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Startups

GE Launches New Energy Company: Current

by Glenn Meyers October 9, 2015

After launching its new energy company, Current, General Electric has a firm grip on how the evolution of clean, efficient, and smart energy platforms impacts businesses worldwide.

The new company combines GE’s LED, solar, energy storage, and electric vehicle businesses, its Predix platform to provide cost-effective, and efficient energy solutions to its customers.

Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of GE, said: “Current combines GE’s products and services in energy efficiency, solar, storage, and onsite power with our digital and analytical capabilities to provide customers – hospitals, universities, retail stores, and cities – with more profitable energy solutions.

“The creation of a new company within GE reinforces our commitment to take energy to the next level, focusing on custom outcomes for our commercial and industrial customers, municipalities and utility partners, and delivering a platform that can be upgraded as technology advancements are made.”

For as rapidly as technology advancements occur in this are, the operating philosophy of Current seems entrepreneurial, and nearly prescient.

The GE company will be led by Maryrose Sylvester, who previously served as president and CEO at GE Lighting, and GE Intelligent Platforms serving the commercial, industrial and government industries.

Current is starting business with an enviable $1 billion of revenue. Additionally, the enterprise plans on introducing a new energy service that includes sensor-enabled hardware, software, fulfillment, product management and financing solutions.

Current will be headquartered in the greater Boston metropolitan area with additional presence in Silicon Valley. The company writes, “This is an obvious choice for GE. As an innovation hub, Boston offers tremendous access to high-tech and software development talent, as well as incredible university partnerships. The region also provides convenient access to several GE innovation labs where customers can test and innovate close to where they do business.”

By utilizing the Predix platform, GE anticipates being able to examine energy consumption and inform customers with data readings and recommendations on ways to boost efficiency. These solutions are expected to help consumers save an estimated 10-20% on their energy bills, as well as help utility partners improve on ways to manage their load.

Several clients, including Walgreens, Simon Property Group, Hilton Worldwide, JPMorgan Chase, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Intel and Trane, a brand of Ingersoll Rand, have already tested Current’s solutions in an effort to spur energy efficiency and lower operating costs.

Image: Hand repair of switchboard via Shutterstock

October 9, 2015 0 comment

Investment New Technology PV Solar $Solar Modules Startups Thin Film Solar

“World-Beating” Perovskite Technology Rakes In $19 Million

by Tina Casey October 6, 2015

written by Tina Casey

The UK startup Oxford Photovoltaics has just announced a second round of funding for 2015 that brings its haul for the year to $19 million. That enables a big step forward in the company’s R&D plans for solar cells based on perovskite materials — those promising but pesky crystals that could help lower the cost of solar energy down to the ground.

Oxford PV and Perovskites

For those of you new to the topic, perovskite refers to a class of crystalline materials that can be synthesized easily (and cheaply) in the laboratory. The structure is based on the naturally occurring perovskite mineral, discovered in the Ural mountains in the 19th century.

With a killer combination of low cost and high efficiency, perovskites could be very useful in the solar industry except for a couple of hitches. One main problem is the crystals tend to wilt under humidity.

Oxford PV has been on our radar since 2013, when the company (a spinoff from the Snaith lab at Oxford University) announced a solar conversion efficiency of 15.4% for its perovskite solar cell.

In September 2014, the company tackled the humidity problem with a perovskite-enhanced, “turbo-boosted” solar cell consisting of thin-film perovskite solar cells printed directly onto silicon solar cells. According to Oxford PV, the perovskite film can boost the efficiency of a silicon solar cell by more than 25%.

Since then, the company has added two more iterations, printing thin-film perovskite solar cells onto CIGS solar cells and glass. Here’s the rundown from the Oxford PV website:

“Pioneering work developing perovskite thin-film solar cells has delivered a route to boosting the efficiency of current commercial cells; using a high efficiency coating in a multi-junction or ‘tandem’ cell architecture. In addition, printing perovskites directly onto glass has led to a semi-transparent coating ideal for BIPV applications and, once integrated into the glazing units of a building, the technology is capable of providing a significant percentage of the building’s electrical energy requirements directly from sun light, as can be seen from our case studies.”

Onwards And Upwards For Perovskite Solar Cells

The new round of funding builds £4.4 million on to the £8 million raised earlier this year by Oxford PV, so it looks like we could hear some news about commercializing the company’s perovskite solar cells sooner rather than later, which Oxford PV confirms:

“The £4.4 million top-up round announced today will help fund the continued development of Oxford PV’s world-beating technology as we move towards scale-up and commercial engagement with potential licensees.”

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Image (screenshot) via Oxford PV.

October 6, 2015 0 comment

Investment Jobs Rooftop Solar Solar $Solar Modules Solar Projects Startups

Solyndra Misled DOE In Application For $535 Million Dollar Loan

by Jake Richardson October 5, 2015

written by Jake Richardson

The Department of Energy (DOE) published a special report in late August of 2015 about a 4-year investigation into Solyndra’s application process that led to the thin-film solar company’s securing of a huge DOE loan.

The report is here, if you prefer to go directly to it.

The inquiry found that Solyndra did not apply to the loan program in the most ethical manner. “Our investigation confirmed that during the loan guarantee application process and while drawing down loan proceeds, Solyndra provided the Department with statements, assertions, and certifications that were inaccurate and misleading, misrepresented known facts, and, in some instances, omitted information that was highly relevant to key decisions in the process to award and execute the $535 million loan guarantee. In our view, the investigative record suggests that the actions of certain Solyndra officials were, at best, reckless and irresponsible or, at worst, an orchestrated effort to knowingly and intentionally deceive and mislead the Department,” the report stated

Federal officials who worked with Solyndra during the application process were on the hook too, though to a lesser degree. The report findings stated that they did not conduct due diligence and could have been more careful when they were receiving information from Solyndra, and reviewed it more closely.

Solyndra shut down in 2011, but the loan application took place in 2006. The federal loan was won in 2009. In 2010, President Obama visited the Solyndra plant in California.

In 2015, all of this information might seem like very old news. The investigation and report are significant, however, in that they seem to dispel the political discourse that was flying around when the incident or “scandal” was first reported.

A New York Times journalist wrote a succinct description of some of the 2011 maneuvers: “For an hour and a half on Friday morning, they peppered the two men with questions about this ‘taxpayer ripoff,’ as Representative Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican, described it, knowing full well that Harrison and Stover would invoke their constitutional right to remain silent.”

Attempting to turn the Solyndra failure into a Democratic failure was wrong, because you could say that the Solyndra loan resulted from the policy efforts of both Bush and Obama. The bill that Bush signed in 2005 was amended for the 2009 stimulus bill signed by Obama,

“The recovery act amended the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to create section 1705 for ‘commercially available technologies,’ as the Energy Department explains on page 12 of a 2009 report on stimulus funding. The stimulus provided more funding for the loan guarantee programs. The loans under the new program also came with no credit subsidy fees, making them more attractive and less expensive than those under the program signed into law by President Bush. It was under this program that Solyndra was able to get financing, although the company initially applied under the section 1703 program.”

One unfortunate effect of the Solyndra situation was the misleading impression that government support for solar power was a waste of money. In fact, the Department of Energy has had a number of success stories as well, and the overall program has been a wild success.

Another thing worth mentioning is that about 75% of venture-backed startups fail, so it isn’t realistic or fair to expect that 100% of the ones that receive government funding should be infallible. This DOE program’s failure rate has just been a few percent — something any professional investor would be happy about!

Image Credit: Pedro Xing, Wiki Commons

October 5, 2015 0 comment

Investment PV Rooftop Solar Solar $Solar Projects Startups

AES Distributed Energy Securitizing $100 Million Worth of Solar Assets

by James Ayre September 30, 2015

written by James Ayre

The Colorado-based solar energy project developer AES Distributed Energy has revealed that it will be securitizing a portfolio of solar energy assets for a total of $100 million, according to recent reports. The notes will be secured with the revenue from around 1,548 US solar energy installations.

The deal marks the sixth major solar securitization of its type in the US in recent years. The securitization will be composed of $92.5 million Class A notes and $7.5 million Class B notes, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency — with the larger tranche being rated at BBB, and the smaller tranche being rated at B.

The recent report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency (from where those figures were originally pulled) also made the note (referenced above) that the notes will be secured via revenue from 1,548 solar projects. These projects are reportedly spread across 6 different US states, and include commercial, residential, small-scale utility, and industrial-type solar power projects. All of the projects in question currently possess long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).

This move by AES Distributed Energy follows a recent announcement from Sunrun (in July) that it would be doing a $111 million offering. The noted solar leasing company SolarCity has also to date completed 4 of these sorts of deals — with the first occurring back in 2013, and the most recent one occurring last month.

“There is a market for it, otherwise there wouldn’t be six securitizations,” stated the senior director at Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Cecil Smart, in an interview with Bloomberg. Smart added that the figures related to the new offer are pretty much what’s to be expected in a “market still finding its legs.”

The new securitization will be issued via the AES unit Aurora Master Funding.

September 30, 2015 0 comment

Energy Storage PV Solar Projects Startups

Battery Storage Milestone In Texas

by Glenn Meyers September 23, 2015

written by Glenn Meyers

Younicos battery storage system will be state’s first integrated grid-scale solar storage asset.

The news ledger about solar electricity storage continues expanding following an announcement from Berlin-based Younicos on its agreement with solar power supplier OCI Solar Power to provide a turnkey battery storage system at one of OCI Solar Power’s projects in Texas.

According to press information, the planned system will be the first integrated grid-scale solar-plus-storage project to be deployed in the market for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Younicos batteries WEMAG_Innenansicht_460x220

Younicos battery park

Through this agreement, Younicos will be responsible for the design, engineering, integration, and construction of a 1 MW system, which is expected to come online in early 2016. The project will also be the first to deploy of LG Chem battery technology in ERCOT.

Younicos’s control software will manage system performance within the ERCOT market in conjunction with operation of the solar farm.

About this project, Younicos chief revenue officer Stephen L. Prince, said: “We are very pleased to expand our presence in our home market, and we congratulate OCI Solar Power as the first company to develop a grid-scale integrated solar/storage resource here. Younicos has a long track record of industry firsts, and we look forward to working with the OCI team to deliver yet another innovative grid storage solution.”

OCI Solar Power is based in San Antonio and specializes in utility-scale solar PV projects in the US. The company reports 500 MW of solar PV projects currently in development nationwide.

This particular project marks the second Texas project for Younicos. In June, Duke Energy announced that it had selected Younicos and Samsung SDI to upgrade North America’s largest wind-integrated energy storage system at Duke’s Notrees wind farm in West Texas.

Prior to construction, company officials state the system will undergo extensive performance testing at Younicos’ technology center in nearby Austin.

Officials also add this project represents the first step in what is seen as a broader Younicos/OCI Solar Power strategic relationship. Both parties anticipate partnering on future projects within the rapidly growing international market for energy storage/solar solutions.

Image: Battery park via Younicos

September 23, 2015 0 comment

PowerStream in Ontario is introducing an internet of energy program

Energy Storage Going Solar Microgrids Other Renewable Energy PV Rooftop Solar Startups

Ontario Utility Promotes Internet Of Energy

by Steve Hanley September 23, 2015

written by Steve Hanley

PowerStream is Ontario’s second largest municipally owned electric utility, with 375,000 customers spread across 15 communities. Recently, it has begun an experiment with the so-called internet of energy. 20 residential properties in Toronto’s Richmond Hill neighborhood will have solar panels and small battery systems installed. All 20 systems will be tied together and operated as a single system using batteries and software provided by Sunverge of San Francisco. The integrated system will be marketed under the name PowerHouse.

“We are the first to do this in Canada,” Neetika Sathe, vice-president of smart grid technologies at PowerStream tells the Toronto Star. Eventually, she wants to see the system made available to all the company’s utility customers.

The first 20 homes will be networked together like computers in an office, allowing PowerStream to control all of them as if they were a single system. In effect, they will become a zero-emissions neighborhood power plant. If hundreds or even thousands of homes and businesses were networked together, they would create a virtual power plant. If the system were applied to 100,000 homes, it would completely replace the need for an entire coal-fired generating facility.

For participating customers, the PowerHouse plan offers the potential for lower electric bills and the comfort of knowing that most of the energy a home uses is coming from clean, renewable sources. A handy mobile app will inform homeowners when their system is generating solar power and the charge status of the battery. Customers will also benefit from having access to stored electrical power in the event of a grid outage.

September 23, 2015 0 comment

Community Solar Going Solar Investment PV Rooftop Solar Solar $Startups

Yeloha Is The Uber Of Rooftop Solar

by Steve Hanley September 8, 2015

written by Steve Hanley

The peer-to-peer sharing economy is simply a function of the marriage between GPS and smartphone technology. Got a car and are willing to give someone else a ride? Uber will direct you to people nearby who need a ride and are willing to pay for it. Airbnb does something similar. Got a room or house you want to rent? Tell the company about it and it will share that information with anyone who wants to visit your location.

Image Credit: LBL.gov

Now solar startup Yeloha thinks it has found a way to apply this new, social media way of doing business to clean energy. Yeloha cofounder and CEO Amit Rosner says the problem is simple: access. “We found that 92% of the households in the country cannot go solar,” Rosner told Energy Business. “No matter their motivations, they just can’t do it. Either they don’t have the right roof or they don’t have the right credit.

“What the solar industry has done is focus on the small, addressable market of the very lucky people — people with homes, sunny roofs that face south, live in the right state, and are wealthy or have excellent credit. That’s a lot of requirements.” In other words, the industry is picking the low hanging fruit.

“From a business perspective, there’s a huge opportunity in making it so everyone can connect to solar,” Rosner says. Understanding what the hurdles were, Rosner set out to develop Yeloha. The company acts as a liaison between people who have solar-friendly roofs and people who want to buy the energy those roofs generate. A homeowner can join Yeloha as a Sun Host. The company will then install solar panels on his or her roof free of charge. The homeowner receives part of the energy the system generates at no cost to help lower the home’s monthly utility bill.

The rest of the electricity generated is then distributed to what Yeloha calls Sun Partners. These people might be living in an apartment building or renting their home. Either way, they have no access to solar power. But through Yeloha, they are able to purchase the remaining energy generated by a Sun Host’s roof and see a monthly reduction in their electricity bill.

The simple idea has already generated intense media buzz and piqued investors’ interests. Earlier this year, Yeloha raised $3.5 million in its Series A fundraising round. Because fundraising remains in progress, Rosner could not divulge specifics on exactly how many homes are currently using Yeloha — although he was willing to say that he’d been overwhelmed by the “tremendous” outpouring of public interest.

For now, the service remains in Beta testing mode and is available exclusively in the company’s home state of Massachusetts. Rosner says New York will likely be next with several more states to follow in the coming months.

“Ultimately we bring people together to do something beautiful that they couldn’t do alone,” Rosner explains. “It’s not a platform that requires you to be a treehugger, because there’s an immediate benefit. We’re trying to be really practical here. We want to see a big change in the world. But if we want to reach millions of people, we need to provide what they need. Ideology is great, but we need to make the technology practical, online, affordable and sticky.”

September 8, 2015 0 comment

New Technology PV Solar Modules Startups Thin Film Solar

Solar Power Windows Ready For Production

by Steve Hanley September 8, 2015

written by Steve Hanley

This story was first published at Green Building Materials. Reprinted with permission.

Imagine if every building in the world had solar power windows that could generate a small amount of electricity from the sun. The technology exists. It has been tested and it is ready for production. In Manhattan alone, there are 47,000 buildings with over 10,700,000 windows, according to a 2013 estimate from The New York Times.

Transparency Versus Efficiency

The first challenge for researchers is to make the solar power windows transparent. “No one wants to sit behind colored glass,” Richard Lunt, an assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science at Michigan State University. “It makes for a very colorful environment, like working in a disco.”

Lunt and his team have developed a new type of transparent luminescent solar concentrator (TLSC) that creates solar energy when it is placed over a window. MSU’s technology can not only be used on windows for building but also on cell phones and any other device that has a clear, uncolored surface. “We take an approach where we actually make the luminescent active layer itself transparent,” Lunt says.

The problem for MSU at the moment is that its technology is only 1% efficient. A typical solar panel is 15% efficient or more, which means 15% of all the sunlight that strikes the glass is converted into electricity.

“When you’re looking at transparent or clear photovoltaics, it’s not necessarily a function of power conversion efficiency as it is about using the vast amount of space available for that tech,” says Solar Window CEO John Conklin. “We’re making use of the space that right now is not available for solar energy production. Passive windows are turned into active energy generating windows.” In other words, transparent solar PV is about not wasting perfectly good real estate in order to supplement a building’s power requirements.

Perovskite Is A Game Changer

In 2013, Oxford University researchers did a study on how neutral colored, semi-transparent solar cells made of perovskite could be used in building and car windows to generate electricity. Perovskite is an oxide used in ceramic superconductors. The Oxford researchers said their transparent solar cells can be made up to 20% efficient using a simple cell architecture.

The university’s work is being commercialized by a spin-off company, Oxford Photovoltaics, which is planning to produce colored and semi-transparent glass that works as a solar cell. Its glass could be integrated into windows and into the facades of buildings.

Two Companies Ready For Production

Two companies say they are ready to bring solar power windows to the marketplace, according to Computer World. They say the windows will cost about 40% more than ordinary windows, but claim the extra cost will be recaptured in a year through lower utility bills.

One is Solaria, a company that currently manufactures rooftop solar panels. It uses existing photovoltaic (PV) cells and slices them into 2.5mm strips. It then sandwiches those thin PV strips between glass layers in a window. “The way the human eye works, you don’t even notice them,” says Solaria CEO Suvi Sharma.

As the PV strips absorb light striking a building’s window, they also reduce solar heat gain, which lowers air conditioning costs. Solaria is targeting its technology for windows that will be installed in newly constructed buildings. It says its windows are about 8% efficient.

A second company is Solar Window Technologies. Its approach uses a different form of transparent photovoltaic cell technology that is suitable for new construction, replacement windows and retrofits to existing windows. Its organic photovoltaics can vary in color and transparency, depending on the needs of the customer.

CEO John Conklin says because his product is based on a photovoltaic film, it can be used on existing windows or incorporated into manufactured products relatively easily. The company has not released data on the efficiency of its technology.

Delivering The Electricity

Once solar power windows generate electricity from the sun, who is that energy connected to the building? Each company uses a different approach. Solaria, embeds its wiring in the window frame. From there, it is connected to a dedicated electrical line that conducts it to a central power inverter. The inverter then converts the direct current from the solar window to alternating current that is fed into the the electric panel for the building.

The Solar Window technology offers more flexibility. It can power a micro DC-to-AC power inverter to provide electricity for a single room. It can also be connected to a distributed microgrid inverter to power a single floor of a building. Finally, it can be fed to a central inverter that supplies elecrticity to an entire building.

New Clean Power Opportunity

Many buidings are not good candidates for rooftop solar power systems. Skyscrapers and large urban apartment buildings cannot participate in the clean power revolution that rooftop solar is bringing to many homeowners. Solar powered windows could change that dynamic by providing the benefits of electricity from clean solar power to all buildings.

Solaria estimates that a skyscraper with south facing windows could generate up to a third of its annual electrical needs from solar power windows. Apply that to buildings around the world and you have the potential for a significant new source of clean, renewable energy that will pay for itself in a matter of months rather than a period of years.

Photo Credits: Solaria; Solar Window Technologies

September 8, 2015 0 comment

Jobs PV Solar Modules Solar PV Manufacturing Startups

New Bifacial Solar Module Coming From Silfab Solar

by James Ayre August 30, 2015

written by James Ayre

The Canadian company Silfab Solar is reportedly now aiming to add 50 new jobs in 2016, bringing the number of employees added in 2015–2016 up to 80, according to recent reports.

In addition to the decision to add a further 50 employees, the company also reportedly has revealed that it intends to begin offering a new bifacial module by the end of 2015. The recent news follows an announcement last week revealing that the company was adding 30 new full-time jobs and was increasing capacity up to 300 megawatts (MWp), up from 180 MWp.

The head of business development, sales, and marketing at Silfab, Geoffrey Atkins, commented recently in an interview that the 30 jobs added recently were for factory floor positions: “The 50 additional ‘expected’ new positions in 2016 would be a mix of added factory floor team members and admin. We are adding to our sales team, marketing team, HR and finance teams. As well we are creating new product engineers and QC team members.”

The decision to increase production capacity from 180 MW to 300 MW is the result of strong demand throughout the North American markets, and the increase is expected to be completed sometime in Quarter 3 of 2015.

The production equipment for the increase is coming from Europe, according to Atkins.

“The investment allows us to increase both volumes and flexibility with a brand new line designed to receive the latest cells and module designs, and with modifications to the existing line to do the same. The investment has been entirely self-funded by Silfab Solar and its commercial bank partners.”

With regard to the decision to release a new bifacial solar photovoltaic (PV) module: “The bifacial module and product has received a lot of interest and we are targeting the product primarily for the CDN and US Northeast market due to the dramatic snow-shedding ability and reflective gain off the backside in snow conditions.”

Image Credit: Silfab Solar

August 30, 2015 0 comment

Solar Station is a scalable do it yourself solar starter system

Energy Storage Going Solar PV Rooftop Solar Solar Modules Startups

Build Your Own Solar Station

by Steve Hanley July 20, 2015

written by Steve Hanley

Ben Peterson is an intriguing fellow. He has lots of good ideas. In fact, he reminds me a lot of Elon Musk but without all the zeros in his bank account. Ben is anxious to spread the word about his Solar Station, a self-contained and scalable solar power unit with battery storage that comes either fully built by his factory or as an e-book with all the information you need to build one for yourself.

Peterson wants everyone to know they may not need to begin their love affair with solar power by signing up for a 50,000 watt system that costs $40,000. In fact, families can start small, create some of their own electric power, and scale up after they get some experience with how a solar system works. His system is aimed primarily at people in the Tiny House movement, but it can be employed and enjoyed by anyone.

“At Solar Station we think the future is fun. Small living is awesome, so we wanted to show our support for the community by designing a really fun and simple solar solution that will let tiny dwellers enjoy more power, more space and greater peace of mind.” — Ben Peterson, Solar Station founder.

TreeHugger says Peterson is offering complete versions of the Solar Station Lander, a 600 W solar generator, complete with a 2000 W inverter and six 84 AH batteries (total 504 AH) for energy storage, built into a 4′ x 6′ shed that can double as storage space, for $6,800. He’s also hard at work on a larger version with 2000 W of solar, a 3000 W inverter, and a higher capacity battery storage system. He says it is intended “for homes and vehicle charging,” but there’s no indication yet of what the price of those units will be.

To get Peterson’s e-book featuring “detailed DIY construction plans to build your own solar station,” complete with parts list, photos, and additional commentary on building your own solar solution, simply sign up at his Indiegogo campaign at the $25 level. Contributions at the $45 level include a downloadable video of the Solar Station building workshop.

For those who want to dip a toe in the solar power pool before jumping into the deep end, Peterson’s scalable solar station may be the ideal way to get started.

July 20, 2015 6 comments

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