Apple Developing Solar Panels for Mobile Devices Read

In February, Apple patented solar panel technology to be integrated for mobile devices, but recently, the major computer distributor has furthered their development to make the solar panel technology for mobile devices more flexible and touch sensitive. The company is offering a hybrid solar system that can be placed underneath a large touch panel.

The system involves one or more flexible solar panels with one or more touch sensors stacked together like a chassis. The basic design utilizes a transparent double-sided ITO substrate superimposed atop of a solar panel cell. This solar panel cell is capable of translating light energy into usable energy that can be stored into the device’s battery. Other designs allow for flexible solar panel cells which can more easily capture light from different angles.

Apple released another design where the cell faces away from the user and in towards the device. In this arrangement, the cell can not operate in a optimal light sensing mode. When facing away from the user, light must be shown in through light channels. This design would be used if having the cell face up proves to emit too much heat for the touch sensor.  The utilization of fiber optics in this form of the technology has been included to improve the passage of light into the rear facing sensor. Fiber optics can bend light from the front of the device, into the housing, and finally onto the solar panel cell. Apple is also looking to incorporate a reflective mirror in their design to maximize energy consumption. The back surface of the touch sensitive sensor would reflect light towards the solar cell, maximizing the amount of light energy absorbed.

Apple has run into some issues developing solar panels for mobile devices. They are “having difficulty” fitting a suitable solar power cell into the larger version of the next generation of iPhones. Also, the incorporation of this technology could make the iPhones, iPads, and iPods thicker. Which is opposed to the demand of consumers who want thinner devices. Also, the iPhone and other mobile devices are-due to customer demand-making their phones with bigger screens which use up more energy.

Apple’s development of solar panels for mobile devices was first filed by Michael Nathan Rosenblatt, Gordon Cameron, Cameron Frazier, Steven Porter Hotelling, Benjamin Lyon, and John Benjamin Roslin in 2008. Tech analysts believe that a completely solar energy powered iPhone or iPad won’t be hitting the shelves soon. More likely, devices that are supplemented by solar energy will be introduced. Then, as the technology becomes more routine and improved, it could turn into the primary source for energy for Apple devices.

Currently, the United States is the third largest solar power industry behind China and Japan. The value of the solar power industry is $100 billion, and Apple is not the only one showing interest in the business. Google and Berkshire Hathaway are beginning their forays into the perpetual renewable resource. According to environmental scientists at the University of Washington, the total area of solar panels needed to power the whole world is somewhere around 1,00,000 kilometers.

Source: Andres Loubriel. Apple. USA Today, TechCrunch. Apple Insider, BoingBoing. http://guardianlv.com/2014/06/apple-developing-solar-panels-for-mobile-devices/#Grezl92Plul4LGWG.99

Los Angeles Ready to Add 300 MW of New Solar Energy Capacity

250 MW would located outside the city, while 50 MW would be distributed in the city.

Virginia, USA -- The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is moving forward with multiple agreements for a large 250-MW solar array in Kern County while also spurring development of another 50 MW of solar power within the city of Los Angeles.

“This is a great milestone in the City of L.A.’s efforts to expand renewable energy and a win-win for the businesses and people of Los Angeles who will benefit from solar power development right in the city,” said Board President Mel Levine in a June 5 statement. “These solar projects will help spark economic development and jobs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel power plants, and meet L.A.’s renewable energy mandates.”

“These agreements put us within reach of our targets of 25% renewable energy by 2016 and 33 percent by 2020,” said Marcie Edwards, LADWP General Manager.

The agreements, which require approval by the City Council, pave the way for the 250-MW Beacon Solar Project, which will be built 14 miles north of Mojave, Calif., along Highway 14, while rounding out the full 150 MW Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Program. Last year, LADWP launched the FiT Set-Pricing Program for 100 MW, becoming the largest city in the nation to offer a FiT program.

The Beacon land, acquired by LADWP in 2012 and previously permitted for a solar development, has been divided into five sites. Four sites will be developed through four separate power purchase agreements for a total of 200 MW. Each of these contracts is tied to developing a group of small-scale FiT solar projects within LADWP’s service area in Los Angeles. Altogether, these “bundled” agreements will mean construction of 50 MW of local solar.

Through a competitive bid for the Beacon 200-MW Bundled Solar Program, the LADWP Board awarded two of the sites (88 MW) to SunEdison, and two sites (112 MW) to Hecate Energy. In conjunction with the large solar projects, SunEdison is obligated to develop 22 MW of local solar and Hecate will build 28 MW of solar within Los Angeles.

The fifth solar project that will be installed on the Beacon property is a 50-MW project that is not “bundled” with a FiT component. This contract was awarded to Hecate Energy.

Randy Howard, LADWP Senior Assistant General Manager-Power System, said: “These new solar projects will add to the existing Pine Tree wind and solar projects, and form a cluster of renewables in this area to help LADWP meet its renewable energy objectives near the Los Angeles Basin.”

To support the increase in renewable energy in Kern County, LADWP has begun construction of the Barren Ridge Renewable Transmission Project (BRRTP), which will expand the capacity of its existing transmission to bring these new renewables home to LADWP’s customers. Under the agreements, LADWP will provide all transmission and distribution infrastructure to support the Beacon Solar Project. The work involves expanding the Barren Ridge Switching Station and building a switchyard for the Beacon project as well as expanding the transmission line itself.

As part of the transmission project, LADWP has begun construction of a new switching station in Haskell Canyon near Santa Clarita, which will improve overall reliability by adding a second connection to the Castaic Power Plant. The Castaic Power Plant serves as “pumped storage” for solar and wind energy and is considered vital to integrating the renewables into the electric grid.

Source: Barry Cassell, Chief Analyst, GenerationHub. 

Solar Energy Increasingly Considered a Safe, Attractive Investment

BERLIN -- Pension fund managers are investing more in solar energy, undeterred by declining returns because the industry is considered a safe alternative to traditional securities such as government bonds.

That’s the conclusion of executives from two of the biggest Chinese solar panel manufacturers, which have listed their shares in New York. Trina Solar Ltd. said it’s seeing more interest from fund managers, and Wuxi Suntech Power Co Ltd. said these managers accept returns as low as 1.7 percent.

Pension funds are “prepared to invest more in PV, as they have done with wind, because they see it as a sustainable and reliable income,” Benjamin Hill, president of Trina’s unit in Europe, said in an interview.

The comments are evidence that fund managers are getting comfortable with solar projects, tapping stable returns as central banks keep their benchmark lending rates near historic low levels.

The European Central Bank earlier this month cut the main refinancing rate to a record 0.15 percent and moved the deposit rate below zero for the first time, meaning banks will be charged to park cash with the central bank.

Bond Alternative

While returns for new solar projects in mature markets are now too low for private equity firms, “many pension funds decide to invest into solar as it offers a good alternative to government bonds, and at the same perceived risk level offers higher returns,” Pietro Radoia, a solar analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said today by e-mail.

While the funds are most interested “in big utility-scale projects” earning between 2 percent and 5 percent, they’re content with lower returns if the plant is located in a country with a stable government and regulatory regime, such as Germany and the U.K., Suntech Chief Executive Officer Eric Luo said in a separate interview.

U.K. insurer Prudential Plc, which is also a top pension provider, earlier this year bought 25 percent of NextEnergy Solar Fund Ltd., a newly-listed 85.6 million pound ($144 million) fund that seeks to buy plants in the U.K. The South African Government Employee Pension Fund, the continent’s largest for retirement savings, said earlier this month it will buy a 40 percent equity stake in a concentrated photovoltaic project Soitec SA is building in the African country.

‘Mature Technology’

“Institutional investors that have in the past invested in government bonds are forced to look for alternatives amid low interest rates, and solar is an attractive one,” Philipp Seherr-Thoss, chief operating officer at Milk the Sun GmbH, a German online seller for solar power plants, said in an interview. “Solar is now a mature technology. You can invest large volumes over long periods with interesting returns.”

While institutional investors generally seek to buy parks starting at 5 megawatts to 10 megawatts, they “also invest indirectly via securitized vehicles of pooled smaller parks,” Seherr-Thoss said by phone from Berlin, where the company is based. He is managing the potential sale of a 30-megawatt plant in France that requires 40 million euros ($54 million) of equity and a portfolio of projects in Japan, he said.

Source:  Bloomberg. Stefan Nicola and Marc Roca. June 12, 2014

IKEA Completes South Florida’s Largest Solar Installation

IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced it had completed the installation of South Florida’s largest solar array, which will be plugged-in officially atop the future Miami-Dade IKEA store opening this summer in Sweetwater, FL. Combined with rooftop arrays in Orlando, Tampa and Sunrise, this fourth solar project will keep IKEA as the state’s largest non-utility solar owner.

The 178,000-square-foot solar array consists of a 1,178-kW system, built with 4,620 panels, and will produce approximately 1,738,876 kWh of electricity annually for the store, the equivalent of reducing 1,227 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) – equal to the emissions of 256 cars or providing electricity for 169 homes yearly (calculating clean energy equivalents at www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html. 

 

This installation will represent the 40th solar project for IKEA in the U.S., contributing to the IKEA solar presence atop nearly 90% of its U.S. locations, and a total generation of 38 MW.  IKEA owns and operates each of its solar PV energy systems atop its buildings – as opposed to a solar lease or PPA (power purchase agreement) – and globally has allocated $1.8 billion to invest in renewable energy through 2015.  This investment reinforces the long-term commitment of IKEA to sustainability and confidence in photovoltaic (PV) technology.  Consistent with the company’s goal of being energy independent by 2020, IKEA has installed more than 550,000 solar panels on buildings across the world and owns/operates approximately 157 wind turbines in Europe and Canada, with 49 more being built in the U.S.

“Completing this solar array is an exciting milestone as we prepare to open IKEA Miami this summer,” said Selwyn Crittendon, IKEA Miami store manager.  “IKEA strives to create a sustainable life for communities where we operate, so we are proud this new store will generate solar power while offering our unique selection of affordable home furnishings.”

IKEA, drawing from its Swedish heritage and respect of nature, believes it can be a good business while doing good business and aims to minimize impacts on the environment.  Globally, IKEA evaluates locations regularly for conservation opportunities, integrates innovative materials into product design, works to maintain sustainable resources, and flat-packs goods for efficient distribution.  Specific U.S. sustainable efforts include:  recycling waste material; incorporating energy-efficient HVAC and lighting systems, recycled construction materials, skylights in warehouse areas, and water-conserving restrooms.  Operationally, IKEA eliminate plastic bags from the check-out process, phased-out the sale of incandescent bulbs, facilitates recycling of customers’ compact fluorescent bulbs, and by 2016 will sell only L.E.D.  IKEA also has installed EV charging stations at 13 stores, with plans for more locations.

Source:  Joseph Roth, Property Public Affairs, IKEA. Renewable Energy World. June 04, 2014

Western Solar Promotes Sun Safety at Safety Fair

Looking for some free family fun this weekend?  Come by the Safe Kids 5th Annual Safety Fair to be held at the Barkley Regal Cinemas in Bellingham from 11am-3pm.  There will be:

• Games & Prizes
• Emergency Vehicle Displays
• Fire Safety House
• Free Car Seat Checks

Western Solar will be there to promote sun safety to kids.  The first 100 kids to visit our booth will get a free pair of sunglasses!