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The Future of Solar PV (Photovoltaic) Energy
1. The Problem
2. The Solution
3. The Results
4. The Benefits
5. An Investment in the Future

1. The Problem:

Traditional sources of electrical power generation are running out as production will peak in the next decade but demand will continue to rise. Energy prices will continue to rise at a higher rate as well as the number of outages during peak hours. There is the obvious problem of the pollution we are causing to our environment.

From my perspective, the world’s energy needs vary greatly; there is no clear single solution to the problem of supplying the world’s energy.

All forms of energy production have issues associated with them, i. e. -

1. Coal – Pollution/Strip Mining
2. Natural Gas – Cost and Lack of Infrastructure
3. Hydro – Limited Availability/Environmental Concerns
4. Wind – Limited Site and Resource Availability
5. Solar PV – Higher Cost
6. Nuclear – Waste disposal

2. The Solution:

Solar PV (Photovoltaic) systems effectively deliver three to five hours of peak power per day at roughly 10 Watts per square foot. Not one square inch of new land would be required to site PV. Theoretically, there are adequate residential, commercial, Government rooftops, and parking structures in California to power a substantial percentage of our State’s electrical needs from solar.

In Southern California, solar produces a net energy gain in approximately three years. This means that within three years, PV systems begin producing more energy than the energy spent in producing the system and its raw materials. Best of all, the energy produced cost zero emissions.
At today’s prices, a typical solar system costs approximately $8.00/watt, installed and has an operating life in excess of 25 years. For all intents and purposes, maintenance and operating costs are minimal. Now there are systems available for rent. Companies such as Citizenre at www.jointhesolution.com/rethink-solar allow you to create solar power of a unit that is installed, maintained and monitored by them. You merely pay the monthly rental fee for you clean electricity which is the same price as you pay the electric company for you electricity. Also they allow you to lock in a rate now for up to 25 years so you are paying the same price throughout the entire contract.
3. The Results:

Solar energy increases the diversity of power and adds stability to a fossil fuel favored energy structure, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
4. The Benefits:
– Solar can be quickly deployed at the point of use, reducing the need for additional transmission and distribution infrastructure, and cost thereof.

– Solar operates most efficiently at mid day, when grid demand is at its peak. By decreasing the strain during peak hours, the longevity of existing power plants and infrastructure is extended, lowering further the cost of energy production.

– By deploying solar over time the cumulative effect of the installed base is impressive. Given its 25-year life, within 10 to 20 years, a respectable portion of California’s energy could be supplied by solar.

– Once installed, the cost is fixed. In comparison to traditional sources of energy, the fuel cost is nonexistent, and operational costs are limited. A solar system’s cost is amortized over its life, there are no rate hikes due to fuel or operating cost increases.
5. An Investment in the Future:

There are some negatives. Presently, solar costs more than traditional energy generation. Its efficient use is limited to daylight hours unless storage is employed. Admittedly, the solar industry today is not large enough to address all of our needs. The solar industry does not have the financial influence to compete with existing utilities, which typically oppose PV, within political circles. (Industry revenues globally represent only 3.0B/year). Globally, the industry has experienced an annual growth rate in excess of 18% in over a decade. This rate of growth is equivalent to that of semiconductor, telecommunications and computer industries.

Clearly, there is no easy solution to California’s energy problem. No doubt, a variety of technologies and tools are needed to ensure California’s energy independence and security.
The Solar Industry Needs Your Support
For those interested in promoting a clean, safe and environmentally friendly source of energy, I urge you to write your representatives in the State and Federal Government. Make it clear you vote for representatives who support current legislation aimed at advancing the deployment of solar energy, such as the net metering law which allows the solar producer to feed surplus power onto the grid, causing the meter to spin backward, lowering the electric bill. Tax credits and deployment subsidies provide the revenues necessary to support research and development of more efficient solar systems.

Remember, in the 1970′s the State of California enacted emission standards that surpassed the rest of the nation. The argument against these standards was the cost of such improvements. Almost 30 years later, the impact is in the air and reflected in the increased fuel economy of the vehicles we drive.

Solar energy is part of the solution and is a key to America’s long-term energy supply. After all, fossil fuels have a long history of issues with respect to stability of supply and cost.
The Outlook of Solar Power is Bright!
1. Solar will sustain its torrid growth, as costs continue to fall. The solar market has grown at ~40% per annum in recent years, and there are many reasons to think that it will sustain, if not exceed, that clip in 2008. Solar panel prices have followed a predictable experience curve since the 1970’s, with prices dropping by 20% with each doubling of manufacturing capacity. As the silicon-dominated industry moves to thinner and higher-efficiency wafers, increases manufacturing scale, improves wafer and cell processing technologies, sees polysilicon prices return to rational levels, and migrates production to lower-cost countries –- costs will continue to drive towards parity with grid rates, and solar will become increasingly more attractive. Companies have developed creative PPA (power-purchase agreement) financing models to reduce or eliminate upfront installation costs, which will make solar more accessible for a wider range of corporate and residential customers. The election year should also see more state subsidy support for solar and a renewal of the federal tax credit, which will further bolster growth.
2. Emerging startups that benefit from the polysilicon supply shortage will face increased pressure, as the poly-Si crunch begins to ease. Solar veterans can debate the timing endlessly, but many expect additional poly-Si supply to come online by late 2008. Startups that tout silicon-independent solar solutions, like concentrators and thin film (CIGS, a-Si, CdTe, etc.), will face pressure to come to market more quickly, as their cost/supply advantages erode with greater availability of poly-Si and a retreat from spot-pricing. E.g., none of the CIGS thin-film startups, which have collectively received hundreds of millions in investment in recent years, managed to reach mass commercialization this past year as many had projected. They will continue to be under pressure to reach market before the window of opportunity closes.
3. Entrepreneurs will increasingly look beyond cell and module production. As the technology-heavy areas of cell and module production get crowded, more and more entrepreneurs look to startup opportunities in the downstream balance-of-systems part of the value chain. This area has seen less attention to date, yet makes up ~50% of the total installed cost. Novel packaging techniques, distributed inverter / MPP tracking / power management technologies, systems monitoring solutions, streamlining of the installation process, and creative solar financing models — entrepreneurs increasingly recognize the ripe opportunity in this part of the solar business, and 2008 should see heightened startup activity in this area.
4. China and India will begin to emerge as strong domestic markets for solar. With a 500 MW coal-fired plant going up in China every week, the growth of greenhouse gas emissions has reached dizzying levels. China already “boasts” 16 of the 20 most polluted cities in the world, with hundreds of thousands a year dying prematurely from such pollution. Many experts expect that the government will spend tens of billions of dollars in the next 5-10 years –- a significant portion going to solar -– to reach the mandate of 15% from renewables by 2020. In India, where the energy shortfall has reached 15% and domestic coal reserves will run out in ~50 years, the government is actively pursuing incentive policies and feed-in tariffs to help drive the use of solar and other renewables. 2008 should see further policy refinement in both countries, which will spur increased domestic adoption of solar.

Few people doubt solar energy’s potential, but many wonder when it will be reached. “In the long term, solar may well play an important role,” Karg says. “I personally expect a contribution of 10 to 20% of the global electricity production, mainly in the form of grid-connected systems.” However, he does not foresee that happening within the next 20 years.
Nevada Solar One
The sun sits high over the Nevada desert in the Eldorado Valley, gleaming off the upside down rows of mirrored parabolic trough collectors at the Nevada Solar One power plant.
At 64 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity, Nevada Solar One is the largest CSP plant to be built in 15 years. While the plant won’t come online until April, its construction marks the revival of an industry that has seen almost no market growth in over a decade.

The plant was developed by Acciona Energy and Solargenix Energy — two companies that have worked hard behind the scenes to get the CSP industry up and running again.

The plant uses parabolic trough collectors to generate electricity. The mirrored troughs face the sky and direct sunlight to a large metal and glass receiver in the middle of the trough that holds circulating oil. The oil travels to heat exchangers, which heat water and create steam to run a turbine. Parabolic troughs are one of three commercialized CSP technologies.

Further down the row of parabolic troughs, Plant Manager Bob Cable admires the impressive devices before him.

“I’ve been working with this technology for the last decade,” Cable says. “I’ve seen some impressive gains in technological advancement, and now we’re seeing more broad acceptance of the technology as the market becomes more attractive.”

Indeed, after roughly a decade of little growth for the industry, CSP is coming back strong. And it’s not just parabolic trough collectors that are experiencing a boom. Power towers, which use heliostats to focus solar energy on a central receiver to produce steam, and dish systems, which use reflectors to power a generator at the dish’s focus point, are making great strides in technological capabilities, lower costs and market acceptance.

But according to Thomas Rueckert, Program Manager for CSP Management at the U.S. Department of Energy, parabolic troughs are the most advanced.

“Because of the track record [the parabolic trough industry] had in southern California with the 354 megawatts (MW) operating — and actually improving in performance — I think you’re seeing the financial institutions more willing to embrace trough technology because it’s proven and the risks are less,” said Rueckert.

Rueckert was referring to the 354 MW of parabolic trough collectors installed in California’s Mojave Desert between 1984 and 1990. Those plants are still operating today, currently producing energy at around $0.12-$0.14/ per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and proving the technology can provide clean, reliable energy to the grid.

The Nevada Solar One plant will produce electricity at around $0.15-$0.17/kWh. While those costs are double what area residents pay for electricity, Nevada Solar One will sell energy to two utilities through a power purchase agreement (PPA). The PPA will ensure a fixed cost for the electricity over a long period, making the solar power economical down the line.

Now that global investment in CSP is increasing, technology costs are decreasing and renewable portfolio standards (RPS) in the U.S. are requiring more solar generation, project costs for all CSP technologies should come down significantly in the coming years, said DOE’s Rueckert.

“All of those things have really opened the door,” he said. “And it’s interesting that all three technologies are pushing forward, which was kind of unexpected.”

Back at Nevada Solar One, Acciona Solar’s Cohen stands before the group of reporters and members of the solar industry who have come to witness the rebirth of CSP.

“The potential is huge. It was difficult to get the attention of the financial institutions in the U.S., but right now we have their attention. We get a lot of people asking us, ‘how can we develop this technology?’”

Dr. Alex Marker, Research Fellow for Schott North America, Inc., stands to the side of Cohen, nodding his head. Schott is certainly feeling the positive impact of increased CSP development. To meet the demand for its glass receivers, the company brought a new receiver manufacturing facility online in Germany last summer and is developing another facility in Spain that will come online in early 2008.

“I think [the market] is going to grow drastically,” says Marker, looking over at the receivers in the troughs. “We’re happy to be a part of this new development.”

Now that financial institutions are noticing CSP, companies like Acciona and Solargenix will be able to tap into the vast resource potential in the Southwestern U.S.

According to figures from DOE’s Solar Lab, 20,000 MW of CSP capacity could come online in the U.S. by 2020 with the proper investment and technological capabilities. Rueckert seemed optimistic that a large amount of those resources will be tapped.

“When this plant comes online next month, it’s going to be a great success,” he said. “The market is exploding and things are really taking off.”

Indeed, a solar panel for your home, whether brand new, second hand or rented, is definitely a wise choice as it helps you in minimizing your electric bills, helps the worlds growing energy needs and is especially an environmentally healthy and helpful choice.

If you’re interested in getting more info on a free solar panel installation check out www.jointhesolution.com/rethink-solar

Also if your interested in joining the solution and becoming a Citizenre sales associate check out www.powur.net/rethink-solar

Learn how to create electricity and save your bills!! Read on how you can make your very own solar panels at your own home! small solar panels small solar panels

Gloria Camposon of Daily Green Tips

Thanksgiving is around the corner for some of us. If you celebrate it you know how non-environmentally friendly it can be. If your are looking for ways to green it up this year, here are some quick green tips to make your Thanksgiving as eco-friendly as possible.

1. Turkey Compromise. The most obvious eco-solution is to not buy a turkey and just have a complete vegan meal, especially if you’ve recently filled you head up on all the recent news on the environmental impact of eating meat, but your family has decided to go against the idea. You want you and your family to be happy so you make a compromise (no, not a soy shaped into a turkey). To compromise you can do several things:

a. You can buy and cook the turkey give it to your family and not eat it yourself. Eat a delicious organic salad, with cherries and nuts and homemade dressing, but unless you are already vegan or vegetarian, do you really have the will power to smell the turkey and not eat it?

b. Buy an organic Free-Range Turkey. An organic free range turkey is suppose to be turkey that is not in cages and is allowed to move about the yard. Some informative sites to turn to to make sure you are getting exactly what you are looking for are Really Natural and Free Range Turkeys.

c. Yes, organic free-range turkeys can be expensive so if it doesn’t fit in your budget this year consider another alternative. Buy a regular turkey and the rest of your food organic. Local Farmers market is a good place to look for organic fruits and veggies, but if there isn’t one near your area buy organic from your local grocery store.

2. Organic. Buy everything you can buy organic, milk, meat, veggies, fruits, etc. This includes any boxed or canned items you may purchase. Remember to go online and search for Organic coupons. This will help cut down the cost of your Thanksgiving feast

3. Packaging. When you go to the store buy things that have the least amount of packaging and try to buy packaging that is environmentally friendly.

4. Don’t cook so much. Yes, “it is better to have more than not enough” but is it really necessary to count 3 servings per person? Isn’t that a bit much? Think about all the left overs you had last year and then cut down on that amount of servings if you are going to have the same amount of people over this year. . Between the turkey, the many side dishes and the desserts there is plenty of food to stuff everyone and more. If you accidentally do make too much food or someone cancels, give the leftovers away to family and friends, Don’t let them mold up in the fridge.

5. Dinnerware and silverware. It’s okay to use your good dishes or even your regular dishes for Thanksgiving. It is a celebration after all, but if the thought of washing so many dishes is terrifying look into biodegradable or bamboo disposable dishes.

6. Beautiful weather outside. A lot of bodies in one house can make the place warm so if its cool outside open up some windows to help the place cool down, instead of turning on the AC.

7. Decorations. Reuse your old decorations from last year in new way or just make some new ones. Use items from your back yard and fall fabric colors if you have any to make a nice centerpiece. As always the Internet is a great resource for creative ideas. Any bought decorations should also be environmentally friendly, that includes flowers, plants and so on.

8. 100-Mile. Participate in the 100-Mile Thanksgiving challenge from Treehugger. If you haven’t heard of it yet click on the link here.

9. Plant a tree. Winter season is a good time to plant trees and shrubs so take this time to plant a tree and keep the green growing.

10. Carbon credits. If you must fly or drive to visit family this Thanksgiving consider purchasing carbon credits to make up for it.

11. Donate your turkey fat. No, not the fat you put on from eating the turkey, but the actual fat from the cooked Turkey. Can you believe a Tucson-based company recycles Turkey fat into Biofuel? Check to see if a company in your community does too.

12. Say Thanks..

Another St Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and Irish pubs all over the world will soon be jam-packed with millions of beer lovers in their green suits, eager to make a toast to the patron saint of Ireland. And if you find yourself traveling somewhere across the globe during this fest, don’t forget to grab a green hat and start looking for a cool pub to celebrate this March 17.

But if you’re traveling with an eco conscience, considering the environmental issues involved in any trip, is beer a good choice for you? Can you really call it eco? Sure you can. Let’s take a look at some green beer options to celebrate a green St Patrick’s, both in color and spirit.

You probably already knew that beer is mostly water, but it’s also produced from several agricultural products, such as barley, wheat, and other cereal grains. And like most crops ,it can be grown in a natural and healthy way, as an organic product. Organic Beer is the result of a brewery and fermentation process which doesn’t involve synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. For beer to be considered organic, hops (the agents that give the beverage its flavor) must also be grown organically, without the use of fungicides. All these unhealthy chemicals are responsible for polluting our water and can cause soil degradation. Lots of beer lovers also maintain that barley and hops grown in healthier soil are tastier. So, with an organic beer in your hand, you’ll not only be making a positive environmental contribution by supporting organic agriculture, you’ll be enjoying your drink more.

Asking for local beers or finding homebrew shops is always a wise option when traveling. You’ll be preventing carbon emissions caused by transporting foreign beer, and you’ll probably be drinking an eco friendly beverage while your at it, as there’ll be no need for the preservatives normally used when bottles are shipped long distances. This will also help local producers, as fair trade beer boosts small farmer efforts. Local products may even entail a wider range of flavors.

If you’re willing to research deeper, you may look for sustainable initiatives by breweries. Some companies are really making efforts in recycling, carbon-dioxide recovery, or water conservation. You may find breweries powered by solar energy, or presenting a waste water treatment system, where brewing water is also used for cleaning the facilities. Other companies even compost their leftover brewing yeast or any vegetable waste, or turn the organic matter into biogas.

Pubs can also help take care of the environment by serving beer in glasses instead of plastic cups, or handing out reusable growlers. Some pubs use cellars instead of air conditioning to achieve the ideal beer temperature, spending less money on electricity. And let’s not forget that there are always eco friendly options for bottles and packages, such as paper-free bottles or boxes made from recycled materials.

Now that you are an organic beer fan, you might check out The North American Organic Brewers Festival (NAOBF), celebrating its fifth edition in June, in Portland, Oregon. Featuring organic beers from North America and Europe, the event poured over 75 different organic beers last year, and drew a crowd of about 15,000 attendees.

Each year, the green beer offer is increasing everywhere, so enjoy your eco pint on 2009 St Patrick’s, and then come back to tell us how it tasted.

from:

http://www.ecotrotters.com/eco-articles-Eco-Drinking–/64656a6b3565416859434d3d-article.html

Another St Patrick’s Day is just around the corner and Irish pubs all over the world will soon be jam-packed with millions of beer lovers in their green suits, eager to make a toast to the patron saint of Ireland. And if you find yourself traveling somewhere across the globe during this fest, don’t forget to grab a green hat and start looking for a cool pub to celebrate this March 17.

But if you’re traveling with an eco conscience, considering the environmental issues involved in any trip, is beer a good choice for you? Can you really call it eco? Sure you can. Let’s take a look at some green beer options to celebrate a green St Patrick’s, both in color and spirit.

You probably already knew that beer is mostly water, but it’s also produced from several agricultural products, such as barley, wheat, and other cereal grains. And like most crops ,it can be grown in a natural and healthy way, as an organic product. Organic Beer is the result of a brewery and fermentation process which doesn’t involve synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides. For beer to be considered organic, hops (the agents that give the beverage its flavor) must also be grown organically, without the use of fungicides. All these unhealthy chemicals are responsible for polluting our water and can cause soil degradation. Lots of beer lovers also maintain that barley and hops grown in healthier soil are tastier. So, with an organic beer in your hand, you’ll not only be making a positive environmental contribution by supporting organic agriculture, you’ll be enjoying your drink more.

Asking for local beers or finding homebrew shops is always a wise option when traveling. You’ll be preventing carbon emissions caused by transporting foreign beer, and you’ll probably be drinking an eco friendly beverage while your at it, as there’ll be no need for the preservatives normally used when bottles are shipped long distances. This will also help local producers, as fair trade beer boosts small farmer efforts. Local products may even entail a wider range of flavors.

If you’re willing to research deeper, you may look for sustainable initiatives by breweries. Some companies are really making efforts in recycling, carbon-dioxide recovery, or water conservation. You may find breweries powered by solar energy, or presenting a waste water treatment system, where brewing water is also used for cleaning the facilities. Other companies even compost their leftover brewing yeast or any vegetable waste, or turn the organic matter into biogas.

Pubs can also help take care of the environment by serving beer in glasses instead of plastic cups, or handing out reusable growlers. Some pubs use cellars instead of air conditioning to achieve the ideal beer temperature, spending less money on electricity. And let’s not forget that there are always eco friendly options for bottles and packages, such as paper-free bottles or boxes made from recycled materials.

Now that you are an organic beer fan, you might check out The North American Organic Brewers Festival (NAOBF), celebrating its fifth edition in June, in Portland, Oregon. Featuring organic beers from North America and Europe, the event poured over 75 different organic beers last year, and drew a crowd of about 15,000 attendees.

Each year, the green beer offer is increasing everywhere, so enjoy your eco pint on 2009 St Patrick’s, and then come back to tell us how it tasted.

from:

http://www.ecotrotters.com/eco-articles-Eco-Drinking–/64656a6b3565416859434d3d-article.html

Posted by Green Life Staff

St. Patty’s Day is the perfect time for everyone to drag out their most vibrant green togs and joyfully pinch and kiss their way through the day. And on this day, which honors the death of Ireland’s patron saint, Patricius Daorbae, who was reputed to have driven the snakes from Ireland, abstinence from Irish alcoholic beverage is almost considered sacrilege amongst the holiday’s most devoted keepers. Truth told, since the Irish celebrate the event for a full five days, one day of imbibing is tame by comparison.

As is the way of modern times, the celebration that began as a religious observance of the death of one of Ireland’s most beloved patron saints has become commercialized beyond recognition. Today we honor the venerated saint by marching gigantic helium filled leprechauns down the street, lighting up electrified shamrocks and pouring gallons of green die on anything that doesn’t move. Irish bloggers, musicians, public servants and business persons proudly command center stage in some of the most raucous parade demonstrations seen.

We’d like to suggest a few activities that green revelers might like to incorporate into their celebrations. A few simple alterations to the modern tradition and one can trade in their hard-soled clogs for much gentler Ghillies and diminish their carbon footprint.

Main dishes: Corned beef and cabbage paired with carrots, potatoes and onions is considered by many to be a must-have for every St. Paddy’s day table, but it is more correctly an adulteration of the more traditional Irish boiled dinner. Instead, try a true Irish tradition: Irish stew, Coddle, or for the vegetarians out there, Colcannon. Tuck in to a hearty portion of Bangers and boxty for lunch.

Breakfast and dessert: You needn’t limit your celebration to the main meal of the day. Instead, observe every meal as an opportunity to immerse yourself in the Irish culture. Break your fast with warm Irish soda bread or, better yet, buttermilk scones. And don’t forget the biscuits (cookies) to cleanse the palate after those hearty meals!

Clothes: Rather than contribute to conspicuous consumption, consider dying one of your less favorite (natural fabric) items from your closet an appropriate hue of green for the day. Green vegetable dyes can be extracted by boiling, pulverizing then straining dark, leafy greens (such as kale orchard). You’ll need a pretty intense pigment, so start with a couple of bunches of greens. Put your togs into the hot liquid and let soak (at least a few hours and preferably overnight). Air-dry and enjoy!

Alcohol free drinks: One needn’t partake of alcohol to enjoy St. Paddy’s day. Ireland offers a wide range of alcohol-free beverages that pair well with the traditional foods of the day. First of all there’s tea. Fine Irish tea is a fitting match for your breakfast meal or after your lunch or dinner. If anyone is put off by a well-steeped pot of tea, offer a bit of cream and sugar to soften its tannic bite. Ice-cold apple cider echoes traditional Irish cider, which is fermented and offers one heck of a morning-after kick! Tea flavored with honey, lemon and cinnamon mimics the popular “hot toddy” and can help slow the house down at the end of a long day. And there’s always soda (sparkling water), tonic (bitter sparkling water) and still water.

Alcoholic beverages: Ireland offers a host of traditional beer and whiskey to tempt the most discerning palate. Try your Guinness Stout the traditional way – at room temperature. Or enjoy a tempting Irish Coffee with a cube of sugar, a jigger of fine peat whiskey, an ounce of heavy cream and six ounces of strong black coffee. Stir gently while enjoying the company of friends and sip in front of a roaring fire.

Cooking: If kids, family, friends or significant others want to try their hand at something new in the kitchen, invite them to help prepare your traditional Irish fare. The recipes are not exacting, and with “Riverdance” playing in the background, things will be done in no time.

Baking: Shamrock-shaped cookies and Irish soda bread are a great way to get the kids involved in your St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

Environmental: Bring a little beauty and luck to the world by spreading some clover seed or planting sorrel, which has the distinct look of the leprechaun’s lucky 4-leaf clover.

Music: Pick up or download a selection of Irish reels and ballads to entertain your guests at your feast. Inexpensive CDs are available at discount stores and online from resellers. And don’t miss out on the rich selection of music available on the internet. Or, reduce waste by visiting a local used music store and keep those old tapes and CDs from making their way to the landfill.

Dance: Once the reels get underway it’s almost impossible not to want to get up and move, and kids are great at going with the flow. Don’t worry about whether you know the steps … on this day you’re Irish. The steps will find their way to your feet unbidden. This is the day to toss your reservations into the fire and flow with the pulse of the people, so grab your kids, form a circle and dance!