Driving down the cost and pounds per kiloWatt (kW).
Revised plans to build a ~1 MW (MegaWatt) pilot power plant in 2010.

From 22nd NREL Industry Growth Forum

Cool Earth Solar CEO Rob Lamkin pitched the company at the 22nd National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) Industry Growth Forum last week in Denver, Colorado.

After the introduction, Mr. Lamkin said:

I am very excited about the Cool Earth Solar technology.
It was developed specifically and with the intent of further driving down the cost of solar and being able to ramp up and scale the business massively.

From 22nd NREL Industry Growth Forum

Describing the inflated solar concentrator, Mr. Lamkin highlighted the minimal use of cheap and abundant materials such as plastic thin films to form the concentrator balloon. The balloon is 10 feet (~3.05 meters) across and uses about 2 pounds (~0.91 kilograms) of plastic. Sunlight entering the clear top film is reflected by the inside bottom film onto a water cooled PV (Photovoltaic) receiver resulting in 300 to 600 times concentration depending on the PV material utilized.

Each concentrator can generate over 1 kiloWatt (kW) with active air inflation to maintain focus, a closed loop water system for receiver cooling, and two axis tracking to keep it on sun.

Mr. Lamkin claimed Cool Earth Solar had a huge advantage in minimizing material use and compared Cool Earth’s 120 pounds (54.4 kilograms) per kW to wind turbines which require about 1000 pounds (454 kilograms) per kW.

Comparing Cool Earth Solar to other renewable technologies, Rob Lamkin said:

We believe by next year we’ll be able to clearly demonstrate we are at $1 per Watt installed with a Cool Earth Solar power system. This will allow us to meet fossil fuels and allow us to scale up the business very rapidly.

“Market Size and Revenue Potential: 2015-2020”
The initial market focus of Cool Earth Solar is the six (6) southwestern United States representing a 1028 TWh (TeraWatt-hour) electricity market by 2020 and an unmet RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard) mandate of 218 TWh. Cool Earth Solar is targeting around five (5) percent of the southwestern market or 11 TWh per year by 2020 and generating some $1.5 Billion in revenue.

Status and Schedule
After Cool Earth Solar founder, President, and CTO Dr. Eric Cummings bootstrapped and obtained seed funding for the patent filings and the Gen 1 (first generation) prototype, the February 2008 $21 million Series A financing enabled the deployment of Gen 2 prototypes.

Providing a status update, CEO Lamkin said:

Over the summer, once we collected that operating data, we developed and designed our third generation (Gen 3) of the technology and I am excited to report that we are now deploying that out into the field. We plan to collect over the winter and into the spring the very important field data and operations data of our equipment. And with that we believe we will be well poised by spring, early summer next year, to go out and seek our Series B round of financing and seek project financing so that we can ramp up our business. We want to ramp from where we are at today at an ability to do 50 MW a year up to 500 MW a year with the closing of this new financing.

Cool Earth Solar’s 1 MW scale pilot power plant construction plans have therefore been delayed since “Cool Earth Solar Constructing First Solar “Balloon” Prototype Plant” by Ariel Schwartz at CleanTechnica or even the recent “Cool Earth: Inflatable solar technology” by Courtney Roby for GreenMomentum.

Gen 3 prototypes are being deployed now and will be tested through 3Q2010. Around 2Q2010, Cool Earth Solar plans to begin construction of the 1 MW pilot power plant with completion slated for year end 2010. Subsequent plans call for the development, project financing, and construction of a 10 MW plant in 2011 followed by the construction start of a 500 MW plant towards 4Q2012.

From 22nd NREL Industry Growth Forum

Business Model
Cool Earth Solar is an Independent Power Producer (IPP) and will build, own, and operate solar power plants based upon their proprietary Concentrated PhotoVoltaic (CPV) technology. Cool Earth will generate revenue by selling electricity from their solar plants via long term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) or Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs) with Investor Owned Utilities (IOU) and Municipal Utilities. In fact, the first 1 MW pilot plant will be equity funded and will seek to leverage Feed-in Tariffs offered by PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric Company) or SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District).

Cool Earth Solar will develop typical projects sized from 10 to 20 MW.

A 10 MW solar plant will cover about 100 acres (40.4 hectares) and can be sited on disturbed land from cattle grazing, farming or other uses. Cool Earth believes the smaller size will facilitate siting closer to load and avoid transmission issues.

Investment Opportunity
Cool Earth Solar plans to seek $75 Million to $90 Million Series B Equity financing in the spring or summer of 2010 and $50 Million Project financing.

Mr. Lamkin expects the first 100 MW of power plants to be 50:50 debt to equity leveraged and said:

What is exciting about 100 MW of Cool Earth Solar power plants is this can produce over $30 Million in revenue each year which gives us a very good payback and provides us more fuel for growth and deploying even more and more MegaWatts of Cool Earth plants.

Answers to the Investor Panel
Here are a summary (not verbatim unless quoted) of select responses by Mr. Lamkin to questions from the VC (Venture Capitalist) dominated investor panel judging his presentation.

Cool Earth Solar will gang projects to do a larger financing of a say 100 MW project pool and at $1 per Watt installed that would represent $100 Million. Series B equity and money left over from Series A will support the equity portion of plant construction.

A 10 MW project will generate $3 Million in revenue per year with $800000 in annual Operations and Maintenance (O&M) costs.

“I don’t think we will have to show, to be blunt, any reliability data to utilities.”

“Where we will need to develop and prove out the reliability is when we go to finance the projects. Our key reliability point will be our inflated concentrators.”

“Our project finance model that we’ve developed will replace those plastic thin films each and every year.”

“At $1 per Watt installed and with a 10 MW plant ongoing O&M will be at about $800000 a year, we believe we are well less than $0.13 per kWh [Ed. Note: kiloWatt-hour].”

“I think our cost will be well less than $0.13 a kWh. That what’s we’ll be selling at because that’s the market price. Our O&M is somewhat higher than maybe a PV plant.”

“The wind load on these structures is very light.”

“We’ve designed them to point and track, hold concentration and focus, and make energy up to about 25 miles an hour and then after that our energy production rolls off. In the desert southwest, that occurs during the bright sun like 1% of the time. But it’s an economic analysis and tradeoff.”

“There will be point, I don’t know if it is 2 years down the road or 5 years down the road, where we will definitely be looking at partnerships either with utilities or large customers or looking at licensing. So that will happen. It’s just not what our plan is for the next couple years.”

I spoke with Mr. Lamkin just before his presentation. Once key reason Cool Earth Solar participated in the Forum was to raise their profile with NREL. In addition to the 2009 NREL-Deutsche Bank Climate Change Advisors Venture Awards cash prizes, the Forum promises in-kind commercialization support from NREL.

From 22nd NREL Industry Growth Forum

Above is a rare photo of the Cool Earth Solar balloon (“inflated solar concentrator”) with an integrated PV receiver from the Radiant Energy website.

From California Clean Tech Open 2009 Launch

The balloon shown by Cool Earth Solar at the California Clean Tech Open 2009 Launch in March was sans PV receiver. I have heard the receiver has been subject to multiple redesigns. However, Mr. Lamkin told me the principle reasons for Gen 3 were rigging and tracking enhancements.

If Cool Earth Solar can achieve their $1 per Watt installed price target, they could become a formidable reverse auction adversary should the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) adopt their nonsensical Feed-in Tariff reverse auction pricing proposal.

©2009 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

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From SPI 09

In his Solar Power International 09 keynote, SEIA President Rhone Resch Challenges Solar Industry to Unite, Fight for “Solar Bill of Rights”, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) President and CEO Rhone Resch said:

So let’s make today solar’s Fourth of July —the day we declare our independence from policies that prevent greater use of solar energy which Americans so urgently need.

Today, we’re declaring a Solar Bill of Rights.

Solar Bill of Rights

To secure a policy environment that allows solar energy to compete and empowers consumers to choose, Rhone Resch declared today, October 27, 2009, in the City of Anaheim, California, a Solar Bill of Rights:

We declare these rights not on behalf of our companies, but on behalf of our customers and our country.  We seek no more than the freedom to compete on equal terms and no more than the liberty for consumers to choose the energy source they think best.

1.      Americans have the right to put solar on their homes or businesses. Restrictive covenants, onerous connection rules, and excessive permitting and inspections fees prevent too many American homes and businesses from going solar.

2.      Americans have the right to connect their solar energy system to the grid with uniform national standards. This should be as simple as connecting a telephone or appliance. No matter where they live, consumers should expect a single standard for connecting their system to the electric grid.

3.      Americans have the right to Net Meter and be compensated at the very least with full retail electricity rates. When customers generate excess solar power utilities should pay them consumer at least the retail value of that power.

4.      The solar industry has the right to a fair competitive environment.
The highly profitable fossil fuel industries have received tens of billions of dollars for decades. The solar energy expects a fair playing field, especially since the American public overwhelmingly supports the development and use of solar.

5.      The solar industry has the right to equal access to public lands. America has the best solar resources in the world, yet solar companies have zero access to public lands compared to the 45 million acres used by oil and natural gas companies.

6.      The solar industry has the right to interconnect and build new transmission lines. When America updates its electric grid, it must connect the vast solar resources in the Southwest to population centers across the nation.

7.      Americans have the right to buy solar electricity from their utility.  Consumers have no choice to buy clean, reliable solar energy from their utilities instead of the dirty fossil fuels of the past.

8.      Americans have the right, and should expect, the highest ethical treatment from the solar industry. Consumers should expect the solar energy industry to minimize its environmental impact, provide systems that work better than advertised, and communicate incentives clearly and accurately.

I found so much to like in Mr. Resch’s address such as Amendments 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8. In particular, Amendment 3 reinforces my own views on photovoltaic (PV) distributed generation and relates to my recent “AB 920: Free the Roofs for Solar!” post. Residential PV installations have been a bright spot in the tough 2009 market buoyed by the uncapped 30 percent tax credit enacted in the Bailout Bill.

I will endeavor to use only positive language in my critique of these two amendments. Let me first state for the record, I am a photovoltaic enthusiast and distributed generation advocate.

Amendment 5
Mr. Resch said:

Subsidies aren’t the only issue of fairness, which leads me to number 5.

We also have the right to equal access to public lands. Oil and natural gas companies are operating on 45 million acres of public lands. Today, solar companies have access to ZERO. America has the best solar resources in the world and we can’t harness the full potential of the sun without accessing our sun-baked lands of the West.

Yes, solar has a right to equal access of public lands. However, national preserves and refuges should be protected from oil and gas development =and= solar. Solar projects should aspire to a higher standard and be sited as close as possible to end demand markets, existing transmission, and near adequate water resources as required by their respective technology. Renewables including solar should leverage the best regional resources available near demand instead of creating a gold rush for lands soaked with the highest levels of solar radiation driven by a build it and transmission lines will come attitude.

Why is the effort to develop the Mojave National Preserve shaping up as the Big Solar equivalent of ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge)?

Amendment 6
Mr. Resch said:

Of course, there’s little point in collecting energy unless there’s a means of distributing it.

That’s why our 6th Amendment is that we have the right to interconnect and build new transmission lines. Here, too, we seek no more than what other industries already have. The next great build out of our transmission lines must connect the vast solar resources in the southwest to the population centers across the United States.

Solar has the right to interconnect to the grid. Absolutely.

The Smart Grid is required to integrate solar and other renewable into the grid as their percentage of total electricity generation increases. Building new transmission lines just to exploit renewable resources sounds like a 19th century empire expansion and resource exploitation strategy. Certain transmission extensions and upgrades are required to enable a national US grid. Extending transmission lines to unpopulated areas in order to tap renewable resources is a debatable right.

For more eloquent arguments, “Transmission Lies” by Carol A. Overland, first posted at Grist, and “Renewable Energy: The Better Way” are both downloadable from the Alliance for Responsible Energy Policy.

Also, a “New study says “going local” the best energy option” by Osha Gray Davidson at The Phoenix Sun points out the favorable economics of local energy generation and consumption.

My INBY Proposal
While the NIMBY (self defining to preserve positive language) is derided, I propose the INBY (In My Back Yard) supporter of new transmission infrastructure volunteer a right of way through their own property for utility projects. Lest the INBY believe they are safe from transmission line extensions, other utility smart grid upgrades could make use of their generous pledge with the siting of substations, neighborhood storage, or even wind turbines and PV renewable projects.

An INBY unwilling to make the utility right of way pledge can be exposed for advocating a hypocritical position.

I took notice when SPI 09 Keynote Speaker Ed Begley, Jr. said:

Look at what Germany is doing and so many other countries with the Feed-in Tariff. That’s what we need to do, that kind of a model, here in this country.

©2009 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

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Select photos from the SPI 09 Conference and Expo.

The first Picasa slideshow is from the Conference on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Expo slideshow has photos from the random wanderings of a Photovoltaic Blogger. Please see the captions for the context.

On the lighter side, here is a list from the Tax Equity Financing session by Terry Friddle (Pathfinder Capital Advisors LLC):

Top Ten Solar Movies
(Investor Cuts)

10. They’re Just Not That Into You
9. There’s Something About the Model
8. Quantum of Solar
7. Meet the Analysts
6. Deal Interrupted
5. The Solarist
4. Cheaper by the Dozen
3. My Big Fat Legal Fees
2. Saving Private Equity
1. Yield of Dreams

©2009 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

SoloPanel SFX1 – Series flexible photovoltaic module

From SoloPower flexible SoloPanel SFX1 – Series at SPI 09

I wasn’t the first with SoloPower module photos (PHOTOS: What’s Hot At Solar Power International 2009 by Katie Fehrenbacher at Earth2Tech), but my approach tends to be thorough.

Following a Solyndra strategy (who had their first exhibition stand), SoloPower had one of their flexible module samples seeded in the 3M stand at Solar Power International 09 (SPI 09) along with a datasheet and the occasional SoloPower representative. “SoloPower Displays CIGS PV Module Prototype in 3M Booth #377 at Solar Power International Conference” set the stage for media, competitors, and customers to seek out and examine the sample. Whether deliberate or rushed, the datasheet is not yet on the SoloPower website. Below is a photo bootleg of the backside technical data. I also found an errant online copy of the SoloPanel Series 1 glass module datasheet.

From SoloPower flexible SoloPanel SFX1 – Series at SPI 09

I’ve been absorbing as much of SPI 09 as possible in two days and decided to go to Disneyland Tuesday night instead of posting. Meantime, I suggest checking out the relaunched Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) website. “SEPA Boosts Solar Electric Power Build-out with New Resources” points out the how to guide, “Thinking Solar? Gather Your Tools Here: A guide to maximizing SEPA’s new website.” The Solar Data & Mapping Tool looks cool for locating existing and planned solar projects. And cheers to SEPA for selecting the proper default: the Top 20 PV Projects! Registering for a guest account will provide access to additional resources.

©2009 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

With “KSK Surya Photovoltaic Venture Selects SunFab Solar Panel Production Lines for 150MW Project in India”, Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) ended an almost one year three month drought since the last SunFab deal with Moncada Energy Group s.r.l. per “Moncada Enters Solar Energy Market with Contract for Applied Materials’ SunFab Thin Film Line”.

Should this be viewed as a positive sign of at least a slow recovery from the Great Recession and credit crunch? Perhaps a better question is how have Applied Materials SunFab customers fared to date?

In “VLSI Research ranks Top 10 PV Manufacturing Equipment Suppliers for 2008”, I didn’t calculate the MegaWatt-peak (MWp) cumulative production of Applied Materials SunFab customers. At Intersolar 2009 (Munich), an Applied Materials executive told me “SunFab customers had cumulative production of about 300000 quarter sized modules.” As time has passed, I double checked the number with the AMAT Public Relations team for this post.

When I got the revised number, I was surprised, even astonished: “820,000 1/4 size equivalent panels.” That is an over 2.7 times cumulative production increase since Intersolar. A quarter (1/4) size equivalent module (panel) is a SunFab signature 5.7 m² (square meter) panel divided into four (4) modules.

The figure contradicted information from other sources indicating many SunFab lines have been idling or in low volume production. Upon my questioning, AMAT said this is the total number of modules manufactured all the way through the line (modules out), and Applied cannot comment on what customers sell but our yields on these modules are running very high (in the 90’s).

Again, without knowing the module mix from SunFab manufacturers, single junction a-Si (amorphous Silicon) PV modules range from about 78 to 90 Wp (Watt-peak) and Tandem Junction a-Si/μc-Si (amorphous and microcrystalline Silicon) modules range from say 110 to 120 Wp translating to anywhere from 64.0 to 98.4 MWp (MegaWatt-peak) of cumulative production. Given yield uncertainty and only two SunFab customers, Sunfilm AG and ENN Group, have tandem lines, I guesstimate the actual number is skewed towards the lower 64.0 MWp.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Just at the 24th EU PVSEC Analyst Briefing, Applied Materials CEO Michael Splinter presented:

• 6 SunFab lines in 4 countries
• Manufacturing capacity >230MW
• Panels produced > 600k
• 9.25% stable aperture efficiency in production, 10% in lab

Ignoring the timing of SunFab line factory ramps, more than enough capacity is in place to produce 820000 modules.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Later, Senior Vice President, General Manager Energy and Environmental Solutions and Display and Chief Technology Officer Mark R. Pinto added:

SunFab™TF:

• Ramping to scale and delivering ~$1.20/Wp module today, ~$0.70/Wp in 2012
• Delivering 9.25% stable aperture efficiency in production, 10% in lab
• Increasing number of project bids include SunFab modules

The 9.25% aperture efficiency is for tandem modules, and I will posit the ~$1.20/Wp production cost may just be a projection for multiple Tandem Junction SunFab lines.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Stuck between crystalline silicon and CdTe (Cadmium Telluride)
Relentless price erosion in the 2009 PV market has squeezed a-Si modules the hardest. SunFab manufacturers produce modules with lower efficiencies =and= at higher production costs than industry leader First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSLR). Crystalline silicon solar modules have further pressured the a-Si value proposition with high efficiency at a relative low cost driven by cheaper polysilicon. In the 2009 PV buyer’s market, a-Si modules are waiting behind First Solar and crystalline silicon manufacturers as inventories are cleared. Per one of my tweets last week, 2010 may prove even worse for SunFab a-Si and tandem modules. Nuying Huang and Adam Hwang report “Major China PV module makers lower 1Q10 quotes to 1.2-1.3 euro/watt” for DIGITIMES (subscription may be required) setting an even lower price ceiling for SunFab modules.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Where The Streets Have No Name? (Thanks U2!)
Which leaves the key question, where have all the SunFab PV modules gone?

The Signet Solar Product Installations page still cites their 230 kW rooftop installation at the Signet factory in Mochau, Germany, as their largest to date. Meanwhile according to “Signet introduces 400W single junction silicon module” by Syanne Olson at PV-tech.org, “Signet says its production line is operating at full capacity.” In August 2009, Sunfilm was proud to announce “SUNFILM AND SUNOVA PUT MORE THAN 1MWP OF THIN FILM TANDEM JUNCTION MODULES ON ROOFS”. “Moser Baer to develop a one megawatt solar farm project in Maharashtra, India” followed in September. And “Duke Energy, China’s ENN to build solar power projects” by Arundhati Ramanathan for Reuters was a significant late week deal for the ENN Group without mention of project sizes or the shipment of a single module, yet.

If SunFab a-Si and tandem modules are indeed selling through and not stacking up in inventories, how close to manufacturing cost do they need to be priced to sell?

©2009 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

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From Quivira Vineyards 55 kW DC Solar Array

On October 11, 2009, I was tracking the progress of the SB 32 (Negrete McLeod) Feed-in Tariff bill in California and knew it was the last day for Governor Schwarzenegger to sign bills passed by the Legislature into law. I was surprised to learn the “Governor Signs Two Big Solar Bills”, both AB 920 and SB 32. I had been tracking AB 920 earlier in the year and was disappointed when AB 920 was neglected at the SolarTech / CALSEIA Summit.

Before AB 920, net metering customers could only drive their electric bills to zero and not negative or a payable credit balance for electricity generation in excess of their usage. Hence, utilities obtained the excess electricity for free and even charge zero balance net metering customers an administrative fee.

Per “New Law Requires Utilities to Pay Consumers for their Excess Power”, AB 920 sponsor Assemblymember Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) said:

However, if a customer pursues other measures to reduce energy consumption – invests in energy efficient appliances, upgrades insulation, and weatherizes their home – the result is that their system generates more electricity than they use on an annual basis.  That surplus energy goes back into the grid and the customer is not compensated.  AB 920 simply requires the utility to compensate the customer for that excess electricity.

The bill applies to anyone who owns a small solar or wind generation system on their property to offset their energy needs, which as Huffman points out, is an increasingly diverse group.  “This bill applies to individual homeowners, as well as small businesses, farms, wineries, schools and even affordable housing developments,” said Huffman.

CPUC to set the net surplus electricity rate
Page seventeen (17) of the twenty (20) page AB 920 Chaptered Bill (376) states:

The ratemaking authority shall, by January 1, 2011, establish a net surplus electricity compensation valuation to compensate the net surplus customer-generator for the value of net surplus electricity generated by the net surplus customer-generator.

AB 920 establishes the general criteria for the CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) to value the net surplus electricity compensation (rate paid by utilities) including:

• The value of the electricity itself.
• The value of the renewable attributes of the electricity.

However, the conservative expectation is the CPUC will set a low wholesale rate ignoring the renewable benefits and time of generation value of the solar electricity.

Why would the CPUC undervalue the excess solar electricity this way?

The CPUC OPPOSED the revolutionary provisions of AB 920 from the start. Please see the CPUC Bill Analysis — May 13, 2009 and Legislative Memo – May 7, 2009.

First, the CPUC is concerned about the impact on other ratepayers. AB 920 guides the CPUC with the following nebulous language:

The net surplus electricity compensation valuation shall be established so as to provide the net surplus customer-generator just and reasonable compensation for the value of net surplus electricity, while leaving other ratepayers unaffected.

My only interpretation is utilities must absorb the cost without passing it along to ratepayers. This must be California.

Second, the CPUC and many PV advocates resent installations generating excess electricity since the systems violate the size to load limitation. Since these photovoltaic (PV) systems were purchased under the California Solar Initiative (CSI) program or prior rebate programs, owners are viewed as double dipping when paid for excess electricity production. Profit and accelerated ROI (Return On Investment) are considered obscenities when uttered by PV system owners. Of course, changes in home ownership, family size, and increased energy efficiency are mundane reasons for reductions in electricity consumption.

Eliminate the Size to load limitation
The original version of AB 920 eliminated the requirement that a “solar system should be sized to produce no more than their expected annual electricity needs.” However, legislative compromise forced the removal of the language.

Utility scale solar proponents disparage distributed residential and commercial PV installations as too expensive. Placing artificial limits on small PV systems increases the installed price per Watt because the transaction cost is almost fixed whether the system capacity is 2 kW (kiloWatt) or 10 kW in size. In California, I have observed many odd looking solar installations with a few modules on an otherwise empty roof. Roof resources with great sun and without shading are being wasted because of the size to load limitation.

The size to load limitation has altruistic origins in the limited solar rebate budgets of the past. I understand the original motivation to spread the rebate benefit, but climate change and a 33% Renewable Portfolio Standard goal by 2020 should trump these qualms.

The Quivira Vineyards story
During the summer, my sister and I visited the Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County, California, for a day of wine tasting. After parking at the Quivira Vineyards tasting room shown in the top photo, I admired their solar module packed roof system.

Chatting with the tasting room staff, I was surprised to learn Quivira was aware of AB 920 and the 2008 version I posted about in AB 1920: California bill goes beyond Net Metering. Quivira’s 55 kW PV system has a history of generating more electricity than the winery requires. The Quivira Solar Power page hosts a Fat Spaniel view of instantaneous and cumulative generation and usage. While Quivira has imported more power from the grid thus far in 2009, they have generated a 126781 kWh (kiloWatt-hour) electricity surplus since 2005. Quivira’s peak electricity usage occurs around the fall harvest, so surplus electricity may yet be generated in 2009.

From Quivira Vineyards 55 kW DC Solar Array

Of course, I have to observe Quivira’s zeal for aesthetics resulted in Sharp 185 Watt solar modules being hacked to fit a roof valley shown in the photo above. Four (4) years of weathering has resulted in module discoloration and wear because of the compromised encapsulant. Sharp has offered triangular modules for a few years though I don’t know if these were offered in 2005. Today, triangular modules plus per module distributed power electronics could be used to maximize the power generation in this pseudo BIPV (Building Integrated PV) application. I assume Synergy Electrical Systems cut the modules per Quivira’s request.

A spate of odd strategic PV news hit late day Thursday including “MEMC to Buy SunEdison” and “National Semi Buys Energy Recommerce”.

©2009 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

It’s been like forever (1 year, 8 months, 10 days) since my last Solar Light Flashes. I’ve always planned to resurrect the haphazard post. Twitter delayed the return but sometimes 140 characters are insufficient.

From 24th EU PVSEC

centrotherm photovoltaics AG (ETR:CTN)

Only the Photovoltaic (PV) Industry plasters roadmaps or manufacturing costs on exhibition stand signage. The last official centrotherm CIGS (copper indium gallium diselenide) news was “Success in the thin film division: centrotherm photovoltaics achieves 13 percent efficiency for mass production”. Tom Cheyney chatted with centrotherm in “EU PVSEC short takes: Talking CIGS turnkey, eyeballing a Nanosolar panel, and more” at PV-tech.org.

I wonder what the latest is on Sunshine PV Corp.’s installation and ramp of a 30 MW (MegaWatt) centrotherm CIGS production line?

From 24th EU PVSEC

German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) 2009: Direct Use

Cornelia Viertl, Senior Advisor for Solar Energy and Geothermal Energy at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, presented the “Political Framework for the PV market in Germany” at EU PVSEC. The slide on Direct Use shown above attracted my attention.

The EEG Direct Use provision has been painted by a few US Feed-in Tariff (FiT) naysayers as a German step towards California style Performance Based Incentives or even net metering. In reality, the Special tariff option =pays= the consumer €0.2501 per kWh (kiloWatt-hour) for each kWh of electricity consumed over a 20 year period! The Direct Use tariff is in effect a Feed-in Tariff minus a flat residential electricity rate. In practice, a German residential PV installation selecting the Direct Use option can achieve a zero Euro electric bill with less than half the PV system capacity required under California net metering rules.

As I tweeted back then, the silliest thing I heard at Intersolar NA 2009 was said by Prometheus Institute President Travis Bradford during his “State of the Solar Industry” presentation. Mr. Bradford said:

A lot of people that are promoting Feed-in Tariffs in the United States um just know at the same time Germany is trying to move to a California based model. So how are you going to reconcile that?

With German PV Feed-in Tariffs under pressure because of the steep fall in solar module prices and the new conservative CDU FDP coalition government, I expect FiT detractors will disinform during Solar Power International 2009 at every opportunity.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Fraunhofer ISE (Institute for Solar Energy Systems)

At the Fraunhofer ISE stand, a FLATCON® Module with Reflective Secondary Optics was on display hinting at the possible future direction of Concentrix Solar GmbH. Still under development, the modules with reflective secondary optics were said to have achieved efficiencies as high as 29.1% outdoors without citing further details.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Global Solar Energy, Inc.

Is something wrong at Global Solar? When I had an unpleasant question for them, I discovered Global Solar had dropped the PR firm listed on their website, and I never got a response from the company. Global Solar has been mum (perhaps by contract?) throughout The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) CIGS solar shingle hoopla, “DOW™ POWERHOUSE™ Solar Shingle Unveiled”, or please see “Dow Unveils Solar Shingles” by Todd Woody for the New York Times Green Inc. Blog. So what happens if a nail is hammered through a CIGS cell by accident?

From 24th EU PVSEC

KCC Polysilicon

After achieving 150 MT (Metric Ton) polysilicon pilot production in 2008, KCC Corporation (SEO:002380) claims to be on schedule to complete the construction of two (2) polysilicon factories with 3000 MT annual capacity each by the end of 2009. One is fully owned by KCC while the second is a joint venture (JV) between KCC and Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (SEO:009540) called Korean Advanced Material (KAM). Phase I mass production is slated to ramp at both factories in the first to second quarter of 2010. KCC will produce the TCS (Trichlorosilane) used for polysilicon production.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Q-Cells SE (ETR:QCE)

Q-Cells CEO Anton Milner made quite the EU PVSEC entrance when he arrived in the solar taxi. OK, I did not witness nor believe that happened, but the concept was made possible by a Q-Cells’ community initiative.

From 24th EU PVSEC

RTS Corporation

RTS Corporation President Osamu IKKI presented “PV market of Japan: Rising again with the new support framework”. As the above slide shows, RTS projects the Japanese PV market will grow to 400-500 MW in 2009 and 1.0-1.2 GW by 2012. In the near term, residential and municipal (schools) PV applications dominate. Japanese utilities have announced Distributed Generation PV projects from 1.5 MW to 18 MW in size slated for completion over the next few years.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Schmid Group

When I saw the sign, I just had to take a few photos at the Schmid stand without any particular agenda.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Schmid Silicon Technology GmbH (SST)

Since Schmid Pilot Production Topping Out, “Installation of first equipment has started” (Deutsch) was the news somewhere around September 14, 2009. Per SST, potential customers are waiting for the successful completion of pilot production to prove the Schmid Process.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Skyline Solar, Inc.

Skyline Solar had a stand at EU PVSEC (and will have one at Solar Power International 2009 also known as SPI 09). Why? Exactly. Don’t they need to get their modules certified before their solution has any hope of being bankable?

Judging by the participation of Skyline Solar VP of Marketing Tim Keating in the SPI 09 panel, “Shifting from Installed Costs to Performance Costs: Why $/W is No Longer Relevant to the End Market”, on Tuesday, Oct 27, 2009, from 11:00AM to 12:30PM, accelerating PV’s path to grid parity with High Gain Solar (HGS) lies through price and cost obfuscation.

From 24th EU PVSEC

SolarEdge Technologies Inc.

At EU PVSEC, I learned SolarEdge has some 25 MW (MegaWatts) of backlog with production at about 200 kW (kiloWatts) per week. Since Close to the SolarEdge, SolarEdge has racked up awards (Global Cleantech 100, Frost & Sullivan), partners (HaWi, Isofotón), and investors. I expect further big news around SPI 09 though SolarEdge is forgoing their trademark exhibition edge location for central stand 2438.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Sony Chemicals Europe B.V.

When I saw the SONY stand, I thought it might be for solar modules or a PV powered PSP (PlayStation Portable). Sony Chemical & Information Device Corporation was promoting photovoltaic module materials through its European subsidiary, Sony Chemicals Europe B.V.

Products included a Solar Cell Conductive Film SP102F1 used as a connecting material between metal ribbons and solar cells in crystalline silicon and thin film PV modules and a tentative datasheet for an Encapsulant with backsheet.

From 24th EU PVSEC

Tigo Energy

I met with Tigo just before their announcement on gaining UL compliance, “Tigo Energy Achieves Compliance/Certification Landmark”. Tigo also announced the Module Maximizer-ES (MM-ES), perfect for string retrofit installations, had a $56 MSRP (Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price). Tigo mentioned the Module Maximizer solution is seeing traction in retrofit applications in Spain and even in Germany with an unnamed commercial sized PV system. Tigo was also awarded the Global Cleantech 100 honor like a competitor mentioned above. Perhaps the tie I declared in Intersolar 2009: My Photovoltaic Top 10 List was prescient?

Is Tigo’s $56 MSRP kryptonite to SolarMagic priced at $199 each and requiring the one $79 blocking diode per string?

From 24th EU PVSEC

Tyco Electronics Ltd. (NYSE:TEL)

Tyco earns my creative promotion award by joining twitter (http://twitter.com/TycoElectronics) and offering a “Twitter Goodie” to those visiting the Tyco stand and uttering the phrase. Now I didn’t know about the chance to win a SOLARLOK Service Kit by dropping off a business card.

From 24th EU PVSEC

And that completes a rather wordy Solar Light Flashes. The End.

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