Solar Energy-Solar Mounting Systems: 2014

2014年12月8日星期一

Global DG market to double by 2023, says Navigant Research

Analysts Navigant Research have forecast that the global distributed generation (DG) energy market is likely to double between now and 2023, rising from 87 GW installed in 2014 to more than 165 GW by 2023.

As DG technology advances, adoption of these technologies will be accelerated by a combination of cost reduction, government incentive and a growing cultural shift that will see more and more energy consumers opt for clean electricity in favor of fossil fuels.

The threat of the DG model to utility business models will continue apace, affording consumers greater control over their energy needs, with solar PV playing a particularly pivotal role in this transition.

"Utilities in Western Europe are losing hundreds of billions of dollars in market capitalization as DG reaches higher levels of penetration in leading countries such as Germany, the U.K. and Italy," said Navigant Research senior research analyst Dexter Gauntlett. "The prospect of similar losses by utilities in the U.S. is prompting a struggle among utilities, the DG industry, and regulators over the future of DG models."

Navigant’s report, Global Distributed Generation Forecast, outlines how modular distributed assets can adapt to a variety of different applications – each of which comes with a different technical requirement. This trend shift will mean DG systems must be able to communicate with both the grid and other DG assets, especially when connected to microgrids.

Despite the undoubted growth of DG across the solar industry, pace has slackened a little in China, where the government had hoped to add around 8 GW of DG PV capacity in 2014.

An earlier report from Navigant Research forecast that the DG market will grow from $97 billion to $182 billion by 2023.

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Canada announces anti-dumping measures against Chinese solar modules

Canada is set to follow in the footsteps of the U.S. and the European Union in imposing anti-dumping (AD) tariffs on solar modules produced in China.

The country’s CBSA announced over the weekend that it has begun investigations into allegations that Chinese solar companies have imported dumped and subsidized solar modules and laminates into Canada.

Four Canadian companies, all based in the province of Ontario, have made official complaints to the CBSA about their AD concerns. The complainants are Eclipsall Energy Corporation, Heliene, Silfab Ontario and Solgate.

The investigations will draw on responses gleaned from today’s anti-subsidy case held at the International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington, which will sit this week to assess potential anti-dumping measures that the U.S. Department of Commerce may seek to impose on Chinese suppliers.

While the U.S. ruling – due mid-January – could have far-reaching effects on China’s solar industry, Canada’s investigations will be of relatively little concern, said a leading analyst in China.

"We do not treat this as a serious threat," Meng Xian’gan, deputy director of the China Renewable Energy Society, told local press in China. "The makor markets now for solar products around the world are Japan, the U.S. and China. The Canadian market is a small one.

"We have been through this with the EU and the U.S. It actually highlights the competitiveness and status of Chinese solar products on the world stage," Xian’gan added.

Portugal's net-metering law raises faint hopes

According to a report published last week by Portugal's energy regulator, the Direccao Geral de Energia e Geologia (DGEG), the country added 16 MW of new solar PV installations from July to September 2014. Cumulative PV capacity in Portugal has now reached 346 MW, of which 47 MW were installed in the first nine months of the year.

Portugal's record of new PV installations is low given the country's excellent solar resource, but the figure at least remains relatively steady. In 2013 and 2012, the country installed 55 MW and 69 MW of new solar PV systems respectively.

Net-metering law approved
Portugal's PV sector lags massively behind its wind sector, which at the end of September had installed an impressive 4.818 GW of capacity.

By contrast, the country's PV sector in the last four years has been driven primarily by small (so-called micro and mini) systems. Specifically, this PV market fragment amounts today to around 155 MW of installations nationwide.

A worrying trend, however, is that the rate of new micro and mini installations in 2014 has been decreasing compared to previous years. Because of this, the Decreto Lei n. 153/2014 net-metering law approved recently by the Portuguese government is welcome. The new law allows investors to install PV systems up to 250 KW for covering their own electricity needs, and to sell excess power to the grid. The grid operator will also keep 10% of the sale to cover the costs of maintaining the grid.

PV expectations remain faint
However, although the net-metering scheme is expected to increase competition in the energy and PV markets, it will barely provide the boost that PV sector requires. For this to happen, the country needs a separate, ambitious net-metering target that is not currently in place.

Instead, the induced competition between the net-metering and the FIT-based micro and mini systems is considered a positive impact for the electricity market.

Following the introduction of FIT cuts for micro and mini PV systems a year ago, Maria José Espírito Santo of Portugal's energy regulator DGEG told pv magazine that DGEG wanted the net-metering program to compete with micro and mini production, reflecting on the evolution of the energy market prices.

Furthermore, Espírito Santo added, while in the past the DGEG applied FIT cuts "to adjust the tariffs to the market evolution of the price of PV power plants and their main components", the logic behind the cuts has now been changed with "the main purpose being to discourage the FIT regimes for microproduction and miniproduction programs." Given this, Portugal's PV sector should soon expect DGEG to announce new FIT cuts, attempting to bring FITs down to what net-metering pays.

Portugal has a target to install 670 MW of solar PV by 2020. The net-metering law makes it very plausible this to be filled with net-metering systems. But is this target enough? This is the question that Portuguese policy-makers should begin asking.

Arizona utility rate changes could price solar out of Phoenix

Arizona utility rate changes could price solar out of Phoenix
On December 5th, Salt River Project (SRP) released details of its proposed rate changes for customers who generate their own electricity using rooftop solar. While these proposed changes are complex, this may be the most regressive recent move by a utility to kill solar in its service territory, which includes nearly one million customers in metropolitan Phoenix.

Unlike investor-owned utilities, SRP does not need the approval of state regulators to make these changes. Instead, SRP management will submit the proposed rates to its board on December 12th. If approved they will take effect during the April 2015 billing cycle – but will affect all PV system owners who do not present a contract to SRP by December 7th, 2014.

The changes as outlined in preliminary documents have three components. First, PV system owners will pay an additional US$12-25 per month in flat fees, depending on the amp rating of their service. Second, for the electricity which PV system owners use in excess of their generation, they will receive a reduction from retail to wholesale rates, which are currently around $0.04-0.06 depending on time of use.

The final component is likely to be the death sentence for new rooftop PV in the Phoenix metro area. As is typical for commercial customers, PV system owners will pay a monthly per-kilowatt (kW) hour demand charge calculated by their maximum net demand from the grid in a fifteen minute interval. This will start at $6.61 per kW for the first 3 kW and then increase to $12.07 per kW for the next 7 kW.

SRP has noted that customers who reduce their demand through shifting their time-of-day use or move their PV system output closer to peak by installing western-facing modules will pay lower charges. However, solar advocates are very concerned.

“Were this proposal to be approved, it is reasonable to say that the solar industry in SRP territory would be over as of next week,” notes SolarCity Director of Public Affairs Will Craven, who also serves as a spokesperson for the Alliance for Solar Choice (TASC). “It is reasonable to assume that SRP knows that and that is their intention.”

Whether or not this is SRPs intention, the utility states in the preliminary proposal that it intends to collect as much money from solar customers as non-solar customers. "While the Customer Generation price plan better reflects costs, it was designed to be revenue neutral to the E-26 TOU plan for a typical solar customer before the installation of any distributed generation," states SRP in the document.

Not only will the new rates apply to new PV system owners who present their contracts to SRP after December 7th, but it will also apply to existing PV system owners after a 10-year grace period.

SRP has one of the highest rates of rooftop solar adoption in the nation. According to the Solar Electric Power Association, SRP interconnected over 2,600 PV systems in 2013, the eighth-highest number of any U.S. utility.

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On December 5th, Salt River Project (SRP) released details of its proposed rate changes for customers who generate their own electricity using rooftop solar. While these proposed changes are complex, this may be the most regressive recent move by a utility to kill solar in its service territory, which includes nearly one million customers in metropolitan Phoenix.

Unlike investor-owned utilities, SRP does not need the approval of state regulators to make these changes. Instead, SRP management will submit the proposed rates to its board on December 12th. If approved they will take effect during the April 2015 billing cycle – but will affect all PV system owners who do not present a contract to SRP by December 7th, 2014.

The changes as outlined in preliminary documents have three components. First, PV system owners will pay an additional US$12-25 per month in flat fees, depending on the amp rating of their service. Second, for the electricity which PV system owners use in excess of their generation, they will receive a reduction from retail to wholesale rates, which are currently around $0.04-0.06 depending on time of use.

The final component is likely to be the death sentence for new rooftop PV in the Phoenix metro area. As is typical for commercial customers, PV system owners will pay a monthly per-kilowatt (kW) hour demand charge calculated by their maximum net demand from the grid in a fifteen minute interval. This will start at $6.61 per kW for the first 3 kW and then increase to $12.07 per kW for the next 7 kW.

SRP has noted that customers who reduce their demand through shifting their time-of-day use or move their PV system output closer to peak by installing western-facing modules will pay lower charges. However, solar advocates are very concerned.

“Were this proposal to be approved, it is reasonable to say that the solar industry in SRP territory would be over as of next week,” notes SolarCity Director of Public Affairs Will Craven, who also serves as a spokesperson for the Alliance for Solar Choice (TASC). “It is reasonable to assume that SRP knows that and that is their intention.”

Whether or not this is SRPs intention, the utility states in the preliminary proposal that it intends to collect as much money from solar customers as non-solar customers. "While the Customer Generation price plan better reflects costs, it was designed to be revenue neutral to the E-26 TOU plan for a typical solar customer before the installation of any distributed generation," states SRP in the document.

Not only will the new rates apply to new PV system owners who present their contracts to SRP after December 7th, but it will also apply to existing PV system owners after a 10-year grace period.

SRP has one of the highest rates of rooftop solar adoption in the nation. According to the Solar Electric Power Association, SRP interconnected over 2,600 PV systems in 2013, the eighth-highest number of any U.S. utility.

Read more: http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/arizona-utility-rate-changes-could-price-solar-out-of-phoenix_100017424/#ixzz3LI1U4pwGOn December 5th, Salt River Project (SRP) released details of its proposed rate changes for customers who generate their own electricity using rooftop solar. While these proposed changes are complex, this may be the most regressive recent move by a utility to kill solar in its service territory, which includes nearly one million customers in metropolitan Phoenix.

Unlike investor-owned utilities, SRP does not need the approval of state regulators to make these changes. Instead, SRP management will submit the proposed rates to its board on December 12th. If approved they will take effect during the April 2015 billing cycle – but will affect all PV system owners who do not present a contract to SRP by December 7th, 2014.

The changes as outlined in preliminary documents have three components. First, PV system owners will pay an additional US$12-25 per month in flat fees, depending on the amp rating of their service. Second, for the electricity which PV system owners use in excess of their generation, they will receive a reduction from retail to wholesale rates, which are currently around $0.04-0.06 depending on time of use.

Americans support renewable energy as a solution to Climate Change, but priority is low

Americans support renewable energy as a solution to Climate Change, but priority is low
Insurance giant Munich Re has released the results of a new survey of American attitudes on Climate Change, clean energy and adaptation. The survey of more than 1,000 Americans found that 83% accept that Climate Change is occurring and 71% believe that greater emphasis should be placed on the use of alternative energy including wind and solar.

Additionally, America 2014 Climate Change Barometer found that 66% support government-backed tax incentives to drive business or consumer behavior. And while other surveys have confirmed that Americans overwhelmingly support wind and solar, when it comes to priorities, the nation has other things on its mind.

Only 14% of Americans were concerned most about Climate Change, as opposed to 31% who ranked global political instability highest, 27% who put an economic crisis first, and 22% who are more concerned about the potential for widespread infectious diseases.

Those familiar with recent reports by the IPCC, the IEA or the U.S. military may see the irony in that the degree of Climate Change which we are headed towards will cause all three of those things. However, it is not inconsistent for the American electorate to prioritize short-term concerns over long-term consequences.

The report also comes as the new Republican majority in the U.S. Senate is preparing to take over leadership of committees. This includes Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a champion of the coal and oil industries, who is preparing to take over as chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Additionally, Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), a bombastic Climate Change denier, is expected to become chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee. Inhofe is known for his extreme views and has compared the Environmental Protection Agency to the Gestapo.

Final committee assignments have not yet been made. However, recent election results have already shown that the congressmen and senators which U.S. citizens chose do not share their views on Climate Change and energy.

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Insurance giant Munich Re has released the results of a new survey of American attitudes on Climate Change, clean energy and adaptation. The survey of more than 1,000 Americans found that 83% accept that Climate Change is occurring and 71% believe that greater emphasis should be placed on the use of alternative energy including wind and solar.

Additionally, America 2014 Climate Change Barometer found that 66% support government-backed tax incentives to drive business or consumer behavior. And while other surveys have confirmed that Americans overwhelmingly support wind and solar, when it comes to priorities, the nation has other things on its mind.

Only 14% of Americans were concerned most about Climate Change, as opposed to 31% who ranked global political instability highest, 27% who put an economic crisis first, and 22% who are more concerned about the potential for widespread infectious diseases.

Those familiar with recent reports by the IPCC, the IEA or the U.S. military may see the irony in that the degree of Climate Change which we are headed towards will cause all three of those things. However, it is not inconsistent for the American electorate to prioritize short-term concerns over long-term consequences.

The report also comes as the new Republican majority in the U.S. Senate is preparing to take over leadership of committees. This includes Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a champion of the coal and oil industries, who is preparing to take over as chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Additionally, Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), a bombastic Climate Change denier, is expected to become chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee. Inhofe is known for his extreme views and has compared the Environmental Protection Agency to the Gestapo.

Final committee assignments have not yet been made. However, recent election results have already shown that the congressmen and senators which U.S. citizens chose do not share their views on Climate Change and energy.

Read more: http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/americans-support-renewable-energy-as-a-solution-to-climate-change--but-priority-is-low_100017422/#ixzz3LI0SZSR5Insurance giant Munich Re has released the results of a new survey of American attitudes on Climate Change, clean energy and adaptation. The survey of more than 1,000 Americans found that 83% accept that Climate Change is occurring and 71% believe that greater emphasis should be placed on the use of alternative energy including wind and solar.

Additionally, America 2014 Climate Change Barometer found that 66% support government-backed tax incentives to drive business or consumer behavior. And while other surveys have confirmed that Americans overwhelmingly support wind and solar, when it comes to priorities, the nation has other things on its mind.

Only 14% of Americans were concerned most about Climate Change, as opposed to 31% who ranked global political instability highest, 27% who put an economic crisis first, and 22% who are more concerned about the potential for widespread infectious diseases.

Those familiar with recent reports by the IPCC, the IEA or the U.S. military may see the irony in that the degree of Climate Change which we are headed towards will cause all three of those things. However, it is not inconsistent for the American electorate to prioritize short-term concerns over long-term consequences.

The report also comes as the new Republican majority in the U.S. Senate is preparing to take over leadership of committees. This includes Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), a champion of the coal and oil industries, who is preparing to take over as chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Additionally, Senator James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), a bombastic Climate Change denier, is expected to become chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee. Inhofe is known for his extreme views and has compared the Environmental Protection Agency to the Gestapo.

Final committee assignments have not yet been made. However, recent election results have already shown that the congressmen and senators which U.S. citizens chose do not share their views on Climate Change and energy.

Read more: http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/americans-support-renewable-energy-as-a-solution-to-climate-change--but-priority-is-low_100017422/#ixzz3LI0SZSR5

US smart grid firm betting on Australia

Smart grid and power quality technology company MicroPlanet is betting on Australia to deliver as it reported its Q3 earnings yesterday.

In an update to investors which revealed no sales were reported between July 1 and September 30 as the full-year-to-date figure plummeted from $205, 833 on September 30 last year to just $14,502 at the end of the last quarter, the company was keen to stress its preliminary work Down Under would bring longer-term dividends.

Thursday's financial update revealed the Washington state-based smart grid firm is in talks with 'a leading Australian gas supplier' to trial its low voltage technology as well as monitoring the voltage regulation equipment it supplied to United Energy in Melbourne with a view to a trial to achieve grid stability 'in an urban setting'.

Strategic tie-up

MicroPlanet, headquartered at Woodinville, near Seattle, also claimed it is in talks with 'an Australian entity' over a strategic tie-up.

Such vagaries were overshadowed by the fact a comprehensive income of $102,226 for the third quarter – compared to a loss of $560,410 for the same period last year – did little to dent a full-year-to-date loss of $1.3 million which has doubled from the $670,000 reported on September 30, 2013.

At least the operating loss figure gave some cheer with a full-year-to-date figure of $1.25 million coming in from $1.6 million 12 months earlier as respective third-quarter losses reduced from $509,168 to $377,548 with the company announcing it had reduced operating expenses by $164,384 for the quarter 'to further preserve capital'.

Advanced energy drives California job creation

A survey has revealed the power of the advanced energy sector, including solar, to drive economic recovery.

According to the results of a survey of more than 2,000 U.S. businesses by the BW Research Partnership, California leads the way in advanced energy (AE) employment in the country and the 5% rise in AE job numbers seen in the state this year was more than double the overall rise in employment in the state, at 2.2% and significantly outpaced the national figure for new job creation, of 1.6%.

The figures, revealed by the Advanced Energy Economy Institute yesterday, show that of the 431,800 people employed in AE in California this year, almost 73,000 were employed by the solar industry, as defined by workers spending more than half their time working on solar.

Energy efficiency

By far the biggest contributor to the sector were the more than 300,000 employees working on building energy efficiency in the state.

With around half of the 43,700 AE businesses in California intending to recruit next year, employee numbers are set to rise by 17% in the next 12 months with 70,000 new positions taking the number of people employed in AE to more than 500,000.

The figures show more people are employed in AE in California than in movies, television and radio; mining and quarrying; the semiconductor industry; or aerospace.

The survey placed California top of the pile in the U.S. for AE employee numbers and joint second – alongside Massachusetts – for the largest percentage of total employees, at 2.4%. Only Vermont, with 4.3% of its workforce employed in AE bettered California which, with an estimated population of more than 37 million, dwarfs the number of residents in Massachusetts – 6.6m – and Vermont – 626,000.

Chinese delays could see Japan steal solar top spot

Delayed and postponed solar PV projects in China mean that the country is likely to fall short of its goal to install 14 GW of PV in 2014, with Japan coming up strongly in the rear.

Li Junfeng, director general of the China's National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, has warned that “there isn’t enough time” for China to achieve its 14 GW target, adding that Japan is on course to end the year on between 10.3 – 11.9 GW – which could be enough for the country to steal top spot.

Speaking to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), the analyst revealed that China's delays also pose a risk to many of the country’s small panel producers that are heavily reliant on a strong domestic market. BNEF analyst Wang Xiaoting added that China's Tier 1 players like Yingli and Trina will be largely unaffected by China’s end of year slowdown, thanks in part to their diversification into higher-price markets.

Delays have stacked up in recent months as policy makers have purposely stunted approvals in the utility-scale sector in an attempt to usher through more rooftop installations as the country bids to boost its distributed solar power (DG). China has targeted more than 8 GW of DG power in 2014, but is currently short of that goal, which was a ten-fold increase on 2013.

Combined, Li revealed that China will probably install less than 12 GW of both DG and utility-scale solar PV in 2014, with capacity additions possibly falling below 10 GW once grid connection issues are factored in.

Last year’s final quarter saw a record-breaking rush of capacity additions as developers installed their projects ahead of a tariff cut. The final three months of 2013 saw 8.9 GW of capacity added – 70% of the entire annual installations – said Bloomberg, but Q4 2014 will see that figure limp home well below last year’s number.

Between January and September, just 3.79 GW of grid-connected solar capacity has been added, according to figures from China's National Energy Administration. Overall, China currently has around 20 GW of solar PV capacity installed, and hopes to push that figure to 35 GW by the end of 2015.

Japan, meanwhile, has seen PV module demand boom to 2.52 GW in the past quarter, according to the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA). The country is also on course to end the year strongly, BNEF added.

Indian PV pipeline soars past 22 GW

India's power minister Piyush Goyal has announced that more than 22 GW of new solar PV capacity has been agreed across the country as part of Batch I and Batch II of Phase I of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM).

There will also be new grid connected PV projects coming online under Batch I, Phase II of the JNNSM as the program powers ahead with its solar deployment goals.

A total of 12 Indian states will share this new 22 GW load, which is to include a 7.5 GW solar PV plant that will be developed in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Additional large-scale projects will also be developed in Gujarat, Madhya, Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

In total, there will be 25 new solar parks added under the JNNSM scheme over the next five years, all of which will be larger than 500 MW. In Gujarat, land has already been identified for the creation of a 750 MW PV plant in the Banaskantha district, while Madhya Pradesh officials have put forward proposals for a 1.5 GW project in the state’s Rewa district.

A further 1 GW plant is planned for Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh has announced that it will develop a 2.5 GW project, which will be the third-largest single PV plant under this latest round of development after the 7.5 GW plant in Jammu and Kashmir and a proposed 3.7 GW project for Rajasthan.

"The ministry has sent scheme for the development of solar parks to various states along with MoUs to all the state governments against which 12 states have given consent for setting up solar parks," Goyal told local media at the weekend.

India's Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) recently determined that the country’s solar power potential could stand as high as 750 GW should the entire nation’s potential be fully realized.

Rajasthan alone could develop a PV portfolio of 142 GW, said MNRE, followed by Jammu & Kashmir (111 GW), Madhya Pradesh (60 GW) and Gujarat (36 GW).

Development of India's vast solar potential depends upon a number of variables, MNRE warned, including the ability of each state to properly develop its wasteland (brownfield) sites. Agricultural states such as Punjab, for example, will find it increasingly difficult to identify suitable tracts of land for solar development.

Currently, India's cumulative installed solar PV capacity stands at a little over 3 GW. The JNNSM target of 22 GW by 2022 focuses largely on the development of these aforementioned “ultra-mega” installations of 500 MW or more.

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