Viewing posts tagged "Solar"

Gore: White House Shooting for Climate Bill by Spring

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- Former Vice President Al Gore says the White House will try to get a climate bill passed by late spring 2010 or earlier.

"The window for 2010 probably closes around when spring ends," he said during a speech at GreenBeat taking place in San Mateo. Things are looking a bit up. Senators Joe Lieberman (Gore's former running mate) and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina are already working with Democratic senators to write a piece of legislation that will get at least some bipartisan support. It will probably include more subsidies for nuclear power, but otherwise will be similar to the Waxman-Markey bill that the U.S. House of Representatives passed earlier this year.

If the White House can get a Spring victory, it can go to a international conference in June with a solid U.S. position on climate legislation. Otherwise, the next big international event for the White House to present what the U.S. has accomplished comes in Mexico City in late 2010.

While green power is important, Gore added that infusing the grid with intelligence will likely have a larger impact.

"The single largest solution is efficiency," he said. "The reason efficiency is the largest source of low carbon or no carbon energy is the fact that we waste so much energy."

Distributed generation and power will also increase the need for grid improvements. The average age of transformers in the U.S. is 42 years old. Lots of new products, jobs etc. Whirlpool has smart appliances coming.

Right now it takes 1 gigawatt worth of power just to provide power to TVs that are plugged in yet turned off, Gore stated.

Things will outnumber people on the internet, he stated. By early next year, there will be one billion transistors for every person in the world.

Other highlights of the speech so far: We face a masssive climate change and he used to listen to Minnie Pearl on the Grand Ol' Opry.

Dow Lines Up With Caltech for Next-Gen Solar

Dow Chemical, the chemical manufacturer that plans to release roofing tiles with integrated copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) solar cells next year, has inked a multimillion dollar research alliance with Caltech to experiment with next generation solar cells.

The goal will be to identify relatively earth-abundant materials that can be exploited to develop future, cheaper solar cells. Caltech doesn't get the same sort of adulation in the press as MIT or Stanford, but the school has given birth to a few interesting energy startups. Secretive Alta Devices which has a next generation solar cell comes to mind. So does concentrator company Soliant, which is just going commercial.  

Dow has become a quiet name to watch in solar. Although startups have jumpstarted the green market, the capital and manufacturing requirements needed to make solar cells or wind turbines mean that old-line industrialists and conglomerates increasingly may come to define the market. Earlier this year, Dow released a silicone (not silicon) encapsulant for solar cells that improved protection while increasing factory output. Honeywell also released coatings.

Disclosure: When I practiced law, I worked on some Dow Corning cases, but it's not like I remember anything.

Most Jobs for Chinese Wind Farm in Texas to Go to China: WSJ

A consortium of Chinese and U.S. companies want to build a 600-megawatt wind farm in Texas that they say will create jobs in the U.S.

Well, some.

The project, which will cost an estimated $1.5 billion, will create 2,800 jobs, backers told the Wall Street Journal. Fifteen percent – or around 240 – will be in the U.S. The rest will be in China. The wind farm is being developed by a joint venture formed by Shenyang Power Group, the U.S. Renewable Energy Group and Cielo Wind Power. Shenyang will own 49 percent of the project. It will employ turbines from A-Power Generation. Jinxiang Lu is CEO of both SPG and A-Power. Commercial banks in China will provide financing.

The backers will also seek stimulus funds and tax credits.

The deal is fascinating and bears worth watching for several reasons. First, the deal – like the deal between Duke Energy and China's ENN to build solar farms – will not just involve bringing comparatively inexpensive wind turbines or solar panels to the U.S. Chinese companies and banks will likely be actively involved in building and managing these power plants. In other words, Chinese companies will be involved in the sort of higher-value services that white-collar America craves.

Second, alternative energy appears to be China's opportunity to establish brands worldwide. Companies like Toyota, Sony and Toshiba helped Japan move from a back-end manufacturer to a maker of goods in its own right. South Korea's economy was greatly enhanced when Samsung and LG became respected leaders in consumer electronics. China hasn't really had a brand yet. Many thought Haier, the electronics maker would be the first, but that hasn't happened. But in alternative energy, Suntech is already a brand name in solar and some of the companies listed above will likely become familiar, at least in some regions in the U.S.

Don't get me wrong. I actually admire Chinese companies. The quality and ambition of the entrepreneurs behind companies in China has consistently impressed me. They also pay their CEOs less than U.S. companies. The companies behind the wind venture also wouldn't be the first international entries into the stimulus derby: Spanish and South Korean companies have received millions through U.S. joint ventures. But it is an interesting trend. In the near future, one of the best places to work might be a U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese company.

New Solar Hotspot: The Midwest

Solar companies may start looking inward, and around the Mississippi, for new business.

That's the word from Rosalind Jackson, one of the people at the advocacy and policy group Vote Solar. At Solar Power International this week, Vote Solar spent a lot of time talking to various state officials and the interest in solar in the middle of the country.

Missouri voters passed a referendum for renewable power and the legislature is now assigned the task of coming up with companion legislation and regulations to make it happen. Illinois is expected to build out 750 megawatts of solar capacity. Kansas is studying net metering. Earlier this week, Ohio and Michigan issued reports predicting green tech job growth.

"Pennsylvania," she said with emphasis.

Ontario, just North of this region, is already a booming solar spot. Over time, one can likely expect to see these states adopt the tax credits and other incentives adopted elsewhere.

So if you want to expand the market share for your microinverters or thin film BIPV tiles, you might want to start introducing yourself to the electrical contractors and others in the Jefferson City area.

Nuclear CEO Asks Senate to Put Nukes in Renewable Standards

A very interesting tidbit in the WSJ's Environmental Capital blog today:

John Rowe, CEO nuclear power plant operator Exelon, suggested in a hearing in the U.S. Senate that nuclear be included in renewable portfolio standards.

That's one way to hit the 20 percent by 2020 mark in the typical RPS standard. Nuclear already accounts for 9 percent of the total energy consumed in America, including petroleum, and 20.6 of the electricity generated. That 20.6 percent, by the way, comes from 104 plants. Done.

He also wants $50 billion in loan guarantees.

If anything, the hearings and debates over the energy bill may prod the long awaited showdown on nuclear to occur.

Nuclear proponents and opponents have jousted over several topics in the past few years and several companies have begun to suggest new technologies – such as modular nuclear plants – to reduce some of the planning and financial risks associated with nuclear. Unfortunately, it will also be a debate where the known unknows far outweigh the facts.

A nuclear plant hasn't been built in the U.S. in years and since then the safety, proliferation and expense issues have become more complex. And the solar and wind companies have this going for them: They will be able to put massive amounts of capacity continue to put capacity in the ground before the first permits to build a new nuclear plant are even granted.

If You’re Selling a Company, Call Siemens

Siemens is the company that just can't resist.

The German industrial giant is considering purchasing solar cell maker Q-Cells, according to Reuters (via Forbes here.).

Earlier this month, Siemens bought solar thermal vendor Solel for $418 million. Earlier, it has bought an number of water companies and ramped up its investments in smart grid.

In a list of the top ten acquirers in greentech, we picked Siemens as number two, right behind General Electric.

This is a pattern you should get used to. Small, innovative startups often have tremendous technology, but they lack the capital, distribution networks and relationships to bring their ideas to fruition. Large conglomerates often fail to capitalize on the interesting stuff in their labs, but they do know how to buy stuff that seems to work and take it commercial. Thus, greentech will be a barbell market – a lot of small companies and a few large companies with not a lot of things in between.

As acquisitions spread, you can start to think of Silicon Valley as a farm system for conglomerates. That doesn't sit well with some: Didn't Silicon Valley win out over old-style conglomerates like Digital and IBM? Yes, but it doesn't mean it happens in every situation. Green startups are born to be bought.

And if Siemens isn't interested, start talking to Philips (two lighting acquisitions this year), Toshiba, TSMC, and Cisco Systems.