Hitachi Develops All-in-One Container-Type Energy Storage System
Hitachi, Ltd. announced that it has developed an all-in one, container-type energy storage system as a core energy product for ensuring the stable use of distributed renewable energy such as wind and solar power, while maintaining the power supply-demand balance. This energy storage system fuses Hitachi's electricity grid control technologies built up in the Hitachi Group and Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.'s battery-related expertise and will be offered as a packaged system.
In the beginning of 2014, Hitachi plans to begin a demonstration test of this energy storage system in North America. Plans call for Hitachi to reflect the results of this testing in a commercial product after verifying the commercial viability and performance of the system in the electricity trading market, or the so-called ancillary market*2 connected with maintaining the electricity supply-demand balance. Furthermore, Hitachi will examine whether to promote the system, to be named "CrystEna" (Crystal+Energy), as one of its solution businesses for expanding the transmission & distribution business in the global market.
EU Nations Approve Pact With China on Solar-Panel Trade
European Union countries approved an agreement with China to curb imports of Chinese solar panels, ending the EU’s biggest commercial dispute of its kind.
EU governments endorsed an accord struck by their trade chief and China in July that sets a minimum price and a volume limit on European imports of Chinese solar panels until the end of 2015. Chinese manufacturers that take part will be spared EU tariffs meant to counter alleged below-cost sales, a practice known as dumping, and subsidies.
The verdict seeks to balance demands by European producers such as Solarworld AG (SWV)for trade protection and opposition by China, some EU governments and Europe’s importers to levies on the renewable-energy technology. The two-year duration of the measures is less than half as long as the normal five-year period for EU anti-dumping and anti-subsidy protection.
European solar-panel manufacturers suffered “material injury” as a result of dumping by Chinese exporters and trade-distorting government aid to them, while trade protection must also take account of “the cost for other economic operators,” the 28-nation bloc said today in Brussels. The decision wraps up two inquiries begun more than a year ago and will take effect after being published in the EU’s Official Journal by Dec. 6.
How and Where Distributed Energy Resources Will Reduce the Need for Transmission
The rapid growth of distributed energy resources (DER), a non-transmission alternative, is raising concerns over the viability and necessity of new transmission lines.
2013 completions of large solar thermal power plants mark technology gains
All five of the major solar thermal projects—including Solana and Ivanpah—that are scheduled to come on line in 2013 and 2014 were awarded loans through the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee Program.
Q3 2013 Deal Volume Comparison
Merger and Acquisition information from Lincloln's Deal Reader.
Vanderbilt Proposes Building Energy Storage Into Solar Cells
Imagine a photovoltaic cell or module that actually stores as well as produces energy, acting as a battery and producing power even after dark.
Will You Survive Solar Grid Parity?
A path to ensure profitable installation for residential solar
The US has 43 nuclear power plants' worth of solar energy in the pipeline
The boom in solar energy in the US in recent years? You haven’t seen anything yet. The pipeline of photovoltaic projects has grown 7% over the past 12 months andnow stands at 2,400 solar installations that would generate 43,000 megawatts(MW), according to a report released today by market research firm NPD Solarbuzz. If all these projects are built, their peak electricity output would be equivalent to that of 43 big nuclear power plants, and enough to keep the lights on in six million American homes.
Only 8.5% of the pipeline is currently being installed, with most of it still in the planning stages. Some projects will inevitably get canceled or fail to raise financing.
But there’s reason to believe that a good chunk of these solar power plants and rooftop installations will get built over the next two years. That’s because a crucial US tax break for renewable energy projects is set to fall from 30% to 10% at the end of 2016. So there will be a rush to get projects online. In 2012, for instance, wind developers installed a record 13,131 MW as a key tax credit was set to expire, accounting for 42% of all new US electricity capacity that year. (The US Congress subsequently renewed the tax break for another year.)
SolarCity Completes Industry's First Securitization of Distributed Solar Energy
SolarCity Corp. today announced that it has completed what is reported to be the first securitization of distributed solar energy assets. SolarCity completed a private placement in the amount of $54,425,000 with an interest rate of 4.80% and a scheduled maturity date of December 2026.
"This transaction is a breakthrough and will pave the way for others, but its greater significance is the validation of the quality of SolarCity's assets," said Bob Kelly, SolarCity's chief financial officer. "SolarCity lowers what is typically the highest operating cost for households and gives them long-term control over that cost. Customers highly value those attributes, and that's why these assets perform so well."
SolarCity's pool of solar contracts received an investment grade rating of BBB+ from Standard & Poor's. The rating reflects the predictability and quality of the cash flows and the minimal operation and production risk of solar assets. Distributed solar is one of the first new asset classes to achieve an investment grade rating in the asset back securities markets in the past several years.
GE Promises More Wind Power Without New Turbines
GE this fall began pushing a new bit of software wizardry that it says will boost wind farm performance. Looks like E.On is biting.
GE said that the Germany-based energy giant would install PowerUp, described as a “customized software-enabled platform that increases a wind farm’s output by up to 5 percent,” at five wind farms. This adds up to 469 GE 1.5-77 wind turbines that E.On uses (through its Climate & Renewables division).
GE is suggesting that this is the equivalent of building as many as 19 new turbines of that size, but it’s going to have to prove that’s the case in order to make money off implementing PowerUp for E.On. That’s because this is an “outcomes-based” deal: The companies will measure the impact of PowerUp, and GE will get only a percentage of the gains the technology brings.
“The outcomes-based approach aligns well with our goals of providing cleaner, better energy at a more affordable price,” Steve Trenholm, chairman, E.ON North America, said in a statement. “Investment in wind energy has led to technological advancements like PowerUp that continue to make renewables more and more competitive with traditional forms of energy.”
Obama admin. not prosecuting wind farms for bird deaths
The Obama administration is giving wind power producers a pass by not going after them for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of federally protected birds and bats.
But the feds have gone after fossil fuel and other companies that have killed these animals.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service currently has 18 open investigations into bird and bat deaths due to wind power operations, according to a service spokeswoman, with 14 of these cases involving the death of at least one golden eagle — which are federally protected under three different laws. Seven of these cases have been referred to the U.S. Justice Department for “potential prosecution.”
A spokesman with the Justice Department, however, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that there “have been no prosecutions to date under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and/or the Bald and Gold Eagle Protection Act related to the deaths of migratory birds, including eagles, at wind facilities.”
The Obama administration’s support for wind energy development and inaction against wind producers that allegedly break these laws has sparked the ire of House Republicans. Earlier this month, Republicans on the Committee on Natural Resources sent letters to the administration slamming them for not providing documentation related to bird deaths from wind farms.
The Solar Energy Industry Sizzles, Offshore Wind Dies Down
With so many major obstacles standing in the way of U.S. offshore wind energy, the plans to launch the renewable energy sites may never come to fruition. Such uncertainty can make it a high-risk investment and turn away many venture capitalists.
Investment in Clean Technologies
The trends we are seeing reflect a broad spectrum of innovations, beyond energy generation (nevertheless a central pillar of clean technologies) to new commercialization models, to energy efficiency, to new applications of advances in materials sciences and molecular structures, and to resource sharing platforms enabled by the web.
More Power to You: Marines Boost Energy, Lighten Load
The Marine Austere Patrolling System (MAPS) combines solar power and an individual water purifier to help lighten the load of Marines conducting lengthy missions in remote locations with few or no options for resupply.
Empowering Rural Cambodia with Solar lighting
As Cambodia is located in one of the sunniest areas of the world, solar power provides an excellent solution to the reduction in kerosene use: it's safe; reliable; and easy to use.
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