R.E.preneur

Why Republicans Are Wrong On Energy

I had the distinct pleasure of sitting with a small group of energy companies for a meeting with Republican Senator Jon Kyl from Arizona.  Senator Kyl is a very impressive individual.  A former water attorney from Phoenix who represented Salt River Project, Arizona Public Service, and Tucson Electric Power in various water related issues prior to starting his political career.

So the Senator speaks from a position of expertise when he brought up his concerns about the impending build out of Concentrating Solar Thermal (CST) power plants that are set to be constructed in the American Southwest over the next five years.  The Senator even wrote a white paper on the subject entitled, "the Solar-Water Nexus" which raises multiple concerns about the utilization of wet cooling technology for solar thermal, especially with regards to electricity that is being exported out of state.  The Senator argues for dry cooling and hybrid cooling technology, which makes CST even more expensive than it already is.  

Now certainly, examining any energy project's water usage is important.  Using reclaimed or effluent water wherever possible is always preferable.  But even more important, is to understand the context of the argument that the Senator makes against wet cooling solar thermal projects.  

Firstly, the Rose Law Group does a great job of addressing the fact that the agriculture industry (whom Senator Kyl also represented prior to heading to DC) uses 75% of Arizona's water supply and is far more water intensive on a per unit of energy basis.  Not to mention, most of the food Arizona produces is exported.  So any siting of a solar thermal plant on former agricultural land, is a net water gain.

In the meeting, I raised an obvious question to the Senator:

R.E.preneur: "Senator Kyl, I understand your concern about the water usage of CST, does that mean that you would be equally concerned about the water usage of Natural Gas plants?"

Senator Kyl: "Well no, not necessarily".  

The Rose Law Group does a great job of going on to say, that all thermal electric power generation technologies use a large amount of water, Coal, Nuclear, Gas, and Solar.  So which should be used to generate power? 

Solar does not pollute the water, the air, or produce waste fuel that must be stored for the next 10,000 years.  

I could rail on this issue for hours, but let's move on to the rest of the Senator's statements during his talk.  

Senator Kyl stated: 

"In the new Congress, energy subsidies will be heavily scrutinized"

R.E.preneur: That's fair as the US addresses its deficit problem, but make sure to equally scrutinize fossil fuel energy subsidies.

Kyl: The Republican-controlled House will STOP the Obama agenda

R.E.preneur: I'm glad we have a balance of power, but if your parties' main goal is to stop progress, I believe that shows what the President refers to as a "poverty of ambition".  How about we find some items of common value and work together to continue improving our country. 

Kyl: Believes a National RES will DISFAVOR Arizona, as well as the Southeast US

R.E.preneur: Everyone makes the argument that a national RES disfavors the Southeast, but Kyl is the first person I've ever heard say that it would disfavor Arizona.  While I agree Arizona does not have the wind resources of New Mexico or Iowa, there are two 100 MW wind farms under construction or contract in Arizona and there is more solar resource than could be used by the entire country.  Arizona even has its own statewide RES, successfully instituted by the Arizona Corporation Commission.

Instead of fighting a national RES because it would disfavor some states, why not find a way to make it work for everyone.  So the Southeast doesn't have wind, they still have solar, and if you make the standard a clean energy or alternative energy standard instead of renewable energy, there is plenty of nuclear power that could be developed for the southeast states.  At least we can all agree on clean air and water.  

Kyl: Supports more energy exploration, including a lift on the moratorium on new drilling in the Gulf and the development of the US oil sands. 

R.E.preneur: I flat out disagree, throw more support behind the development of electrified transportation, mass transit, and improved internal combustion engines (ICE).  There is broad agreement that the World achieved Peak Oil four years ago and we are sliding down the bell curve from here on out.  It will only be more expensive and dirtier to produce additional petroleum resources.  The US is far too dependent on foreign sources of oil and more domestic production is not a long term solution. 

Kyl: Supports subsidies for R&D for cleantech such as electric car batteries, but does not support the government subsidies of EVs at the retail level.  

R.E.preneur: I believe that government support of EV deployment to the mass market is critical to help the industry cross the chasm of technology adoption.  The subsidies should be ratcheted down as EVs compete on par with ICE.

Its the same philosophy that supports the 30% Investment Tax Credits for solar power.  By 2016, when the ITC expires, we expect solar to be able to compete directly with fossil fuels.  

I'm glad the Senator came to speak to this group of energy companies, but I personally felt that his remarks were yet again another example of why the Republican party has it all wrong on energy.

Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Blog » Massachusetts – using legal tools to grow solar

I took a great courses at FES last spring which has been pivotal in shaping my summer internship experience with Axio Power: Dan Esty’s Environmental Law and Policy course.

via environment.yale.edu

A great post over on the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies blog by Axio Summer Associate Brian McCurdy about the options for how to develop a market for solar projects in your state.

SolarCity makes electric cars an even smarter investment | Grist

“It’s our feeling that if we really want to make a difference, we have to start changing our infrastructure,” says Lyndon Rive, SolarCity’s chief executive. “Combine EV with PV, and we can really lead a clean lifestyle.”

via www.grist.org

I knew SolarCity was a great company that is growing very fast. And I knew that they had convinced smart people to invest in their company, such as Elon Musk and the executives at First Solar (and kudos to both companies for leading the charge of thin film glass on glass solar in residential applications).

But until I read this article, I had no idea just how visionary the Rive brothers, co-founders of SolarCity truly are.

Their vision of combining EVs and PV and growing their business through residential and commercial charging stations that are solar-powered, is a remarkable step forward in the progress of the EV industry.

EVs have historically been discredited for their limited range and fueling ability. But its not hard to see how adding a small fleet of well-placed electric charging stations (which isn't rocket-science unlike that hydrogen highway BS) could really open California up to be the market that launches EVs!

I look forward to the day I can drive my PV-powered EV!

First Solar to sell 20MW Ontario PV project to Enbridge; solar company also joins S&P 500 - Photovoltaics International

First Solar and Enbridge have signed a deal for the Canadian energy company to buy a 20MW solar farm that the PV firm has developed and is building near Sarnia, Ontario. The project, which will be the largest PV installation in Canada when it's completed by the end of the year, is being built by First Solar under a fixed-price engineering, procurement, and construction contract and will use more than 370,000 of the company's CdTe thin-film modules.

via www.pv-tech.org

This marks the first utility-scale sized PV project built under the OPA's former RESOP program. Its great to see market leader First Solar being able to capitalize on the former program, something other developers with RESOP contracts (~560 MW worth) have as yet been unable to do.

The new OPA FiT rules are looking questionable at best. The province's local content rules are making the industry question whether any projects will be built with the current rules. In my opinion, if the government is serious about building renewable energy in the province, they need to lower the local content rules to allow more flexibility for developers to source product from the most economically-efficient suppliers.

But that's just my C0.02.

REpreneur Debates: Why Germany Raised Their Wind Feed-In Tariff

Last Thursday, Glen Estill blogged about the effect that Germany will have on the Ontario Standard Offer Program (SOP) by raising their Feed-In Tariff (FiT) for wind and to a greater extent, off-shore wind.

My feelings on the issue followed --

From His Post:

"They know what it costs to produce electricity from wind, so when they deem it necessary to increase the price, you know it is needed."

  I'm going to have to disagree with this statement.  Germany announced this move last year due to the wildly successful implementation of solar power in their country.  The government recognized that the funds they had set aside (at least from the utilities) for use in support of renewables had achieved their solar goals far in advance of the plan because they set the FiT for PV extremely high, the highest in the world. 

After achieving their solar target ahead of schedule, they transferred money and effort to the wind and specifically off-shore wind because they recognize that off-shore wind is still an emerging market that Germany, with investment, can become a world leader in this field in the same way that they did with PV.  This is in contrast to the on-shore wind industry which has already gone through the consolidation stage and is already accepted in the industry as competitive with fossil fuels. 

Which brings me to my next point.  You state that they raised the off-shore wind FiT because they recognize that costs are higher.  But you also stated that fossil-based energy sources have experienced a never before seen run-up in prices across the board.  So wouldn't that mean that wind would be even more competitive without subsidies?

Finally, I disagree with the policy of providing higher FiTs to wind developments in less-than optimal wind sites.  That's like giving SUV buyers a bigger tax break because they get poor fuel economy, its idiotic.  Unless there is some legitimate reason not to develop all of the optimal wind sites, these should be developed first and supported by adequate transmission.  This should be relatively easy in Germany because all of the off-shore wind is located in one general geographic region. 

I wholeheartedly support all of the policies that Germany has implemented that have accelerated the growth of renewable energies nearly across the board.  I just think the reason that they increased the FiT for off-shore wind had less to do with what you argued and more to do with their success in PV and desire to be a global leader in off-shore wind.

Want A Career In Solar? Start Here

So you say you want a career in the solar industry?  Makes sense. 

The entire industry is exploding, and its still tiny.  The roadmap to solar being the dominant energy source of the future is clear. 

But you can't just sit back and watch, you gotta join in. 

START HERE:     Solar America Cities First Annual Meeting Presentations

This link will take you to a page containing ALL of the powerpoint presentations given at the Solar America Cities First Annual Meeting in Tucson, Arizona held April 14-16, 2008.  These meetings were not open to the public, invitation only. 

However, the ideas, research, experiments, case studies etc. exchanged at this meeting may be the most comprehensive, up-to-date education in the business, legislative, and technology developments that are driving the rapid expansion of the solar industry here in the US. 

The successes and failures of the programs implemented by the movers & shakers of the solar industry at this conference are paving the way for the emergence of solar power as the mainstream, preferred energy source for power generation. 

So you want a job in Solar... Start Here!  Download all of the free presentations, and spend some time reading through them.

Not an engineer? Not necessary, I'm not, though it does help sometimes. 

If you want to work in the industry, you must speak the language.  It takes time, study, research, and lots of reading.  But the concepts are not incredibly complicated. 

Your ability to speak the language of solar will allow you to converse in a passionate discussion of the industry that nearly all solar professionals share. 

Recent reports have revealed that the industry is growing faster than the industry's ability to find and train experienced executives to handle projects of significant responsibility.  There is a growing shortage of talent in the industry.  Now is your time.

I'm so passionate about this industry that I will agree to provide a consulting and education dialog of the solar industry free of charge to the first three individuals who:

•    Download All of the Powerpoints
•    Research terms and abbreviations they are not familiar with
•    Email me or leave a comment on this post expressing an interest in working in the industry, would like insight, tips, advice, and clarification of the industry environment

So you say you want to work in solar?  What's stopping you now?

Simplifying Global Energy Consumption

Many people have difficulty conceptualizing exactly how much energy the world uses and from what sources that energy comes from. 

With so many metrics for measuring energy such as kilowatt-hours, BTUs, barrels of oil, cubic feet of gas etc, it can be hard to understand what the big picture is. 

Hew Crane of SRI International created a new, more simple metric.  Its called the cubic mile of oil (CMO).  In 2006 the world consumed roughly 3 CMO's of energy. 

credit: SRI International

Michael Kanellos wrote an informative article on CNET expanding the picture of global energy consumption.  He paints a fairly grim picture for weaning ourselves off of fossil fuels, as in, nice thought but it won't happen anytime soon.

Fortunately, he also ties the subject to other important issues such as the coming water crisis which is already beginning to impact the global population.  Water is one of the clearest areas where the effects of global warming can be seen. 

Global warming, caused by the fossil fuel emissions creating the greenhouse effect in the atmosphere, means that although we may not run out of fossil fuels anytime in the next century, is it ethical to continue accelerating the rate at which we use them?

There is the contention that fossil fuels with carbon capture technology must play a key role in providing energy for a growing world, and I generally agree with that. 

Here's the problem though: we can roughly quantify exactly how much time each fossil fuel that was created over millions of years will provide us.  Each year we use more of those precious fuels than we did last year.  By most estimates we may have 100-150 years worth of all fossil fuels to feed us.  Which will only be valuable to us if we find away to remove the greenhouse gases that are associated with burning fossil fuels. 

So we can see the end-point from here. We have the knowledge that the task to develop renewable energy is formidable, seemingly unfathomable.  Where is the balance between pursuing carbon capture technologies in order to clean up our growing fossil fuel appetite and an all out abandonment of fossil energy in pursuit of and mass investment in developing economies and societies that are fully dependent on energy that is renewable, sovereign, independent, and clean?

I understand that the solution to growing energy needs is a cornucopia of technologies applied to each energy source existing and being developed now.  However, I feel like all of the energy expended in cleaning up fossil fuels is energy taken away from renewable energy.  So while those efforts had good intentions, in the end they leave us worse off than we were before.  Deeper into our fossil addiction.

Bridging The Political Gap On Climate Change: The National Security Issue

Though the global climate crisis is widely accepted and becoming more popular in politics, there is certainly a large gap between the two parties on how quickly to act and what sacrifices or investments to make concerning the issue.

The current issue of Time Magazine has a great article chronicling the recent shift towards bi-partisan climate change politics. 

"I have focused above all on issues of national security," Warner said after the bill passed committee. "I see the problem of global climate change fitting squarely within that focus." For Warner, unchecked global warming could create a world that is inherently more dangerous for the U.S. Acting to mitigate climate change was another way of keeping America safe. It's a message that resonates with Americans who would sooner log a tree than hug it, and raises the possibility that conservatives and liberals might find common ground on climate change.

Last year saw a raft of studies tracing the linkage between global warming and global instability, and none was more influential than a report released last April by the CNA Corporation, a Pentagon-funded think tank. A team of 11 high-level retired officers — including Marine General Anthony Zinni, former head of U.S. Central Command, which has responsibility for the Middle East — termed climate change a dangerous "threat multiplier." If unchecked, the report warned, warming could lead to resource wars, environmental refugees and failed states in already vulnerable regions of Asia, Africa and the Middle East — the very places where you'll find American troops today.

Is America moving closer to a consensus on climate change legislation such as a carbon tax or a cap-and-trade system? 

Last week, President Bush's speech in the Rose Garden was received as a distinguishable shift in his administration's views on climate change.  Will President Bush walk the tree-hugging walk in a last ditch effort to alter the way history remembers G.W?

Or will America have to wait until our lame duck leader exits the oval office, replaced by one of three candidates who have all sung an environmental tune that is distinctly distanced from the current administration's accomplishments? 

What say thee?

Renewabuilt Energy Shines At University of Arizona's Innovation Day

My team in the McGuire Entrepreneurship program participated in the University of Arizona's Innovation Day on Tuesday.  During the trade show portion of the day 19 venture teams presented their companies to angel investors who came from across the southwestern US, met with members of the Tucson community to promote our businesses, and many were interviewed by local and regional media about the event. 

At the end of the show, the angel investors picked six of the 19 teams to make full venture presentations that afternoon.  Our Renewabuilt team was thrilled to be picked as one of the six teams.  We did not "win" our room of three presentations, but we did get some great feedback from the angels on how to improve our pitch and find funding for our company to launch. 

Here's some press coverage including a link to a short video about the event.

Rebecca Batterman and Kyle Cherrick, both with Renewabuilt Energy, talk with John Hughes from the University of Arizona's Nanotechnology program at UA's Innovation Showcase Tuesday.

UA student innovators meet investors

Camera phone lens, rural solar fields among 6 ideas to get chance at financing

ALAN FISCHER

Published: 03.26.2008

 

Student exhibitors at Tuesday's University of Arizona Innovation Showcase hoped to pitch their business plans to angels - the financial type, not the heavenly host.

Angels - investors who seek startup ventures to fund - from Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and California attended, scouring the aisles to find the next great breakout business ideas.

The student entrepreneurs were eager to connect with them for advice, guidance and - hopefully - funding.

The group selected six UA teams to present their plans in greater detail following the showcase.

"There were two or three investable companies in there today," said John Chavez, president of New Mexico Angels in Albuquerque.

But no checks would be written Tuesday, he said, since due diligence to validate the companies, people, technology and intellectual property would take from six weeks to three months.

The student entrepreneurs were on their toes.

"We have to assume that everyone is a prime customer," said Kerissa Kelly-Slatten, marketing manager for Cookie Fusion, a company that bakes in four to six minutes custom cookies from a wide variety of ingredients.

"We have to persuade them, convince them, that we have a strong plan and a strong team to open the business," she said. Her team is seeking $750,000 to open its first store.

The six companies selected to give formal presentations were: Cookie Fusion; LenSense, which offers flat liquid crystal diffractive lenses for zoom optics in camera phones; FireGuard Industries which offers an aerator that fits between a fire hose and nozzle that allows firefighters to put out fires 40 percent faster with 50 percent less water; uBike, an automated bicycle rental kiosk for short-term commutes; Renewabuilt Energy, which plans to build solar fields to meet the needs of rural communities; and SystemGreen, which recycles shipping containers into affordable, stylish and environmentally friendly housing.

Emre Toker of Tucson's Desert Angels said he was impressed with the entrepreneurship and thoroughness displayed by the students.

"Some of them piqued my interest to look at them in more detail," Toker said.

BoP Solutions: Light Up With Renewable Energy and LED's

I used to think non-profits were boring.  I think the issue was really that most non-profits do not convey their message well, or are not addressing a compelling issue. 

Light Up The World Foundation isn't like that.  From the website:

Light Up The World Foundation (LUTW) is the first humanitarian organization to utilize renewable energy and solid-state lighting technologies to bring affordable, safe, healthy, efficient, and environmentally responsible illumination to people who do not have access to power for adequate lighting.

So now you are asking, what's solid state lighting (SSL)?  Good question. 

Commonly referred to as LED's, Light-emitting diodes have been used in the US for years as digital power indicators on TV's, computers, radios, etc.  Previously, they were only able to emit low amounts of colored light.  But recent advances in the technology have allowed for bright white light to be produced from an amount of energy an order of magnitude smaller than with traditional incandescent light bulbs.

That means that a few LED's put together into a small lamp can be powered by a very small 5W solar panel and long-lasting battery.  This means that families no longer have to use inefficient, expensive, dangerous, unhealthy kerosene lamps in order to light up there homes at night. 

Check out this short ten question quiz from their website that explains all of the issues that the foundation is solving with these new technologies. 

I would encourage you to watch this short ten minute video chronicling how the company got started and how they are providing affordable lighting solutions to the two billion people in the developing world.  After watching the video, consider making a donation to the Light Up The World Foundation that will help them light up schools, aid stations, and orphanages in places like Papua New Guinea, Tibet, Ecuador, and South Africa. 

Big Week in Renewable Energy Legislation

You know what makes me sad?  Legislation that hurts/fails to help renewable energy.

You know what makes me ecstatic?  Legislation that is pro-renewable energy and cleantech.

Of course, I was heart broken when both last year's energy bill and last week's economic stimulus package failed to include significant long-term extensions of ITC & PTC for renewable energy. 

Fortunately, stories abound this week on new renewable energy legislation that will significantly benefit the renewable marketplace for years to come. 

First, the economic stimulus package passed by the House & Senate last week and to be signed by the President this week contained a significant caveat that allows renewable energy projects brought online in 2008 to have the land they are built on be depreciated 50% + advanced depreciation five-year MACRS for the remaining 50% all in the first year.  This is important because it means that the landowners tax burden will be significantly smaller in the first year of operation and going forward, than before this rule was in place.

Full Story Here

    Next up, new legislation has been introduced by House leaders addressing nearly all of the specific needs of the RE industry in terms of long-term extensions of the ITC & PTC for most RE technologies, now including marine renewables too. 

From the article,

    The bill would extend the 30% investment tax credit (ITC) for solar energy property and qualified fuel cell property for eight years (through the end of 2016). It also includes a long-term extension and modification of the production tax credit (PTC), extending for three years (through December 31, 2011) certain qualifying facilities such as wind, closed-loop biomass, open-loop biomass, geothermal, small irrigation hydropower, landfill gas and trash combustion facilities. It also includes a new category of qualifying facilities: marine renewables (e.g., waves and tides). The bill would cap the aggregate amount of tax credits that can be earned at 35% of the facility's cost.

 

A long-term extension and modification of the residential energy-efficient property credit is also included. The credit for residential solar property would be extended for six years (through the end of 2014) and the annual credit cap (currently $2,000) would increase to $4,000. Residential small wind equipment and geothermal heat pumps would also qualify for this credit.

The bill also establishes a $4,000 credit for plug-in hybrid vehicles.

A fabulous piece of legislation that will probably face significant opposition because the incentives are still being paid for (though not as drastically as before) by repealing tax benefits that oil and gas industries currently receive. 

I would encourage all REpreneur readers to visit SolarNation and sign up for their Action Alerts email campaign so that when this bill is reaching critical discussion points in D.C., they can notify you and provide an easy way for you to contact the senators and representatives in your district and urge them to support this bill.  This is your responsibility as the most important position in a democracy, you are a citizen.  What do you want your country to support?

Finally, a brilliant piece of state legislation introduced in California.  From the release on RenewableEnergyAccess.com today:

California State Assemblymember Jared Huffman has introduced legislation that would require utilities to pay individuals for any excess solar power produced at a home, government building or business. Currently, the best consumers can get is a "zero" energy bill.

"This bill will encourage not just more solar power but conservation and efficiency as well as owners see a benefit to generating surplus power."

--Bernadette Del Chiaro, Advocate, Environment California

Assembly Bill 1920, which is sponsored by Environment California, was unveiled at the location of California’s largest solar producer, SPG Solar in Novato. AB 1920 will enable consumers who produce solar power to get paid by their utility company for any excess electricity they produce on an annual basis. The level of compensation would be set by the Public Utilities Commission and would help the utility meet their renewable energy goals mandated by state law.

This is really leapfrog legislation that will truly incentivize consumers and industry to adopt solar power on-site at a more rapid rate. If you live in California, contact your local state politician and ask them to support AB 1920. 

 

 

EUEC 2008 Renewable Energy Track: Abbreviated Notes, Info Bites and Loose Ends

I promised more insight from the Electric Utilities Environmental Conference 2008 conference so here it is.  These are my rough notes of any insightful info gleaned during a speaker's presentation or Q & A.

Jeffrey Michel, Ing.-Büro Michel, Germany
The United States has 460 different sets of regulations for solar power – Can you keep track?  Quoted from E & Y annual RE study.
    Believes that America needs designated solar energy parks where transmission can support a large amount of renewables located in the right places.

Jordan Fruge, NewPoint Energy:
A solar PV system in the U.S. costs an average of $7.84/watt installed
    - 50% of that is module cost, 20% is Balance of Systems, and 30% is Installation & Commissioning
    - Germany, who has 35K trained workers in solar has a lower installed cost despite higher module pricing
    - Emphasis is need for broad-based support to educate cleantech workforce

Return on Energy Investment:
    Silicon: 1.6 years
    Thin Film PV: 1 year
    Wind: Less than 1 year
    Palo Verde Nuclear: 14 years of energy out = the amount of energy used to build & fuel it

Allen Jay St. Clair, Windstone Capital Partners
    2.2B in private equity into cleantech in 2007, up 46%
    Green Construction is a $15B industry growing at 50%/year
    2007 brought America’s first reduction in miles driven since 1973

John O’Donnell, Ausra
    Ausra’s CLFR (compact linear fresnel reflector) technology uses 1-5% the water of conventional power generation
    They can produce energy right now at $0.12/kWh, with storage at $0.09/kWh
    31-33% efficiency @ converting solar thermal energy
    Two areas of innovation:
        40x concentration of the sun, 550 degree saturated steam
        Energy stored as pressurized water & “other”
    CA: Peak is Noon to 8pm
    16 hours of energy storage at a 60% capacity factor
    1 positioner controls 300-400 m2 of glass
    Glass is 8’ off the ground: size is 60’ x 8’
    The company’s Australian factory produced 1 module every 2.5 hours
    The company’s claims their Las Vegas factory using robotic construction will produce one module every 10 minutes
    Their glass covers 75% of the total land area

Xavier Baldwin, Burbank Water & Power
    PHEV Benefits:
    Reduce GHG, dependence on foreign oil, provide peaking capacity and reserves, help integrate (shape) wind power into the resource mix, improve system efficiency and load factor.

    Smart (Grid) means ability to communicate both ways.  Charge-up your PHEV at off-peak rate of $0.05/kWh.  Grid gets 8 kW of “spinning” reserve per PHEV. 

    How can we make this a reality?
-    Develop and integrate a Grid Control System
-    Plus a PHEV charging system
-    And a Smart Grid Communication System
-    Finish it off with a cross utility accounting system

Any entrepreneurs interested in building some solutions?

New Company V2Green partnered with Xcel Energy to test VCM on Ford Escape PHEV
The Cascadia Institute is working on smart grid technologies and applications

Interested in PHEV’s? You must read FERC Commissioner John Wellinghoff’s paper on PHEV’s. 

Thomas Jensen, Sonnenschein, Nath, & Rosenthal LLP
    Ocean Renewables: 800x denser than air @ sea level
    Not an intermittent power source
    The federal laws for ocean energy are a MESS!  It’s a public lands issue, since there are no private sites

2007: The beginning of the anti-coal era

If you have followed the environmental headlines at all this year you have no doubt stumbled across an article announcing the cancellation of a coal plant for environmental or health concerns. 

David Roberts over at Grist has an article that summarizes all the stories since last September chronicling the many proposed then canceled coal plants across America. 

Add to his list:
    Washington State Rejects Coal Plant's "Plan to Make a Plan"

    Wyoming utility snuffs coal projects

    Maine ruling and vote sink 700 MW plant

Some reports state more than 10,000 MW of proposed coal plants have recently been canceled or postponed around the country.

As an American I'm proud to see the anti-coal attitude sweeping the nation.  Many of the reasons listed for cancellation of a coal plant include uncertainty about future CO2 legislation.  This means that it is increasingly important that state and federal legislators push to regulate CO2 emissions in order to prevent the end of the anti-coal era. 

Of course, we are all left with the question.  If not coal, then what?  The guys at Grist say in the short-term Natural Gas is the answer, and I believe that's true.  However, the more important growing trend will be utility-scale renewables.  I've written about the growing size of solar power plants here.  In an interesting move, Arizona Public Service has issued a 250 MW RFP for concentrating solar power (CSP).

In the next ten years wind, solar pv, and concentrated solar power, will dominate the headlines as utilities across the nation rush to meet their mandated renewable portfolio standards.  At my last count 25 states plus the District of Columbia had passed an RPS to encourage the adoption of renewables in the energy mix.  Add to that two states with voluntary RPS goals and its a wonder that the most recent federal Energy Bill failed to pass with a 15% national RES.  You can check out the nation's RPS map from www.dsireusa.org Download RPS_Map.ppt (pdf)

Generally, those RPS states have goals equaling roughly 20% renewable generation by 2020.  Some more, some less.  With renewables currently only consisting of 2.2% in America, this represents a major shift in America's energy mix. 

America is in the infancy of a massive renewable energy and clean technology boom. "This is the greatest business opportunity in the history of the world!" - Ted Turner, owner of Turner Renewable Energy (now First Solar Electric) speaking at Solar Power Conference 2007. The opportunity for entrepreneurs to use their creativity and outside the box thinking in this emerging market is endless. Come and join in the clean, green fun!

COW - Nanosolar

On Tuesday, the CEO of San Jose-based Nanosolar made an entry on the corporate blog announcing that Nanosolar had shipped its first product to a 1 MW solar power plant in Eastern Germany.  This represents a major accomplishment by the California start-up who for over a year now has been claiming that they will change the economics of solar by manufacturing by printing their semiconductor material directly onto a piece of foil.  Below is a list of accomplishments listed by Nanosolar.

• world’s first printed thin-film solar cell in a commercial panel product;
• world’s first thin-film solar cell with a low-cost back-contact capability;
• world’s lowest-cost solar panel – which we believe will make us the first solar manufacturer capable of profitably selling solar panels at as little as $.99/Watt;
• world’s highest-current thin-film solar panel – delivering five times the current of any other thin-film panel on the market today and thus simplifying system deployment;
• an intensely systems-optimized product with the lowest balance-of-system cost of any thin-film panel – due to innovations in design we have included.

Now don't get me wrong, I applaud Nanosolar using nanotechnology to attempt to leapfrog traditional solar technologies in order to lower cost and gain market share.  My frustration is that Nanosolar doesn't state their actual costs, they state what the technology is capable of "$.99/Watt".  With new technology comes higher costs generally. 

I have great respect for companies who provide great visibility to the public about their current status in terms of cost, average selling price, revenues, contracts, etc.  My former employer First Solar is great at this.  I have a growing amount of skepticism for companies that make great claims but provide very little details about where they are and where they will be, and how they will get there.

I also think that it is interesting that Nanosolar chose to sell into the 1 MW+ market initially.  With an early commercial product and a still early stage venture, this strategy will allow them to focus their efforts and work with a limited number of trusted partners to help optimize their technology for the growing utility-scale solar market. 

Congratulations to Nanosolar on shipping your first modules to a major solar power plant.  As a private company, you have the right to keep confidential info private.  But, in order to gain true respect and admiration in solar, execution is king.  Nanosolar's unique manufacturing process makes the solar market increasingly competitive, as Jigar Shah has said: "The Solar Decade is approaching".

Solar Power 2007 Conference

Myself and two members from my entrepreneurship team just got back from Long Beach this week where we attended Solar Power 2007.  The conference was awesome and is essential for anyone trying to learn more about the industry. 

For me it was all about conversations.  Some of the sessions were informative and a great place to hear from experts in their field.  But the most intensive learning came from talking with industry insiders in different parts of the value chain.

Below is a link that contains a lot of coverage from the event.  There are a lot of webcast videos.  I highly recommend watching some that you are interested in.  For me, I am just finishing watching the Wal-Mart VP speak about their new format's and their effort's in sustainability. 

Ted Turner was hilarious so if you need a laugh today, watch him.  Otherwise, enjoy your weekend. 

Solar Power Conference Webcasts

COW - My Summer At First Solar Inc.

Ten weeks came and went very quickly.  Looking back to January when I cold emailed fifteen wind and solar companies seeking a position in “any sales, business development, or marketing internship position” its fairly remarkable that First Solar, the world’s largest thin film solar module manufacturer called me back and asked if they could interview me.  My cover letter has been called gutsy, and my resume has been called impressive for my age, but I caught some luck when my father told me about a solar company in Phoenix that IPO’d just one month earlier.  It is the type of luck that Ben Casnocha writes about.  Its role in success is strong, but it is given graciously to those who are prepared and well positioned. 

For anyone who doesn’t know the history or recent activities of First Solar, let me give you a brief update.  Formed in 1999, First Solar bought a company called Solar Cells in order to commercialize their thin film Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) technology. 

After a longer than expected ramp up of their first 25 MW production line they implemented a Copy Smart process in order to replicate the exact production line twice over at their initial manufacturing plant in Perrysburg, Ohio.  Fortunately, for First Solar they were able to ramp up their production of CdTe solar power right when the silicon shortage hit traditional solar manufacturers hard and drove a wedge between First Solar’s average selling price and the rest of the industry. 

Somewhat coincidentally it was about this time in 2003-04 that Germany began to hit critical mass and gain momentum with their EEG legislation, which is a Feed-In-Tariff that pays a premium for solar power generation and made solar an attractive investment within the country.  Two factors drove First Solar to be extremely selective about whom their initial batch of customers included.  The first was their significant and widening cost advantage over the majority of manufacturers.  The second involved the only caveat of their technology, that because thin films (TF) convert a smaller percentage of the sun’s rays into electricity, TF panels require more space to generate the same amount of power as polysilicon derived solar. 

With this in mind First Solar became focused on the market segment of utility-scale power generation primarily through fixed field solar power plants, but also engaging in large industrial rooftops.  With their expertise as a manufacturer they chose not to become a project developer (PD) but instead to become a long-term supplier to the most experienced PD’s in the European marketplace.  Shortly thereafter they signed multiple long-term supply agreements with PD’s such as Juwi, Blitzstrom, Conergy, R & P Sun Energy, and Gehrlicher.

These long-term (5-7) year supply agreements created the demand that enabled them to obtain low cost financing in order to expand their young company announcing the construction of a new four line (now 30 MW/line/yr thanks to efficiency improvements) manufacturing facility in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany.  Later, in 2006 they completed a successful IPO, raising $400 mm to fund their voracious appetite for growth and development. 

The investment industry has acknowledged the company’s outstanding performance since going public driving the stock price from an IPO introduction of $20 to a close on Monday of $120.28 (An astounding 601% in just 8 ½ months!). 

So here we are, it’s the start of August, my internship is over, how did it go, what did I do?  Read on in Part 2 coming soon!

Full Disclosure: I do own First Solar stock, which I purchased at retail price.  I am not a financial advisor and am not offering investment advice of any kind.  I am no longer an employee of First Solar and do not claim to speak for First Solar and their interests.

My Dream Job* in Renewable Energy

Forgive the title, I know that it is an entrepreneurial sin to work for the man and be an employee.  However, you have to remember that REpreneur does not define whether the individual is an entrepreneur or intrapreneur. 

Having successfully completed my internship at First Solar Inc. in Phoenix, Arizona I have a much better idea of the exact jobs and positions that I would like to be hired on for when I graduate in the Spring. 

There are four basic pillars of activity that I am passionate about: Sales, Business Development, Evangelism, and Intrapreneurship.  With that in mind I have begun to write a position description to provide companies with in the coming year.  This exact position may not fully exist in many companies, but remember, you only get what you ask for.  This is part of my life rule: ADQ – Ask Direct Questions, such as “Will you hire me and create this specific position? 

Sales: I desire to work in a high-level sales role in which I would be meeting with current and prospective customers looking to implement renewable energy into their business or purchase my companies’ products so that they can facilitate the distribution of renewable energy.  I expect to grow an intimate knowledge of the company’s position within the value chain, its product offering, its unique selling proposition (USP), profile of a qualified prospect, and where we are going in the future.  While I may not currently have the expertise to single-handedly structure multi-million and billion dollar sales agreements, I expect to be deeply involved in this process. 

Business Development: I desire to cast vision amongst players in the industry that I sell in and build my company’s rapport in the marketplace.  I will respond to qualified inquiries, evaluate a customer’s prospects, conduct initial meetings with the prospect to decipher how our product offering solves a strategic goal of the prospect while still maintaining my company’s profitability and customer profile metrics. 

Evangelism: As a passionate REpreneur, and relatively experienced speaker who has spoken before crowds of hundreds and holds a deep understanding of my company and the larger renewable energy marketplace,  I am willing to “spread the good news” of renewable energy and the advantages of my company’s clean power solution to all the ends of the earth.  Conferences, webinars, interviews, tv, radio, podcast, vodcast, powerpoint, you name it and if it fits the profile of a good way to spread the news about my company to the right target market, I’m there.  Plus, I’m 6’6” tall so people literally look up to me. 

Intrapreneurship: Hopefully, if you’ve read my blog you know that I spend a great amount of time thinking about how companies can find new income streams, create new value, start new business units, and grow their business.  It is my goal that any position  that I attain would contain a strong element of intrapreneurship in the short-term outlook.  I will evaluate areas of the industry that my company could naturally expand into and whether or not there is good value with relatively low risk opportunity.  Corporations have great resources at their disposal and they should satisfy their shareholders by using those resources to avoid stagnation.  Focus is good, you should focus on what your core business is.  But opportunity comes in windows, and once that opportunity is gone, its gone. 

These four pillars will be the foundation of my job search and will be of great importance to me when interviewing any prospective employer.  Remember, in an interview, the candidate should be interviewing the company just as much as the company is interviewing the candidate.

Emerging Energy Research "Top Renewable Producers" - Charts Are Cool

As a follow up to “Go Big or Go Home”, this week the guys over at Emerging Energy Research released a report detailing the world’s 20 largest renewable energy producers (excluding large hydro) for 2006.  For those of you who have recently started following this industry, this is a great resource to see who the real players in this space are. 

As I’ve stated before I believe that utilities will play a central role in the growth and long-term adoption of renewable energy.  A lot of newcomers do not understand how the value chain of the energy market is set-up.  This is an important distinction to make because without it you cannot understand how the money flows, who is demanding these renewable solutions, and where the bottlenecks occur. 

So where do utilities fit?  Utilities are the retailers of the energy industry.  They are generally operators of energy services, not developers or constructors.  Utilities purchase a product (a power generation facility) or a service (the energy from a power generator) and sell that energy on the retail market to individuals, commercial and industrial customers. 

Utilities have unique power because although they operate primarily in highly regulated markets, we have begun to see competitive retail energy markets.  As a monopoly or oligopoly, a utility has a lot of power over what they charge, the market does not necessarily set the price.  Utilities are also the 800 lb. gorilla of the energy industry because they represent the aggregated buying power of their collective customer pool, often numbering in the multi-millions. 

Back to the chart.  This chart lists the top RE producers and breaks their RE production out by technology.  One exciting point about this chart is how it will change at year-end 2007.  Iberdrola, #1 on the list, has already announced their acquisition of Scottish Power, #7 on the list.  Additionally, world’s third largest wind developer Gamesa has been purchased and the assets will be split between E. ON, Enel, and Acciona, pending regulatory approvals.   

All very exciting stuff for the RE world.  Finally, take a look at the proportion of solar energy produced by these companies.  It is miniscule.  Currently, wind dominates this retail sector.  In the future, as costs continue to drop, the benefits of solar will begin to outweigh the low cost of wind and we will see rapid adoption by the utilities.  That’s a snowball that has just begun rolling.

Alright, I'm off to Orlando for the weekend.  But look for an upcoming COW post about one of the utilities on this list.  Oddly enough, there's a connection between Orlando and this company, but not related to my trip.  The first reader to comment which utility I am speaking of gets a free interview post: ask me anything (hopefully related to RE).

Go Big or Go Home!

Last week’s POW talked about the recent trend of U.S. retailers that have been adopting solar power systems on their stores and distribution centers, primarily using the PPA model offered by companies like SunEdison and MMA Renewable Ventures.  That’s a trend I think is going to continue. 

This week, I’d like to talk about another project trend that I foresee expanding rapidly around the world, one that is just starting to take off in the US.  The common name for this type of project is the large scale, grid-connected solar power plant.  For short, I like to call these Invested Solar Parks (ISP). 

An ISP is a commercial investment; it’s a business venture.  Generally, you’ll have a group of investors enter a market with a feed-in tariff (FIT), such as Germany, Spain, Italy, France, or Ontario (podcast description here).  The reason that ISP’s occur most often in FIT regions is because it provides the investor with a predictable return-on-investment.  When a FIT is implemented in a region it means that the government will pay a subsidy for every kWh of solar energy produced.  With this guarantee in place, investors line up to plop down they’re tens and hundreds of millions of dollars to build ISP’s. 

UTILITY SOLUTIONS: Most recently, and most interestingly, is that utilities have begun developing these ISP’s.  This is a clear sign that the technology has developed enough for utilities to consider solar parks against wind, coal, nuclear and others when deciding how to expand power generation capacity.  Remember, utilities only build capacity to accommodate for increases in PEAK demand.  ISP’s perform at their most efficient levels during peak electricity demand hours.  So ISP’s are a great solution for utilities. 

EDUCATION:  Consider a residential installer.  Every time they meet with a prospect, they are faced with a varying level of education about solar power and how it works.  They must educate the buyer about the solution, convince them that the investment they are making is a good one, design a custom system, retrofit the wiring for the home, build it out, and apply for any tax rebates or incentives.   All for that 2-6 kW project. 

How much easier is it to approach a group of professional investors or energy executives, present the business case for an ISP, present clear models for predictable energy production based on real world conditions monitoring, design one optimal and cost efficient structure and wiring, grid-connect it, and apply for those same rebates, incentives, etc.  It may be a longer sale, but recent projects are ranging in the 10-40 MW range.  That’s enough to power thousands of homes.  Smart companies, with the right resources are going to make this a highly competitive market space.  This is another part of the channel where economies of scale will play a big role. 

From a rapid deployment point of view, ISP's make even more sense than targeting large corporations where even major installations, like the Google HQ, rarely exceed 2 MW.

LOCATION, location, location: Finally, ISP’s can be located near where the power is needed most.  Everyone talks about how wind is such a cheap renewable, and I agree, wind has great upside.  The problem is that the major wind centers where wind power is most profitable are not located near major population centers where the energy demand occurs.  Infrastructure is incredibly expensive and inefficient.  I believe that in the coming years, the benefits of solar will allow ISP’s to overtake the current popularity of the large wind farm.   

Not only does solar outshine wind.  Think of the other major power generation technologies.  No one wants a coal or nuclear plant located near their home or business.  Many people still take issue with wind’s aesthetics, noise, or impact to aviary (though I find these arguments as trivial).  Near their home or business is where the utility needs to locate them.  No one can complain about solar, with its panels, resting quietly.  They don’t pollute the air, cause a safety concern, make noise, lower property values.  They just sit there, producing the energy for you to live your comfortable upper middle class lifestyle with your Toyota Sequoia and your big screen TV. 

Yep, it’s a great country we live in.  With a lot more ISP’s and a whole lot more PHEV’s, the US could be the global leader in the Cleantech lifestyle.  What do you think?