Boston's Solar-Powered Benches Will Charge Phones and Collect Data

President Barack Obama and Sandra Richter of Cambridge, Mass., on an example of eco-friendly urban furniture, a solar-powered "soofa," on June 18 in Washington, D.C. Photograph by Mike Theiler-Pool/Getty Images

 

Boston has started installing park benches that double as electronic device charging stations. “Your cell phone doesn’t just make phone calls,” said Boston Mayor Martin Walsh last week. “Why should our benches just be seats?”

The multitasking benches, dubbed Soofas, have USB ports in which park dwellers can plug in their devices. The seats also connect wirelessly to the Internet to upload local environmental data such as air quality and noise levels, as well as information on how much energy is being generated. So far, two Soofas have been placed in Boston Common and two in Titus Sparrow Park. Several more will be added in Boston and Cambridge in coming weeks.

Soofas are the creation of Changing Environments, an MIT Media Lab spin-out co-founded by three women in their early thirties—a designer, an electrical engineer, and a marketing expert. “We’re all from Germany, where solar energy is very popular,” says Sandra Richer, the startup’s co-founder and chief executive. “We were thinking about how can we change public opinion to accept more solar … and start a dialogue about air quality in cities and renewable energy.” Verizon is providing the group with technical support, and Cisco Systems paid for Boston’s first benches.

 

The smart seats are already gaining traction. “We average between 12 and 20 people using the benches per day,” Richter says. On Sunday, she notes, “there was what we think was probably a couple because there were two people charging from 5:30 to 7:30 in the morning.”

Changing Environments plans to make all the Soofa data publicly available once it improves its real-time data map. The group is also hoping to speed up production and develop more advanced versions of the bench. “This is a small, three-girl operation right now,” says Richter. “We’ve gotten a lot of calls already from cities and people asking, ‘When do we get our Soofa for our city or boardwalk?’”

Public access USB ports do present some unique problems. When New York inaugurated charging stations last year, experts warned that hackers might implant tiny computers to infect phones with viruses that could steal banking information, e-mail passwords, and perhaps even track the movement of phone owners. Richter says Soofas, made from concrete, sheet metal, and wood, won’t be vulnerable to such attacks. “The concrete boxes are screwed with security screws and only we have the actual bits to open them,” she says. “If one were to take an ax and hammer to one, the electronics would be useless.”

 

To make money, Changing Environments plans to charge a setup and monthly subscription fee or charge people, organizations, and companies to have their names and brands featured on subtle bench plaques. The startup has yet to determine its pricing. Another option, says Richter, would be to use motion sensors on the Soofas to collect data for companies, allowing them to better gauge how many passersby are in the area. “So if they have a billboard in the area, for example,” Richter says, “they’ll know how many people are likely to see it.”

Source: Caroline Winter. Bloomberg Businessweek in New York. 7/1/14

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

Study: Metropolitan Areas Contribute Less Greenhouse-Gas Emissions Than Suburbs

BERKELEY —According to a new study by UC Berkeley researchers, population-dense cities contribute less greenhouse-gas emissions per person than other areas of the country, but these cities’ extensive suburbs essentially wipe out the climate benefits.

A CoolClimate Map of Seattle’s carbon footprint by zipcode tabulation area shows a pattern typical of large metropolitan areas: a small footprint (green) in the urban core but a large footprint (orange and red) in surrounding suburbs.

Dominated by emissions from cars, trucks and other forms of transportation, suburbs account for about 50 percent of all household emissions – largely carbon dioxide – in the United States.

The study, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T), uses local census, weather and other data – 37 variables in total – to approximate greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the energy, transportation, food, goods and services consumed by U.S. households, so-called household carbon footprints.

“The goal of the project is to help cities better understand the primary drivers of household carbon footprints in each location,” said Daniel Kammen, Class of 1935 Distinguished Professor of Energy in the Energy and Resources Group and the Goldman School of Public Policy, and director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory. “We hope cities will use this information to begin to create highly tailored climate action plans for their communities.”

A key finding of the UC Berkeley study is that suburbs account for half of all household greenhouse gas emissions, even though they account for less than half the U.S. population. The average carbon footprint of households living in the center of large, population-dense urban cities is about 50 percent below average, while households in distant suburbs are up to twice the average.

“Metropolitan areas look like carbon footprint hurricanes, with dark green, low-carbon urban cores surrounded by red, high-carbon suburbs,” said Christopher Jones, a doctoral student working with Kammen in the Energy and Resources Group. “Unfortunately, while the most populous metropolitan areas tend to have the lowest carbon footprint centers, they also tend to have the most extensive high-carbon footprint suburbs.”

Taking into account the impact of all urban and suburban residents, large metropolitan areas have a slightly higher average carbon footprint than smaller metro areas.

Developing sustainable cities
“A number of cities nationwide have developed exceptionally interesting and thoughtful sustainability plans, many of them very innovative,” Kammen said. “The challenge, however, is to reduce overall emissions. Chris and I wanted to determine analytically and present in a visually striking way the impacts and interactions of our energy, transportation, land use, shopping and other choices. Cities are not islands: they exist in a complex landscape that we need to understand better both theoretically and empirically.”

The UC Berkeley researchers found that the primary drivers of carbon footprints are household income, vehicle ownership and home size, all of which are considerably higher in suburbs. Other important factors include population density, the carbon intensity of electricity production, energy prices and weather.

“Cities need information about which actions have the highest potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their communities,” explained Kammen. “There is no one-size-fits-all solution.”

Increasing population density alone, for example, appears not to be a very effective strategy for reducing emissions. A 10-fold increase in population density in central cities corresponds to only 25 percent lower greenhouse gas emissions, and “high carbon suburbanization results as an unintended side effect,” Jones said.

Increasing population density in suburbs is even more problematic, he said. Surprisingly, population dense suburbs have significantly higher carbon footprints than less dense suburbs, due largely to higher incomes and resulting consumption.

“Population dense suburbs also tend to create their own suburbs, which is bad news for the climate,” explains Jones.

So if increasing population density alone is not a one-size-fits-all solution, what urban design strategies may yield the greatest climate benefits? The project website includes a tool that calculates carbon footprints for essentially every populated U.S. zip code, city, county and U.S. state (31,531 zip codes, 10,093 cities and towns, 3,124 counties, 276 metropolitan regions and 50 states) as well as an interactive online map allowing users to zoom in and out of different locations. Households and cities can calculate their own carbon footprints to see how they compare to their neighbors and create customized climate action plan from over 40 mitigation options.

In some locations, motor vehicles are the largest source of emissions, while in other locations it might be electricity, food, or goods and services. California, for example, has relatively low emissions associated with household electricity, but large emissions from transportation. The opposite is true in parts of the Midwest, where electricity is produced largely from coal.

Tailored emission lowering strategies 
The real opportunity, say the authors, is tailoring climate solutions to demographically similar populations within locations.

“Suburbs are excellent candidates for a combination of solar photovoltaic systems, electric vehicles and energy-efficient technologies,” said Kammen. “When you package low-carbon technologies together you find real financial savings and big social and environmental benefits.”

The authors argue that cities need to step out of traditional roles in planning urban infrastructure and learn how to better understand the needs of residents in order to craft policies and programs that enable the adoption of energy and carbon-efficient technologies and practices.

One example of this is the Cool California Challenge, a statewide carbon footprint reduction competition to name the “Coolest California City.” The program, run by Jones and Kammen and sponsored by the California Air Resources Board and Energy Upgrade California, will be accepting applications for new cities in February. Each city creates its own, targeted strategy to reduce barriers and increase motivation to engage residents in climate action.

“People need to act within their own spheres of influence, where they feel they can make the most difference,” Jones said. “We hope the information provided in these tools will help individuals, organizations and cities understand what makes the most impact locally and to enable more tailored climate strategies.”

The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the California Air Resources Board.

Source: US Berkely News Center. By Robert Sanders, Media Relations. January 6, 2014

Green Homes Built Standard by California Developers

When California Home Builders set out to develop a neighborhood of single-family homes, they had the idea of building modern homes with progressive technology, but without the label of “green housing.”

“Our homes  integrate energy-efficient features not as an additional option for an additional cost, but as a standard,” said Kathryn Rudnick, COO of California Home Builders. “We believe people buy homes for a combination of reasons, and solar power gives us a competitive edge in our market that will add more value to our customers’ homes.”

In addition to generating renewable energy with solar PV, the homes also reduce energy needs by using LED lighting fixtures and energy-efficient appliances.

Each home has an array that is approximately 3.6kW and designed to optimize energy production. They used Enphase Systems to take advantage of the flexible and adaptive nature of microinverter technology. In addition to each homeowner has access to MyEnlighten (web monitoring), a great talking point when showcasing the home’s features to potential buyers. 

With at-a-glance monitoring and a color-coded performance screen, MyEnlighten tells homeowners exactly when their system is at its peak. MyEnlighten also provides historical weather conditions for homeowners to reference on days when their system showed lower or higher production averages.

Ten of the project’s 18 homes have been sold, with its residents receiving low electricity bills right off the bat. Enphase’s 25-year warranty also protects the systems and adds value to the homes both now and in the future.

Residents of the San Fernando Valley community will experience the benefits of living sustainably as their home allows them to easily and effortlessly participate in energy-saving habits.

Source: Jacob Michals. Enphase Blog. 4/17/14

Nissan Leaf Likely To Offer Larger Battery For Longer Range

Every electric-car owner wants more range; it's practically an immutable law.

Now Nissan executive Andy Palmer has come close to confirming that a longer-range Nissan Leaf is in the cards, though likely not until 2016 or even 2017.

In an interview at last week's New York Auto Show with Palmer, who is Nissan's product chief, he said offering multiple battery-pack options with different ranges in the Leaf was being debated internally.

In general, auto executives rarely discuss future powertrain offerings unless the technology being described is already on the way.

And it's notable that Nissan surveyed Leaf owners early this year, asking them how much more they would pay for a Leaf with a 150-mile range.

2014 Nissan Leaf

Multiple packs

Palmer noted that the Leaf electric car would be on a standard Nissan model cycle of updates every five or six years.

But he said the timing of updates was somewhat complicated by the significant updates made to the Leaf for 2013--just two years into its run--when production for the U.S. market shifted from Japan to Tennessee.

He called the idea of a longer-range Leaf the subject of "intense internal debate," with some parties feeling that the 2014 Leaf's rated range of 84 miles was enough for the vast majority of users--and others feeling that more U.S. buyers could be captured with a range in the triple digits.

In the end, Palmer suggested, there could be "two or even three" battery-pack options offered in future Leaf models--"varying by market" where the demand was strongest.

In the last several weeks, there's been much discussion of whether and when a Nissan Leaf with a longer-range battery option would hit the market.

Success for Nissan

The Leaf has done well for the company, Palmer said, with 85 percent of its buyers new to the Nissan brand (known as "conquests") and 80 percent of them retained within the brand for their next vehicle.

It is already the best-selling electric car in history, with 110,000 sold globally since December 2011.

And Nissan has aggressive goals for raising its sales--and adding more models.

In the market at large, lithium-ion cell prices are low due to overcapacity at the moment, with "intense price competition" among all cell makers.

But Palmer suggested that Nissan is seeing cost reductions greater than the 7-percent annual figure often proposed as the historic norm for small-format consumer cells over the past 20 years.

And that should lead to some exciting electric-car developments in next few years.

Source: Green Car Reports. John Voelcker. 4/21/14

Leading Solar Commercial Users by Industry

Solar is an attractive investment for companies in a range of industries. The rankings below show the leading solar commercial users by industry sector. While retailers have installed the most capacity, auto manufacturers, pharmaceuticals and food services as well as companies in many other industries, have all looked to solar to lower operating costs.



Source: Solar Energy Industries Association. 2013

Concentrating Solar Power Under Fire

The Ivanpah CSP plant brought online in January has been heavily criticized for its environmental impacts, namely solar glare.

Utah, USA -- Currently the world’s largest solar thermal plant, the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System has been in full operation less than two months and already concerns have been raised about its environmental impacts. Complaints from pilots flying near the concentrating solar power (CSP) plant state that on numerous occasions, the intense reflective glare coming from the plant’s heliostat mirrors has caused pilots to become momentarily blinded. Ivanpah is located roughly 40 miles from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, and approximately 25 miles from the Jean Sport Aviation Center in Jean, Nevada.

While it might be easy to dismiss this issue as a “glaring” oversight on the part of its planners (Ivanpah is owned by BrightSource Energy and NRG Energy) further investigation reveals that issues of glint and glare from the plant’s reflective arrays were addressed during the Application for Certification submitted to the California Energy Commission in 2007. The first detailed analysis was included in a 2008 response from CH2M HILL to the CEC’s review of the application.

In their response, CH2M HILL stated that beam safe intensity calculations had been performed and that “the likelihood of random heliostat beam hazard to aircrafts flying in the area is infinitesimally remote.” CH2M HILL is a Colorado-based engineering company contracted by state and federal agencies for design and construction consultation.  CH2M HILL has offices in Bellingham and Bellevue, WA.

Subsequently, the Heliostat Positioning Plan and Tower Luminance Plan, which described even greater analyses of potential glare hazards, was submitted in 2013.

Frank “Tex” Wilkins, executive director of the Concentrating Solar Power Alliance and formerly of the Department of Energy, said the conversation about glare and CSP plants is not a new one. Wilkins took part in discussions in 2009 that looked into the issue. “The FAA convened a panel,” Wilkins said, “where extensive studies were performed on the topic. The final determination was made that glare from CSP plants, in particular glare from power towers, would not create an issue for pilots.”

Cause and Effect

Although it has been reported elsewhere that the incidents may have occurred as a result of pre-launch testing and repositioning of heliostats that took place in August of 2013 — which coincides with the same time frame during which two complaints were filed with the Federal Aviation Administration's Aviation Safety Reporting System — Clifford Ho of Sandia National Laboratories’ Concentrating Solar Technologies Department thinks otherwise.

“I believe some of the glare that’s being viewed is taking place when the heliostats are in a standby mode,” Ho said.

During peak daylight hours, it is common for a number of heliostat mirrors to be taken offline to prevent heliostats from directing more thermal energy to the turbine than it is capable of receiving. Ho said that during standby, these heliostats are focused on aim points next to the receiver, forming a ring of glare above the tower.

According to Ho, the sunlight reflected from heliostats that are in standby mode could be having an exacerbating effect on the amount of reflection being emitted.

In examining photos of the glare taken by passengers flying over the Ivanpah plant, Ho said it’s apparent to him the intense light is emanating from the heliostats not in use. “You can clearly see the difference between what’s just the diffuse reflection from the towers versus one or more heliostats that are in standby mode and reflecting light toward the observer.”

Ho has performed helicopter surveys of heliostats in standby mode at Sandia National Laboratories’ National Solar Thermal Test Facility. “It’s bright,” he said, emphasizing that the Sandia CSP array is much smaller than that of Ivanpah. “When you’re close, it can be like looking into the sun.”

Requests for Remedy and Possible Solutions

On March 10, the Clark County Department of Aviation (CCDOA) sent an official notification of complaint to BrightSource Energy, the California Bureau of Land Management, and the California Energy Commission. In the docket, the CCDOA requested that BrightSource take a number of actions to “respond to and address any complaints about adverse visual impacts to pilots.”

Included in the docket are requests for BrightSource Energy to take measurements of any observed glare and to determine if that glare is within the “maximum permissible exposure.” Ho indicated plans are already in motion to respond quickly.

“We will be doing some additional monitoring of the glare at the site,” Ho said. In addition to helicopter surveys of the area surrounding the Ivanpah plant, ground-based evaluations will also be performed.

One possible solution, as suggested by Ho, is to reposition heliostats that are in standby mode so that they stand vertically — thus reflecting the glare toward the ground instead of upward. Regardless of whether that’s done, Ho believes it is imperative that pilots are briefed on the location of the plant so that they will be aware of potential glare issues.

Ian Gregor, Public Affairs Manager for the Pacific Division of the FAA, concurs. “The FAA is aware of potential glare from concentrating solar plants and is exploring how to best alert pilots to the issue,” Gregor said. “The final Environmental Impact Statement for the Ivanpah project includes mitigation measures that address the issue of glare, which the aviation community raised during the EIS process.”

Sandia National Laboratories currently offers a Solar Glare Hazard Analysis Tool that Ho helped to create, which he says is fundamental to preventing similar issues from arising in future solar development projects. “The solution is to be aware of the potential issues of glare during the planning stage, to ensure it doesn’t become a hazard.”

Source: Vince Font, Contributing Editor, Renewable Energy World 

Solar Decathlon Houses Make Up a Solar Village to Test Microgrid Technology

A new project at Missouri Science and Technology will be used as a test ground for innovative research on advancing renewable energy, energy storage and microgrid technology.

New Hampshire, USA -- In yet one more example of the rising interest in how microgrids that incorporate renewable energy and energy storage will change the energy landscape, Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST) has created what it says is the first “Solar Village” in the U.S.

Consisting of a grouping of Solar Decathlon houses that students at MST built for competitions between 2002 and 2009, the solar village is a project created in collaboration with Missouri S&T students, faculty and staff, along with members of the university’s microgrid advisory board (Investor-owned utility Ameren, City Utilities of Springfield, Rolla Municipal Utilities and Electric Power Research Institute), several Missouri manufacturers (Milbank and Ford Motor Company) and the Army Corps of Engineers. The engineer-of-record and installer for the project was Microgrid Solar, a U.S. and Caribbean solar developer, installer, and engineering company based in St. Louis, MO.

The project has been in the works for two years and is expected to be complete by the end of next month.  A utility grant and the DOE Sunshot Initiative contributed funding for the project.

Project Specs

There are four former Solar Decathlon houses in the microgrid. The buildings each have 5- to 10-kW PV systems and there is a mix of crystalline silicon PV and thin film.  The buildings also have solar thermal systems for hot water.  The energy storage components consist of two 100 kW / 100 kWh lithium-ion iron nano-phosphate battery racks that were donated by A123 Systems. There is also a fuel cell and a heat recovery unit as part of the microgrid.

Graduate students currently live and work in the houses, which also include electric vehicle charging stations. The microgrid is built so that it can island from the utility grid indefinitely.

Even though the military has been designing microgrids for ten years now, the project is a first “from the perspective of testing new designs and new equipment in a very closely monitored research setting,” according to Marc Lopata, PE, the Principal Engineer on this project and President of Microgrid Solar.  “We have the capability to power any of the houses independently from the grid or the central plant,” he said. “And we have the capability to plug in new equipment for testing and do graduate level experimentation.”

Tony Arnold, Assistant Director of the Office of Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engagement at MST said in a statement that the solar village will be used “as a research tool and testing center for microgrid technology, battery technology and system communications.”  He believes that projects like the solar village need to be “scalable, replicable and flexible, so that we have the opportunity to test as many different scenarios as possible.”  According to Arnold, major utilities, companies and the U.S. Army’s Prime Power School have expressed interest in the project.

Advancing the New Energy Paradigm

Microgrids are of growing importance across the globe.  Last month, Renewable Energy World visited the Nice Grid in Carros, France. The Nice Grid uses solar PV, demand response and three different levels of energy storage in order to achieve a smarter grid that is able to “island” for up to four hours. 

The Missouri project, although much smaller in scale, will be used to test new equipment, software and firmware, as well as procedures for controlling the loads and supplies and procedures for how they communicate with utilities, according to Lopata. “Plus, I’m sure, a plethora of as-yet-to-be-imagined research topics,” he said adding that Microgrid Solar installed extra conduits in all the houses for potential future use.

Microgrid Solar installs microgrids in remote places such as the Caribbean and Lopata emphatically stated that microgrids “are not for everyone.”  Today, the cost of installing a microgrid that includes energy storage (a must in order to firm the power supply and dispatchability) is at least twice that of a normal utility grid connection and could be as high as five times that cost.  Lopata said microgrids only make sense in places where there is no existing grid, no utility, no local distribution or the power is unreliable or too expensive.  But all of that said, in locations where those conditions do apply, installing a microgrid could cut the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) significantly and improve the power supply, according to Lopata.

Source: Jennifer Runyon, Chief Editor, RenewableEnergyWorld.com 

Record-Shattering Solar

California’s record-breaking solar power generation run continues, solar desalination cleans up dirty irrigation runoff, NASA’s bad Ivanpah map causes flap

Another day, another solar power generation record shattered on the California grid. As Herman Trabish notes at Greentech Media, during the early afternoon of March 16, the use of solar as measured by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) reached 4.14GW—breaking the previous record set the day before, which broke the record set the day before that, which broke the record set 6 days week before that. (Do I sound like a broken record?) About 5.23GW of installed solar capacity are available to the grid operator, and another 1.1GW of rooftop doesn’t even get counted, according to GTM. The string of broken records–which will likely continue as the days get longer and more PV and CSP come online—has caused CAISO to change its policy of announcing every 50MW record-busting uptick to the 500MW level going forward. More data and details about other renewables and their impact on the California grid make the post even more read-worthy.

Speaking of a good read, an article by Kevin Fagan in the San Francisco Chronicle (via SFGate website) features the compelling tale of WaterFX’s parabolic-trough “concentrated solar still” desalination pilot plant in the agricultural heartland of California’s Central Valley. The facility “has been turning salty, contaminated irrigation runoff into ultrapure liquid for nearly a year for the Panoche Water and Drainage District,” according to the media outlet. “It’s the only solar-driven desalination plant of its kind in the country. Right now its efforts produce just 14,000 gallons a day. But within a year, WaterFX intends to begin expanding that one small startup plant into a sprawling collection of 36 machines that together can pump out 2 million gallons of purified water daily.” Given California’s droughty water crisis and the broader need for solar-powered desal plants in other corners of the globe, the startup’s intriguing, cost-competitive approach bears watching.

Desert defender Chris Clarke of the KCET Rewire blog casts a wary eye in his latest post on that other, much larger, and more notorious concentrating solar thermal plant, Ivanpah. Though a huge supporter of renewable energy in general, Chris is a consistent critic of utility-scale solar farms sited on ecologically sensitive lands. This time, his article actually takes NASA to the woodshed, because of a poor bit of mapping on the agency’s Earth Observatory website. Apparently, in a map of Ivanpah shown on the site, the location of the CSP plant is depicted incorrectly. The solar project “was not built ‘within Ivanpah Dry Lake,’ AKA ‘the playa.’ The project is actually several miles uphill from the barren dry lake, on an alluvial fan once teeming with wildlife. A half-trained eye could look at the Landsat image and see that’s so.”

Chris goes on to elaborate in detail why the distinction between the two locations is important. He notes that solar developers would not want to build a system in a dry lake bed and that alluvial desert areas—like the terrain where much of Ivanpah is located–are much richer in plant and animal life than the “playas.” Although he says NASA “may not have intended to downplay the site’s ecological significance,” its mistake “reinforced the spin of those who do so intend.” Whether one agrees with Chris’s vigorous environmentalist stance or not, his voice is a welcome counterbalance to those in the solar and renewables industry who, in the name of progress and the fight against climate change, downplay the possible impacts of major PV and CSP deployment on the delicate desert ecosystem.

Source: http://www.solarcurator.com/

Growing the Green Bond Market to Finance a Cleaner, Resilient World

Source: Christopher Neal, The World Bank    

The growing risks brought on by climate change are raising development costs for the world’s fast-growing cities and developing countries. Government funds alone will never be enough to build resilience to extreme weather and deal with the threats to energy, water, and food supplies — the private sector and institutional investors must be involved.

That’s where an innovative funding stream is starting to make a difference. Green bonds are delivering finance for clean energy, mass transit, and other low-carbon projects that can help countries adapt to and mitigate climate change, while giving investors high-quality-credit, fixed-income investment opportunities that have a positive impact.

“Green bonds create a new flow of finance for low-carbon development. That’s crucial. But they do more — they have the potential to move the finance fulcrum in a cleaner direction, away from traditional fossil fuel investments and into the projects that will build our low-carbon future,” said World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change Rachel Kyte.

It’s a young market, but with strong potential, and new developments are bringing its value for investors into the spotlight:

• At the World Economic Forum in Davos, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim called for doubling the global market for green bonds to $20 billion by September, when the United Nations convenes a high-profile climate summit, and reaching at least $50 billion by the UN climate negotiations in Paris in December 2015.
• A new green bond issue by the French company EDF in December showed that the depth of interest and ability to trigger climate finance is far wider than today. The 1.4 billion euro issuance was two-times oversubscribed from the start.
• New Green Bond Principles being developed by leading investment and commercial banks are also expected to encourage more investors.

Using Green Bond Proceeds To Address Climate Change

Two entities of the World Bank Group — the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) — have been instrumental to the development of the global green bond market, from the first World Bank offering in 2008 to IFC’s two benchmark $1 billion sales last year. Proceeds from these bonds are being used for investments that help address climate change.

In Tunisia, green bonds issued by the World Bank help improve efficiency in irrigation and reliable water supply in rural areas where groundwater sources are stressed. In China, they help reduce communities' vulnerability to natural disasters through flood control management and warning systems. In Colombia and Mexico they support energy efficient mass transit systems, and elsewhere, renewable energy projects.

Green bonds issued by IFC support private sector investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency. This includes diversifying South Africa's electricity away from coal-fired power by using energy generated from mirrors that reflect and concentrate the sun’s rays, and helping a bank in Armenia introduce lending for energy-efficient housing, reducing power demand and lowering utility bills for residents.

In the case of green bonds issued by the World Bank and IFC, investors benefit from the Aaa/AAA ratings of the issuers and also help rally the climate financing the world desperately needs to confront the challenges of climate change. Investors ranging from pension funds to global asset managers, leading companies and central banks are refocusing their investment strategies to include climate considerations.

IFC's most recent $1 billion offering, in November 2013, attracted a new set of green bond investors, including the Ford Motor Company, Microsoft, and the central banks of Brazil and Germany. A floating rate green bond issued by the World Bank in January 2014 drew large institutional investors such as BlackRock, TIAA-Cref and Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management in addition to other pension funds and sustainable investors. Zurich Insurance recently announced it would invest $1 billion in green bonds issued by the World Bank, IFC, and other development banks.

With growing investor demand for green bonds, there are also growing numbers of green bond issuers in North America, Europe and Asia setting up programs to meet the demand, ranging from development banks to local authorities, corporates and utilities.

Financial Institutions Launch Green Bond Principles

To provide greater clarity and transparency for issuers and investors, last month 13 commercial and investment banks launched a set of voluntary Green Bond Principles that describe a process for designating, disclosing, managing and reporting on green bonds. The principles were developed by the banks in consultation with IFC, the World Bank, and other green bond issuers and investors.

President Kim called the principles a key step toward attracting more financing for renewable energy and clean technology, especially for emerging markets where the green growth financing gap is significant.

"We need to seize the opportunity, one that many financial leaders have been calling for," President Kim said at Davos. "Let's use appetite for green bonds to expand the universe of investors who are investing in green assets."

By providing guidance to new issuers and more bond underwriters, the Green Bond Principles are expected to further broaden the issuer and the investor base. Reaction from across the market has been extremely positive.

Green Bonds and the World Bank Group

Since 2008, the World Bank has mobilized over $4.5 billion through 60 green bond transactions in 17 currencies, and the IFC has issued $3.4 billion in green bonds, including two benchmark-sized $1 billion issuances in 2013. Proceeds from World Bank and IFC green bonds are earmarked through separate accounts that are set up to support the financing of projects that meet specific eligibility criteria.

Both institutions have sizable climate programs, with the World Bank approving an average of $5.5 billion in climate adaption and mitigation projects annually over the past three years. IFC's climate-smart investment portfolio grew by 50 percent in fiscal year 2013, to $2.5 billion.

This article was originally published on The World Bank.

New Poll Shows Bipartisan Support for Rooftop Solar in Florida

77% of Florida voters support current rooftop solar policy

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., March 12, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new poll, commissioned by The Alliance for Solar Choice, finds that more than three out of four Florida voters (77%) support net metering, a successful renewable energy policy that gives residents, schools and businesses full retail credit for the excess solar energy they put back on the grid. Utilities sell that clean energy to the customers' neighbors at the retail rate even though they paid nothing to generate, transmit and distribute it.

Harstad Strategic Research Inc surveyed 801 likely Florida voters from February 6-11, 2014. Poll results show that broad, bipartisan support for net metering and rooftop solar energy exceeds 75 percent across all key voter groups in the state. Only 13 percent of voters oppose net metering, with 10 percent unsure.

"Preserving net metering and alleviating barriers to financing will keep the Florida solar industry poised for growth," said Dr. Stephen Smith with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

"Turns out that Floridians really do want to put the sun in the Sunshine State. That slogan isn't just for license plates – it's a call to action," said Adam Browning, Executive Director of Vote Solar. "People are looking for leadership to tap into a powerful source of energy for the state."

Seventy-one percent of Floridians oppose changing the existing rooftop solar policy by imposing a new fee on net metered solar customers. This policy change has been proposed by large utilities companies in other states as an effort to boost their profits and kill customer choice.

"This poll sends a strong message to Florida utilities that customers won't stand for attacks on rooftop solar," said Bryan Miller, President of the Alliance for Solar Choice (TASC) and VP of Public Policy for Sunrun. "The findings are consistent with polls nationwide that show overwhelming public support for rooftop solar and opposition to anti-solar monopoly utilities."

In the past year, utilities have failed at several attempts to stop rooftop solar growth by undermining net metering, which is a policy on the books in 43 states. These utilities are following the anti-rooftop solar playbook put forth by their trade association, Edison Electric Institute (EEI). Many utilities across the country adhere to this playbook, and they have even resorted to dirty tactics to preserve their antiquated monopolies. As demonstrated by the broad support of this recent poll, is unlikely that this playbook would succeed in the Sunshine State.

SOURCE The Alliance for Solar Choice. Copyright 2014 PR Newswire.