SJV Clean Energy - Renewable Power Blog

Meridian Energy Limited: Landmark Utility-Scale Solar Farm Commences Operations

2010-05-20T02:34:00.000-07:00

Link: Cleantech America's CalRENEW-1 Provides PG&E Emission-Free Solar Power

Governor gets bill to expand solar energy sales

2010-02-19T10:02:00.000-08:00

Associated Press

Friday, February 19, 2010

More Californians who put solar panels on their roofs could sell the excess electricity they generate under legislation sent to the governor.

The bill by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, allows utilities to buy up to 5 percent of their energy from customers. Current law limits those purchases to 2.5 percent.

The Assembly adopted the bill Thursday on a 53-1 vote. Rachel Arrezola, a spokeswoman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said the governor intends to sign it.

Supporters say the measure will increase the use of solar technology and offset high electricity costs.

Critics say the bill is flawed because none of the renewable energy that homeowners sell to utilities would count toward the state's renewable-energy mandates.

This article appeared on page C - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Fresno shines on solar energy lists

2009-08-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

Published online on Saturday, Jul. 25, 2009

By Bethany Clough / The Fresno Bee

Fresno's hot sun -- and the cost of cooling everything it bakes -- has catapulted the city onto Top-10 lists for solar projects.

Fresno ranks third in the state for the number of kilowatts its solar projects produce, according to a recent report ranking California cities.

The city also ranks fifth for the number of projects on roofs, with Clovis close behind at seventh.

The California's Solar Cities report was compiled by Environment California, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit environmental advocacy group.

More than 300 days of sunshine a year make Fresno an ideal place for solar power generation, experts say.

But it's not just sunshine that make solar projects practical here. With all that sunshine comes the need to run air conditioners to cool homes and businesses in summer, noted REC Solar's Gregg Fischer, a senior manager of Northern California sales and business development.

Power is expensive here, he noted. California's average prices for power are among the top 20% of all states, according to the federal government's Energy Administration.

And when local residents run their air conditioners during peak power-usage periods, they pay even more, he said.

"You have this combination of high usage, and high usage at very high cost, coupled with 300 days of sunshine," Fischer said. "There are very few areas that are more practical for solar."

Motivations in other cities are different, which is why San Francisco has a high number of solar projects, but not a lot of sun, Fischer said. That city's residents tend to be more motivated by environmental reasons, he said.

Data used in the report comes from the California Energy Commission, the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Center for Sustainable Energy and the state's private and public utilities. The rankings do not include solar projects that are owned by utilities or ones not connected to the electrical grid.

Fresno's No. 5 ranking for the number of solar installations includes everything from rooftop systems on houses to large commercial and government projects. When the Fresno and Clovis numbers are combined, the area has 1,764 installations, more than San Francisco, Los Angeles or San Jose.

Joseph Oldham, the city of Fresno's sustainability manager, said leadership by the current and previous mayor and the City Council has helped spur acceptance of solar power here.

The city allowed 9.5 acres of solar panels to be built at Fresno Yosemite International Airport by a private company and buys the power it produces. The city also has a 668-kilowatt system on a rooftop at the Municipal Service Center, where city buses and other vehicles are serviced.

And there's a snowball effect among residents who put solar projects on their roofs, Oldham said.

"Neighbors talk," he said. "You get someone in a community that puts an array up on their home, and they start telling their neighbors about how much less their power costs are."

The number of companies offering solar in the area has multiplied in recent years, Oldham said.

Federal and state rebates and tax credits help bring down the price. And more options -- including ways for residents to lease systems built on their own rooftops or just buy power from them -- also bring down the cost, said Paul Ahern, regional sales manager of Akeena Solar, which has an office in Clovis.

Fresno and Clovis's solar installations show that the face of solar power is changing, said Bernadette Del Chiaro, the report's author.

"It shows its going from a niche market along the coast to Main Street," she said.

Blog Editor's note: The Fresno/Clovis metropolitan area, roughly 800k population, has 19.8 MW installed, higher than front runner San Diego’s 19.4 MW, LA, San Francisco, or San Jose.

Can Clean Energy Be Cheap Energy?

2009-06-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

DOE Energy Information Administration - Impacts of a 25-Percent Renewable Electricity Standard as Proposed in the American Clean Energy and Security Act Discussion Drafthttp://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/acesa/index.html

Can Clean Energy Be Cheap Energy?

Andy Stone, 05.01.09, 9:05 PM ET

Originally published on Forbes.com

Opponents of renewable energy normally rely on economic arguments to bash wind, solar and related electricity generating technologies. Renewable energy is expensive and threatens to make consumers suffer dramatically higher electricity rates, while making U.S. industry uncompetitive the argument goes.

But the Energy Information Administration, part of the Department of Energy, has concluded that the price increase fears are overblown. This week, the EIA released "Impacts of a 25% Renewable Electricity Standard," finding electricity rates will be mostly unmoved if the federal government requires utilities to generate more power from renewable sources. Massachusetts Democratic representative Edward Markey, who is working hard to push an RES through Congress as part of the American Clean Energy and Security Act, requested the report.

The EIA concludes that if the U.S. were to get 25% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2025, as Markey proposes, demand for coal and natural gas would slacken, and the price of dirty fuels would subsequently fall. Savings from lower fossil fuel bills will offset the additional cost utilities face in putting up solar farms and the like.

The result: Electricity rates could inch up by 3% or so in 2025 with renewables, versus a conventional power mix. But by 2030, lower coal and natural gas costs will be fully taken into account by utilities, with electricity costs a wash. Potential benefits of a renewables policy could be lower natural gas prices for home heating, cooking and industrial use as well.

But EIA's 50-page report doesn't see cost savings anytime soon. Through 2020 at least, there won't be enough renewable energy on the U.S. grid to substantially offset coal and natural gas use, so taxpayers and utility customers are likely to subsidize wind farms without the benefit of lower electric bills.

And EIA's estimates are hazy on the matter of new electric transmission lines that would carry renewable energy from remote, windy Great Plains and sunny deserts to big population centers. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu says a national electric superhighway will be needed to make renewables work best. The Energy Department says such a grid will likely cost $60 billion. But EIA factors in the cost of less robust grid upgrades.

Finally, the proposed 25% renewable standard is much less ambitious than it first appears. The proposed RPS has lax standards for rural utilities and removes hydroelectric power from the calculation baseline. When all caveats are taken into account, Markey's energy proposal would have just 17% of the country's electricity come from renewable sources.

The U.S. could get its clean energy on the cheap. But it won't get as much of that energy as advertised.

Solar Shootout in the San Joaquin Valley

2009-05-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

by Bob Haavind, editor-at-large, Photovoltaics World

Side-by-side crystalline and thin-film photovoltaic installations at a water treatment plant in California's Central Valley should provide a clear indication of which provides the best energy production and cost benefit performance over varying climatic conditions within a year.

The 1.6MW solar array for the South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID) was installed in two phases by Denver-based Conergy Americas in Manteca, CA. Phase One includes 6720 Conergy 175W crystalline modules mounted on a single-axis solar tracking system that can boost peak-time output by about 15% over fixed systems. The Phase Two tracking system, which went active in late March, uses cadmium telluride (CdTe) modules from First Solar, chosen because they are expected to perform at a lower cost/watt than crystalline modules, according to David Vincent, Western US project director for Conergy. They add 419kW to the project, and it is believed to be the first commercial thin-film solar tracking system in the US.
Thin-film modules "can outperform monocrystalline in areas prone to hazy, overcast conditions or in industries that generate dust or high degrees of air particulates," according to Vincent. They are also superior when there is frequent fog, such as in coastal areas. The reason, he says, is the sensitivity of the thin-film cells to a broader span of the solar spectrum, including infrared and ultraviolet regions. Thin-film cells also should perform better when dust covers the surface, he added. Another advantage of thin-film modules is that less interconnect is needed between cells, so that there is less rise in resistivity and heat loss on hot days, he explained.

Early indications, Vincent says, are that the output/DC kW of the thin-film modules is about 10% higher that of the monocrystalline.

The project, known as the Robert O. Schultz Solar Farm, will handle almost all of the power needs for a water treatment plant that provides 40 million gallons/day for 155,000 residents and businesses of four nearby communities, as well as irrigation water for 55,000 farm acres. The main goal of the project is to stabilize electrical costs, which can spike in summer months because of time-of-use metering, according to Don Battles, utility systems director for SSJID. Also, these are times when solar output is at a maximum.

This Conergy solar energy system, designed for California's South San Joaquin Irrigation District, is believed to be the world's first single-axis solar tracking system featuring thin-film photovoltaic cells. (Source: Conergy)

To reduce long-term maintenance requirements for the thin-film tracking system, the number of drive motors had to be minimized. The challenge was to effectively drive more than 30 tons of modules and steel following the sun's trajectory with each 2hp motor. This was done by means of a 30-ton screw jack and engineered counter-balance.

Power generation data for the crystalline and thin-film modules will be fed from equipment that Conergy installed on inverters to Fat Spaniel Technologies, a nearby monitoring and reporting company. The analysis is put online so that it can be tracked by SSJID's Battles and his team from offices located more than 20 miles from the solar arrays. The data on the Fat Spaniel Web site also allows the group to compare the 1MW Phase One solar-tracking system with a number of fixed installations, such as a 1MW fixed-axis rooftop system at a fruit packing firm in Hanford, CA, a system that Conergy also installed. Battles indicates that the output at the water treatment tracking facility is typically 15%-18% ahead, even though he believes the sun is better at the Hanford location.

The irrigation district expects to save nearly $400,000 a year in utility costs due to the solar system, while getting millions of dollars in state incentives.

Conergy's Vincent says that the side-by-side face-off between monocrystalline and thin-film systems is attracting worldwide attention, particularly in Europe where solar has advanced much further than in the US.

The performance of thin-film modules under the hazy, often foggy conditions is attracting considerable interest in the California valley region, according to Vincent. For example, a 188kW thin-film fixed solar array is being installed by Conergy in Hanford, CA, for Verdegaal Brothers, a fertilizer, warehousing, and soil and water amendment supplier. Vincent said that the First Solar CdTe thin-film installation takes about 10%-15% more ground space, but provides more energy and is expected to cost 10%-15% less than a monocrystalline array. The facility is expected to offset Verdegaal's utility bills by 99%, cutting some $60,000 a year, while providing for 82% of the company's energy needs. Over the 25-year life of the system, which is scheduled to start up in July, emissions are expected to be reduced by 6,145 tons of CO2. -- B.H.

This article was originally published by Photovoltaics World. To access this article, go to:
http://www.solid-state.com /display_article/360858/5/none/none/APPLI/Solar-shootout-in-the-San-Joaquin-Valley

California Funds Collaboration to Spur Solar Development

2009-04-22T12:58:00.000-07:00

SAN DIEGO, California, April 15, 2009 (ENS) - The first California Solar Energy Collaborative was established today by California Energy Commission with a two-year, $700,000 grant to two University of California campuses.

The University of California, San Diego, in collaboration with UC Davis will use the grant to expand the development and use of solar energy in the state.

"As a leader in supporting renewable energy, the Energy Commission strongly believes that funding research and development now will deliver dividends in the future for California's ratepayers," said Karen Douglas, who chairs the commission, the state's primary energy policy and planning agency.

The solar energy collaborative falls under the commission's California Renewable Energy program, which includes three other existing collaboratives focused on biomass, geothermal and wind energies.

The total funding for all four initiatives is $3 million.

The collaborative will help establish a comprehensive energy policy for the state, including the development of a plan for introducing solar technologies by evaluating market and growth trends, as well as regulatory, economic and financial constraints and barriers.

The new collaborative aims to help California install 3,000 megawatts of solar power in California by the year 2017.

UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox said the collaborative will help establish UC San Diego and UC Davis as powerhouses for solar energy research.

"This solar collaborative is a large and significant role in the state, nation and the world, and being selected to co-lead this initiative is a significant challenge and responsibility," Fox said. "As renewable energies continue to take center stage around the globe, we hope to strengthen ties across academia, industry and the government to create the best solutions for our energy use and for our environment."

The solar collaborative will be co-led by Farrokh Najmabadi, director of UC San Diego's Center for Energy Research and associate director of the center Ed Yu, together with Pieter Stroeve, professor of chemical engineering and materials science at UC Davis.

"Our research focuses on making solar energy more efficient and economical, allowing major expansion of solar power in California," said Najmabadi, who is also a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC San Diego. "Southern California is an ideal location for deployment of solar power and UC San Diego can play a major role in this endeavor."

"There is great potential to improve solar technology," Yu said. "One of the things the collaborative will help do is bring together university-based researchers who are looking at longer term, fundamental solutions in solar energy and the end users, such as utilities and manufacturers."

"There is this so-called 'Valley of Death' between people like us who are doing basic and applied research and the commercial end users," said Yu. "Bringing these groups together under the solar collaborative will help bridge that gap. We hope it will help facilitate the transfer of new ideas developed within the universities to the commercial market."

Through the collaborative, UC San Diego and UC Davis will reach out to utilities, research institutions, solar equipment manufacturers, and regulatory agencies, as well as to investors interested in funding these new technologies. The collaborative will include a board of directors, as well as an executive director, who has yet to be named.

"Solar energy is a renewable and sustainable source of energy for California that is yet to be explored and exploited for its full potential. However, fundamental problems need to be addressed in order to make solar energy economical," Stroeve said. "The solar collaborative between the California Energy Commission, UC San Diego and UC Davis will facilitate the development of solar energy in California."

Economic Stimulus Act Provides $16.8 Billion for EERE Programs

2009-03-03T14:16:00.000-08:00

Economic Stimulus Act Provides $16.8 Billion for EERE Programs

(reprinted from EERE Network News: A weekly newsletter from the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The EERE Network News is also available on the Web at: www.eere.energy.gov/news/enn.cfm)

President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 on Tuesday. Credit: Pete Souza, White House

President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 yesterday, and the measure includes $16.8 billion for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). The funding is a nearly tenfold increase for EERE, which received $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2008. While the bulk of the new EERE funding is supporting direct grants and rebates, $2.5 billion will support EERE's applied research, development, and deployment activities, including $800 million for the Biomass Program, $400 million for the Geothermal Technologies Program, and $50 million for efforts to increase the energy efficiency of information and communications technologies. An additional $400 million will support efforts to add electric technologies to vehicles. And separate from the EERE budget, $400 million will support the establishment of the Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (ARPA-E), an agency to support innovative energy research, modeled after the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). See the White House announcement and pages 58-60 and 63 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (PDF 13.4 MB), as well as pages 24-26 of the accompanying joint explanatory statement of the conference committee (PDF 10.3 MB). Download Adobe Reader.
The economic stimulus act also stipulates that $5 billion will go towards the Weatherization Assistance Program, and the act also increases the eligible income level under the program, increases the funding assistance level to $6,500 per home, and allows new weatherization assistance for homes that were weatherized as recently as 1994. A complementary measure in the act provides $4 billion to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to rehabilitate and retrofit public housing, including increasing the energy efficiency of units, plus an additional $510 million to do the same for homes maintained by Native American housing programs. HUD will receive an additional $250 million to increase the energy efficiency of HUD-sponsored, low-income housing. See pages 59, 79, 254-261, and 275-278 of the act, as well as pages 24, 28, 84, and 86-87 of the accompanying joint explanatory statement of the conference committee.
The act also directs $2 billion in EERE funds toward grants for the manufacturing of advanced battery systems and components within the United States, as well as the development of supporting software. The battery grants will support advanced lithium-ion batteries and hybrid electric systems. Another $300 million will support an Alternative Fueled Vehicles Pilot Grant Program, and an additional $300 million will support rebates for energy efficient appliances, while also supporting DOE's efforts under the Energy Star Program. The act also stipulates that $3.2 billion will go toward Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants, which were established in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, but were not previously funded. The grants will go toward states, local governments, and tribal governments to support the development of energy efficiency and conservation strategies and programs, including energy audit programs and projects to install fuel cells and solar, wind, and biomass power projects at government buildings. For background on the program, see pages 176-183 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (PDF 821 KB).
The act also stipulates that $3.1 billion of EERE funds will go toward the State Energy Program for additional grants that don't need to be matched with state funds, but the act only allows such grants for states that intend to adopt strict building energy codes and intend to provide utility incentives for energy efficiency measures. To help states implement the measures, a separate portion of the act allocates $500 million to the Department of Labor to prepare workers for careers in energy efficiency and renewable energy. See pages 59, 81-85, and 147-148 of the act, as well as pages 24, 28, and 51 of the accompanying joint explanatory statement of the conference committee.
Renewable Energy and Smart Grids Spurred by Economic Stimulus Act
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes $6 billion to support loan guarantees for renewable energy and electric transmission technologies. The funds are expected to guarantee more than $60 billion in loans. The act requires the DOE Loan Guarantee Program to only make loan guarantees to projects that will start construction by September 30, 2011, and that involve renewable energy, electric transmission, or leading-edge biofuel technologies. See pages 63 and 76-78 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (PDF 13.4 MB), as well as pages 26-27 of the accompanying joint explanatory statement of the conference committee (PDF 10.3 MB). Download Adobe Reader.
The act also directs DOE to analyze the nation's electrical grid to determine if significant potential sources of renewable energy are locked out of the electrical market by a lack of adequate transmission capacity. DOE must then provide recommendations for achieving adequate transmission capacity. To help achieve those recommendations, the act includes a provision allowing the Western Area Power Administration to borrow up to $3.25 billion from the U.S. Treasury for transmission system upgrades, particularly for facilitating the delivery of power from renewable energy facilities. See pages 65-71 and 80-81 of the act and page 28 of the joint explanatory statement of the conference committee.
In addition, the act provides $4.5 billion for the DOE Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability for activities to modernize the nation's electrical grid, integrate demand-response equipment, and analyze, develop, and implement smart grid technologies. The funds will also support research in energy storage technologies, efforts to facilitate recovery from energy supply disruptions, and efforts to enhance the security and reliability of the nation's energy infrastructure. A complementary section of the act opens smart grid demonstration projects to electric systems in all areas of the country and establishes a smart grid information clearinghouse to share data from the demonstration projects. See pages 60-62 and 72-76 of the act, as well as pages 25 and 28 of the accompanying joint explanatory statement of the conference committee.
Economic Stimulus Act to Result in Greener Federal Buildings and Fleets
Federal buildings and fleets will become greener under a measure of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The act provides $4.5 billion to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to convert federal buildings into high-performance green buildings, which generally combine energy efficiency and renewable energy production to minimize the energy use of the buildings. The act also directs $4 million toward the establishment of an Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings within the GSA. In addition, the act provides $100 million for the Energy Conservation Investment Program within the Department of Defense, as well as another $100 million for energy conservation and alternative energy projects at facilities of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.
For federal vehicle fleets, the act provides $300 million to cover the costs of acquiring greener motor vehicles, including hybrids, electric vehicles, and plug-in hybrid vehicles, once they become commercially available. Buying plug-in hybrids will be an iffy proposition, however, as the funds must be spent by September 30, 2011. See pages 88-91 and 195-197 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (PDF 13.4 MB), as well as pages 30-31 and 73 of the accompanying joint explanatory statement of the conference committee (PDF 10.3 MB). Download Adobe Reader.
High-Speed Rail and Transit Boosted by Economic Stimulus Act
High-speed rail corridors and intercity passenger rail service will gain significant new funding under a measure of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The act provides $8 billion for the Federal Railroad Administration to provide capital assistance to such rail projects, placing priority on projects that support intercity high-speed rail service. The act also provides $1.3 billion to the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, better known as Amtrak, with the majority of funds going toward the repair, rehabilitation, or upgrade of passenger rail assets or infrastructure, and for capital projects that expand passenger rail capacity.
Transit in general gains significantly under the economic stimulus act, which allocates $6.9 billion to the Federal Transit Administration for capital assistance grants. The act directs $100 million of those funds to help public transit agencies reduce their energy consumption and their greenhouse gas emissions, with priority given to those projects that save the most energy. An additional $750 million is provided by the act to support infrastructure investments in "fixed guideway" systems. A fixed guideway refers to any transit service that uses exclusive or controlled rights-of-way or rails, entirely or in part, running the gamut from heavy rail to high-occupancy vehicle lanes. Another $750 million is available for grants to "New Starts" and "Small Starts" projects, which include fixed guideway systems, system extensions, and bus corridor improvements. The act also provides $1.5 billion in supplemental discretionary grants for capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure, which could include transit systems. See pages 226-229 and 237-247 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (PDF 13.4 MB), as well as pages 80 and 82-83 of the accompanying joint explanatory statement of the conference committee (PDF 10.3 MB). Download Adobe Reader.
Economic Stimulus Act Extends Renewable Energy Tax Credits
The tax section of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides a three-year extension of the production tax credit (PTC) for most renewable energy facilities, while offering expansions on and alternatives for tax credits on renewable energy systems. The extension keeps the wind energy PTC in effect through 2012, while keeping the PTC alive for municipal solid waste, qualified hydropower, and biomass and geothermal energy facilities through 2013. In addition, a two-year extension of the PTC for marine and hydrokinetic renewable energy systems will keep that tax credit in effect through 2013. The PTC provides a credit for every kilowatt-hour produced at new qualified facilities during the first 10 years of operation, provided the facilities are placed in service before the tax credit's expiration date. For 2008, biomass facilities fueled with dedicated energy crops ("closed-loop biomass"), as well as wind, solar, and geothermal energy facilities earned 2.1 cents per kilowatt-hour, while other qualified facilities earned 1 cent per kilowatt-hour. See pages 33-34 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 (PDF 5.9 MB), as well as PDF pages 105-112 (labeled as pages 103-110) of the accompanying joint explanatory statement of the conference committee (PDF 24.9 MB). Download Adobe Reader.
Unfortunately, the current slump in business activity means that fewer businesses are seeking tax credits, which means that renewable energy producers are having trouble taking advantage of the PTC. With that in mind, the act also allows owners of non-solar renewable energy facilities to make an irrevocable election to earn a 30% investment credit rather than the PTC. The option remains in effect for the current period of the PTC, that is, through 2012 for wind energy facilities and through 2013 for other qualified renewable energy facilities. See pages 34-36 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009, as well as PDF pages 112-113 of the joint explanatory statement of the conference committee.
Alternately, the facility owner could choose to receive a grant equal to 30% of the tax basis (that is, the reportable business investment) for the facility, so long as the facility is depreciable or amortizable. The grants are also available for renewable energy facilities that would normally earn a business energy credit of 10%-30%, including systems using fuel cells, solar energy, small wind turbines, geothermal energy, microturbines, and combined heat and power (CHP) technologies. To earn a grant, the facility must be placed in service in 2009 or 2010, or construction must begin in either of those years and must be completed prior to the termination of the PTC. For facilities that would normally earn a business tax credit, construction must be completed prior to 2017. The grants will be paid directly from the U.S. Treasury. A separate measure in the act removes limitations on the business credit based on how the systems are financed and also removes a business credit limit on small wind energy systems. See pages 36-39 and 153-158 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009, as well as PDF pages 113-117 of the joint explanatory statement of the conference committee.
Stimulus Act Expands Clean Energy Tax Credits for Homes and Businesses
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides greater tax credits for clean energy projects at homes and businesses and for the manufacturers of clean energy technologies. For homeowners, the act increases a 10% tax credit for energy efficiency improvements to a 30% tax credit, eliminates caps for specific improvements (such as windows and furnaces), and instead establishes an aggregate cap of $1,500 for all improvements placed in service in 2009 and 2010 (except biomass systems, which must be placed in service after the act is enacted). The act also tightens the energy efficiency requirements to meet current standards. For residential renewable energy systems, the act removes all caps on the tax credits, which equal 30% of the cost of qualified solar energy systems, geothermal heat pumps, small wind turbines, and fuel cell systems. The act also eliminates a reduction in credits for installations with subsidized financing. See pages 41-47 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 (PDF 5.9 MB), as well as PDF pages 125-129 (labeled as pages 123-127) of the accompanying joint explanatory statement of the conference committee (PDF 24.9 MB) Download Adobe Reader.
For businesses and individuals buying electric vehicles, the act simplifies and expands the available tax credits. For electric low-speed vehicles, motorcycles, and three-wheeled vehicles, a 10% tax credit is available through 2011, with a cap of $2,500. For vehicles converted into qualified plug-in electric vehicles, a 10% tax credit is also available through 2011, with a cap of $4,000. And starting in 2010, full-scale commercial plug-in electric vehicles can earn a maximum tax credit of $7,500, depending on their battery capacity. The credit will phase out over a year for each manufacturer after they sell 200,000 plug-in vehicles. See pages 50-68 of the act, as well as PDF pages 138-141 of the joint explanatory statement of the conference committee.
The act also provides a bonus to homeowners or business owners installing clean fuel refueling systems at their homes or businesses. For businesses, the maximum credit for installing such refueling systems increases to $50,000 for most systems, up from $30,000, and it increases to $200,000 for hydrogen refueling stations. For homeowners, the credit is doubled from $1,000 to $2,000. Homeowners might install their own natural gas refueling system for a natural gas vehicle, or they might install recharging systems for plug-in electric vehicles. The credit is available through 2010 for most refueling systems and through 2014 for hydrogen refueling systems. See pages 47-48 of the act, as well as PDF pages 130-131 of the joint explanatory statement of the conference committee.
The economic stimulus act has also added a new tax credit to encourage investment in the manufacturing facilities that help make such clean energy projects possible. A new 30% investment tax credit is available for projects that establish, re-equip, or expand manufacturing facilities for fuel cells, microturbines, renewable fuel refineries and blending facilities, energy saving technologies, smart grid technologies, and solar, wind, and geothermal technologies. The credit also applies to the manufacture of plug-in electric vehicles and their electric components, such as battery packs, electric motors, generators, and power control units. The credit may also be expanded in the future to include other energy technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Secretary of Treasury must establish a certification program within the next 180 days and may allocate up to $2.3 billion in tax credits. See pages 101-110 of the act, as well as PDF pages 142-144 of the joint explanatory statement of the conference committee.
Clean Energy Bonds Expanded by the Economic Stimulus Act
Two bonding mechanisms for financing renewable energy and energy efficiency systems have been expanded under the tax section of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The act authorizes the allocation of as much as $1.6 billion in new Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs), which are tax credit bonds for financing renewable energy projects. CREBs were previously limited to a maximum of $800 million. The act also authorizes the allocation of $2.4 billion in qualified energy conservation bonds, up from the current limit of $800 million. These tax credit bonds are allocated to states and large local governments to finance a variety of clean energy projects.
Unlike normal bonds that pay interest, tax credit bonds pay the bondholders by providing a credit against their federal income tax. In effect, the new tax credit bonds will provide interest-free financing for clean energy projects. But because the federal government essentially pays the interest via tax credits, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service must allocate such credits in advance. However, tax credit bonds require the investment of a bondholder that will benefit from the federal tax credits, and those investors may be hard to find during the current business downturn. To try to draw more investment, a separate measure in the tax bill will allow regulated investment companies to pass through to their shareholders the tax credits earned by such bonds. Yet another measure adds a prevailing wage requirement to projects financed with CREBs or energy conservation bonds. See pages 39-41 and 143-149 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 (PDF 5.9 MB), as well as PDF pages 100-101, 118-123, and 148 of the accompanying joint explanatory statement of the conference committee (PDF 24.9 MB). Download Adobe Reader.

CPUC report: California installed twice as many megawatts of solar-powered electricity in 2008 as it did in 2007

2009-01-29T15:24:00.000-08:00

Golden State Doubles Solar Use in 2008
By John Boitnott
NBCBayArea.com
updated 3:18 p.m. PT, Thurs., Jan. 29, 2009

California installed twice as many megawatts of solar-powered electricity in 2008, as it did the year before, according to a report released Wednesday.

“Our vision of solar panels lining the rooftops of houses and businesses across California is becoming a reality," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said after releasing the results of the California Public Utilities Commission report on the California Solar Initiative. "Today’s report showing that solar installations doubled last year proves that."

The report showed that the initiative has created more than $5 billion worth of private investment in solar projects by California consumers, Schwarzenegger said.

"I’m encouraged to see that even in these difficult financial times we are breaking solar installation records and spurring private investment in solar projects," Schwarzenegger said. "This program is helping to make solar power possible for hundreds of thousands of Californians — saving people money on their electricity bills while helping us meet our long-term renewable energy and climate change goals.”

On average, for every $1 in incentive committed by the state program, an additional $6 in private funds is invested in solar technology in California, Schwa4rzenegger said.

The California Solar Initiative has paid or reserved nearly $775 million in incentives for about $5 billion in project costs, the governor said.

The initiative started in 2007. Schwarzenegger and Democrats in state government came up with the plan.

Click on the link to see the most recent report from the California Solar Initiative.
http://www.energy.ca.gov/2009publications/CPUC-1000-2009-002/CPUC-1000-2009-002.PDF

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28900408/

Governor Schwarzenegger Sends Letter to President-Elect Obama Regarding Federal Economic Stimulus Proposal

2009-01-09T18:12:00.000-08:00

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger sent the following letter to President-elect Barack Obama regarding the federal economic stimulus proposal.

Text of the January 5, 2009 letter:

http://gov.ca.gov/press-release/11359

Growing Number of California Ag Businesses Go Solar

2008-12-30T14:13:00.000-08:00

By STEVE LAWRENCE, Associated Press Writer
Friday, December 5, 2008

(12-05) 16:45 PST Richvale, Calif. (AP) --For more than 70 years, California's abundance of sunshine has enabled the Lundberg family to grow rice in the Central Valley north of Sacramento.

Now the sun is helping the family churn out myriad rice products, from chips to cakes to pasta.

Lundberg Family Farms, which bills itself as the nation's largest producer of organic rice and rice products, is among a small but growing number of California growers and processors who are turning to solar power to help them run their operations.

"It made sense from an environmental point of view and a business point of view," said Jessica Lundberg, whose family has been growing rice in the Richvale area since 1937.

There's no count of how many growers have invested in solar, but Bernadette Del Chiaro, a clean energy advocate with the group Environment California, said she has seen a growing number of agricultural companies install solar panels over the last five years.

That's particularly true among wineries and packing plants that have high refrigeration and air conditioning costs.

"We're seeing a lot of wineries go solar, and it's not just to green their image," she said. "It's because they can actually save money."

Barry Cinnamon, chief executive officer of Akeena Solar, a Los Gatos company that installs residential and commercial solar energy systems, estimates that 50 to 100 wineries are using solar energy. His company has installed about a dozen of those systems.

More than 960 California companies have applied for rebates through the state Public Utilities Commission since Jan. 1, 2007, for installing solar panels, but there's no breakdown available on how many of those applicants are in agriculture.

Besides the rebates, companies that install solar panels can qualify for a federal tax credit on the purchase and installation costs. They also can get credits from utilities for any unused solar-generated electricity they send to the power grid.

Also, installation of solar energy systems does not trigger a property tax reassessment.

Ron Martella said his family's walnut processing company, Grower Direct Nut Co., took a long look at the potential economic benefits before deciding to install solar panels this year.

"We're in one of the cheapest electrical districts in the state," said Martella, a director of the company, which is located in Hughson, about 80 miles south of Sacramento. "We came to the conclusion that with the tax credits and rebates, the money we'd save on electricity would be a positive thing for our company in the long run."

He expects the $3.5 million project to be paid off in about eight years.

Lundberg farms installed its first solar system, five long sets of panels spread over about an acre, in 2006. It added another set of panels on a warehouse roof in 2007.

Together, those two systems provide 10 percent to 15 percent of the company's electricity, said Lundberg, who chairs the board of directors and manages the farm's seed nursery.

The company has plans to build a new office and warehouse and is considering incorporating new solar systems into those projects.

Lundberg Farms won a Green Power Leadership Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this year for its use of renewable energy.

Besides the power it obtains from its solar panels, the company buys renewable energy credits that help develop wind power. That enables Lundberg Farms to say it gets 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources.

The EPA said Lundberg's energy program was the "the largest U.S. renewable energy commitment by an agribusiness." The company also won the award in 2004.

Lundberg traces her family's interest in renewable energy to her grandparents' experiences farming in the Midwest during the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s.

"They had seen what happens ... if you don't take care of your resources," she said. "When they came to California and had a chance to start again, they took it really seriously."

Her grandfather, who started farming on about 150 acres about 70 miles north of Sacramento, took steps to protect the quality of his soil and refused to burn off rice stubble after each harvest, a practice that can turn the Sacramento Valley skies into a smoky haze.

The decisions to buy wind-energy credits and develop solar power were a continuation of that conservation philosophy, Lundberg said.

Her father and his three brothers started the rice mill in the 1960s and began growing rice without chemicals. Now a third generation of cousins and cousins' spouses has moved into positions at the company, which grows 17 varieties of rice on about 15,000 acres.

It turns 45 million to 60 million pounds of rice a year into more than 150 products, including varieties of rice chips, rice syrup, rice pasta, rice cakes and one- and two-pound packages of rice. It also sells rice in bulk quantities.

Company officials figure their solar panels will be providing them with electricity for the next 30 to 40 years.

Rebates and tax credits covered about half the cost of the $3.5 million projects. They expect to make up for the rest of the cost in eight to 10 years.

"We're still carrying the cost of installation, paying them off," Lundberg said. "But we think it was a good business decision. It's just so satisfying to be able to contribute like that, to have something tangible we are able to do."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/05/financial/f164526S76.DTL

San Joaquin Solar's Technology Combines Solar and Biofuel Sources for Around-the-Clock Clean Energy Production

2008-06-12T15:21:00.000-07:00

Posted : Thu, 12 Jun 2008 16:01:10 GMT
SAN FRANCISCO, June 12
http://www.pge.com/about/news/mediarelations/newsreleases/q2_2008/080612.shtml
SAN FRANCISCO, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Continuing its momentum of adding utility-scale solar power to its energy mix, Pacific Gas and Electric Company announced today that it has entered into two contracts with San Joaquin Solar LLC, a subsidiary of Martifer Renewables Electricity LLC, for a combined 106.8 megawatts (MW) of solar thermal-biofuel hybrid power. Located near Coalinga, CA, the solar-biofuel projects will deliver a total of 700 gigawatt hours (GWh) annually of renewable electricity to PG&E customers throughout northern and central California.

"This hybrid technology combines two renewable resources abundant in California -- solar energy and biofuel from the Central Valley," said Fong Wan, vice president of energy procurement at PG&E. "We will continue to add these types of innovative renewable energy sources to our power mix as we work to provide our customers with some of the cleanest energy in the nation and meet our state's climate change goals."

Martifer's renewable hybrid projects combine Luz solar thermal trough technology and steam turbines powered by biomass fuel to produce hybrid solar-biofuel renewable electricity. The incorporation of biofuel increases the overall production of renewable power by allowing for around-the-clock production of clean energy, even at night or when sunlight is not at its
strongest. Each hybrid project will require 250,000 tons of biofuel annually, to be supplied from a combination of locally-produced agricultural wastes, green wastes and livestock manure. These projects are expected to begin operation in 2011.

"Martifer and its development partners have designed a creative renewable energy system that is cost-competitive with conventional generation technologies," said Ricardo Abecassis, president of Martifer Renewables Solar. "We expect these and future Martifer projects will increase the level of clean, affordable, renewable energy in California while at the same time alleviating the pressure on agricultural producers and municipalities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions."
"The City of Coalinga is delighted to welcome this renewable energy project which will benefit the environment and create local jobs," said Coalinga Mayor Trish Hill. "In addition to increasing the amount of clean, renewable energy for our residents, it will help to improve air quality
through utilizing locally-sourced biomass, including livestock manure."

The contracts filed today with the California Public Utilities Commission are part of PG&E's broader renewable energy portfolio. Since 2002, PG&E has entered into contracts for over 2,500 MW of renewable power. California law requires each investor-owned utility to increase the share of eligible renewable generating resources in its electric power portfolio to 20 percent
by 2010.

PG&E has made contractual commitments to have over 20 percent of its future deliveries from renewables. For 2008, PG&E expects to have 14 percent of its energy delivered from renewable sources. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation, is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 15 million people in northern and central California.

For more information, visit http://www.pge.com.
SOURCE Pacific Gas and Electric Company

UC Merced and GreenVolts win CEC Public Interest Energy Research awards for CPV research in the San Joaquin Valley

2008-06-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

UC Merced and GreenVolts are being awarded CEC Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) grants for their work on concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar power. GreenVolts' first utility-scale solar power project is being sited near Byron, CA in the northern San Joaquin Valley.