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Christopher DeMorro

Indiana Exceeds 50 MW Of New Solar Installations For Second Consecutive Year

by Christopher DeMorro April 13, 2015

Solar power is making huge gains in places that are naturally conducive to drawing energy from the sun, like California, Texas, and Arizona. A state like Indiana doesn’t seem like the kind of place where solar power would be making major inroads, but for the second year in a row the Hoosier State has exceeded 50 MW of installed solar capacity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

Indiana added 59 MW of solar electric capacity in 2014, more than doubling its installed capacity to 112 MW, which is enough juice to power about 12,000 residential homes. Yet it isn’t private residences that are driving solar installations, but rather utility-scale projects driven largely by the commercial market. The largest example is a 17.5 MW array at Indianapolis International Airport, which is set to almost double in capacity once the second phase of the project comes online. The world famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway also installed a 9 MW solar farm, which ranks as the largest solar array at a professional sports venue (though its not the only race track-based solar farm, it should be pointed out).

“To put the state’s solar growth in some context, the 112 MW of solar PV installed today in Indiana is nearly as much as the entire country had installed by 2004. And frankly, the state is just scratching the surface of its enormous potential,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). “Looking forward, we expect 2015 to be another good year for new PV installations across the state.”

The state is indeed primed for an explosion of solar installations, especially in the nascent residential market, which represented just 1 MW of Indiana’s newly installed solar capacity in 2014. WIth solar prices dropping by some 8% over the year before, numerous companies are ramping up their efforts to recruit homeowners into the solar energy army.
Considering all the negative news coming out of Indiana over the past month, seeing something good about the Hoosier State is a refreshing change of pace.

April 13, 2015 0 comment

Community Solar

Colorado Utility To Bring Solar Power To Low-Income Families

by Christopher DeMorro April 8, 2015

written by Christopher DeMorro

Solar power was once associated with the wealthy and privileged, but plummeting costs have some analysts predicting price parity with coal and natural gas within the next decade. But one Colorado co-op utility isn’t waiting that long, breaking ground on a new solar power farm that will provide clean electricity to low-income families, and it could help cut their electricity bills by as much as 90%.

SolarEnergy.net reports that the 25 kWh solar farm can provide enough electricity for the daily needs of 6 to 10 low-income families, and it will be run by an energy cooperative called Grand Valley Power. “With this solar [farm] model, Grand Valley Power is really able to ensure that the value of solar electricity generation are staying with people who need it most,” said Kristina Sickles, the development director for the non-profit solar group Grid Alternatives in Colorado, who helped leverage a two-for-one deal for solar panels from SunEdison.

Grand Valley Power has even managed to set up a fixed-price plan of just $30 a month that ensures the co-op can maintain its solar array, while providing low-cost, clean energy to people who need it most. In addition to the $30 monthly fee, residents will have to pay just 2-cents per kWh they use, far lower than the 11-cents per kWh Grand Valley Power normally charges. That ends up saving low-income residents hundreds of dollars a year, which can make all the difference at the end of the day.

April 8, 2015 0 comment

SunEdison Launches Energy Saver Plan In The UK

by Christopher DeMorro March 30, 2015

written by Christopher DeMorro

The cost of installing solar panels on your home has never been lower, but the upfront costs can still be daunting for some homeowners. To help get more homeowners on board with solar panels, SunEdison has launched the Energy Saver Plan in the United Kingdom, with zero upfront cost and energy savings of up to 15% right off the bat.

Commercial business owners can also apply to the program, which can instantly translate into additional profits. The program requires homeowners to give SunEdison access to their roof. SunEdison will take care of the installation, maintain, and insure the system, with the homeowners getting predictable annual rate increases of 3.5% for the next 20 years. Considering how many regular utilities in the US are jacking up their rates to the tune of 5% or more, this offer for citizens in the UK would offer a lot more stability than most of us are used to. Just another step towards world domination for SunEdison.

Mark Babcock, Vice President of SunEdison Residential and Small Commercial Europe, said:”The new SunEdison Energy Saver Plan represents a step-change that revolutionizes access to solar for UK homeowners. To simplify the process of going solar, we’ve removed the biggest barrier – the upfront purchase cost. This means that from day one, customers can save money. We anticipate high demand for this no cost way to save money immediately. We believe everyone should have access to solar energy and we are paving the way for this to happen.”

Solar leasing programs are particularly popular in sunny southwestern US states, where utilities are attempting to pin heavy surcharges on homes with new solar panel installations. The costs of solar are coming down so fast though that buying a system outright is increasingly an option for many people. SunEds

For those who can’t fully commit though, the Energy Saver Plan from SunEdison is a way to go green and save money, like, right now. If you live in the UK, that is.

March 30, 2015 1 comment

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Hanergy Opens 60 Stores In China To Sell Thin-Film Solar Panels

by Christopher DeMorro March 27, 2015

written by Christopher DeMorro

Solar energy is becoming big business in the United States, but over in China its an even more massive industry with a multitude of players. Solar power is reaching such a saturation point in fact, that thin-film solar producer Hanergy has just opened 60 retail stores across China selling not just PV roof systems, but smaller solar panels for camping or personal use as well.

These stores and “user experience centers” aim to introduce the power and potential of photovoltaic solar panels to a new generation of consumers. By the end of 2015 though, it plans to have 300 such stores in China, and by 2017 Hanery hopes to have a total of 1,500 retail centers all across the world.

The hands-on retail centers will be supported by a new store, hanergyshop.com, giving it a one-two consumer punch. The thin-film solar producer has seen its value grow tremendously with high-profile deals, such as selling solar panels at 18 IKEA stores in the U.K. and teaming up with Tesla to provide solar panels for its Superchargers. There’s even talk of building solar-powered electric cars bearing the Hanergy badge.

However, there are also questions about Hanergy’s soaring stocking prices, with its stock value doubling to $36 billion in the past two months alone. This influx of cash may be the grease behind Hanergy’s rapid expansion, but doubts about its long-term viability remain. Can Hanergy make its way to America with its unique solar stores, or will the house of cards come crumbling down long before?

March 27, 2015 0 comment

Activism Rooftop Solar Solar $Solar Policy

Arizona Utility Charging Solar Homeowners $50 A Month Beginning In April

by Christopher DeMorro March 20, 2015

written by Christopher DeMorro

If solar power makes sense anywhere, it’s in always-sunny Arizona, where record numbers of homeowners are buying or leasing PV systems to offset their energy bills. Unfortunately, a new surcharge on solar panel owners amounting to about $50 a month, regardless of how much energy is fed back into the grid, basically offsets much of the savings homeowners gain from going solar, reports ThinkProgress.

The surcharge will affect customers of the Salt River Project (SRP), one of the country’s largest public utilities, and despite over 500 protesters showing up in opposition to the surcharge, 12 of the 14 directors voted in favor of the surcharge and a 3.9% rate increase. SRP did agree to grandfather in some 15,000 existing solar panel owners for 20 years, keeping their bills surcharge-free for the next couple of decades. But with an estimated 500 installation requests per month coming in for SolarCity alone, clean power advocates are up-in-arms over a proposal that ensures higher profits for utilities, while stifling solar power adoption.

SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive wrote a strongly-worded letter regarding the new surcharge, saying the fee is “unsupportable by any economic analysis” and that the “fundamental purpose of the plan is to undermine solar leasing companies in SPR territory.” SolarCity is suing over the fee, though it may have little or no affect. A similar measure was proposed by Arizona Public Service (APS), and while the proposed $50 fee was dropped to just $5, APS is now pushing for a $21 monthly fee.

The battle over rooftop solar is just warming up, and while SRP’s new fee is a setback for new solar customers, clean energy advocates are more than ready to fight back.

March 20, 2015 5 comments

Activism

Arizona Public Service Attacks Solar Power Again

by Christopher DeMorro March 18, 2015

written by Christopher DeMorro

One of the most-watched battles between solar power proponents and of conventional utilities played out in Arizona, where Arizona Public Service (APS) attempted to add a $50 monthly fee to customers with solar panels. Solar advocates won out, reducing the fee to just $5 a month and getting APS to promise to hold off on the issue until the next formal utility rate hearing.

Unfortunately, holding a utility to its word is easier said than done, and APS has gone to the Arizona Corporate Commission, asking to hike the solar panel surcharge from $5 a month to $21 a month. APS claims that without these fees, the utility faces a projected loss of over $40 million in the next fiscal year.

The utility claims the fee is a fair assessment of what solar customers share in maintaining the power grid, but solar panel owners and installers and understandably outraged, as such a heavy fee would drastically reduce, or even eliminate any potential energy savings offered by going solar. After settling for the $5 fee after a lot of political wrangling, APS repeatedly promised to not address the solar surcharge until the next formal rate change meeting. Elsewhere in Arizona, another utility called the Salt River Project (SRP) won approval for its own $50 solar surcharge, which seems to have emboldened APS. APS just couldn’t wait any longer, despite allegations of corruption directly relating to the solar surcharge issue. Political action group Tell Utilities Solar won’t be Killed (TUSK) isn’t taking the news laying down though.

TUSK Chairman Barry Goldwater Jr. said, “Rooftop solar provides savings to thousands of customers, it provides energy choice to utility ratepayers, and it provides jobs for thousands of Arizonans. The quickest way to kill a thriving industry is to tax it and over-regulate it. Sadly, that seems to be APS’ objective.”

Utilities are going on the offensive against solar, but solar advocates are hitting back just as hard, and this pitched battle is far from over. Gee, maybe if utilities like APS and SRP just installed more solar capacity themselves, instead of punishing their customers for doing so, maybe they wouldn’t be tens of millions of dollars in the red?

Image: welcomia / Shutterstock

March 18, 2015 2 comments

Activism

Solar Energy Advocates Go On The Offensive

by Christopher DeMorro March 12, 2015

written by Christopher DeMorro

The conventional energy industry has been using its paid-for politicians and long-embedded advantages to try and prevent homeowners and businesses from embracing solar power. This has put solar advocates on the defensive for a long time, but in response to American Electric Power’s (AEP) recent anti-solar campaign, advocates for clean energy are hitting back. Hard.

Greentech Media reports that The Alliance for Solar Choice (TASC) has launched a new campaign centered on calling out “Un-American Electric Power” for its lobbying against solar power initiatives and consumer choice. It’s aggressive, it’s angry, and I love it.

TASC is going after AEP for lining the pockets of politicians who push their anti-solar agenda and for trying to guarantee income from its new coal-fired power plants. Arizona Public Service (APS) pushed a similar agenda in the southwestern state, trying to get solar panel owners to pay a monthly fee that would essentially wipe out the savings offered by the alternative energy source. Despite APS outspending solar advocates by about 8 to 1, solar power advocates were successful in reducing the proposed fee from $50 a month down to just $5 a month. (Still, there shouldn’t be any fee at all.)

Meanwhile, AEP has been accused of outright lying to state senators in West Virginia in an attempt to kill the growing solar industry, though the governor’s veto put an end to that. Another failed AEP proposal in Indiana sought to place fees on solar customers, and in Ohio the utility wants solar customers to help guarantee profits for a new coal power plant they may never draw a single kWh from….

Utilities like American Electric Power have proven that they’re not above dirty tactics in an attempt to stall the growing influence of solar power. But that doesn’t mean solar energy advocates can’t hit back just as hard, and with facts rather than propaganda to bolster their argument. Go get ‘em!

March 12, 2015 1 comment

Market Research PV Solar Modules Solar PV Manufacturing Solar Research

Canadian Solar Could Become The Global Market Leader In 2015

by Christopher DeMorro March 12, 2015

written by Christopher DeMorro

The amount of interest and money in solar power has never been higher, and there’s a sizzling battle over the title of the top solar parts producers. In 2014, China’s Trina Solar is estimated to have shipped the most solar parts, replacing its domestic rival Yingli Green. Waiting in the wings, though, are Canadian Solar and JinkoSolar, which are both candidates to replace Trina in 2015.

PV-Tech.org reports that Trina Solar is estimated to ship anywhere from 4.4 GW to 4.6 GW worth of solar equipment in 2015, a huge jump from 2009 when it shipped around 400 MW (0.4 GW). In comparison, Canadian Solar is expecting shipments in the area of 4.0 GW to 4.3 GW, almost within the margin of error of Trina’s estimates. JinkoSolar could make a push to become a top parts supplier in 2015 too, though it estimates moving much less than Trina Solar and Canadian Solar, in the sphere of 3.3 GW to 3.8 GW.

Yingli Green had been the top solar parts producer in 2013 (and 2012), but production capacity restraints and loss of profitability will almost certainly see the company cede its top spot to Trina. Yingli also has to wrestle with about $2 billion in debt, whereas Canadian Solar has just $297 million in long-term debt. In order to get back on top, Yingli has to bring more production in-house.

The thing is, though, 2015 is poised to see more residential and commercial solar installations than ever before in history. There’s a lot of money up for grabs, and its quite literally one of the best investments humanity can make right now. Regardless of what company sells the most solar panel equipment and parts, we all win.

March 12, 2015 0 comment