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PV could consist o third of the US energy until 2050

Two computers developed by the NREL were upgraded

Computer moddelers consider that $1/W can replace gas, nuclear and CCS and pay the price of introducing a carbon cap.

A computer model was designed by scientists of the University of California, Berkeley. The computer proves that solar PV power produced for US$1/W could supply one-third of the electricity needs in the western US.

The Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative plans to lower the costs of PV energy until to $1/W and the creators of the SWITCH computer model calculated if the purpose is achieved, solar power could replace gas as the provider of electricity generation in the ‘medium term’ and nuclear and carbon capture and storage technology by 2050.

The computer looks at the electricity grid of the western U.S. and predicts that solar will conquer even more if gigawatt-scale storage is used.

The Berkeley modellers also calculated the costs of introducing a cap or tax on carbon could be mitigated by the energy cost savings of $1/W solar supplying one-third of western U.S. electricity.

After SunShot Initiative’s calculations, $1/W solar energy can lower energy costs until 14% , leading to annual saving of up to $20 billion by 2050.

Furthermore, the Department of Energy also reports that the beta of two popular online solar tools developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will be launced.

Visitors can enjoy an upgraded version of launch- that can estimate the cost of of energy production and grid connected PV energy costs globally, and the System Advisor Tool (SAM) that developers use to estimate the performance and financial modelling of planned solar projects.

A boom in PV is predicted for Middle East and North Africa

renewables are growing in the MENA region

Solar energy is growing in the MENA region

The latest report regarding the examination of green energy in the Middle East and North Africa region shows that “PV is experiencing rapid growth due to its tremendous potential and continuously decreasing technology costs,” with a current pipeline of 2.3 GW.

The report was written by The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) and the United Arab Emirates’ Directorate of Energy and Climate Change.

A project pipeline to exploit the MENA region’s unconventional energy resources rises. Also the renewable power investment is growing.

To be precise the report shows that the total primary energy supply increased until 3.3 % of the total of 1200 TWH total power generation given that, from 2007 to 2010 represented only 1% of the energy supply.

Moreover, the non-hydropower renewable more than doubled and almost reached 3TWH, but the hydropower is still dominating.

The biggest non-hydro renewable remains wind, but solar power generation grew the most in the past years. This is due to “a significant increase in photovoltaic installed capacity and production from a low-starting base, and to the recent introduction of concentrating solar power,” the report says. Solar water heating technologies are also becoming bigger.

The report also says that investment in renewable energy in the MENA region is said to continue to grow in the near future. Precisely, is says that since this year’s April , there were 106 non-hydro renewable energy projects in the pipeline in the region summing up a total of over 7.5 GW of new electric generation capacity.

Roxana Moraru

EU journal gives details on the trade case

There was a settlement in the Eu-China trade

The EC published details of the China trade, some questions are still unanswered.

The trade dispute over Chinese modules and cells regarding the minimum import price was approved on Friday. Still, some questions have not been answered.

Some details about the EC’s trade dispute have been published in the 6th of August edition of the Official Journal. The EU reported that it agreed with the compromise.

The decision reveals details about the way that the negotiation lead to a minimum price for the freely imported PV. The first step the commission took was to verify whether a minimum price could be associated with the indexes of some commodities. PV modules do not permit an easy correlation between the commodity prices and retail prices. It is implied the the EC used indexes compiled by Bloomberg and pvXchange.

The Commission says the following aboutthe impact of the minimum prices: “In order to assess whether that price undertaking removes the injurious effect of dumping, the Commission has analysed, inter alia, the current export prices and the level of provisional duty. On that basis, it was concluded that the price undertaking removes the injurious effect of dumping.”

However details about the specific minimum prices will nor be revealed. But, accordind to the media reports the price range is between €0.56 and €0.57 per watt with the ceiling on imports from China set at 7 GW.

The pertinent questions the have not been answered are:
-Imports of participating companies will reflect current annual levels. But what is the correct annual level in such a fast changing market?
-What happens if the targeted annual level is exceeded, and how will individual producers, in this context, be coordinated?
-Price indexes compiled by Bloomberg and pvXchange were used for the negotiated minimum price. The document does not explain how changes in the minimum price will be negotiated.

-How will modules be treated that are not manufactured in China nor the EU, but that contain Chinese cells?

Roxana Moraru

New researches predict the use of black metals in PV industry

There is a possibility that black metals will be a part of PV

Black metal is said to be a part of PV industry

The development of more efficient solar cells helped researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) from U.S.A make an important discovery: black metals in PV production.

The work with nanostructurated metals which are made to have low reflectivity and high absorption of visible and infrared light paid off for The LLNL Materials Engineering Division research team.

Working with nanostructurated metals involved the work with non-classic black metals which are considered to be a kind of extension of the black silicon concept. This means that when silicon is treated in a special way, fro example when it is being roughened at the nanoscale level, it gathers light by multiple reflections and helps to increase the absorption. This is a result of the silicon’s black surface that is capable of better trapping full sun’s wavelength spectrum.

The experiment team led by LLNL engineer Tiziana Bond helped with the discovery of the way that an absorption can trap a bigger quantity of solar wavelengths by improving and controlling the efficiency of the absorption and transform the metals in black metals. This kind of technology may be used in PV development. Moreover, similar black metals are developed by all kinds of nanostructuring between silver and gold but without the certainty of a full solar absorption.

“Our article was picked for the cover story of Applied Physics Letters because it represents cutting-edge work in the area of plasmonics, the broadband operation obtained with a clear design and its implication for the photovoltaic yield,” as Bond announced.

Roxana Moraru

A raise is predicted to come in the Residential PV storage global market

home solar PV systems

The latest report done by the research group IHS shows that installations of residential PV storage systems will go up to 2.5 GW until 2017. The report also says the Germany’s energy storage subsidy has quick started the flow.

If encouragements and With incentives and bonuses like FITs being cut keep coming, than it is highly desirable for end-consumers to self-consume. Lately, the idea of sending the extra energy generated by a PV system into the grid and retail electricity prices became very unattractive.

“Residential PV customers are striving to maximize their own consumption of the energy they are generating,” announced Abigail Ward, PV analyst at IHS. “This is because rising electricity prices and decreasing feed-in-tariffs (FITs) are serving as a disincentive for consumers to export their power to the electricity grid”, he added.

The total amount of installations is said to grow up to 2.5 GW by 2017, a leap from 12 MW in 2012. The number of PV residential energy storage installations is predicted to be higher than the total number of residential solar systems in Germany today.

“An energy storage solution enables a PV system owner to shift energy from when it is generated to a later time for consumption,” in Ward’s terms . “As a result, demand for residential energy storage products will continue to accelerate as PV energy reaches grid-parity in a number of countries.”

Roxana Moraru

The lowest module price in UK solar industry needs to be malleable

The deal between EU and China regarding the solar panel prices should have been over by now, the minimum price should be lower, and the government of the UK should, soften the blow of ‘Brussels’ meddling as the Solar Trade Association announces.

The STA , a solar trade body, disagrees with the ongoing situation between the two continents, regarding solar panel imports.

The EU trade commissioner, Kerel De Gucht, confirmed that a settlement has been made. This decision is about a minimum price for Chinese modules but also about an annual volume cap on imports to the EU, as STA reports. They also believe the Uk government must constrain it’s support policy for the sake of solar projects in the country.

The STA also says the if the minimum price for Chinese modules , €0.56 per watt, is also applied to the UK the existing projects might not be economic.
Moreover, in a press release they asked that the duration of Brussels agreement to be shortened for a better fluctuation of the minimum price.
“Thank God we’ve moved a long way from the original proposals, which were truly appalling and without justification” as STA chief executive Paul Barwell announced.

“However, we’re concerned the deal reached by China and the commission will ultimately achieve little, as German manufacturers are unlikely to be able to compete long-term with the Asian giants. Meanwhile in the short term, the proposals could do real damage to the U.K. downstream solar industry and to national deployment levels. They leave the U.K. non-domestic solar industry in a very difficult position, when in fact the U.K. is one of the major EU growth markets, and ought to remain so”, he added.

“It would make little sense from a public value-for-money perspective for the U.K. government to allow the solar industry to grind to a halt because of Brussels’ meddling” STA PV specialist Ray Noble concluded.

Roxana Moraru

Negotiations between E.U and China are standing still

The subject of cheaper Chinese PV important is still a reason of discussion since Beijing is not satisfied with the minimum import price of €0.57/W for modules suggested by E.U.

The European Commission and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce are still negotiating about the import of cheaper crystalline modules, cells and wafers. The two parts didn’t reach a conclusion.

The chance of settling was still possible until the Friday. The Commission was planning to implement a maximum import ceiling of 7 GW on Chinese modules and a minimum module import price of €0.57/W (US$0.76/W).

Beijing was suppose to report a settlement on the import ceiling for modules with the EU, but after the minimum import price became a sensible matter on Friday, the negotiations were postponed. The cause of the discontinue of the negotiations was the fact that the Chinese delegation didn’t agree with the minimum import price.

€0.57 is not a good offer for China because the Asian and European manufacturers who purchase cells from Asia offered acceptable prices before the negotiations. So, the import ceiling compromise of 7GW is not an option either.

The strategy of the Chinese delegation will be negotiated on Sunday and the new offer should be available by the 5th of August.

Roxana Moraru

ABB, granted by the EC to buy Power-One

ABB has its path paved into growth by the approval of the European Commission by buying the U.S. inverter producer Power-One; it is mentionable that the $1 billion auction took place without any struggle in the sale of the California-based inverter producer.

The lack of competition was present “given the limited to moderate combined market shares and the small increments resulting from the merger” declared by the Commission.

The purchase of Power-One was announced in April by ABB, the Swiss colossal engineering company, and is to solidify its position as the top global dealer of solar inverters.

Nevertheless, the EC specified that a few tough adversaries still stay in the afflicted markets for solar energy converters and consumers still have alternate solutions in buying the products.

It appears that ABB is about to set expansion in the PV industry after last’s month gathering with the chief executive designate Ulrich Spiesshofer, taking the place of Joe Hogan, former CEO, in September. ABB will expand in the sector if it makes strategic sense.

Inverters represent the brain of PV systems, offering minimal chance that these devices will become a cheap mass of produced goods, declared Maxine Ghavi, the head of ABB’s solar business. The purchase of Power-One provided “access to the entire market, from private homes and commercial buildings to power plants”, she added. She expects the PV trade industry is about to expand more than 10% in the upcoming years.

ABB also revealed plans to extend inverter production in India and South Africa in addition to the preexisting plants in China and Estonia.

Roxana Moraru

MITHRIL gmbH has been advised by HFG China and Deutsche Mittelstandsfinanz to go on with the transaction of Global Solar Energy to Hanergy

Advice has been offered by HFG China and Deutsche Mittelstandsfinanz to Mithril GmbH, a German family business, who represents 100% of the shares in the selling of Gloal Solar Energy, Inc .to Hanergy.

Since its foundation in 1996, Global Solar has always been a pioneer in the PV production. This is the world leading manufacturing company in extensive construction of CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide) with the light-weight, highly effective renewable energy products that reside with flexible cells, arrays, and integrated shingles. These arrays are laid out for crucial parts of the high-end, high-growth malleable PV trade, especially when glass array systems are inadequate because of their weight constraints and the necessities for flexibility. GS (Global Solar) changes the traditional glass array products, designing integrated PV (BIPV) roof systems. The thin film production within the facility of the company is 40 MW annually.

Being the world’s top thin-film PV company, Hanergy Holding Group Ltd. is a global clean-energy power producer. Hanergy employs in the unification of the entire PV industry chain, and to withhold R&D, top quality equipment construction, PV array manufacturing and de the development of PV power plants.

After the development of GS into a mass extent manufacture company, it raises the need for a large international strategic associate in order to market their one of a kind technology. By purchasing Global Solar, Hanergy is increasing its competence and service offering in the thin film section, which represents an important goal in the growth strategy.

HFG China and Deutsche Mittelstandsfinanz are glad to empower the transaction with the restructuring expert Johann Stohner of Alvarez & Marsal and Chris LeWand of FTI Capital Advisors. The two companies represented joint financial advisors to Mithril GmbH.

Roxana Moraru

Renewable energy use rises in Germany

Lessened FIT, feed-in tariffs, high wattage potential and the increasing opportunities of energy deposit define renewable energy systems and make it a more appealing choice for German solar manufacturers. Solar power is being used by an increasing number of households and they utilize personalized plant designation, energy administration and cache.

Consumers of solar energy are more and more implicated in the consumption of high proportions of renewable solar electricity. A growth in electricity costs plus the lowering of prices in photovoltaic systems and the reducing of flaws in solar power have made these systems a fashion.

A new analysis made by the German Solar Industry Association (BSW-Solar) displays the fact that the interest of self-generating users has increased among entrepreneurs and households.

Carsten Körnig, CEO of BSW-Solar declared “Private electricity prices are now almost twice as high as the cost of self-generated solar electricity from the roof of a house.” The survey also displays that installers are facing more and more necessities. “The planning is challenging and advising potential investors is more complex,” said Körnig. Four out of five installers report expanded effort and time for the marketing of PV systems.

The production of solar electricity with its costs and feed-in tariffs as low as €0.15/ kilowatt hour and the fact that electricity rates €0.27/ kilowatt hour, if now higher, renewable energy has become a quite more appealing option instead of grid-based production.

This fashion is also noticeable among an increasing number of entrepreneurs, who are cutting down their electricity bills by the use of company-owned PV systems.

Such entrepreneurs with proper roof surfaces can usually reach greater consumption rates even if they don’t have the ability to store the energy, declared BSW-Solar. Companies that are based on solar energy production and have a higher base capacity in daytime can widely cover their power utilization through the energy output of their PV systems.

Roxana Moraru