Solar Power

BOSTON (SHNS) – As the pace of clean energy development ramps up, a Wakefield solar company that is now working on projects that pair solar generation with storage systems to maximize the benefit of the renewable resource has absorbed a firm that specializes in battery storage.

Distributed energy developer Agilitas Energy last week announced it had acquired Boston-based New England Battery Storage, which focuses on utility-scale battery storage. Jim Gordon, who previously led the unsuccessful Cape Wind offshore wind project and has since turned his attention to solar power, serves as an advisor to NEBS.

Included in the acquisition were two operational ISO-New England merchant battery energy storage systems and one front-of-the-meter battery energy storage system in Maine totaling 25 MWh. When paired with solar panels or other intermittent power generation sources, battery storage systems have the potential to stockpile renewable energy so it can be tapped when consumer demand is high, alleviating some of the power grid’s reliability concerns.

“Energy storage is accelerating the transition to clean energy by enabling intermittent energy sources like solar and wind to be stored until they are needed on the grid. We are excited to have the experience and expertise of the NEBS team across our entire enterprise, which is critical as we develop hundreds of megawatts of storage projects,” Agilitas Energy President Barrett Bilotta said.

The company, which has a base of operations in Wakefield and has four solar-only projects up and running in Massachusetts, is a significant participant in the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) incentive program.

In the Bay State, the company has six projects combining solar and storage in development that are expected to be operational by 2022 or 2023 in Auburn, Rochester, Hopkinton, Seekonk, and two in West Brookfield/Warren.

A year ago, when the Department of Energy Resources updated SMART program regulations to expand eligibility for agriculture land and require that solar projects greater than 500 kilowatts connect to an energy storage system, Massachusetts had 380 MW of solar paired with storage.

Gov. Charlie Baker has been touting the promise of energy storage for years. At an offshore wind event in 2019, he said storage “can firm up wind and solar in a way that can make them incredibly strategic assets with respect to the energy mix, the pricing portfolio, and the environmental opportunities associated with the future of energy generally.”

Solar panels are creeping onto rooftops and into yards in Palestine and the surrounding area as property owners are buying in to harvest the sun’s energy. 

Some consumers are taking advantage of low prices, yet solar energy has a dark side. Large companies competing for a greater market share are saddling consumers with expensive long-term loans.

EasTex Solar, the first Palestine-based solar company, wants to bring solar energy to the area affordably. Cal Morton founded the family-owned business in 2018 to bring solar energy to the underserved East Texas region. 

Morton told the Herald-Press homeowners are interested in installing solar power systems because it has become more affordable in the past 10 years. He explained that installing 600 square feet of solar panels, which can generate 10,000 kilowatts per hour, costs a homeowner roughly $20,000. 

EasTex Solar installed 40% more solar projects in 2020 than in 2019, and Morton foresees nothing but growth. This year his company is now installing eight to 10 systems per month, though most are in residences outside of Anderson County.

“Solar has been around for decades but it’s the dramatic decrease in the price that makes it a viable alternative to people,” Morton said. “Solar is the cheapest source of newly generated electrical capacity.”

Morton operates the company with his two sons, Luke and Reece Morton, and two other employees, on the principles of integrity and transparency. They want to save local residents tens of thousands of dollars they would pay to larger companies.

“People in Palestine are being approached by companies all over the country,” Cal Morton said.  “We will take the time to educate people on what we think is the best system for them. We give people options.” 

EasTex Solar’s largest competitor is SunPro Solar of Louisiana, which has already installed a few systems in Palestine area homes. Kenny Vuong, a SunPro sales representative, said a similar system of 600 square feet — or 40 solar panels — would cost roughly $40,000 to install. 

Luke Morton fields inquiries, calculating the costs and benefits of solar energy for more than 100 homes and properties per month. However, solar energy is not for everyone — at least not yet. Solar systems are most effective if panels are installed in an unshaded area on a roof that’s in good condition. 

Some individuals choose to install panels next to their homes instead of on the roof. Other factors come into play, so sales depend on fielding questions from each homeowner who inquires about installation.

Cal Morton is banking on his ties to Palestine, where he was born and raised. He’s a grandson of former Sheriff Roy Herrington, who served Anderson County for more than 25 years. 

Morton opened the business here after six years of managing projects for Texas Solar Outfitters, a Houston-based solar company that opened in 2011. 

“I would like to educate as many local people as possible [about solar installation],” Morton said. “If it’s done right at the right price, solar is a very compelling and very secure investment.”

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — Attorneys for Gulf Power and the Walton County Board of County Commissioners are working toward some resolution of the utility’s legal challenge to a December commission decision to prohibit construction of a solar power generation facility on almost 900 acres in the north county.

In a May filing in Walton County Circuit Court, the county’s land-use attorney Steven K. Hall notified Judge Jeffrey E. Lewis that Gulf Power and the county “are currently exploring opportunities for resolution of the matters raised” in a petition filed by the utility.

The filing, made May 10, asks for a 30-day extension for the county to file its response to the petition. Under that timeline, the response would be in a matter of days, absent any other related filings in the case in the intervening time.

Previously:Walton County planners recommend denial of development density proposal

The latest:Gulf Power challenging Walton County decision against solar power facility plan

In the petition, filed on Feb. 26, Gulf Power seeks a court review of the commission’s 3-2 decision last Dec. 22 — a decision subsequently ratified at a Jan. 26 commission meeting — to deny Gulf Power’s application for a development order for an 868-acre tract between and around Harrison Road and Brown Road.

LARAMIE, Wyo. (PRESS RELEASE) – The City of Laramie was the proud recipient of a Blue Sky Award from Rocky Mountain Power in 2020 to support the installation of solar panels to serve the Laramie Community Recreation Center and the Ice & Event Center.

Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue-Sky program funds renewable energy projects in Utah, Wyoming and Idaho. The celebration for the new solar panels will take place on Thursday, June 10th, at the cul de sac on the Southwest side of the Recreation Center, between the Recreation Center and Basic Beginnings, at 920 Boulder Drive. The ceremony will begin at 11 am, followed by refreshments.

The solar panel installation at the Laramie Community Recreation Center and the Ice and Events Center represents the first major step toward the City of Laramie’s Carbon Neutrality Goal. These facilities were selected for the inaugural solar investment for their impact toward the municipal goal of net neutrality and for their ability to serve as an educational site for the thousands of annual guests visiting both facilities each year.

“For more than 20 years, the Blue Sky program has offered Rocky Mountain Power customers a simple and powerful way to live their values, reduce their carbon footprint and support renewable energy,” said Sharon Fain, Rocky Mountain Power vice president for Wyoming.

“We appreciate our Blue Sky customers for supporting projects like these and powering a better future for local communities.”

Launched in the spring of 2000, Blue Sky allows customers to match their energy usage with the purchase of renewable energy credits (RECs). It’s a simple way for participants to support new renewable energy in the West, above and beyond Rocky Mountain Power’s substantial and growing commitment to renewables.

In Wyoming, more than 5,000 Rocky Mountain Power customers take part in Blue Sky, and the number continues to grow each year. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory rankings, Blue Sky is one of the top five utility programs of its kind based on most participants and most renewable energy supported. For many cities and counties, Blue Sky offers a tangible way to meet local sustainability and climate action goals.

To participate, customers select the amount of renewable energy they want to support, then pay that extra amount on their monthly bill, starting at $1.95 per month. In addition to supporting clean energy to offset their energy use at home or work, participants also support community-based renewable energy projects for local nonprofits, schools and civic groups, and the development of new utility-scale renewable energy facilities.

For more information on this project, please contact Todd Feezer, Assistant City Manager at tfeezer@cityoflaramie.org or Sarah Reese, Community and Economic Initiatives Coordinator at sreese@cityoflaramie.org.

Copyright 2021 Wyoming News Now. All rights reserved.

Solar power plants can augment the country’s power supply, especially during times when demand for electricity is at its highest.

In a virtual briefing, Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC) Senior Policy Advisor Pedro Maniego Jr. said solar power plants can augment the projected increasing demand in Luzon from 2022 onwards.

Maniego noted the economy is expected to improve next year. “We are vaccinating our people so there will be higher demand,” he said.

“If you have enough solar, they could be more than enough to augment the supply requirement during these times,” said Maniego, former chairman of the National Renewable Energy Board, the bureau guiding the Department of Energy in implementing renewable energy policies.

“Solar is not available 100 percent of the time but these deficit in supply is during the peak hours, which is normally from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and solar plants produce higher generation during these times,” he added.

Last week, the Luzon grid suffered rotating brownouts caused by thinning supply as many power plants are offline or operating at de-rated capacity.

ICSC advisor Alberto Dalusung 3rd said the issuance of red and yellow alerts, normally every second quarter of the year, is a “perennial problem.”

“Given the current state of our supply mix, it (the grid) cannot have new capacity that soon. We probably have to look ahead and see how we can deal with the same problem next year,” said Dalusung, former director of the Department of Energy and currently an NREB member.

Replacing existing coal-fired power plants with new ones within a year is not a viable option. “You can’t just replace a coal plant with another coal plant in a year so we need to think of solutions in terms of quick to deploy power plants,” he added.

Dalusung noted the “cheapest and quickest” to deploy are solar and wind power plants since it would take up to one year to complete the construction of such renewable facilities.

“Unlike coal and gas power plants, solar and wind power plants do not have fuel and thus no automatic pass-through of fuel costs that make actual coal and gas power costs much higher than their ERC (Energy Regulatory Commission)-approved base rates,” he said.

Maniego said proponents are prepared to build solar and wind power plants, but funding remains a challenge because banks won’t provide loans to such power facilities without entering into a power supply agreement.

“Our banks will not give you loans unless you have a PSA and it’s difficult to get. It’s good that Meralco (Manila Electric Co.) has now entered in a big contracts for solar but that is only a recent development,” he said.

But Financial Futures Center founder Sara Jane Ahmed pointed out there is a market case already for merchant power plants.

“We have WESM (Wholesale Electricity Spot Market) where you can sell power to and we have power supply issues and if you look at how long it takes to approve a PSA, its likely that our installations will continue to be delayed in the foreseeable future unless something drastically changes with the regulators,” Ahmed said.

“This is where the banks can come in, the investments can come in and set up merchant power plants to deal with this scenario,” she added.

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Square (NYSE: SQ) has partnered with the blockchain investment company Blockstream to build an open-source, solar-powered Bitcoin mining facility, the latter said in a blog post.

Under the terms of the agreement, Square will invest $5 million in the facility while Blockstream will provide its expertise and infrastructure.

“The facility will be a proof-of-concept for a 100% renewable energy Bitcoin mine at scale, with the economics of the build-out—including operational costs and ROI—made open to the public,” Blockstream said in a blog post.

“While we know that many mining operations throughout the world, including ours, already rely on renewable energy (as it is the most cost-effective power available), we hope that the open and transparent nature of this project will become a model that other businesses can learn from. We hope to show that a renewable mining facility in the real world is not only possible but also prove empirically that Bitcoin accelerates the world toward a sustainable future.”

Two companies agreed to act transparently and share the obtained data as they make efforts to show that bitcoin mining and renewable energy can co-exist.

Solar power developers hope that they would be able to get scrapped the Directorate General of Trade Remedies’ (DGTR) investigation on a petition seeking additional antidumping duties on solar equipment and component imports, people aware of the matter said.

The developers — already reeling under high commodity costs, cancelled contracts and prospects of a new customs duty of up to 40% on panels and cells from next April — believe the case could be thrown out based on a rule by the DGTR itself that forbids anyone with less than a 25% market share from making such a request.

Last month, the Indian Solar Manufacturers Association (ISMA), on behalf of two members — Mundra Solar PV, which is the Adani Group’s solar manufacturing arm, and Jupiter Solar Power — filed a petition seeking to impose duties on solar imports from China, Vietnam, and Thailand, accusing companies such as Longi, Jinko and Trina of dumping their goods in the Indian market. The petition claimed that imports from these countries — which account for more than 90% of the solar equipment used in the country — were priced lower than their cost and that they would be able to monopolise the entire market by taking control of the manufacturing supply chain.

Other major domestic manufacturers such as Solar, Waaree, Jakson, Moserbear Solar, Vikram, and Websol — all ISMA members but are not part of the petition — make up the rest of India’s 15-gigawatt module and 3GW cell manufacturing capacity.

Adani’s manufacturing unit is located in a special economic zone, which receives special privileges and enjoys exemptions on duties on imported machinery used to manufacture solar cells and modules.

Developers hope this should disqualify

as a petitioner. Without Adani’s 1,500 MW manufacturing capacity, Jupiter will not be able to meet the 25% threshold on its own.

Industry executives also feel Adani Green — the group’s renewable arm — has been the biggest beneficiary of Chinese imports and has been stockpiling equipment for its solar projects.

On the advice of former DGTR officials who are familiar with antidumping laws, developers are cooperating with the quasi-legal investigation and responding to queries, but “under protest”, said an executive, requesting anonymity. “While we are not happy with the probe, we will send in responses by next week,” the person said.

Currently, developers can either choose to approach the DGTR directly, or move the Delhi High Court. While no decision has been reached yet, companies that ET spoke to said they would avoid moving court if they could get the mater quashed at the DGTR level itself.

Africa’s second largest country, and one of its poorest, the Democratic Republic of Congo (not to be confused with the neighboring Republic of Congo) has finally placed a big bet on renewable energy.  The government there has finally gone for a $100 million investment off grid hybrid solar projects that will provide power to three cities in the country. While no details have been shared on the size of the project, we estimate a size of no more than 3-10 MW for each city. The success of these projects is vital to pave the way for plans for 30 mini-green hybrid projects across the country.

According to IRENA, Congo currently has only  20 MW of installed PV capacity . Total installed capacity of power is just 2.67 GW, of which 2.54 GW comes from hydropower and 135 MW from thermal power.  Most of the Hydro power is courtesy the two Inga Dams, on the Congo River, that are rated at almost 1800 MW capacity. However, there are plans for a massive Grand Inga Dam on the same river, that will potentially have a power generation capacity of upto 39 GW, though that remains at an idea stage right now.

For the current off grid solar project, a mandate for 22 years was give to British power network company Gridworks, Spanish developer AEE Power, and Eranove, a French company active in the management of public services and in the production of electricity and drinking water in Africa. The Ministry of Hydraulic Resources and Electricity is the ministry that decided finally, with power from the project to be supplied to the three cities of Gemena, Bumba, and Isiro, with three separate, off grid solar plants.  Off grid Hybrid is the chosen mode simply because a viable distribution grid does not exist in the country, the world’s 11th largest by area. A problem not uncommon across Africa. The Hybrd component here remains diesel powered generators, the default option in countries across the continent.

The three cities are based in the norther region of Congo, and are all effectively outside what passes for the national grid.  Only 10% or less of the country’s 90 million population have access to grid power.

Even this initiative was possible thanks to the  Essor Access to Energy (A2E) Initiative, a UK government-funded program launched in 2019 to support the DRC Government’s mini-grid auction and project preparation process. Which might also explain the win for a British backed consortium.  

A statement from Gridworks says that “the initial investment for the three sites will be at least US$100 million, funded with a mixture of equity from the consortium, debt provided by development finance institutions (DFIs) and capital grants from donors and DFIs,” . The consortium is also in discussions for debt finance from both the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and the African Development Bank (AfDB), and for the potential provision of grants with the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), the Rockefeller Foundation and the AfDB’s Sustainable Energy Fund.

The California State Assembly is voting on new legislations (AB 1139) that will modify how energy generated by small to midsize solar projects is priced. According to local installers and the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors this will jeopardize the future of rooftop solar installs.

The new policy driving this odd opposition to renewables is driven by a concern over social equity, with proponents suggesting that Net Energy Metering (credit for solar power added to the grid) is a subsidy for homeowners who have installed solar, paid for by those without solar. Before we address this policy challenge, lets reflect on how we got here.

California has been a global leader in driving the low carbon future and has been in front on electrification of its transportation infrastructure, improved efficiency of its buildings and rapid expansion of renewable energy. These switches toward a sustainable low carbon future come with challenges that play out differently for different parts of the state’s population and businesses.

Until lately, there was little concern that existing business models, policies, laws and governance were outdated and failed to follow with the changing times. Now that distributed solar (roof top systems rather than large solar farms in our deserts) makes up close to 10% of residence, existing electric pricing and distribution infrastructure are feeling the pain of our “Phase I” solar buildout.

We got to this point because like many infrastructure programs, we subsidized solar through preferential pricing. We credit those who have made a significant investment in renewable generation through time of use rates for energy put into the grid during the day (sunlight!) and then charge lower rates for energy used at night when solar is not generating. This net energy metering strategy is simple and has worked well to get us to use our own money to invest in a low carbon future. That is what government incentives are for and demonstrates an excellent use of market forces to achieve State environmental policy. Yay!

But now the energy industry is taking notice; distributed generation is no longer a boutique industry but a real force for change that is impowering individual home owners to put their money where the governor’s mouth is. Getting the state to carbon neutral by 2050 (Biden plan) needs all of us to contribute, so why is the state reducing our ability to participate. For several reasons including antiquated electric grid and generation infrastructure that does a bad job of integrating inconsistent renewable contributions. Similarly, energy companies (PG&E, Southern California Edison, Central Coast Community Energy) make money by selling power to customers, be it carbon rich or carbon free.

The problem is local generation messes with both existing infrastructure and existing business models. The solution proposed by industry and being voted on by state law makers is to eliminate completive pricing and add additional fees to those who have installed local solar to reclaim costs from lost revenue (because we generate our own energy).

Social equity in state energy pricing is an important issue but the solution being recommended is counter to state climate policy and is missing the point. Shouldn’t we be finding ways to incentivize (subsidize) installation on low cost housing and change policy that disincentivizes landlords from installing solar on rental property. Shouldn’t our local energy district find ways to encourage local generation and work on strategic purchasing and storage of grid power that accounts for the fact that Central Coast residences want to invest in local solar jobs and empower the public (who got us into this “mess”) to continue their successful actions to address climate change. We can do better than a reverse course once we show progress. If you agree, sign a petition to Save Central Coast Solar at Change.org.

Ross Clark is the director of the Central Coast Wetlands Group at Moss Landing Marine Labs. He’s also a member of the Santa Cruz County Commission on the Environment and the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Research Activity Panel. Contact him at Rossclarkiv@gmail.com.

Felix MacNeill installed solar panels on the roof of his Canberra home in 2014 — he’s never looked back.

“It effectively means we’ve got no electricity bills — I think we’re even turning a very small profit,” Mr MacNeill said.

“If you’re lucky enough to own a roof, why wouldn’t you put some solar panels on it?

“You’re reducing your emissions, you’re supplying clean energy into the system and you don’t lose money on it.” 

When he was purchasing his panels, Mr MacNeill gave little thought to what he would do with them when it came time to upgrade.

“At the time, not a hell of a lot. But if they can last close to 30 years, they might well outlive me,” he admitted.

Most solar panels end up in landfill

Australia has one of the highest uptakes of rooftop solar in the world, with almost 3 million homes now using solar panel power.

The surge for solar began around 2010, and has risen quickly and sharply.

The lifespan of a solar panel can be anywhere from 10 to 25 years, so that means the number of panels nearing the end of their lives is about to grow exponentially.

Currently, almost all broken or expired solar panels go into landfill and experts have been warning for some time that more than 100,000 tonnes of modules will end up there by 2035.

Clive Fleming runs one of only a few solar panel recycling plants in Australia, Reclaim PV in Adelaide.

“We operate Australia-wide and we do our services through collection, whether it’s a drop-off point or we can pick it up from any site around Australia,” Mr Fleming said.

The service is open to manufacturers, installers, retailers, solar farm operators and homeowners, and the cost to recycle one solar panel is roughly $10 plus freight to South Australia.

Demand is small-scale but strong, and coming mostly from manufacturers doing warranty claims and retailers who are helping an increasing number of households to upgrade their decade-old systems.

“Homeowners do come about and pay for their panels to be recycled as well,” Mr Fleming said.

“The biggest challenge is developing the network and making sure people know there’s actually a choice available to them other than landfill.”

Mr Fleming said what would help boost business and keep solar panels from landfill was if more Australian jurisdictions followed Victoria’s lead and banned them from being dumped.

Solar panels are 100 per cent recyclable but stripping and sorting the materials is a costly exercise and the return on those materials isn’t yet large enough to cover those costs.

“We do need to charge at the moment for the recycling because the amount of solar panels coming in isn’t huge,” he said.

“Until that tipping point comes where we can sell our materials in a larger volume, it means that we still have to charge for the process and our labour.”

Push for manufacturers to take responsibility 

University of New South Wales solar researcher Nathan Chang said environmentally, recycling solar panels made sense but it was not yet cost-effective for recyclers.

And he said he feared that having to pay to recycle solar panels would be a significant barrier for many Australian households.

What makes more sense, according to Mr Chang, was to put the onus on manufacturers to make sure a solar panel was collected and recycled at the end of its life.

“That’s the model used in Europe and I can see great benefit in it,” he said.

“Because what happens then is that they do charge a little bit more for the solar panel upfront to cover the cost — so the customer does end up paying for it — but the companies themselves can organise at a large scale the best way to manage this waste and make sure it happens.

“It also opens the possibility that companies would start to think how they could design modules in such a way that they’re really cheap and effective to recycle.”

The only concern Mr Chang had about that approach was the risk that the price increase would be so high that it stopped people from investing in solar.

“It is possible and I think that would be a shame because that would be achieving the opposite of what we want,” he said.

Since 2019, the federal government has been considering whether there should be rules for how the solar industry deals with its waste.

The main consideration has been whether to add solar panels to the Product Stewardship Act, which already mandates how electronic waste, like televisions, is dealt with.

Environment Minister Sussan Ley has hinted that change is coming.

“A product stewardship scheme for photovoltaic systems should encourage shared responsibility throughout the supply chain,” a spokesman for Minister Ley told the ABC.

“Designers, manufacturers, installers and retailers all have a responsibility to manage the impacts of their products through their life cycle.”

An announcement is expected in coming weeks and it’s likely to outline a similar scheme to those currently in place for televisions and computers, where the onus falls on the supply chain and not the user.

If Felix MacNeill’s solar panels pack it in before that change comes, he said he’d be more than happy to pay to have them shipped and recycled in South Australia.

“I think it’s a great deal — it’s really not a lot of money,” he said.

“But what I’d really love to see is a market for reasonable second-hand panels because a lot of people get rid of them far too early — but that’s another matter.”