Ontario Scores an “A” for Energy Conservation

Energy Efficiency Advocate Highlights McGuinty Government's Commitment

Ontario's commitment to energy conservation scores an "A" on the latest report card from a national non-profit group that promotes energy efficiency.     Ontario's grade on the 2007 report card from the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance - released today - is just the latest in a string of improved scores, reflecting the province's ongoing commitment to conservation as the cornerstone of a long-term energy plan.     The Alliance highlights Ontario's work on conservation so far, including the province's plan to save 6,300 megawatts of electricity by 2025. To date, Ontario has reached its first interim target: a 1,350 MW reduction in peak demand by the end of 2007, and is working toward another 1,350 MW reduction by 2010. "Solid grades," the report points out. "But even more encouraging is what is in the pipeline for the future - Ontario appears to be taking Energy Efficiency VERY seriously."
QUICK FACTS      -   Other energy saving initiatives of the McGuinty government include:         -  Banning inefficient light bulbs by 2012         -  Supporting homeowners with the $112 million Ontario Home Energy            Audit and Retrofit programs which cover half the cost of an energy            audit (up to $150) and provide access to up to $10,000 in combined            provincial and federal grants         -  Helping the industrial, commercial and institutional sectors adopt            a clean, renewable option through the $14.4 million Ontario Solar            Thermal Heating Incentive (OSTHI)         -  Extending point-of-sale retail sales tax exemption for            ENERGY STAR(R) products (e.g., light bulbs, refrigerators, and            dishwashers)         -  Installing smart meters across the province by the end of 2010.         -  Supporting Ontario Power Authority programs, such as the Great            Refrigerator Round Up, peaksaver, Cool Savings Rebate and Every            Kilowatt Counts Summer Sweepstakes programs

(via. CNW Group)

Solar Panel Demand Exceeds Supply

Americans' rushing for panels before federal incentives can expire by end of 2008, causing the demand exceeding the supply.

Solar Panel Demand Exceeds Supply

September 16th, 2008

Many American states are offering incentives to business houses and residents if they are willing to install solar panels for their use. But sadly these incentives are set to expire on 31 December 2008. The solar tax credit offers 30 percent of a system’s cost, but it will go down to 10 percent from January 1 if Congress doesn’t take steps after it returns Monday. Now manufacturers and installers are experiencing a rush for panels before federal incentives can expire. Many solar manufacturers and installers say they can’t take on more orders for 2008 because they’re either out of panels or out of time.

Arizona currently provides a one-time 25 percent income tax credit accessible to residences and a one-time 10 percent income-tax credit for businesses that set up solar panels. Along comes the federal investment tax credit, set at 30 percent, which is important both financially and symbolically, industry people say. Regardless of state-credits, solar systems for houses and businesses are too expensive without the federal credit.

Solar panels have been in short supply since 2005 because silicon, a key constituent of photovoltaic solar panels usually installed in homes and businesses, was limited. Now tax incentives haven’t done much to improve the situation. “From the manufacturing perspective, we’re sold out,” said Tom Mueller, a spokesman for BP Solar in Houston. The probability of taking on a new order right now is low, said Tom Dyer, senior vice president of marketing and government affairs at Scottsdale-based Kyocera Solar Inc. Now the present situation is if one has not placed orders months ago, few solar installers or wholesalers will have the time or the panels in stock to accept more jobs this year.

“It’s almost a man-made shortage because everyone is scurrying around to get their jobs done before the tax credits expire,” said Ron Kenedi, vice president of Solar Energy Solutions Groupfor Sharp Electronics Corp., the largest maker of solar panels. Tucson-based Technicians for Sustainability buys solar panels from Schott Solar Inc. and SunPower Corp. Both manufacturers have informed company President Kevin Koch that they will be unable to supply more solar panels this year. If a business asked Koch to set up a 30-kilowatt system, characteristic size for a commercial job, Koch said he could not take on the project this year. This shortage is hitting the business installations seriously.

Dave Haycock, of All West Energy Inc. of Fountain Hills, stated that his company will take on projects one at a time. “We have inadequate supply,” Haycock said of solar panels. But with the increase in demand before the solar credit expires, the company said it cannot take any more orders for 2008.

Phoenix’s Perfect Power would not have problem taking orders before the year end, but it is not taking any more commercial projects for 2008, said John Balfour, the company president.

Solar installers generally consider panel orders about four or five months in advance, said Mike Richter, a sales consultant for SolarCity, an installer with offices in California and Phoenix. Therefore one has to take into account this fact for uninterrupted supply line.

“(Solar installers) don’t want to go beyond the December 31st deadline, so everybody’s trying to jam-pack their orders in before the end of the year,” said Kenedi of Sharp Electronics, the largest U.S. producer of solar panels. The threat of the expiring credit has led Arizona Public Service Co. and Abengoa Solar to put the 280-megawatt Solana Solar Plant near Gila Bend on hold.

What would happen if the credit incentives would not be renewed in the coming years? Japan and European countries like Germany, Spain and Italy provide generous state-sponsored solar tax credits. As the U.S. dollar continues to depreciate, and with demand increasing in foreign countries, solar corporations could find market more lucrative abroad.

(Via. Alternative Energy)

Solar Energy System for Google Headquarters

Solar Energy System for Google Headquarters

October 17th, 2006

Google Inc. plans to build a massive solar-electricity system to help power parts of its Mountain View, Calif., campus that it says will benefit both the environment and its bottom line. The system, to be built by EI Solutions, a unit of Energy Innovations Inc., of Pasadena, Calif., will use 9,212 solar panels and have a total capacity of 1.6 megawatts, or enough electricity to supply 1,000 average California homes. That will satisfy 30% of the campus’ peak electricity needs. The installation at Google’s headquarters, known as the Googleplex, will begin next month and will be completed in the spring. It will be the largest solar-power system ever constructed at a U.S. corporate campus and one of the largest on any corporate site in the world, EI Solutions said.

The solar panels, which cover an area equal to about four acres, will be installed on the roofs of some campus buildings and double as shading for cars in parking lots. Most of the panels will be made by Sharp Electronics, a unit of Japan’s Sharp Corp.

Google declined to say how much money it would spend to build the system. However, the company estimates the savings it expects to realize on its electricity bills will pay for the cost of the panels before leases expire on its leased campus buildings, which will hold some of the panels. EI Solutions said panels typically last for 20 to 25 years and pay for themselves within five to 10 years.

“It’s good for Google, the Earth and for shareholders,” said Google’s vice president of real estate, David Radcliffe. “If we can dispel the myth that you can’t be both green and profitable, then we’ll be happy about that.”

Google also expects to realize some savings in air-conditioning costs because the panels on the building roofs, by absorbing sunlight, will reduce the amount of heat absorbed into their top floors.

The system will work seamlessly with the power grid, allowing Google to draw more energy from the grid when the panels aren’t providing enough power due to a lack of sun. But it will also allow Google to sell the utility power at times when the panels generate too much energy.

Andrew Beebe, president of EI Solutions, said companies are becoming increasingly interested insolar power as their electricity bills mount and the costs of solar power decline. Corporate America is reaching a tipping point where “people are making these decisions on an economic basis,” he said.

Google is looking for other ways to make its campus more environmentally friendly. “This is definitely just the tip of the iceberg,” Radcliffe said, but declined to discuss other possible initiatives.

Energy Autonomy at Google (YouTube): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

(Via. Alternative Energy)

Norwegian solar panel firm to build Quebec plant

Norwegian solar panel firm to build Quebec plant

US$1.2 billion investment will create 300 jobs

by Canadian Press

August 28, 2008, MONTREAL

Quebec’s cheap energy is luring Norwegian solar panel company Renewable Energy Corp. to invest more than US$1.2 billion to build a silicon materials plant in Becancour that will create at least 300 jobs.

The province has agreed to supply 95 megawatts of electricity for 20 years at the “competitive industrial rate” that is available for more than 200 major industrial companies.

“It’s what makes Quebec attractive in terms of investment,” Premier Jean Charest said during a news conference in Becancour, southeast of Trois-Riviéres.

Low corporate income taxes, strong research and development along with skilled labour are also key factors in luring a company that is planning to make one of the largest private investments in the province in a decade.

“For us this is a first major step in an area where we want to intensify and develop our capacity as a place in the world that is renowned for clean, renewable energy.”

The project reinforces the Liberal government’s 2006 energy policy, which Charest said is also an economic policy, to leverage the province’s clean energy and show that sustainable development is synonymous with wealth creation.

The head of the Norwegian company said using non-carbon based renewable energy was key to its decision to locate in Becancour as it attempts to limit the environmental impact of producing solar cells and panels.

“Our operation in Becancour could be very significant and this site has the potential to support our proposed growth plans for quite some time in the future,” CEO Erik Thorsen said.

Construction of the plant is expected to start in 2010, with production of the raw material used to manufacture semiconductors and solar panels.

A total of 13,000 tonnes of polycrystalline silicon will be produced annually at the site, which represents nearly one third of the global production of 45,000 tonnes. Some of the material will be used by an existing company in Becancour.

The project is expected to generate more than $100 million in annual economic spinoff and nearly $20 million in tax revenues per year.

Emploi-Quebec is providing a $4 million grant for 25 per cent of the training costs for three years.

Plant construction of the first phase of two plants will employ more than 1,000 people. Four production units could eventually be constructed of similar size as REC’s factory being built in Moses Lake, Wash.

Thorsen wouldn’t rule out eventually fabricating solar panels at the Quebec location.

The site is located near the Gentilly nuclear power plant, which the government recently said would get $1.9 billion for an upgrade and expansion.

The location was selected following a 17-month review in which 100 sites were considered in 16 countries.

Toronto-based Timminco Ltd. is also building a plant in Becancour to manufacture solar-grade silicon.

(via.  Daily Commercial News)

Pacific Gas deal will nearly double USA's solar power

Another proof of falling solar costs- A US based utility company will buy 800 megawatts of solar-generated electricity as they commented the price of solar has come to a point they feel comfortable doing it.


Pacific Gas deal will nearly double USA's solar power
By Paul Davidson, USA TODAY

Electric utilities are warming to solar power in a shift that promises to turbocharge a technology that has been hindered by high prices and slow consumer adoption.
Pacific Gas and Electric (PCG) in California announced last week it will buy 800 megawatts of solar-generated electricity from two companies, enough to light 239,000 homes. Within three years, PG&E will buy its solar energy from OptiSolar and SunPower, which plan to build the world's two largest solar farms in California as part of the deal.
It would nearly double the USA's entire solar-panel capacity. Driving the trend are solar's falling costs and state alternative-energy mandates.
Solar power has grown but still makes up well under 1% of U.S. power generation. More than 90% of solar panels have been installed on rooftops by maverick consumers and businesses. Utilities' embrace of solar energy will help push it to about 10% of power generation by 2025, predicts Ron Pernick, principal of research firm Clean Edge.
"Just a handful of utilities doing something big changes the scale of the entire market," says Julia Hamm of the Solar Electric Power Association.
Solar power typically has cost about twice as much as electricity from fossil-fuel-fired plants. But PG&E Vice President Fong Wan says prices in last week's deal approach electricity from natural-gas-fired plants. "The cost has come down to a point where we're comfortable doing it," he says.
Prices for solar-generated electricity have been falling, thanks largely to increasing manufacturing capacity and technological improvements, SunPower's Julie Blunden says. Other recent deals:
•Building farms. Florida Power & Light and Sempra Generation, a power wholesaler, each plan to build solar farms of up to 25 megawatts in Florida and Nevada, respectively.
•Purchasing power. CPS Energy in San Antonio, Duke Energy in North Carolina and Florida Municipal Power Agency say they'll buy solar power from suppliers willing to invest in new generation. That avoids upfront construction costs for utilities.
•Installing panels. Utilities are putting panels that feed into the grid on neighborhood roofs. That sidesteps the need for costly transmission lines. Southern California Edison last week began placing panels on 100 warehouses in the Los Angeles area. Duke Energy, Long Island Power Authority and Portland General Electric in Oregon plan similar initiatives.
With costs for traditional power plants rising and solar falling, "We see a convergence coming," Duke executive Owen Smith says.

(via.USA Today)

Sustainability = Critical Business Strategy

Going green makes financial sense for businesses:

'The Dollars and Sense of Green Retrofits'
By GreenerBuildings Staff
Published August 1, 2008

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Companies that pass up a chance to green their existing commercial buildings may never recover from the losses resulting from greater operating costs, lower productivity, negative brand image and declining attractiveness to workers, according to a recent study.The study called “The Dollars and Sense of Green Retrofits” was co-authored by green real estate authority and consultant Charles Lockwood and Deloitte.It was based on a survey of organizations or companies whose existing buildings underwent a green retrofitting. Participants were asked what motivated them to consider the projects and what influenced their decisions.
Findings concluded that while savings from energy efficiency was a top goal, as cited by 75 percent of respondents, corporate environmental commitment was the leading motive. Another 75 percent of respondents reported improvement in employee health. One hundred percent of respondents experienced an increase in goodwill/brand equity."The value of green retrofitting helps demonstrate that sustainability is rapidly becoming a critical business strategy," said Chris Park, leader of Deloitte’s Enterprise.

(via. Greenerbuildings)

Green Dollar

Going green makes financial sense for businesses.

'The Dollars and Sense of Green Retrofits'
By GreenerBuildings Staff Published August 1, 2008

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Companies that pass up a chance to green their existing commercial buildings may never recover from the losses resulting from greater operating costs, lower productivity, negative brand image and declining attractiveness to workers, according to a recent study.The study called “The Dollars and Sense of Green Retrofits” was co-authored by green real estate authority and consultant Charles Lockwood and Deloitte.It was based on a survey of organizations or companies whose existing buildings underwent a green retrofitting. Participants were asked what motivated them to consider the projects and what influenced their decisions.
Findings concluded that while savings from energy efficiency was a top goal, as cited by 75 percent of respondents, corporate environmental commitment was the leading motive. Another 75 percent of respondents reported improvement in employee health. One hundred percent of respondents experienced an increase in goodwill/brand equity."The value of green retrofitting helps demonstrate that sustainability is rapidly becoming a critical business strategy," said Chris Park, leader of Deloitte’s Enterprise.





via. Greener Buildings

http://www.greenerbuildings.com/news/2008/08/01/the-dollar-and-sense-green-retrofits