and location," he said, and these are important factors for a sustainable policy.
Germany"s feed-in tariff led to higher panel prices: Because the tariff offered such a high price for solar electricity, it created a shortage of panels that led to much higher prices. "On the one hand, Germany absolutely built the global manufacturing base, but on the other hand, it built the manufacturing base around the $4-a-watt panel," Adam Browning, executive director of solar advocacy group Vote Solar, told me last month. "We will always have the German program to thank for what it did – it saved the world, as far as I"m concerned – but it also had some policy ramifications that haven"t been entirely positive."
California"s many utilities, each with their own unique conditions, make it more difficult to create a feed-in tariff: Getting a German-style tariff in California would be more difficult than it might seem, Sue Kateley, executive director of the California Solar Energy Industry Association, told me in an interview last month. For one thing, the state has more than 30 vastly different utilities. Some are legally prohibited from increasing some of their rates, for example, and others have very low prices for conventional electricity. Los Angeles" utility, for example, has rates of about 5 cents per kW-hour. "If solar"s going to cost 20 cents a kW-hour and customers pay 5 cents, will customers tolerate that kind of rate increase?" Kateley asked. Meanwhile, prices — and peak demand — in Germany don"t vary as widely.
The feed-in tariff only addresses wholesale electricity sold to utilities, and doesn"t encourage energy efficiency: California"s mix of policies encourages a wider range of solar projects than Germany"s feed-in tariff, which is focused mainly on wholesale electricity, Adam Browning, executive director of solar advocacy group Vote Solar, said in an interview last month. Overall, the policy mix "gives California a unique robustness, a lot of different ways to capture the value of solar," he added Wednesday. Kateley put it another way: "We need it all," she said, including both a retail-electricity program to help consumers reduce on-site demand, a utility-scale program, and a wholesale-electricity program like a feed-in tariff.

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Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:21:00 -0700

www.lowcarboneconomy.com
17 June 2009

Some of Germany"s largest commercial enterprises are joining forces to fund an ambitious scheme to provide Europe with electricity harnessed from solar panels in north Africa. Munich Re, Siemens, Deutsche Bank, RWE and E.ON are among the firms that have put their names next to plans to form a renewable energy consortium next month, according to the Guardian.

The joint initiative, which would be the largest industrial solar energy project anywhere in the world, could require as much as EU400 billion (£338 billion) of financing, the newspaper reported. Torsten Jeworrek, board member of reinsurance giant Munich Re, said: "We want to found an initiative which over the next two to three years will put concrete measures on the table."

Deserts in Africa are seen as the Holy Grail for solar energy, with the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis claiming earlier this year that panels covering a fraction of the Sahara could power the entire of Europe. The German initiative will make used of CSP (concentrating solar energy), which involves using large mirrors to focus the sun"s rays in order to heat water into steam and drive turbines.

Last month, a report conducted by Greenpeace International in association with the European Solar Thermal Electricity Association and IEA SolarPaces suggested that CSP could provide a quarter of the world"s energy by 2050.

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Wed, 24 Jun 2009 05:19:00 -0700

www.greentechmedia.com
June 16, 2009

Why are photovoltaic panels more popular than solar thermal collectors on homes? One big reason is easy storage. New technology may change that.
SAN FRANCISCO - - When it comes to energy storage, solar panels have it easy. Homeowners with PV panels on their roofs effectively store power by shuttling electricity generated in the daytime onto the grid, said Jane Davidson, a professor at the University of Minnesota and the director of the Solar Energy Laboratory there, during a presentation at the Fifth Germany California Solar Day taking place at PG&E headquarters in San Francisco today.

It"s not so easy in solar thermal. Concentrated solar thermal plants in the desert store heat from the sun in large tanks of molten salt. That can be used to create steam to run a generator for a few hours after the sun goes down.

But in homes it is not so easy. Although roughly 75% of the homes and commercial buildings in the U.S, could potentially derive some of their power from solar systems, most homes aren"t located in the center of the desert and thus don"t get the kind of solar radiation a CSP plant will.

To make solar thermal economical, many of these buildings will need seasonal storage. "There is a mismatch," she said. "They need systems so that we can store it in the summer for use in the winter." Which brings us to the headline. For long-term storage, storing energy in chemical bonds – the secret sauce behind fuel-cells – may be the answer. Theoretically, heat generated in the summer could be used to generate a reaction, which could then be unwound later in the year.

Researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute, for instance are looking at ways to take heat from the sun, zinc, oxygen and a dash of carbon to create zinc oxide and carbon monoxide. Zinc oxide could then be unwound in further reactions to produce hydrogen for fuel-cells and zinc, which can be used to release electrons in other reactions. Some researchers have proposed storing heat through a zinc-to-zinc oxide reaction.

For more near-term storage, phase change materials – materials like zeolites and desiccants that move relatively easily from solid to liquid or liquid to gas states – could be used. And for really near-term storage, says Werner Koldehoff, a board member of the German Solar Industry Association, households could use the ultimate phase change material: water. Water could be turned into ice (through a solar-driven chiller) and changed into water.

In Germany, energy storage for some residential thermal systems is accomplished through storing liquids heated by the sun in pipes in the earth.

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Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:32:00 -0700

The Brisbane Times reports the Queensland State government is talking about building a reasonably large solar thermal power plant in northern Queensland, with a less than ambitious timetable of 2020 - Queensland set to become solar powerbase.

An oversight by the State Government may jeopardise its plans to develop a source of clean, green, solar energy with the potential to power up to 400,000 Queensland homes.

The Bligh Government today flagged its commitment to building state"s first baseload solar thermal power plant by 2020.

However, part of the State Government"s Renewable Energy Plan, released today by Premier Anna Bligh, fails to qualify for funding under the Commonwealth"s $465 Renewables Australia Fund.

The State Government has set aside $6 million to explore the possibilities of solar thermal and geothermal "hot rock" energy, neither of which are supported by the national renewable energy scheme.

Should new Renewable Energy Target legislation pass through Federal Parliament, all electricity providers will be made to source up to 20 per cent of their electricity from renewable energy sources.

Solar thermal and geothermal "hot rock" resources are the two key alternatives capable of providing Queensland with baseload electricity on-demand, World Wildlife Fund Climate Change Policy Manager Kellie Caught said.

"The State Government needs to convince the Federal Government that they need to segment some of those renewable energy targets, perhaps five per cent, specifically for solar thermal and geothermal energy sources," Ms Caught said.

The Federal Government"s proposed scheme will only support wind, biomass, solar panel and solar hot water energy systems.

"At the moment there won"t be any room for solar thermal or geothermal energy," Ms Caught said.

Hot fractured rock geothermal energy, discovered about three decades ago in the United States, taps into hot granite rock, nearly five kilometres below the earth"s surface.

Brisbane company Geodynamics has already developed a pilot geothermal plant under the Cooper Basin in north-west South Australia, proving it can recover enough steam from water pumped down wells to rocks heated to 300 degrees to power the town of Innamincka.

The State Government, in partnership with the Clinton Foundation"s Climate Change Initiative, will undertake a $1 million feasibility study for a large scale solar thermal plant.

The Clinton Foundation is an organisation set-up by former US president Bill Clinton to focus on worldwide issues such as climate change.

The state"s five Solar PV (panel) stations collectively produce 0.815 megawatts of power, a proposed solar thermal station at Cloncurry would be capable of producing more than 10 times that amount.

A "super plant" near the North Queensland coast could generate from 500 to 750 megawatts of electricity, the Clinton Foundation"s Tony Wood said.

Mr Wood said the study would look into the scale of the plant, the best location in terms of the sun and transmission lines, how much it will cost and whether it needs to be built over several locations or one.

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