Alternative Energy / Solar Energy

• Time to Invest in Solar Power? Ask Yourself These Five Questions

  The bankruptcies of Solyndra, Evergreen and other solar companies raise questions about solar energy in general. The market has seen a flood of new solar module suppliers in recent years, many from China — and a slew of new technologies with little or no field testing. Have we experienced a solar “bubble?” On the surface, it seems we have and yet, established solar technologies have proven to be successful beyond any doubt – and the industry’s vital signs are stronger than ever. Consider these U.S. market facts from the Solar Energy Industries Association: • 5,000 solar energy companies now employ…

• South Korea’s Hanwha Group Shifting Emphasis to Solar Power

  South Korean Hanwha Group subsidiary Hanwha Chemical Corp., is retooling its emphasis to solar energy in a bid to capture a portion of the rising global market in solar energy production. In April Hanwha Chemical Corp.'s board of directors approved plans to build a polysilicon plant in Yeosu, scheduled to come online in 2013. The new Hanwha Chemical Corp. polysilicon facility will produce 10,000 metric tons of polysilicon annually and is expected to generate annual sales of $437 million from 2014 onwards, The Korea Herald reported. When the Yeosu polysilicon facility comes online in two years Hanwha Chemical will have developed a…

• Desertec: The World’s Most Ambitious Solar Energy Project Faces an Uphill Struggle

  Desertec is the largest solar power project ever conceived. It is designed to provide a significant portion of the electricity needs of participating countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and up to 15 per cent of Europe's electricity needs by 2050. The US$500-billion scheme promises power from a network of concentrating solar power (CSP) stations across MENA, connected to each other through a high-voltage direct current transmission grid, and to the European Grid through undersea cables. It's a 'dream' project. But it could follow the fate of an earlier ambitious energy initiative. In 1994, Pakistan's then…

• Moving Beyond Solyndra: Vital Steps the Solar Industry Needs to Take

  In Solar Energy Tough Love, I described the perverse impacts of government industrial policy on the solar energy sector in its vainglorious attempt to choose winners and losers.  That policy is failing, Solyndra aside. (Article here) The market gods hate to be trifled with, and they respond with thunderbolts and torment.  Solar’s pain will continue until grid parity is reached. In the meantime, the solar energy sector must purge itself of government subsidies and address its weak financial performance. So when I read the story in the trade press about SunPower’s wider Q2 losses I decided to get beyond the…

• The Solar Industry is Thriving and Solyndra was the Exception Not the Rule

  The bankruptcy of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra should not be used as an excuse to pull government support from a thriving US solar sector, according to solar executives. “A lot of people are saying a lot of things about solar,” said Arno Harris, CEO of San Francisco-based developer Recurrent Energy. “Most of it is wrong.” About 30GW of solar capacity is in late-stage development in the US, and Recurrent alone has 2.4GW worth about $8 billion in investment in its pipeline, he said. About 100,000 people work in the US solar sector, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).…

• Google Increases Investment in Residential Solar Power

  Google will spend $75 million to finance residential solar installations, raising its total investment in the clean energy sector to more than $850 million. The Mountain View, California-based search giant’s investment will create an initial fund with Clean Power Finance to help up to 3,000 homeowners go solar, marking Google’s second investment in residential solar. “Purchasing a solar system is a major home improvement, but the upfront cost has historically been one of the biggest barriers for homeowners,” said Rick Needham, director of green business operations and strategy for Google, said in a blog post. “Solar installers across the country…

• More Efficient Solar Energy

  Solar power could be harvested more efficiently and transported over longer distances using tiny molecular circuits based on quantum mechanics, according to research inspired by new insights into natural photosynthesis. Incorporating the latest research into how plants, algae and some bacteria use quantum mechanics to optimize energy production via photosynthesis, UCL scientists have set out how to design molecular circuitry that is 10 times smaller than the thinnest electrical wire in computer processors. Published in Nature Chemistry, the report discusses how tiny molecular energy grids could capture, direct, regulate and amplify raw solar energy. Solar fuel production is all about…

• Falling Demand in Europe for Solar Energy Systems

  Conditions in the solar sector are deteriorating because of slack demand in key European markets, advisory and research firm Collins Stewart warned. The much hoped for demand recovery in Germany has not occurred with the strength required to stabilise the market, analyst Dan Ries said after meeting with industry officials at the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) conference in Hamburg this week. German demand has been below expectations all year, but it was believed that the substantial module price declines that have occurred so far in 2011 – from about $1.70W to the $1.12-1.20/W range – would trigger a demand…

• Solar Energy to be Grid Competitive in Europe by 2013

  Solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation will be grid competitive in parts of Europe as early as 2013, and across key European markets by the end of the decade, according to an industry association report – making the technology more attractive to investors. The European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) report predicts that Italy will be the first country in which the renewable energy technology will become competitive with fossil fuels. It assessed France, the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. EPIA president Ingmar Wilhelm said that PV is already “cheaper than people think” and is set to get cheaper. The cost of…

• Solar Power Market Falling Through The Floor

  “China Moves to Support Its National Champions as the Bottom Drops Out of the Solar Market” should be the title. As an FT article points out, the price of photovoltaic solar panels has fallen by around a fifth this year and by nearly two-thirds since 2008. Overcapacity in polysilicon and finished panels — and low-cost Chinese production — are responsible for the decline, but the fall in growth rates is exacerbating the situation this year. Western manufacturers are closing factories and slashing workforces as subsidies in cash-strapped European markets are withdrawn or scaled back. Feed-in tariffs have been dramatically reduced…