BUSINESS – Solar Magazine

Tesla’s new ‘Master Plan’: Big trucks, solar chargers, ride sharing

Elon Musk delivered the long-awaited plan on the company’s website to explain why the integration of Tesla and SolarCity Corp. is necessary and to show his vision for the two companies. Image source.

Elon Musk unveiled his “master plan” for Tesla Motors Inc., delivering a long-term plan that includes making an integrated solar and battery storage system and building a freight truck and a bus. He even has a plan for a ride-sharing business.

According to IndustryWeek, Musk delivered the long-awaited plan on the company’s website to explain why the integration of Tesla and SolarCity Corp. is necessary and to show his vision for the two companies. He wants to use SolarCity, a rooftop solar panel installer, to generate electricity and charge an expanding range of Tesla models that address personal and public transport as well as cargo shipping.

“There are two other types of electric vehicles needed: heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport,” the Tesla chief executive officer said in the blog post. “Both are in the early stages of development and should be ready for unveiling next year.”

Musk reiterated his call for acquiring SolarCity even as he outlined a significant expansion of Tesla’s products and ambitions for ride-sharing. Besides the Tesla Semi truck and the bus, he said the company will continue to pursue autonomy so that Tesla customers will be able to use their cars to “make money for you when you aren’t using it.”

Analysts were skeptical about Tesla’s ability to add more products to its lineup.

“As is typical, Elon Musk has laid out a grandiose plan for the future with no timeframes and few specifics, and no mention of how and when Tesla will be profitable,” Michelle Krebs, an analyst for Autotrader.com Inc., said in a email. “Tesla’s latest Master Plan includes expanding its electric vehicle product line to cover all major segments, when it hasn’t been meeting production targets with the limited product line it has now and in the next couple of years.”

Mercedes Benz set to launch home battery storage in Australia

Tesla’s Home Battery gets competition from Mercedes-Benz. Image source.

Mercedes Benz Australia plans to unveil the home battery storage offering at its Melbourne headquarters in Mulgrave, along with an on-site four-car charging station, made up of the lithium-ion battery packs and solar panels.

The plan is for the company to sell the batteries to customers as a package with rooftop solar – the cost per 2.5kWh battery unit has not yet been released – through an as-yet unnamed “electricity retailer” partner.

According to Mercedes Benz German parent company, Daimler, up to eight 2.5kWh modules can be combined to make a capacity of up to 20kWh, allowing solar households to “buffer surplus… power with virtually no losses,” and increase their self-consumption to as much as 65 per cent.

The batteries have been available on the German market – where they are also sold as packages with solar by a network of sales partners – since April of this year, and according to the website have generated “tremendous interest” and numerous orders.

The move into the Australian residential energy storage market, says Mercedes head of corporate communications David McCarthy, is a natural progression, and goes hand in hand with the roll-out of electric cars: Mercedes is releasing three new plug-in hybrid EV models in Australia in July.

It also puts Mercedes into direct competition with fellow prestige EV maker, Tesla, whose 7kWh Powerwall battery was released to much fanfare in Australia in December last year.

“The future says this is one of the directions that people are going to want to go in,” McCarthy told One Step Off The Grid on Wednesday. “It’s not enough to charge your car… people who are buying a plug-in hybrid want to know where the energy is coming from and have the ability to generate the energy and store it.”

In terms of demand for the Mercedes home battery, McCarthy said that the level of interest being shown in Australia indicated they might move a few hundred a year, but that it was “unchartered territory”, so difficult to predict.

As for EV demand, McCarthy concedes that numbers are still small in Australia, and will take a while yet to build, but that stationary storage will help move this along.

“It will take a while… for EVS to sell in greater numbers,’ McCarthy told One Step. “Incentives are only one of the issues …and where the power comes from that charges the cars is another – and this is our solution to that problem.

“A customer who wants to buy a package (EV, battery and solar) can do so,” McCarthy said. “Depending on how much you want [in kWh] it’ll be enough to charge your car, or run your house too, or even feed back into the grid. So it depends what level you want to go to.”

Global renewable energy generation capacity up by 152GW

Global renewable energy capacity soared In 2015. Image source.

The renewable energy generation capacity increased by 152 gigawatts (GW), which is equivalent to 8.3% last year, the highest annual growth rate on record, according to new data released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

According to utilities-me.com, the Renewable Capacity Statistics 2016 found that as of the end of 2015, 1,985 GW of renewable generation capacity existed globally.

Adnan Z Amin, Irena director-general, said: “Renewable energy deployment continues to surge in markets around the globe, even in an era of low oil and gas prices. Falling costs for renewable energy technologies, and a host of economic, social and environmental drivers are favoring renewables over conventional power sources.

“This impressive growth, coupled with a record $286 billion invested in renewables in 2015, sends a strong signal to investors and policymakers that renewable energy is now the preferred option for new power generation capacity around the world.”

It was a record year for both wind and solar due in large part to a continued decline in technology costs.

Meanwhile, wind power grew 63 GW (17 per cent) driven by declines in onshore turbine prices of up to 45 per cent since 2010.

Solar capacity increased 47 GW (37 per cent) owing to price drops of up to 80 per cent for solar photovoltaic modules in the same time period.

Hydropower capacity increased by 35 GW (three per cent) while both bioenergy and geothermal energy capacity increased five per cent each (5 GW and 1 GW respectively).

Overall, capacity has increased by roughly one-third over the last five years, with most of this growth coming from new installations of wind and solar energy.

In terms of regional distribution, the fastest growth in renewable generation capacity came in developing countries.

“The significant growth rates for renewable generation capacity in developing economies are a testament to the strong business case for renewable energy,” said Amin.

“Renewables are not just a solution for industrialized countries, they are also powering economic growth in the fastest growing economies in the developing world.”

At the end of the year, hydropower accounted for the largest share of the global total renewable power generation capacity with an installed capacity of 1,209 GW, the majority of which are large-scale plants.

Wind and solar energy accounted for most of the remainder, with an installed capacity of 432 GW and 227 GW respectively. Other renewables included 104 GW of bioenergy, 13 GW of geothermal energy and about 500 MW of marine energy (tide, wave and ocean), he added.

IEA: Energy efficiency improvements avoided 870 Million tonnes Of CO2 in 2014

Energy Efficiency Market Report 2015. Image via iea.org

A new report from the International Energy Agency has concluded that energy efficiency improvements since 1990 helped avoid 870 million tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2014.

According to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Energy Efficiency Market Report 2015, cited by Clean Technica, over two decades of energy efficiency improvements throughout IEA-member countries contributed to a cumulative 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions avoided over these last 25 years, which is roughly equivalent to annual emissions by all IEA member countries.

“Per capita energy consumption in IEA countries has dropped to levels not seen since the 1980s yet income per capita has never been higher,” write the authors of the report, released last week. “Energy efficiency improvements over the last 25 years are the primary reason for this uncoupling of energy consumption and economic growth, and have enabled consumers in IEA countries to spend USD 5.7 trillion less on energy, while enjoying higher levels of energy service.”

Specifically, energy intensity throughout the OECD member-states improved by 2.3% in 2014, with energy consumption reaching its lowest levels since 2000, while GDP grew by $8.5 trillion, an increase of 26%.

The report goes a long way to backing up IEA’s analysis that energy efficiency improvements are the most effective tool to reduce energy sector carbon emissions, with the IEA suggesting that such improvements account for more than 40% of the required reductions to limit global warming to 2 degrees.

The IEA points out that energy efficiency investments in IEA countries since 1990 generated 520 Mtoe of avoided total final consumption (TFC) in 2014, which is larger than the larger annual TFC of Japan and Korea combined.

California’s plan to gain 50% clean energy by 2030

California Governor Jerry Brown has signed landmark legislation requiring the state to get 50 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030. Image via ww2.kqed.org

California’s Governor, Edmund G. Brown Jr., recently signed an legislation committing the state to generating half of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

According to energymatters.com, the bill, SB 350, builds on California’s current 33 percent renewables portfolio standard, which was signed into law by Governor Brown in 2011.

“California has taken groundbreaking steps to increase the efficiency of our cars, buildings and appliances and provide ever more renewable energy,” said Governor Brown. “With SB 350, we deepen our commitment.”

Now known as the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015, the legislation also seeks to double the energy efficiency savings in electricity and natural gas final end uses of retail customers through energy efficiency and conservation.

The Governor had also attempted to implement legislation to enforce a 50% reduction in petroleum use by 2030, but was reportedly defeated by oil interests. California produces around 218 million barrels of crude oil and is the 3rd largest producing state in the U.S. according to the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA).

“What has been the source of our prosperity now becomes the source of our ultimate destruction, if we don’t get off it. And that is so difficult,” Brown said at a signing ceremony at Griffith Observatory. Images captured at the signing clearly show thick haze enshrouding the city of Los Angeles.

Still, Governor Brown sees today’s signing as a major step forward. His efforts and those of Senator Kevin De Leon have been praised by various groups.

“PSR-LA is committed to continue to work with the Governor, the Legislature, and the California Air Resources Board to make sure SB 350 is fully implemented,” said Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles (PSR-LA) Executive Director Martha Dina Argüello.

“By increasing renewable energy production and energy efficiency in buildings we can reduce the terrible health burdens caused by our use of dirty energy and fuels.”

The legislation is good news for the state’s solar industry.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), California installed 4,316 MW of solar electric capacity last year, ranking it 1st in the USA. The state also leads the nation in total installed capacity, with 11.535GW operational.

The SEIA says there is enough solar installed in the state to power 2,891,000 homes.
More than 2,200 solar companies are operating in California; manufacturing products and providing services ranging from solar power system installations to the manufacturing of components used in solar panels.

Germany and China lead in solar installed capacities

Top 10 solar countries with solar power installed vs growth rates

According to new statistics released by Demnag, in the top 10 solar countries who have installed the most solar capacity, Germany leads the pack with 38,200 MW in installed capacity. China comes in the second place with 28,199 MWs & Japan in third place with 23,300MW.

Germany’s top place in the ranking is not surprising given its Energiewende focus to transition away from fossil fuels & its declared war on coal. Here is The Economist’s take on Energiewende:

“Wholesale electricity prices will be 70% higher by 2025, predicts the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. Germany must build or upgrade 8,300km (5,157 miles) of transmission lines (not including connections to offshore wind farms). Intermittent wind and sun power creates a need for backup generators while playing havoc with business models that justify investing in them. Hans-Peter Keitel, president of the Federation of German Industry, likens the Energiewende to “open-heart surgery”.

But if it pays off Germany will have created yet another world-beating industry, say the gamblers. Alone among rich countries, Germany has “the means and will to achieve a staggering transformation of the energy infrastructure”, says Mark Lewis, an analyst at Deutsche Bank.

While Germany ranks the highest in installed capacity, China has a much higher growth rate 60% & that too with a high base of nearly 28,000 MW. In China too, the government has given solar a high priority in reducing pollution.

Analysts believe that China’s recent announcement of the Cap & Trade policy will encourage a boom in solar power generation infrastructure. This will turn kick of another race to move to solar by other countries such as India.

Romanian renewable energy companies ask Government to temporarily cut the accreditations for new plants

Renewable energy investors ask Romania’s authorities to close the market for new projects. Image via ecowatch.com

“Renewable energy investors which contributed with 7 billion euros in the Romanian economy were deceived! You should not allow the collapse of renewable energy”, is the message sent by Romanian renewable energy companies.

In the open letter sent to Romania’s Prime Minister, Energy Minister and Energy Authority ANRE, four renewable energy organizations have asked them for urgent measures in order to avoid the industry’s collapse.

They requested the state to increase the share of the renewable energy in the national energy mix. The Government reduced the renewable’s share in the energy mix for captive consumers from 17% to 12.5% in 2014 and has kept it at that level in 2015.

The reduction generated a surplus of green certificates, “which are now papers without value,” according to the producers’ associations.

Romanian authorities avoid doing what all other Governments did in similar situations, which is to suspend the access to the support scheme for the new projects until viable solutions are found, producers say.

Apple wants to use solar power on mouse, keyboard, and trackpad

Apple patent suggests future devices could be solar-powered. Photo via imgick.oregonlive.com

In theory, the technology would eliminate the need for AA batteries which are now required to power peripherals such as the Magic Mouse.

While Bluetooth-powered keyboards, mouse and trackpads may be commonplace now, we could soon see solar power replacing the current technology.

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published Apple Inc.

“Wireless communications circuitry transmits the touch input to the external equipment using the electrical power from the solar cell”.

According to TV Newsroom, the tech giant Apple has just been granted a patent for solar cells to be embedded underneath iPhone touchscreens, like those used in a Macbook trackpad, iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch display. The company is looking to harness solar energy for these future accessories.

So, the solar cell being a light based power source gathers and converts ambient light into usable electrical energy, which is the stored into some relevant storage system like a battery or regulated capacitor. The new patent shows transparent solar cells embedded on the touch display surface to have the battery charged on the go.

Using solar power to better the battery life of devices while they are in use will be a good addition to the company’s desktop peripherals.

Unfortunately, as is the case with all patents, there’s no way of telling whether Apple will ever roll out such technology to its devices.

Whether Apple will eventually integrate this solar energy system into its physical devices is anybody’s guess.

Today’s patent application is credited to Apple reliability engineer Matthew Lang, who already has several eco-friendly engineering projects under his belt – such as designing and building an Eco-Marathon vehicle to compete in the annual Shell Eco-Marathon Americas competition.

Now, a New York Times report has revealed that Apple is considering incorporating wireless or solar charging capabilities into the Apple Watch.

An illustration of Apple’s solar cell as it appears on the patent application.

It’s also not clear whether solar energy is really sufficient to keep a device like a keyboard alive in perpetuity.

IBM’s machine-learning crystal ball to foresee clean energy availability

IBM’s SMT system uses weather patterns gleaned from thousands of data points and predict how much solar and wind power will be available weeks in advance. Credit: IBM via Computer World

IBM has developed a computer system that can learn about weather from thousands of data points and predict days — even weeks — in advance how much power from solar and wind farms will be available for the U.S. power grid.

According to Computer World, the new system is as much as 30% more accurate than today’s state-of-the-art weather prediction systems used by organizations such as the National Weather Service, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

“It’s providing a forecast for solar, wind and other environmental parameters. It learns from solar plants [and] weather stations, and constantly adjusts and improves the forecast,” said Hendrik Hamann, Research Manager at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center.

Because the system can better predict how much renewable energy will be available, the nation’s power grids are better able to integrate that electricity with traditional forms of power.

IBM’s new computer algorithm, called Self-Learning Weather Model and Renewable Forecasting Technology (thankfully known as SMT), uses big data analytics and machine learning to improve solar forecasts. The system works by combining more than 1TB of data gleaned daily through more than 1,600 weather-monitoring stations and solar and wind plants in the continental U.S., as well as from weather satellites.

“The more data you put in, the smarter it gets,” said Hamann.

The SMT system continuously analyzes data to learn from and improve renewable energy forecasts. The data is derived from thousands of weather models around the continental U.S., as well as weather satellite images and images from cameras mounted at wind and solar farms that watch the sky for weather patterns.

In contrast, most current forecasting techniques rely on individual weather stations that offer a narrower view of the variables that affect the availability of renewable energy.

“By continuously training itself using historical records from thousands of weather stations and real time measurements, IBM’s system combines predictions from a number of weather models with geographic information and other data to produce the most accurate forecasts — from minutes to weeks ahead,” Siyuan Lu, Physical Analytics Researcher at IBM, said in a statement.

Today, only about 5% of U.S. electricity is generated from wind and solar resources, but the amount of power from renewables is growing rapidly.

Solar power, for example, is predicted to supply as much as 14% of the nation’s power in just 15 years and 27% by 2050. Currently, about 65% of U.S. power is derived from fossil fuel-generated power, such as coal, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Over the past two years, solar energy has been the second-largest source of new electricity generating capacity in the U.S., exceeded only by natural gas.

As the amount of solar and wind capacity continues to grow, it’s critical for regional power grids to know how much renewable electricity they’ll have in advance to better plan their capacity needs.

Power transmission in the U.S. is controlled by regional independent system operators (ISOs), which receive electricity from member utilities. For example, ISO New England Inc. manages the operation of the region’s bulk electric power system and transmission lines.

Power from traditional sources, such as fossil-fuel power plants and hydroelectric dams, is relatively stable and easy to predict. Renewable power, however, is at the whim of the weather; clouds, humidity and wind can affect how much renewable energy is generated from solar and wind turbines.

IBM’s SMT system takes in new data every 15 minutes, allowing it to predict and then inform ISOs how much energy is likely to be produced from solar and wind farms.

“By improving the accuracy of forecasting, utilities can operate more efficiently and profitably,” said Bri-Mathias Hodge, who oversees the Transmission and Grid Integration Group at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), a collaborator in the SMT project. “That can increase the use of renewable energy sources as a more accepted energy generation option.”

Company offers a ‘safer’ alternative to emergency power generators

The portable, solar powered generators aim to provide a “safer” alternative. Image via Philadelphia Business Journal

Thousands of unlucky South Jersey residents were still without electricity Monday morning, six days after a violent storm knocked out power. Yet one local firm says customers could use its product to turn the lights back on, while they wait for utility providers to make a fix.

“We really think you should be able to have power whenever and wherever you need it,” said Heather Farber of NRG Home, which has offices in the Science Center in University City.

According to Philadelphia Business Journal, NRG Home, a division of Princeton, N.J.-based NRG Energy Inc., offers consumers several solar powered generators – something that may appeal to the more than 4,000 Atlantic City Electric customers who were still without electricity mid-day Monday.

“It is clean and quiet, and you can put it in your house,” said Farber, who calls the solar powered generators a better option than traditional gasoline powered models.

Companies and consumer advocacy groups regularly warn the public against using gas powered generators indoors since it puts residents at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

NRG Energy began offering the portable, fume-free generators after acquiring Goal Zero last summer.
The line includes three options, the Yeti 150, Yeti 400 and Yeti 1250 – each providing a different number of hours worth of power.

Goal Zero introduced the Yeti 1250 in 2012, and the other two solar generators followed in 2013.

The Yetis’ retail price ranges from around $200 to nearly $1,600, price points that cost the consumer hundreds of dollars more than the gas powered generators that support the same watt hours.

But Farber points out Yetis do not require any fuel, which over time will up the expense of the gasoline versions.

NRG Home declined to provide specifics on sales, but the company did say the 400 is the top seller.

Atlantic City Electric said it expected power to be restored by the end of the day to its customers, although frustrations already boiled over for many residents and at least one Gloucester County leader after nearly a week in the dark. The Greenwich Township mayor called for Gov. Chris Christie to do more to help his community.

Christie said Friday FEMA officials were on the ground and will determine if federal relief is needed by Tuesday.