Category Archives: Thoughts

Tracking the CPV Global Market: Ready to Fulfill Its Potential?

Posted on August 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

By: Alasdair Cameron, from Renewable Energy World

Not to be confused with Concentrating Solar Thermal Power (CSP), Concentrating Photovoltaics (CPV) systems use mirrors or lenses to focus the sun’s light onto a small area of photovoltaic material. By focusing the sun’s light (usually by several hundred times, but potentially by up to 1000 times) in order to reduce the amount of expensive semiconductor material that is needed to produce a usable quantity of energy, and so reduce the overall costs of the system.

While CPV has had its supporters for many years, it has so far made little impact on the global photovoltaic market. Nonetheless, despite this relatively slow progress, a series of recent developments and the possibility of rapidly falling costs mean that the sector is once again attracting attention.

CPV TECHNOLOGY

The basic principle of CPV is to focus sunlight onto a small area of photovoltaic material. This is done through the use of lenses (often a Fresnel-type lens is used), or mirrors arranged in parabolic dishes or troughs. The concentration ratio can vary: if the concentrated sunlight falls onto a well designed CPV cell, the cell will produce at least 10 times, or 100 times, the electricity. In fact the conversion efficiency of solar cells increases under concentrated light, so the correlation can be greater than one-to-one, depending on the design of the solar cell and the material used to make it.

At present CPV systems are divided into three broad categories – low (<10x), medium (up to around 150x) and high (>200x) concentration. Most utility-scale commercial systems operate at these higher concentrations. In the future, even higher concentrations are likely to become increasingly common. Importantly, since CPV can only operate efficiently in direct sunlight with a relatively low angle of incidence they require tracking systems to make sure that they stay focused on the sun throughout the day.

At low concentrations, usually with single-axis trackers, CPV generally makes use of silicon cells. However, concentrating PV also offers the option of shifting away from crystalline silicon to use the very high-efficiency, non-silicon cells. Such cells have mostly been developed primarily for space applications. These multi-junction III-V cells (which use elements from columns three and five of the periodic table, typically gallium and arsenide) are prohibitively expensive for extensive use in large flat panel arrays.

Concentrator systems, however, because they require far smaller and fewer cells, can afford the higher cost of multi-junction cells and yet still be manufactured at an acceptable dollar-per-watt cost. Indeed, combined with dual-axis tracking, the high efficiencies of these cells (typically 35%-40%) can enable the CPV units to operate at high module efficiencies, up to 27% (compared to a typical module efficiency of 20% for crystalline silicon or 12% for thin-film cadmium-telluride). This can greatly help reduce the cost per kWh produced.

At present there are several main manufacturers of III-V solar cells for use in CPV installations. Perhaps the most widely used is Spectrolab, a division of Boeing and a company that regularly sets records for cell efficiency. Other companies include Emcore, Azur Space and JDSU. Concentrix also manufactures its own cells. Aside from efficiency, there are a number of other factors which module manufacturers might take into account when sourcing cells for their systems. CPV is still a relatively new technology, and as such there is an element of higher risk perception associated with its deployment. Companies may be wary of using cells from smaller companies for fear that they might not be able to honour warranties in the event of a major programme. Bigger companies, with large backers, therefore have an advantage in terms of ‘bankability’ or risk reduction.

Nonetheless there is some evidence that the sector is finally gaining momentum with a number of utility-scale projects under development and a series of corporate tie-ups that could greatly improve the fortunes of the industry.

An important feature of CPV is its relatively low level of water use in operation. While it is important to cool CPV systems (the efficiency of a solar cell decreases with rising temperature) this is usually achieved by backing the cell onto a highly conductive metal, such as copper. Providing that this layer is sufficiently large it is usually sufficient to keep the system cool; additional cooling systems can also be employed. Given the pressure on water in many arid areas, and the cooling demands of concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) systems in particular, the ability to dry cool as standard is a clear additonal advantage in the future fortunes of CPV.

Land use is also something that many CPV manufacturers are particularly keen to emphasize. Per GWh, high-concentrating CPV uses 2.2 acres (0.9 Ha) of land compared to 4 acres (1.6 Ha) for cadmium telluride thin-film and 4.2 acres (1.7 Ha) for a solar thermal power tower. While this could provide an advantage in terms of permitting an environmental clearance, so far it appears to have little impact on the economics of these systems, since land costs typically represent a small part of the overall system costs. However, while this is certainly true in the western US, it may not be quite so inconsequential in southern Europe where land costs are higher and there is far less space available. In India too, with its massive overcrowding and demands on space, this is likely a positive advantage in developing large-scale solar systems.

STATE OF THE MARKET

To date the CPV market has been something of a fringe concern, accounting for less than 0.1% of installed photovoltaic capacity worldwide. According to GTM Research, total installed capacity at the beginning of 2011 amounted to just 28 MW, out of more than 33,000 MW of installed photovoltaic capacity worldwide, with only modest progress in 2010. According to GTM, total installations in 2010 amounted to just a few MW (although according to another consultancy – Strategy Analytics – this may have been up to 16.3 MW). Nonethless there are reasons for optimism, and at the time of writing there are 689 MW of CPV capacity under construction and in various stages development around the world – overwhelmingly in the USA, but also in Spain, Portugal, Mexico and Australia (of this 689 MW, some 414 MW has agreed a power purchase deal or been signed up to a feed-in tariff, so these are perhaps more definite). There are also a number of potential large scale projects in India and South Africa, although these are still uncertain.

Currently three companies – Soitec (which recently acquired Concentrix Solar), Amonix and SolFocus – dominate the module market, accounting for 96 percent of total projects in operation or in the pipeline. As the sector expands, however, it is likely that new players will begin to emerge, and there may be consolidation among existing companies as major investors move into the market.

SOITEC / CONCENTRIX

Of this ‘big three’, and despite installing just 2 MW in 2010, Soitec has been dominating the CPV headlines, starting in late 2009 with its acquisition of the German company Concentrix Solar. With a 25-MW manufacturing facility in Freiburg, Concentrix is one of the pioneers of CPV, using Fresnel lens reflectors to focus the sun’s energy up to 500 times onto III-V multijunction silicon solar cells and, achieving fully installed system efficiencies of up to 25 percent. In early 2011 Soitec commissioned its first utility-scale CPV power plant, a 1-MW facility at a Chevron mining facility in New Mexico, constructed in 2010. Covering 20 acres and made up of 173 units, it was the first in a number of important developments for Soitec in the North American market. For more on this project see our Large Scale Solar supplement published together with our May-June edition.

Next, in early 2011 Soitec announced that it had struck a deal to supply the 150-MW Imperial Solar Energy Centre CPV installation for Tenaska Solar Ventures, and that a subsidiary of Tenaska has reportedly already signed a power purchase agreement with San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E). Shortly after the Tenaska deal, Soitec signed another series of agreements directly with SDG&E. The first of these was to provide systems for three more solar power plants, totalling 30 MW, followed by two more deals with a total capacity of 125 MW. As with the 150-MW installation, construction work is due to begin in 2013, with the completion estimated in 2014-2015. To support the development of the market, Soitec has announced plans to construct a new 200-MW per year manufacturing facility in San Diego, as well as developing another 50 MW manufacturing plant in its home town of Freiburg.

While this brings the potential pipeline for Soitec to some 305 MW in North America alone, there appears to be some doubt over some of these plans, and the original 150-MW Imperial Solar Energy Centre agreement in particular. The uncertainty surrounds Tenaska’s application for a loan guarantee from the US Department of Energy, a programme that appears to be under financial pressure, with projects being warned that they may not be successful. If these loan guarantees are not made available, it is possible that Soitec will not establish its 200 MW manufacturing plant, placing the larger projects in doubt. Nonetheless, Soitec appears to have a number of solid projects under development and by 2015 it seems likely that it will have well over 100 MW of commercial CPV up and running.

Although the US is the main market in the immediate future, the potential for CPV extends far beyond the deserts of New Mexico and California. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is a prime candidate for CPV development and Concentrix was among the first CPV companies to join the Desertec Initiative – a consortium of financial and industrial interests seeking to develop solar energy on a vast scale in the deserts and sunny regions of North Africa, the Middle East and Mediterranean Europe. Indeed, Soitec already has a number of small-scale test projects underway in the Middle East. In Egypt, five projects totalling 30 kW are up and running to the west of Cairo in the Wadi Natrun region (where essential minerals for the preservation of ancient Egyptian mummies were mined). In Jordan, a 6-kW facility is operational while there are also two small projects in Oman and Abu Dhabi.

AMONIX

While Soitec may have made the news, one of its key rivals, Amonix, has installed the bulk of the systems. Altogether Amonix has around 19 MW of systems operational worlwide, and has already installed several multi-megawatt CPV facilities, notably 7.8-MW, 1.5-MW and 2-MW plants in Spain that were completed in 2008 and 2009, and several smaller utility-scale projects in the United States. In 2010 its total installations amounted to around 15 MW.

Like Soitec, California based Amonix uses high-efficiency III-V multi-junction cells, this time manufactured by Spectrolab, a division of Boeing. Under concentrating conditions, Amonix states that these cells can achieve conversion efficiencies of nearly 40 percent, and AC system efficiencies of up to 29 percent.

In early 2010, Amonix teamed up with Flextronics and began construction of a 150-MW manufacturing facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, which was completed in early 2011. Just prior to this it also announced the completion of a 2-MW CPV facility at the Solar Zone of the University of Arizona’s Science and Technology Park, constuction of which began in 2010.

As well as completing a number of projects and opening a new manufacturing plant, Amonix has also been taking important steps to try and reduce the risk to investors of opting for CPV. 

Finally, in early 2011 Amonix announced that it had been selected to supply the 30-MW Alamosa project in Colorado, under development by Cogentrix (not to be confused with Concentrix, now Soitec). The project managed to secure a $90 million loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, and the power will be sold to utility group Xcel Energy.

Looking to the future, of the 41 MW of CPV actually under construction, GTM Research estimates that 85 percent are being constructed by Amonix, with another 75 MW in the pipeline.

SOLFOCUS

Like its two rivals, SolFocus also installed some megawatt-scale installations in 2010, at Victorville and Hanford in California. Along with smaller projects in the USA, Australia and Mexico, this brought its installations for the 12-15 months up until May 2011 to around 2.7 MW. With additional operational projects in Spain, Italy, Hawaii and the western US, SolFocus has installed well over 3 MW of operational CPV.

Reducing risk for investors has also been a feature of SolFocus’ strategy and they have managed to secure technology performance insurance from Munich Re, one of the world’s largest reinsurance companies. This is the first insurance of its kind to be issued to a CPV manufacturer and will provide an additional level of protection for SolFocus, allowing it to reduce its technical risk. It should also help to reassure potential customers of the robustness of its product, since the insurance was only awarded after a thorough inspection of its manufacturing process and technologies.

Following on from this move, SolFocus has been awarded a number of high profile contracts, including a 1-MW facility with Bechtel to provide energy to pistachio growers in California (completed in April 2011), a 1.5-MW project on the Greek island of Crete and a potential 5-MW system in Portugal.

Finally, the company has announced that it is to provide modules for Saudi Arabia’s largest CPV installation to date, under development by the Vision Electro Mechanical Company. Altogether SolFocus has a development pipeline of at least 39 MW, the vast majority in North America.

ECONOMICS OF CPV

As with all forms of renewable energy the first question anybody usually asks is ‘What does it cost?’. With an emerging sector like CPV there is currently no simple answer. The big hope for CPV is that by using smaller amounts of photovoltaic material at high efficiencies it will be able to drive down costs and compete with fossil fuels – a hope shared by thin-film PV and concentrating solar thermal.

At present, CPV still has some way to go, although it does have some factors in its favor. Certainly, in terms of installation costs per kW, CPV is far from the cheapest. According to GTM, the pre-profit cost for a high-concentrating multi-junction system is roughly $3.35/W installed, compared to $2.04/W for thin-film CdTe and $2.52/W for polysilicon.

What really matters, though, is the cost per kWh produced, and here things are a little better for CPV – it can operate at capacity factors of up to 26 percent, compared with 20 percent for CdTe. Once that is taken into account, CPV is considered to be broadly competitive with non-concentrating PV.

Looking to the power purchase agreements that have been signed, it is clear that CPV companies are being ambitious, with Amonix, for example, signing power purchase agreements with utilities for less than $0.10/kWh, due to be delivered in the next couple of years. At this level it seems unlikely that the CPV companies will generate much profit, but by getting their technology out there and proving it they should be able to increase their market share and so improve their margin.

Research and development and increasing economies of scale are also likely to play an important role in the coming years. Indeed, GTM Research’s predictions on the size of the market for 2015 are predicated on there being a 30 percent reduction in total installed cost by then. More efficient manufacture, transport and handling have been identified as key areas of development, along with increases in cell efficiency, which will allow the module manufacturers to reduce the amount of photovoltaic material required for a given output.

PREDICTIONS – MARKETS AND COSTS

The coming years are likely to see stellar growth for the CPV sector, with some estimates suggesting that the sector could be installing up to 1 GW per year by 2015 – a growth of almost 200 percent per year. It is worth bearing in mind, though, that even if this comes to pass, CPV will still represent just a small proportion of the more than 25-42 GW of annual PV capacity that the European Photovoltaic Industry Association predicts will be installed in 2015.

It also seems likely that, for the next few years at least, the United States will remain the largest market for CPV technology thanks to its high insolation, long-term power purchase agreements and demand for clean power. According to GTM, if California is to meet its Renewable Portfolio Standard then it may need to install 26 GW of solar. So far power purchase agreements for just 13 GW have been signed across the whole of the Southwest US (of which around half is CSP), leaving plenty of room for growth. The real question is whether CPV can lower its costs and gain enough customers to compete in the increasingly crowded solar marketplace.

 

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Posted in Technologies, Thoughts

What Does the Future Hold for Concentrating PV?

Posted on December 17, 2010 | Leave a comment

Considering the short term of one to three years, what technology advances may be expected in the CPV sector? What conversion efficiencies might be achieved and costs/kW installed reached? And what, if any, are the technical and investment barriers which must be overcome in order to achieve these forecasts?

Jeroen Haberland, CEO, Circadian Solar

In the next three years lowering manufacturing costs will be crucial to the CPV industry. As well as the gains from adopting best practises and economies of scale, part of the cost reductions will come from advances in cell manufacturing techniques to lower the amount of material required in each cell. Exploiting increasingly optimised bandgap combinations, either by metamorphic growth or by layer transfer techniques, will produce cells with higher fundamental efficiency limits. 

We expect the current trend of 1% annual increases in research cell efficiency, from the 2010 level of 42%, to continue, although advances in cells with more optimum bandgap combinations could deliver more significant increases. Production cell efficiencies meanwhile will most likely continue to lag behind world record research cell efficiencies by 2%-3%. Overall system efficiencies are expected to rise to around 32% by 2013. This will be driven not just by cell efficiency increases, but also by the combination of high efficiency optics, optimal concentration factor, innovative thermal management, high accuracy solar tracking and through automated precision assembly too.

Commercially, the emphasis will increasingly be placed on levelised cost of electricity (LCOE), rather than just system efficiency and system price/watt, since LCOE is the key determining factor in commercial payback and return on investment.

The key barrier to investment is ‘bankability’ — the requirement to guarantee to financiers the kWh energy yield from CPV systems over 25 years for a given investment in the plant. Without this, either the cost of finance will be very high, or there will be no finance. Publicly funded projects are one of the best/only ways to demonstrate bankability and well thought out incentives, such as feed-in tariffs, will be an important enabler for the industry to reach the economies of scale necessary to reduce system costs.

Carla Pihowich, Senior Director of Marketing, Amonix

The most important technology advances in CPV solar over the next three years will be performance improvements to III-V multi-junction cells and how they are integrated into CPV.

Amonix incorporated III-V multi-junction cells into our systems in 2007 leading to dramatic improvements in efficiency — currently 39% at the cell level, which translates into 31% at the module level and 27% at the system level. At these levels of efficiency, CPV has by far the greatest efficiency of any solar technology. In addition, as we have done in the past, Amonix will deploy performance improvements over the next year that will lessen the gap between cell and system efficiency. In the years to come, we expect multi-junction production cell efficiencies will reach 42% or higher using current or new high-efficiency cell designs.

On the question of cost, we believe that CPV offers greater potential for cost reduction than conventional PV technologies such as single-crystal silicon and thin-film PV, which are nearing performance limitations that will make it difficult for them to drop below their current installed system costs. In contrast, the CPV performance advantage has plenty of headroom and can achieve continual reductions in the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE).

Achieving the cell and system efficiencies is not without its challenges — cell performance must be effectively transferred to production environments, for example. But we believe these challenges can be managed. Bottom line, efficiency improvements combined with the future cost advantages of CPV over PV, the greater deployment flexibility — and the advantage of using no water compared with CSP systems — make CPV the best choice for utility-scale solar deployments in sunny and dry climates.

Nancy Hartsoch, Vice-President Sales and Marketing, SolFocus

In 2010 industry-leading CPV companies have become commercial, demonstrating scalable deployment, bankable products, and volume manufacturing. So what does lie ahead for CPV?

One way to describe CPV’s path over the next one to three years is that it will have a steep trajectory. CPV conversion efficiencies are on a steep upward path. System efficiencies of 26%+ today will continue to increase as CPV cell efficiencies move from 39% upwards to 45%.

Manufacturing costs for CPV systems are also on a steep trajectory, but going downward, as factories are ramped from manufacturing hundreds of kW to hundreds of MW per year. The upward efficiency trajectory combined with the rapidly declining manufacturing cost trajectory provides a very steep reduction in terms of the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) for CPV in the upcoming three years.

In 2010 CPV won competitive bids around the world against other PV technologies because of its high energy yield resulting in a very strong value proposition, which will become even more commanding in the future. Bankability of the technology remains perhaps the biggest hurdle, however, this is rapidly changing through thorough due diligence on the technology and creative approaches to reduce the risk for developers.

                                                                                        

Certification to industry standards for CPV combined with multiple years of on-sun performance and reliability data also contributes to the increasing adoption of CPV into large distributed and utility-scale projects around the globe.

With 150 MW forecast to be deployed in 2011, CPV has finally turned the corner on commercialisation and is moving forward into a market where its high energy yield with the largest energy output/MW installed has the potential to dramatically change the opportunity for the PV market. Add in the need for environmentally friendly technology and it provides an extremely low carbon footprint, along with low cost of energy, It becomes easy to forecast a major impact by CPV solar.

Andreas W. Bett, Deputey Director, Fraunhofer ISE

Concentrating PV and specifically HCPV technology is now ready to enter the market. I am aware this has already been said, but the difference is that there are now serious companies in the market.

They have set up production capacities which are in the two-digit MW range, and collectively the production capacity today is more than 150 MW. Two years ago it was less than 10 MW. This achievement is an important milestone for CPV and the first step to overcome their infancy. 

In respect to technology advances, due to steady and continuous improvement for cells, optics and tracking CPV-system AC operating efficiency will eventually be 25% on an average. System efficiencies as high as 30% are possible, but it will take more than three years to achieve this goal. These high efficiencies, in combination with advancing along a steep learning curve, will lead to energy costs in the range of €0.10/kWh at sites with solar radiation of more than 2400 kWh/m²/year.

One has to take into consideration that for the moment the cost per installed kW is not an appropriate measure for CPV technology. This is simply because the corresponding rating standards for CPV are not yet established. Indeed, missing standards can be seen as one hurdle for CPV and a barrier for investors. Consequently, the financial side must learn more about CPV technology and the industry must teach and demonstrate reliability — a major obstacle today for bankability.

At present CPV struggles not so much with technology, but with funding. However, this barrier will soon be overcome, for example if guarantees can be provided by the CPV companies.

It is then that the growth and the technology development speeds up, leading to still lower CPV costs.

Hansjörg Lerchenmüller, CEO and Founder, Concentrix Solar

Leading players in the CPV sector continue to surpass record module and system efficiencies, leveraging optical and electrical expertise to optimise output from the world’s highest efficiency III-V cells.

CPV systems are typically twice as efficient as conventional PV systems, with current module efficiencies at 27% and expecting to break the remarkable 30% barrier in the near future.

At Soitec Concentrix we are currently working on the next generation of smart cell technology which is targeting cell efficiency of 50% – in turn leading to a system efficiency of more than 35%. Soitec’s patented Smart Cut&trade; technology, used for over a decade in the semiconductor industry, will provide crucial layer transfer expertise for the optimisation of the cell design.

The first results of the smart cell development programme will be available within the mentioned time period. In the long term, it will be integrated exclusively into Concentrix’ systems.

Prices for a full turnkey CPV power plant are today already below $4/watt and will go down to $3/watt in the coming years. Specific prices very much depend on size, the site of the power plant and timing. At the same time, it is well established that CPV technology provides some 40% to 50% more energy output than conventional PV and due to its use of dual-axis tracking, maintains a consistent, high output during periods of peak demand when energy prices are highest.

Given that we have already achieved a 27% module efficiency in production and that we have commercial plants of hundreds of kilowatts, we foresee no major roadblocks on performance reliability and cost for the CPV industry for driving down the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) produced to reach grid parity levels.

Key issues from an investment point of view are a relatively quick return on investment and bankability. The scalability of CPV helps to address this — due to the modularity of the technology, the project size can be adjusted to the financial capabilities of the investors/banks and also energy is produced as soon as the first tracker is installed, helping to reduce the time delay normally associated with utility-scale solar power plants.

In terms of bankability, Soitec Concentrix have partnered with energy efficiency and sustainability company Johnson Controls, which will build, operate, maintain and provide lifecycle support for solar installations using Concentrix CPV technology.

The combination of the respective strengths of both companies will provide advantages, allowing the partners to accelerate and widen the successful installation of solar renewable energy utility-scale plants in high direct normal irradiation regions across the globe.

Eric J. Pail, Analyst, AltaTerra Research

Short-term advances in CPV systems will be mostly technical and focused on improving the cost/performance ratio. However, longer-term advances in market development may produce even greater economic value for the sector.

In the short term, high concentration PV (HCPV) systems will continue to see technology advancements in the efficiency of III-V multi-junction cells. Multi-junction cells are at the heart of high concentrating PV systems and are a key driver to reducing costs and increasing overall system efficiency. As a rule of thumb, for every percentage increase in multi-junction cell efficiency there is a 0.75%—0.8% increase in system efficiency.

Today, most HCPV systems use 38%—39% efficient multi-junction cells and have a system efficiency of between 24% and 35%. In 2011, multi-junction cell efficiencies are expected to rise to more than 40% and on to some 42% in 2012.

The increase in the number of multi-junction cell manufacturers and number of new cell technologies under development will help the CPV industry make steep efficiency improvements in the coming years.

Like any new technology, the CPV industry still faces the challenge of justifying financing from risk-averse financers in terms of ‘bankability’. In response, SolFocus, for example, has recently announced that Munich RE will offer an insurance policy to backstop SolFocus’s warranty. Meanwhile, Morgan Solar self-financed an initial 200 kW test project to demonstrate its technology. Certification standards — particularly IEC 62108 — are also helping to provide investors with assurance. As more and larger CPV projects come online and manufacturers take direct steps to address the issue, bankability should therefore become less of a problem. 

In the long term, it is the distinctive character of concentrating PV that will lead to greater commercial uptake. With sites in very sunny regions that make use of tracking, pedestal mounting and other distinctive features of CPV installations, the industry will lower costs through volume and more effectively create economic value by focusing on customers that prize or require particular features.

 This article was originally published by the editors of RenewableEnergyWorld Magazine Dec 16 2010

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Posted in Technologies, Thoughts

Smart grids are the future of power, but what does that mean for the future of privacy?

Posted on August 26, 2010 | Leave a comment

 Smart Grids and the Future of Privacy

The transmission networks spanning nations to provide light, heat and electricity will soon undergo a radical transformation. Most of the world’s developed countries have invested in or plan to invest huge sums to implement smart energy infrastructures within the next two decades. The smart grid will revolutionize the way utilities and consumers measure and monitor electricity usage. This effort is expected to save money and aid energy conservation.

But the grid will also result in the creation of massive amounts of new data, data that can reveal intimate details about households and the people who live in them. The risk of exposure or misuse of such data creates a new set of concerns for consumers and privacy professionals. The smart grid will rely on smart meters, which will record household energy consumption and communicate it back to power providers. These new smart meters will replace the electromechanical meters that are attached to most households across the world today.

Smart appliances, which are being developed and sold by some of the world’s largest manufacturers, will enhance the intelligent grid, feeding smart meters with real-time information about electrical use down to the appliance level — smoothie at seven, treadmill at eight, for example. (According to a recent Zpryme report, the global market for household smart appliances is projected to reach $15.12 billion in 2015.) This precision will allow utility companies to analyze peak power usage times and set electric rates accordingly. In turn, households will gain a tool for more efficient management of their energy consumption, which they could use to lower costs and conserve energy.

For example, customers will have the ability to time their laundry chores for off-peak energy hours. When the grid, the meter, and the appliances are implemented and integrated, consumers will be able to fine-tune their energy consumption to get the best rates and utilities will be able to more effectively manage power distribution and identify and resolve problems remotely. The savings potential is expected to be massive.

The grid is also expected to help power suppliers prevent blackouts and brownouts by allowing for power distribution to be delivered more evenly and on a need-based schedule. Nations and utilities are investing in the development of the smart grid, and many companies have already deployed smart meters. But while those involved throw millions, even billions, toward the grid, cautioning voices are calling for privacy protections. “We are talking about implementing a very new type of network…a network that people are always attached to,” says Rebecca Herold, CIPP, founder of Rebecca Herold and Associates, LLC. Herold has led the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid privacy subgroup since June 2009 and co-authored the NIST report on smart grid privacy, which is under review by NIST and expected to be published soon. The information collected on a smart grid will form a library of personal information, the mishandling of which could be highly invasive of consumer privacy,” said Christopher Wolf, co-author with Jules Polonetsky of a whitepaper published by the Future of Privacy Forum and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. “There will be major concerns if consumer-focused principles of transparency and control are not treated as essential design principles, from beginning to end.” Utilities are aware of the privacy concerns, according to Rick Thompson, the president of Greentech Media. “It’s absolutely on their radar,” he says, adding, “That doesn’t mean they have a full understanding or solution to solve that problem, but I think it’s an area that they are investigating heavily.” It’s an area worthy of investigation, according to many. Some say the smart grid will be “bigger than the internet,” which will result in an exponential increase of coveted, valuable and potentially identifiable data. “You come into new types of privacy issues because you are now revealing personal activities in ways that are not historically, or have not been considered to date as being personally identifiable information,” Herold says.

Beyond knowing how often the refrigerator opens or what time the garage door activates each morning, grid data may be a way of discerning when a household is empty or full, when family members go to bed at night or what time the kids come home from school. Marketers might want to tap into the data to find out when a household might be due for a new refrigerator or washing machine. Law enforcement might be interested in corroborating a story. An insurance company might want to know if a homeowner’s alarm was turned on when a burglary occurred. A divorce attorney might want to subpoena energy-use records to aid a case. Who owns the data? In a recent newspaper article, Simon McKenzie, the chief executive of a New Zealand electricity supplier, said in that country, where hundreds of thousands of smart meters are currently being installed, “We’re starting to see the retailers and network companies say: ‘Hey, there are a number of different ways that we haven’t even considered that we could utilize this data…to provide better service or solutions to customers.

” The full potential of smart grids has yet to be realized, McKenzie told The New Zealand Herald. But should retailers and other entities have access to the data? That is a question being examined on a global scale. In response to the McKenzie’s comments, New Zealand Privacy Commissioner Marie Shroff said that companies need to be transparent about what information is being tracked and collected. “People need to be able to make fully informed decisions before agreeing to the new technology,” Shroff said. Others call for limited use of the data gleaned from smart grids. “The risk with a rich new data source is the temptation to use the information for more than originally intended,” Australian Privacy Commissioner Karen Curtis told those attending a smart infrastructure conference earlier this year. That’s why it will be crucial to answer the question of who owns and has access to consumers’ energy usage data, which could reveal existing and emerging types of personally identifiable information, Herold says. It’s a familiar question for privacy pros, who have grappled with it in other areas of practice, but perhaps less familiar for utilities. In a recent study, GTM asked utility companies who owns the granular data collected by smart meters — the utility company, the consumer, or a third party. The results showed a decided lack of consensus. “The interesting thing is that it was pretty well split evenly between those three options,” said GTM’s Rick Thompson. Of the companies surveyed, 39 percent said the data belonged to the consumer, 29 percent said the utility itself owned it, and 32 percent were unsure. [Chart from Greentech Media's 2010 North American Utility Smart Grid Deployment Survey] The president of an advocacy group for the smart grid industry is more decided on the topic. “The consumer should always have access to that data,” says Kathleen Hamilton, president of the GridWise Alliance, which counts more than 100 companies and organizations as members. “I think the consumer is going to be the owner of that data,” Hamilton said. “But I think what consumers don’t understand is that when they give their data to others, if there aren’t privacy provisions in place, they can use the data in ways that either the consumer may not agree with or think appropriate.” That’s a worry many can relate to and a debate that must play itself out soon, as 70 percent of North American utility companies polled for the aforementioned GTM survey indicated that smart grid projects were either a “strong” or “highest” business priority between now and 2015. Governments keen to the potential have invested heavily in smart grid infrastructures.

 In the U.S., President Obama allocated $3.4 billion in national stimulus monies to utility companies last year to encourage development of smart grid technologies. The European Parliament’s passage of the 3rd Energy Package last year will outfit 80 percent of EU electricity customers with smart meters by 2020. In Sweden, smart meters are now mandated by the government. The U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, parts of Asia, Denmark, and the Netherlands have all reported plans to build intelligent grids. And the Chinese government has allocated $7.3 billion to grid projects in 2010. It is clear that the potential privacy pitfalls loom large. Less clear is the best solution to prevent them. “I think there are still a lot of questions out there about what the correct solution might be,” says GTM’s Thompson, predicting that solutions will vary based on the regulations of various regions. Like other areas of data privacy, regulation is a word that could divide the debate in the months and years to come. Some predict smart grid privacy issues to be bigger in Europe than other places due to the strength of the bloc’s Data Protection Directive. So far in the U.S., regulation has focused primarily on securing the grid infrastructure from cyber-attack. For example, the Grid Reliability and Infrastructure Defense (GRID) Act, introduced in April, charges the FERC with safeguarding the transmission grid from cyber-threats. The bill also tasks FERC with enforcing privacy measures, stating: “the Commission shall protect from disclosure only the minimum amount of information necessary to protect the reliability of the bulk power system and defense critical electric infrastructure.” The House passed the bill in June, but the Senate has yet to vote. Other bills have focused on ensuring that consumers have access to the data their homes’ meters produce. In March, Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, introduced The Electric Consumer Right to Know Act (e-KNOW), legislation to ensure consumers have access to free, timely and secure data about their energy usage. It also calls for the FERC to develop national standards for consumer energy data accessibility, to help utilities and state regulatory agencies formulate their policies, according to Markey’s website. State lawmakers have begun drafting their own legislation. In Colorado, a state where smart meter implementation is already widespread, Senate Bill 10-180 calls for the creation of a task force to recommend measures to “encourage the orderly implementation of smart grid technology” in that state. The bill says that one of the issues the task force must determine is the potential impacts on consumer protection and privacy. A call for standards Privacy experts say the lack of legal protection surrounding the smart grid is concerning. They are calling for standards. “In the absence of clear rules, this potentially beneficial smart grid technology could mean yet another intrusion on private life,” Jim Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) said in a March filing to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which held a three-day hearing that month to explore smart grid policies. “The PUC should act now, before our privacy is eroded,” Dempsey wrote. The CDT teamed with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on the filing, urging the CPUC to adopt “comprehensive privacy standards for the collection, retention, use and disclosure of the data” gleaned from the smart grid. The National Institute of Standards and Technology smart grid privacy subgroup, which Herold leads, has released two drafts of the privacy chapter “Smart Grid Cyber Security Strategy and Requirements.” The document includes a privacy impact assessment and addresses possible risks the smart grid presents — including cyber attacks, data breaches and the vulnerability of interconnected networks’ increased exposure to potential hackers. The draft says that while most states have laws in place regarding privacy protection, those laws do not necessarily relate to the types of data that will be within the smart grid, and many existing laws are specific to industries other than utilities. The group recommends that provisions be included within privacy laws to protect the consumer data held by utility companies. The final NISTIR 7628 Version 1 is expected soon, after which it will be submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Minimize, destroy, build privacy in As with other privacy debates, those pushing for smart infrastructure privacy protections espouse mantras often heard in data protection circles-data minimization, data destruction and privacy by design. Utilities should minimize the amount of household data collected and should keep it for the shortest amount of time possible, advocates say, in order to minimize the risk associated with storing such data. Ontario Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian agrees. In her whitepaper, she also cautions that privacy concerns must be considered early in the planning stages in order to mitigate the risks surrounding the revealing data meters collect. By designing privacy into the grid, “we can have both privacy and a fully functioning smart grid,” Cavoukian wrote in a Toronto Star Op-Ed. The government of Ontario has committed to the installation of smart meters in every home and business by the end of 2010 and Cavoukian has partnered with major utilities to develop “gold standards” for building privacy into grid projects. Some privacy advocates point to Ontario’s Hydro One as a utility company setting the standard for baking privacy provisions into its policy before deploying smart meters. Rick Stevens, director of distribution development at Hydro One says the protection of consumer’s information was built into smart meters’ designs based on Ontario’s privacy regulations.

“The regulations certainly set the context for the project,” Stevens said. “We’re just really ensuring that we bake those protections into the product that we put out there. Given that this is new technology, we’re going to be very careful to protect consumer interest as we roll these out. I know we, as an industry, take it very seriously.” Hydro One has 1.1 million meters already deployed, and at least 700,000 of them are currently reporting data back to the utility on an hourly basis. Stevens says that, as a rule, the utility does not sell customers’ data to third parties and would only share data after obtaining written authorization customers.

The president of LinkGard Systems, an Armenian software maker, says his company’s Energy Management System, which is currently being tested in the U.S., was built with privacy in mind. “It is our strong belief that the utility company has no need to control individual appliances in a residence or a commercial location,” said Hovanes Manucharyan. “The same effect can be achieved by using solutions that don’t require the customer to expose their private energy usage information….We feel that this model is friendlier towards privacy since the utility doesn’t need to acquire, store and manage potentially private data from a customer.” Hovanes said the stronger regulatory framework of the EU could result in slightly different implementations of smart grid technologies in that market. Beyond PII We haven’t yet heard a debate on whether our garage-door-opening habits qualify as personal data, but it’s a question that privacy experts say should be answered. “People have to realize it’s a new type of network,” says Herold. “It’s ‘always on,’ passively collecting information about people in their homes. It’s more than just PII, it’s personal activities,” she adds. This is what concerns a California man who staged a dramatic protest recently when Pacific Gas & Electric attempted to install a smart meter at his home. Calling it an “unconstitutional invasion of his privacy,” he locked his existing meter, saying, “PG&E needs to be stopped in their tracks here.” Education needed But smart meters are being rolled out in many places, and typically without protest.

Indeed, though smart grids are certainly on the radar of utilities and governments, most consumers are in the dark. According to a recent Harris Interactive poll, 68 percent have never heard of the smart grid and 63 percent “draw a blank” about smart meters. Experts say that will change. “You are going to see a lot more awareness over the next 24 months,” says Greentech Media’s Rick Thompson, “but in terms of becoming a true household name, I’d say that’s still three to five years out.” Thompson says utility companies are just starting to understand the importance of launching educational campaigns aimed at consumer awareness. A newly formed coalition of companies and organizations — the nonprofit Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative — hopes to increase consumer awareness in the area. “The grid is not really smart unless the consumers are able to be active participants,” said Katherine Hamilton of the GridWise Alliance, one of the founding members of SGCC. Hydro One’s Stevens says building consumer awareness by communicating the cost-savings potential and environmental benefits is what helped make his company’s transition to smart meters successful in Ontario. “For the most part, it’s been positive,” Stevens said. “I think the reason for that is the type of information we’ve been able to provide to customers.” Stevens said, however, given his company’s success with smart meters, that the only reason to have increasing regulations in the future would be if issues arise that require them. When asked whether utility companies’ self-regulatory efforts will be sufficient to stave off regulations, Herold said it’s important to consider just how many different players will be involved in the smart grid, including non-energy sector companies creating applications and appliances. “Self-regulation is a good goal, but when you start looking realistically, how do you ensure entities consistently provide protections throughout the entire smart grid if you don’t establish requirements they must all follow?” Herold asks. She points to the health care and financial industries as evidence that regulations are often necessary. “It’s always important, in dealing with privacy, to not only take what we know from past experiences, but also have our minds open to possible impacts going forward.” Some say that having the right people on board will help companies avoid issues. “One of the key things utilities should be doing today is training and hiring privacy professionals,” says Future of Privacy Forum Director Jules Polonetsky, CIPP. “Data enables the grid, but could also be its Achilles’ heel, if companies don’t have the experts in place to help shape decisions as the grid is being built.” Stevens agrees, saying that it’s in the utility industry’s best interest to maintain consumer privacy protections moving forward. “It’s a necessity,” he says. “Otherwise, it’ll backfire on us.”

This article was originally published in the July 2010 edition of the International Association of Privacy Professionals’ member newsletter, The Privacy Advisor.

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Rational and risks involved in incorporating thermal storage with current CSP plants

Posted on March 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

Much effort is invested worldwide for developing storage for trough technology. The more advanced approach is based on phaze changes materials (which is called: PCM), since it enables higher density in the storage and minimal temperature losses between charge and discharge. The main problem is the low heat transfer (due to low thermal conductivity of the salts), and this affects directly the amount of power that could be extracted from the storage. Several research is being executed (mainly in Germany) for developing enhanced solutions, usually by enhancing the heat transfer between the salt and the heat transfer fluid (in the molten salt receiver/hot storage tank), reducing transient effects, optimization of the storage materials (for example, by using metal with graphite that has very high thermal conductivity – which can result up to 15% increase in conductivity, modifications in geometry, boundary conditions (e.g., addition of inflow and outflow, adding radiating surfaces or media) are being tested.  Parts of those solutions are technically feasible, although too expensive yet, e.g. the additional costs overweigh the benefits. One of the advanced approaches, that might have a chance to be cost effective, is based on adding metal surfaces into the salt zone, which may significantly improve the heat transfer to the salt by adding both radiative and convective areas, and also induce more mixing by producing faster flow and higher turbulence. Another alternative to these effects is to add particles that participate in radiation and supply convection area. The goal is to achieve an energy storage system with thermal efficiency of 90%, life time of 30 years and specific costs of: 30 USD/KWthermal capacity, and 1.5 US cent per KWHelectric. But, as far as I know, no system can achieve it yet. 

 Various storage systems incorporated with solar tower electricity generation systems were developed and the most advanced of them was installed and tested in California. This system, Solar Two, generated 10MW electricity using an eutectic molten nitrate salts mixture pumped and piped from a ground-based cold tank to a receiver mounted on the top of a tower. The hot salt from the receiver is then piped to a second, hot tank on the ground. In a secondary loop, the hot salt flows through a heat exchanger to generate steam and returns to the cold tank. The third loop includes the steam generator, which supplies steam to a steam turbine electricity generator. This plant was closed on 1999. Now Sener is trying to do something similar in Spain.

The most common storage technology in use (following the inefficient oil storage tanks solution that is being used at the SEGS plants in California) is the molten salt two-tank system, which provides a feasible storage capacity and is considered to have low to moderate associated risks. Molten salt that will be used for storage as such is bankable (as molten salt is being used for a long time in the chemical industry), but the integration of this kind of storage system to the solar system – is risky.  Concentrated solar thermal power plants have specific requirements for storage that are not well known in the chemical industry. For example: working under thermal cycling conditions; heating and cooling; temperature changing periodically; even design the hot and cold tanks is a challenge; Not to speak about the pipes and the heat exchangers. Another problem is freezing at night. But the main risk is that it is a big step from the existing technology in the chemical industry to that is required by the solar plants, especially in size – going up in scale, since in the chemical industry relatively small amounts of molten salts are being used.   On the other hand, storage contributes not only by increasing operation hours, but also enhancing the overall efficiency, as the plant is working more hours close to the design point. 

At Acciona’s Nevada parabolic trough plant there is no storage (only for about 30 minutes, which is achieved by the fluid that is in the pipes). On the other hand, at the parabolic trough plants of Andasol One & Two – FlagSol (Solar Millennium’s subsidiary) together with ACS/Cobra developed thermal storage based on molten salt. This system is being working for almost two years, probably with a lot of obstacles to deal with, like freezing issues (the freezing point of the chosen nitrates is probably 220ºC), corrosion, blocking, purity of the salt, problems with materials that are in contact with the salt, and a lot of integration and control issues. However, the operators (ACS/Cobra) are gaining much experience and claim to be able to overcome most obstacles. 

 Another risk related to incorporating storage is how much downtime (forced outage) will the plant experience. As a worth case scenario one has to assume up to 10 percent (36.5 days) down, although some plants have almost no downtime due to troubles with storage systems. Thermal storage allows project developers to maximize the value of the solar thermal facility’s output for time of use pricing verses the cost of producing that electricity. Designing a facility to sell the largest amount of output does not necessarily make that design the one with the best return on capital. Sometimes it is preferred, for example, to store all of the thermal energy produced in the morning instead of directing only part to the storage and part to produce electricity for immediate sale. The design point as well as operation strategies are of utmost importance especially when thermal storage is incorporated with the solar thermal plant. However, reducing drastically the capital cost of thermal storage is key to the commercial deployment of the technology.

 

 

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Posted in Europe, Technologies, Thoughts, U.S.

“Making the Impossible Possible – Finding Alternatives to Fossil Fuels”

Posted on October 22, 2009 | 1 Comment

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Speech at the 2009 President’s Conference Jerusalem, 20 October 2009

 Translation from Hebrew

This Conference is an opportunity to think about how to make the impossible possible. How do we transform a dream into reality, a crisis into an opportunity? ……Therefore, tonight I would like to talk to you about one of the more significant matters on the global agenda: eliminating the world’s dependence on fossil fuels, particularly oil. We all know the simple truth: dependence on oil endangers the world. It is a threat to our security, our economy and the environment. Our security, because dependence on fossil fuels strengthens the dark regimes that encourage instability and fund terror with their petrodollars. Our economy, because if we don’t develop alternative energy sources, the demand for fossil fuels will increase and the supply will decrease. This will lead to an increase in prices, which in turn will adversely affect global economic development in countries that import fossil fuels – which is the majority of countries. This will cause serious economic harm. Environmentally, because the pollution from fossil fuels poisons the air that we breathe, the water that we drink and the food that we eat. Our dependence on oil harms us and the earth every day, and has done so for decades. To counteract all this, we must set a goal: we must free ourselves from our dependence on oil. I know it seems impossible, but believe me – it is possible. Sometimes all it takes is one or two inventions to make a breakthrough and change the world. Look at salt during the 19th century. Until the beginning of the 20th century, salt was a luxury item used to preserve food. Caravans of camels carried salt through the Sahara Desert, and the salt was traded for gold. Entire empires became rich trading salt, because of the world’s dependence on salt. But two inventions were made. The first was the canning process and the second was refrigeration, and all at once the world’s huge dependence on salt was eliminated. As a result, the salt empires crashed almost overnight. Is Israel the country that will discover the breakthrough that will free the world of its dependence on fossil fuels? I believe so because Israel has two significant resources that provide us with a good chance of doing so. • We have the minds and the hearts. • The capability, the will. Israel is very advanced in the technological fields – agro-tech, hi-tech, nanotechnology, solar energy, battery technologies and renewable energies. Naturally, we are leading candidates to create a global revolution in the clean energy field because of this capacity. Here is the essence of what I’m saying. It’s possible to change the world. The greatest changes in man’s history occurred when there was not only a technological change, but a conceptual change. For many generations, hundreds of thousands of years, man was a hunter-gather. He went to seek out food. He had to go great distances, chase animals to get the protein he needed, or to look for berries or fruit to gather so he’d have the nutrients that were needed for life. These nomadic hunter-gatherer patterns changed one day, because man realized that the food was right underneath his feet. And that was the day that agriculture was born. We are hunter-gatherers for energy. We go to the depths of the oceans. We seek energy from the bowels of the Earth and distant lands. But the energy is right under our noses. It’s all around us. It’s bountiful. It’s in the sun. It’s in the wind. It’s in the water. We just have to tap it.

I think we have the capacity to develop this. Our Nobel Prize winners were mentioned – yes, we have per capita more Nobel Prize winners than any other country, than any other people. We have the second largest concentration of technological capacity; in terms of venture capital, the highest per capita by far. We have scientific publications and we have patents in abundance. So we have the capacity, including in these areas – the development of energy from hydrogen, from water, the development of solar energy and other energies. We have the brains, but we also have the will. Because think what this will mean for our national security. Think of what it would mean for our future if the world ended its dependence on fossil fuels, and especially on oil. By changing this dependence, we can change the world. I don’t know which technology will triumph. Yesterday, Ray Kurzweil, who hasn’t changed a bit in 35 years – I remember you from MIT, Ray – you gave us a course on entrepreneurship and you proceeded to be an entrepreneur, like Shimon Peres, in your own great scientific capacities. Yesterday you said that the efficiency of solar energy doubles every two years. You said that we live in a very brief generation that will develop the energy of the proximate future. If that’s the case, then we’re in good shape. But I say let’s make it happen faster. If we have placed a man on the moon, surely we can harness the energy of the sun.

 What I propose to do today is to establish a nation commission of scientists, engineers, business and government people to set a goal that within ten years, we’ll have a practical, clean, efficient substitute for oil. I think it’s possible. I think we can make the impossible possible. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have never been accused of being a disciple of government intervention. However, sometimes the private market simply cannot create the critical mass of activities needed to make such a big change. Sometimes it needs a push and support from the government. Finding an alternative to oil is a critical matter for the State of Israel must deal with – with regard to geopolitics, security concerns, environmental concerns, to secure the future and to change the world’s order of priorities. Therefore, I repeat my announcement that I am going to establish a national commission comprised of scientists, manufacturers, engineers, businesspeople and government officials, with the goal of formulating a practical plan for efficient development in technologies and engineering in order to replace fossil fuels within the decade. I ask the minds and talents who are here, and around the world, to help.

It is not in our interest alone. The resources need not be exclusively Israel’s. Most of the world shares this interest. But Israel has a strong and clear interest in achieving this. “For out of Zion will come Torah”: We are commanded to bring a new light to the world. God willing, with your help and the help of many others around the world, we will make the impossible possible. Thank you.

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Posted in Conferences, Israel, Politics, Thoughts, U.S.

Incentives for each energy source based on current production costs

Posted on August 4, 2009 | 1 Comment

A very important proposal that would require utilities to buy power from small-scale renewable energy producers was suggested according to the New York Times by two Democrats in the U.S. House:

Reps. Jay Inslee of Washington and Bill Delahunt of Massachusetts are preparing a bill that would require utilities to purchase small-scale renewable energy from developers at rates equal to the cost of production plus a premium. The so-called feed-in tariffs proposal would set European-style guarantees for investors that many credit for a recent boom in solar energy in Germany.

 “We have some brilliant Americans with brilliant business plans with brilliant technologies, but they don’t have financing,” Inslee said at a briefing last week on Capitol Hill. “The charm of the feed-in tariff is solid, take-it-to-the-bank security and confidence for the investing community.”

Proponents say feed-in tariffs can be more effective than renewable-energy standards, such as the one included in the House climate bill by Democrats Henry Waxman of California and Ed Markey of Massachusetts, because they offer staggered rate incentives for each energy source based on current production costs. The initial rate that utilities would pay for solar energy, for example, would be higher than payments for less-expensive wind energy.

Backers of the bill also point to the model in Germany, where, after passing its own Renewable Energy Sources Act in 2000, Germany was able to become the world’s largest market for photovoltaic systems and wind energy and more than doubled its supply of renewable energy between 2000 and 2007.

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Posted in Politics, Technologies, Thoughts, U.S.

Indication of what seem to be important for the DOE at the solar business

Posted on August 4, 2009 | Leave a comment

Partnership that includes DOE, Sandia National Laboratories, industry, utilities, and universities will invest in the 5 following projects that deals with complete grid connected systems:

  • PVPowered of Bend will receive up to $3 million to optimize interconnections across PV module technologies through systems integration,
  • Petra Solar of South Plainfield, NJ, which will get up to $2.9 million to improve reliability and resiliency in eight states so that high levels of PV integration can be adapted,
  • Princeton Power of Princeton, NJ will be awarded up to $2.8 million to lower manufacturing costs through integrated controls for energy storage and develop inverter designs,
  • Apollo Solar of Bethel, CT, will get $1.5 million to create inverters using energy storage and two-way communications between solar electrical systems and utilities,
  • Florida Solar Energy Center/UCF, will get up to $1.3 million to figure out how to include higher PV penetration levels in larger electrical systems.

AS much as all these projects are important – they are Not getting us closer to be free from oil addiction…

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Posted in Technologies, Thoughts, U.S.

“Is the average consumer willing to pay the upfront costs of a new smart grid and then respond appropriately to price signals?

Posted on August 2, 2009 | 1 Comment

 Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said at a recent hearing on smart grid.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu worry about security. “If you want to create mischief one very good way to create a great deal of mischief is to actually bring down a smart grid system. This system has to be incredibly secure,” Chu said.

 On the other hand, Chu says that the current grid stands in the way of increasing the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar that “will need a system that can dispatch power here, there and everywhere on a very quick basis.”

According to an article at Associate Press today, the “smart grid” has become the buzz of the electric power industry, at the White House and among members of Congress. President Barack Obama says it’s essential to boost development of wind and solar power, get people to use less energy and to tackle climate change. What smart grid visionaries see coming are home thermostats and appliances that adjust automatically depending on the cost of power; a world where a water heater may get juice from a neighbor’s rooftop solar panel, where on a scorching hot day a plug-in hybrid electric car charges one minute and the next sends electricity back to the grid to help head off a brownout. It is a world where utilities get instant feedback on a transformer outage, shift easily among energy sources, integrating wind and solar energy with electricity from coal-burning power plants, and go into homes and businesses to automatically adjust power use based on prearranged agreements.

However, without development of NEW clean energy technologies to transfer over the smart grid and without and robust technologies to protect the smart system against intrusion and evil shut down – the game is not worth the candle……

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Posted in Africa, Asia, Europe, Technologies, Thoughts, U.S.

Secretary Chu describes life in a carbon-constrained world

Posted on June 30, 2009 | Leave a comment

Teresa Hansen, Editor-in-chief Electric Light & Power

Dr. Steven Chu addressed industry executives at the annual Edison Electric Institute (EEI) conference and expo held in San Francisco. The secretary, who speaks like the scientist he is and not the political figures who in past years filled the secretary position, talked primarily about climate change. He thanked EEI for supporting the Waxman-Markey climate change bill, which passed the House of Representatives the following day, and emphasized that the industry’s outlook is not doom and gloom, but instead one of optimism and hope. Chu said that “sooner or later we will be living in a carbon constrained world.”

He listed five things that “we need to do to get where we need to be.”

1. Alignment of financial incentives “We need to break the business as usual model of making more money by selling more energy,” he said. Policies that provide utilities with return-on-investment incentives on things other than energy sales need to be developed. He said the DOE’s goal is to create demand response programs that will lower peak demand by 20 percent. Chu said this goal is one of the reasons the department is allotting $3.9 billion in stimulus funding for smart grid investment. He also said that the minimum grant amount is $200 million per grant and the office has made $615 million available for smart grid demonstration projects.

2. Energy efficiency Chu stressed that energy efficiency is important, announcing that the department was making $90 million available to California for state-wide energy programs. As an example of how effective energy efficiency can be, Chu said that efficiency gains made in household refrigerators has saved more energy than all the energy currently produced by non-hydro renewable energy sources in the United States. “Energy efficiency does matter,” Chu said.

3. Renewable energy Chu said that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is designed to double all non-hydro renewable energy generation in the next three years. He said that 20 percent of U.S. energy can be supplied by wind power. For renewables to meet their full potential, Chu said the nation’s grid must be modernized and the smart grid must be developed. He discussed the need for smart grid standards, saying that the National Institute of Standards and Technology has already identified more than 80 of these standards.

4. Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and nuclear energy The United States leads the world in coal reserves, so much so that little prospecting for new coal supplies is being done, Chu said. He said an international collaboration in CCS technologies is necessary and it needs to occur right away. “Even if the United States turns its back on coal, and I don’t believe it will, China and India will not,” Chu said. He said there is a worldwide goal to have 20 CCS pilot plants operating, which is one of the reasons the DOE is reviving FutureGen. Chu said it is also important to find technologies to retrofit existing plants with stack capture technology. As for nuclear power, Chu said that it is needed for carbon free baseload generation. He said the nuclear waste issue is solvable both scientifically and politically, but didn’t elaborate on how the DOE plans to handle it.

5. Transformational energy technologies Chu said that the DOE has always funded basic science and it provides an opportunity to enlist “knowledge horsepower” to solve the nation’s and world’s energy problems. Because buildings consume 40 percent of the energy produced in the United States, the department and industry should be looking for new ways to design them. He also said the new energy crops being developed for biofuel have much potential and make more sense than corn-based biofuels.

Chu talked about the DOE’s history of employing some of the world’s smartest scientists and researchers, including 30 Nobel Laureates (including Chu himself). He emphasized that the organization is ready and able to address the energy challenges our nation and world face. He also emphasized the urgency of addressing these challenges. “For the first time in human history, science has shown that human beings are altering the destination of our planet. The consequences of what we are doing today will not be fully realized for at least 100 years from now,” Chu said. “One of the ironies about climate change is that the ones who will be hurt the most are those yet to be born,” he added.

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Posted in Technologies, Thoughts, U.S.

Trans Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation $555 Billion Solar Project

Posted on June 18, 2009 | Leave a comment

By Jeremy van Loon and Oliver Suess

Siemens AG, Germany’s biggest engineering company, and Munich Re are holding talks with utilities on developing solar plants in the Sahara desert to supply 15 percent of Europe’s power needs by mid-century.

The discussions, which include German power companies RWE AG and E.ON AG, as well as Deutsche Bank AG, are in the early stages, Siemens spokesman Marc Langendorf said today. Turbines built by the Munich-based manufacturer may be used, he said.

The German companies want to harness a free fuel source that’s plentiful in one of the world’s poorest regions and sell the power to industrialized Europe. The plants may cost 400 billion euros ($555 billion) through 2050 and stretch across 130 square kilometers (50 square miles) of the North African desert, Munich Re said in a document published on its Web site today.

“The technology exists to realize a project of this scale,” said Sven Teske, renewable-energy program director at Greenpeace in Amsterdam. “The main constraint would be putting together a legal and political framework to have agreements on cross-border trade to allow the electricity into Europe.”

The project would need high-voltage cables to move the power from the sparsely populated Sahara under the Mediterranean Sea to Europe, which already is struggling to accommodate increasing power supply from the sun and wind with existing electricity-transmission grids.

 

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Posted in Africa, Europe, Israel, Politics, Technologies, Thoughts