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The Solar Electric Vehicle Company is using an innovative business strategy and partnering with corporations committed to combating climate change and dependence on foreign oil.

The Solar Electric Vehicle Company is using an innovative business strategy and partnering with corporations committed to combating climate change and dependence on foreign oil.

Solar Decathelon
October 9-18, 2009
National Mall in Washington

The U.S. Department of Energy sponsors the international Solar Decatehlon and this year's participants in DOE's 2009 Solar Decathlon will exhibit a range on new innovations in solar PV and solar thermal technologies -- as well as green building. 

The Solar Decathlon competition challenges students to design and develop houses that can provide their own energy from the sunlight - a clean, renewable source of energy.  

The twenty collegiate teams from the United States, Canada, Spain and Germany will each build a completely self-sufficient solar powered house, showcasing energy-efficient amenities and smart home systems that provide reduced carbon emissions without sacrificing the comfort of modern conveniences.

 "The Solar Decathlon highlights President Obama's goal of improving our national security and transforming the economy by using off-the-shelf, clean energy technologies to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of oil, reduce our carbon emissions, and protect the environment," said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu.  "As part of the building competition, the next generation of green engineers, architects, designers, and professionals gain valuable experience that will help them to lead America toward a clean energy future."

DOE's Solar Decathlon, which takes place October 9-18 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., consists of 10 individual contests that evaluate the teams' skills in architecture, home design, and communications. The homes constructed by the teams must produce enough electricity and hot water from solar panels to perform all the normal functions of a home -- from powering the lights; to cooking, washing clothes and dishes; to powering home electronics; and maintaining a comfortable temperature.  This year, a new net-metering contest will evaluate each home's ability to produce its own power.  The competition focuses on cutting edge energy efficient and renewable energy innovation while providing a unique green jobs training opportunity for each of the students.

The start of the competition marks the culmination of more than two years of hard work by the student teams.  The twenty teams will assemble their homes on the National Mall in early October.   Following the Opening Ceremony on October 8, the homes will be open for public tours October 9-13 and 15-18.

This is DOE's fourth Solar Decathlon competition since premiering in 2002 with subsequent competitions in 2005 and 2007.  On average, each Solar Decathlon competition has drawn more than 100,000 visitors to the National Mall.

The colleges and universities competing in the 2009 Solar Decathlon are:

• Cornell University
• Iowa State University
• The Ohio State University
• Penn State
• Rice University
• Team Alberta (University of Calgary, SAIT Polytechnic, Alberta College of Art + Design, Mount Royal College)
• Team Boston (Boston Architectural College, Tufts University)
• Team California (Santa Clara University, California College of the Arts)
• Team Missouri (Missouri University of Science and Technology,  University of Missouri)
• Team Ontario/BC (University of Waterloo, Ryerson University, Simon Fraser University)
• Technische Universität Darmstadt
• Universidad de Puerto Rico
• Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
• The University of Arizona
• University of Illinois
• University of Kentucky
• University of Louisiana at Lafayette
• University of Minnesota
• University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Virginia Tech

The Solar Decathlon is sponsored by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, in partnership with its National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which manages the event.  For more information, please visit http://www.solardecathlon.org/.

The solar panels on top of the community center at Colonia San Martin, in Sacramento, CA is the newest project of the housing nonprofit Mercy Housing California, will produce six times more power than the average residential solar electric system. This is the first solar-power system on an affordable housing complex in Sacramento, and the housing complex was built in a partnership with the AIDS Housing Alliance.

An essential part of a total energy solution is to back up solar installations with energy efficiency so that the total amount of energy required for heating, cooling, and water service is optimized...before determining the size of the PV installation required or effective.

Each low income housing unit in this exemplary solar and efficiency project, has high-efficiency water heaters and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. The units  also have windows, insulation and radiant heat barriers rated to reduce energy use. The energy efficiency measures exceed California's Title 24 building codes for energy efficiency by at least 25%.  And that's significant because the Title 24 requirements include a 25% savings over conventional construction!

The 12-kilowatt solar PV system will generate an estimated 18,700 kilowatt-hours per year, cutting electric bills at the complex by an estimated $2,000 per year.

The photovoltaic solar system qualified for California state rebates, and SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility Department) negotiated a rebate package that helped the developer install the energy-efficient equipment.

Power Purchase Agreement

A Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA, is a long-term agreement to buy power from a company that produces electricity.

Solar Power Partners

Solar Power Partners (SPP™) is one provider of PPAs, who use their own source of funds to build a solar energy facility on our customer's site and maintains and operates the facility for 15 years or longer.

This facility generates reliable, long-term clean energy for use by customers. Under the terms of a PPA, SPP™ assumes the risks and responsibilities of ownership when it purchases, operates, and maintains the turn-key facility. They clean the solar panels regularly, provide preventative maintenance services, repair any faults, monitor the energy production and the system's health and well-being. Customers just run their businesses as usual, without any of the headaches of owning a power plant.

At the end of the PPA term, the facility can be purchased by customers at fair maket value or the PPA can be renewed on favorable terms. The PPA enables customers to benefit from the use of "green" energy, while still receiving some of the benefits of ownership (lower and/or "hedged" electricity costs, positive public image, etc. ) and allows them to spend their capital budget on their core businesses.

Additional Resources about PPAs:

Power Purchase Agreements from Renewable Energy Technologies

The industry's leading website address (domain name) for Power Purchase Agreements - www.PowerPurchaseAgreements.com - may now be available for lease under ...
www.cogeneration.net/Power_Purchase_Agreements.htm

Power Purchase Agreement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) is a legal contract between an electricity generator and a purchaser of energy or capacity (power or ancillary services). ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Purchase_Agreement

 
Pacific Power Management
The Time is Right For Going Solar Full Service Commercial Integrator
www.pacpower.biz
 

Southern California Edison will install 250 megawatts of solar panels on 65 million square feet of roofs - that’s two square miles - of Southern California commercial buildings at a cost of $875 million. That project will be the nation’s largest solar cell installation.

Enough solar to power 162,000 homes.

In the initial phase of the program, SoCal Edison will lease 607,000 square feet of roof space at ProLogis’ Kaiser Distribution Park in Fontana, California. The area will be used to install and maintain solar panels with the potential to generate enough electricity to power 1,426 households for one year.

At the conclusion of the start-up phase, which will include five to 10 additional installations and is expected to be completed by the end of 2008, the utility will launch its full renewable energy project, aiming to complete 50 megawatts of solar panel installations each year for a total of 250 MW. Each individual installation is expected to comprise one to two megawatts.

“I urge others to follow in their footsteps,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “If commercial buildings statewide partnered with utilities to put this solar technology on their rooftops, it would set off a huge wave of renewable energy growth.”

SCE hopes to have the first solar rooftops in service by August. The company says it will install at the rate of one megawatt a week.

The program would give a big boost to California’s Million Solar Roofs program and help SCE meet a state requirement to get 20 percent of its energy from renewables by 2010.

Financing Solar Installations

Environmental Leader reported that solar companies are becoming financial intermediaries, leading companies to install solar power that wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford it.

Using a “power-purchase agreement” model, many solar power companies take on the cost of installing solar panels on customers’ roofs. In return, customers pay the solar power company for the panels’ output, generally at a lower rate than they would otherwise pay.

The power purchase model is also attracting bankers - Morgan Stanley, G.E. Energy Financial Services, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and MMA Renewable Ventures have all arranged financing for recent solar energy projects.

Besides the financing, state incentives and a federal investment tax credit (worth up to 30 cents on the dollar) are also driving adoption.

Technology is a hungry beast -- especially hot sectors like energy. The more money involved -- the faster the innovation cycle. Life cycles are short and companies must continually re-engineer themselves to leapfrog over their own solutions before the competition beats them to it.

Photovoltaic solar is now the technology undergoing that re-engineering phase. From crystalline solar modules that relay on large quantities of silicon to thin-film solar that reduces reliance on that natural material in short supply...and being replaced by quicker, easier, more economical use of labor and raw materials.

A coming glut in solar modules will turn out the lights at some of today's solar players, altering the industry landscape by 2010, says Lux Research.

The study, titled “Solar State of the Market Q1 2008: The End of the Beginning,” says solar industry revenue will continue its brisk advance from $21.2 billion in 2007 to $70.9 billion in 2012. But that advance will mask dislocations within the industry as companies unable to make the transition from crystalline solar modules to newer thin-film technologies see their market evaporate.

SOURCE: redherring.com