Department Of Energy Makes $150M Bet On US Solar Tech That Reduces Costs By 50%

On Friday, Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu announced a "game changing" development in solar energy. A company called 1366 Technologies, headquartered in Lexington, Mass., has developed a silicon solar wafer that would cut the cost of solar cell manufacturing by an estimated 50 percent.

The wafer technology was developed with the support of a pilot innovation investment program housed under the Department of Energy, known as the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E). According to director Arun Majumdar, "ARPA-E is looking for high risk ideas that, if successful, can be high impact. Those that don't exist today."

Unlike traditional wafers--which are sliced from a large block, resulting in considerable losses of material (up to 50 percent)--these new wafers are individually cast to specific measurements, a more efficient model of production.

In 2009, ARPA-E made an initial $4 million dollar investment in 1366 Technologies, and on Friday, announced it would make an additional $150 million dollar loan guarantee to take the company's research and development to the next level.

If projections regarding cost savings are accurate, solar may be on its way to becoming competitive with traditional fossil-fuels -- though some in the industry remain concerned about barriers still in place.

"There are two main areas of concern: price and value," said Brian Keane, president of Smart Power, a green energy marketing group. Keane explained that the primary "value" of solar "is that it's good for the environment. But quite frankly, no American actually thinks that's good value."

Keane says that U.S. consumers need to be convinced that solar is a viable proposition. "The perception is that solar is an idea from the 1970s that just didn’t work. They think it’s not strong enough to power their lives, compared with oil, coal and nuclear power."

Still, Keane added, "If we can cut the price [of manufacturing] in half, that really helps us with the value proposition to the American people."

Others point to concerns around the marketplace itself. Lew Milford, president of the Clean Energy Group, a non-profit advocacy group focused on energy and climate concerns, said that many new and innovative technologies fail because they never reach commercialization. Milford called this the "valley of death" that innovative tech companies must cross after their initial rounds of funding, and the hurdle that oftentimes prevents them from becoming scalable and reaching market potential.

Milford suggested that the problem of access to capital might be solved with something like the President's suggested--"Clean Energy Bank"--to finance clean energy initiatives, but acknowledged that the highly political climate surrounding budget negotiations would complicate its creation.

With ARPA-E in particular, Milford thought that a better and more robust relationship with state governments was essential for the success of the agency's investments. "In the end, I think states are a really critical backstop for all of this," he said. "State policy is increasingly going to create these markets."

While many state governors remain skeptical of climate change policy and energy reform on the whole, Milford contended that many of the same governors were nonetheless supportive of clean energy technology, given its potential to create jobs and strengthen state economies. By way of an example, Milford pointed to New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who is critical of climate change concerns but remains "a strong supporter of offshore wind farms in the state."

"ARPA-E just doesn’t have the states as customers," said Milford, and it still needs to figure out "how to you commercialize the products that it is funding."

ARPA-E director Majumder insisted that the agency already has a close relationship to the states. As evidence, he pointed a program, Sunshot, that specifically addresses the question of cost competitiveness and solar technology. "We have a very close relationship with the states," he said.

Majumder said that one of his primary concerns around solar energy had to do with manufacturing: "In the mid-90s, the U.S. had 40 percent of the manufacturing of photovoltaic cells," he explained. "Now we have less than 5%. We have to regain that technology lead back -- and that will be based on innovation in the U.S."

Article by Alex Wagner, HuffingtonPost

Google Invests $280 Million in SolarCity (Video)

Google's investment in SolarCity will fund 7,000 to 9,000 home solar arrays

Google and rooftop solar power company SolarCity announced a $280 million investment deal Tuesday, the largest such deal for home-based solar power systems in the United States.

The investment will give San Mateo, Calif-based SolarCity the funding to build and lease solar power systems to a 7,000 to 9,000 homeowners in the 10 states where it operates.

Founded five years ago, SolarCity has 15,000 solar projects around the nation completed or under way. Customers who wish to have the company's solar system installed at their home can pay for it outright, but most choose instead to let SolarCity retain ownership of the equipment and rent back the use of it through monthly solar lease payments.

As SolarCity's financing partner, Google plans to recoup its investment over time through those lease payments.

"We hope to be seen as a model," said Rick Needham, Google's director of green business operations.

Needham wouldn't elaborate on the exact terms of the deal, but said "these investments are designed to earn us a good return on our capital."

Funding arrangements like this are not uncommon in the energy businesses, but they have previously been restricted mostly to utilities and a handful of banks with specialized industry knowledge.

Google's entry into this type of financing is both a sign that more companies may be interested in funding alternative energy ventures and a nod to the fast-growing market in leasing residential solar panels.

"Google is out in front on this," said Nathaniel Bullard, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. "It's a sign of confidence in the space."

Google likes to experiment with clean energy investments -- witness last year's wind farm investment -- but the SolarCity deal marks its first move into the residential market. SolarCity is one of a handful of companies that lease solar panels to homeowners.

The idea behind leasing is to keep things as simple and cheap for the customer as possible.

In SolarCity's case, the customer signs a multi-year agreement with the company and begins writing a monthly check to the firm that's ideally 10% to 20% percent lower than what they were previously paying for their monthly power bill.

Click here to see video

SolarCity then handles the rest -- everything from purchasing and installing the panels to claiming the various tax credits offered by the federal, state, and sometimes even local governments.

Eliminating the often hefty upfront costs for buying a solar system, as well as handling the maintenance and tax issues, has been a boon for the industry. Nationwide, the number of homes installing solar has gone from under 10,000 annually in 2006 to nearly 50,000 in 2010, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

"The biggest constraint is financing," said SolarCity chief executive Lyndon Rive.

Generous government subsidies are the main reason the economics for solar work in the United States. Between federal, state and local incentives, up to 50% of the cost of a solar system can often be subsidized.

The government is funding this industry because it hopes that creating a market will foster technological innovation in the space, driving down the cost of solar panels to the point where they are competitive with fossil fuels.

Rive hopes more companies will follow Google's lead and use some of the trillions in cash they have stockpiled to invest in the clean-energy market.

Google may well be getting a return on its investment, but the company also sees an advantage in promoting cheap, renewable energy. Its server farms eat up massive amounts of electricity.

"Energy drives our businesses, and we want our energy to be clean," said Needham. "Over time renewable energy will be cheaper than fossil fuel. We're doing what we can to make that happen faster."

Article by Steve Hargreaves, CNN Money Tech

Nevada Could Be THE Hot Spot For Solar in US (Video)

Nevada—home of nuclear testing and 99-cent ham and eggs—could become a hot spot for conservatives and conservationists. 

CARSON CITY, Nev. --- Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval and other state officials recently sat down with a few of us environmental journalists to discuss the state's green initiatives.

 

“I’ve taken it upon myself to make this a priority,” he said. “Nevada historically has been a mining and gaming and tourism state, and everyone understands we need to put another leg on the stool.”

 

He also talked about recent meetings with Democratic California Governor Jerry Brown and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

It’s not the kind of thing you expect to hear from a sitting Republican.

But Sandoval, as well as Republican Lieutenant Governor Brian Krolicki, might represent a trend I suspect (or hope) exists beneath the radar -- namely, that the antagonism toward renewable energy on the national level maybe isn't as deep as it might look. Yes, Fred Upton might get attention by calling for a repeal the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, a bill he sponsored, but it doesn't mean that his constituents in Michigan see the new battery factories in the state as the harbinger of one-world socialism.

Environmental politics have only recently become so polarized. Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty objects to carbon legislation now, but he favored such policies back in 2008. Arnold Schwarzenegger helped steer California’s green policies. And don’t forget, cap and trade was an idea devised under George Bush I to curb acid rain.

So what might make the pendulum swing back?

1. Green = Jobs. Both Sandoval and Krolicki emphasized how green equals employment. Plus, Nevada doesn’t have a fossil fuel industry, which means a noticeable absence of coal and natural gas lobbyists.

Instead, the state is populated with contractors, who’ve been saddled with declining incomes and intermittent employment since 2008. While renewable power plants do employ people directly, most of the jobs come through construction: erecting solar fields, putting up wind farms, etc.

“There are [Native American] tribes in southern Nevada that see this as an opportunity for jobs and to diversify themselves,” said Sandoval.

More than 60 bills addressed energy in the last legislative session, noted Stacey Crowley, the state’s energy director, second only to education.

2. Resources. Most of the seventh largest state in the U.S. looks like a set from Mad Max: miles of hot, empty desert broken up by the occasional town. It’s attractive in a Jean-Paul Sartre sort of way. It’s also ideal for solar farms. SolarReserve just obtained a $737 million loan guarantee for a 110-megawatt solar thermal plant with molten salt storage near Tonopah.

3. Exports. California and its 33 percent renewable portfolio standard sits right next door. Nevada is looking at establishing three east-west transmission corridors to send power to the state. Nevada has its own RPS -- 25 percent by 2025 -- but it has more raw resources than it needs.

“They’ve got a very aggressive standard. We’ve got the supply,” he said. “It is an opportunity for a marriage between Nevada and California.”

4. Flexible attitudes. Nevada has always exhibited a somewhat skeptical view toward government. I know. I grew up there. Grocery stores used to sell handguns. Some bars haven’t been closed since John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. We gave the world no-limit pai gow, drive-in marriage chapels and Area 51.

The important part, however, is that this attitude isn't fostered out of some die-hard strain of Libertarianism. Instead, it's pragmatic. Gambling became legal to help the state wiggle out from beneath the power of mining conglomerates.

Geez, people. It's not Arizona.

5. Low-Hanging Fruit. Nothing stimulates momentum for green industries more than early victories or losses. Luckily, some of the local experiments have gone quite well.

Reno, for instance, replaced the lights in its downtown arch (“The Biggest Little City in the World”) with 2,076 LEDs, according to Jason Geddes, environmental services administrator for the city. It reduced power consumption for the sign by 70 percent.

The city is now switching out street lights and pedestrian crossing signals with LEDs. Reno’s city hall reduced its own power consumption, from $4.54 a square foot to $2.54, by 45 percent with new hot water boilers and lights. OK, so ROI on the small wind turbines might take 35 years and the legislature just killed a feed-in tariff: just imagine what you can do with LEDs in slot machines.

Geothermal has been a hit, too. The 100-megawatt Galena geothermal plant outside of Reno provides 22 percent of Reno’s daytime power.

6. Size = Power. Last year, we asked Mississippi officials how they managed to convince four rising startups to open factories in its borders, particularly when the state didn’t even have a renewable portfolio standard.

Low-cost loans and fairly low labor rates turned out to be the answer. But the state also noted how it can provide personalized service because of its small size. A manufacturer wants to meet a high-ranking state official. One phone call and the meeting is set.

The same circumstances exist here. Sandoval touts the state's ability to offer “service after the sale,” i.e., ensuring that the state will smooth out potential bureaucratic nightmares.

“As governor, I’m making phone calls to CEOs,” he said. “I literally have call lists.”

Google is currently lobbying the state to let robotic cars on the road. What do you want to bet that that measure passes?

7. Housing. The state was number one in foreclosures in 2009 and 2010. Relocation will be cheap.

8. A Cluster of Expertise. Because of the state’s geology, it has emerged as one of the centers of geothermal power and research.

Interestingly, you’re also now beginning to see the formation of lateral industries. ElectraTherm, headquartered in Reno, makes low-temperature waste heat recovery devices. The company’s Green Machine absorbs heat to boil an organic refrigerant. The vapor is then exploited to turn a turbine.

Basically, it is an above-ground geothermal system, but instead of getting the heat from hot springs beneath the ground, ElectraTherm harvests heat from burning discarded wood chips or industrial equipment.  A former drag racer founded the company.

“It [heat] is huge and it is completely untapped,” said CEO John Fox. “A Caterpillar engine is 33 percent efficient, so two-thirds of the energy is lost.”

The company has shipped units to Alaska and Australia. Senators Bingaman and Murkowski are trying to get waste heat added to the list of renewables that qualify for tax incentives, he added.

Will other states and regions try to develop industries based around exploiting heat? Absolutely. Is heat going to be as big as solar? Maybe not, but there’s no denying that an island of expertise has begun to coalesce in Nevada.

Interestingly, President Obama spent Earth Day in 2011 at ElectraTherm’s headquarters.

Maybe there is something to this bipartisanship thing after all.

Subaru of Indiana: America's Greenest Carmaker

Zero layoffs, zero pay cuts, zero waste; Subaru manages to pull off the seemingly impossible.

 In a further example of kaizen efficiency, maintenance and troubleshooting workers access and address potential problems on decked-out tricycles.

Set amid tawny popcorn and soybean fields, weathered barns, and rusty silos, the Subaru of Indiana Automotive plant cuts a swath. A 3.4-million-square-foot monolith abutted by railroad tracks, SIA has a mountain of compost and the occasional coyote skittering through the surrounding 832 acres of woodland.

Step inside, though, and you'll discover why this might be the most exemplary car factory in America.

In its 22-year history — a period that has spanned three recessions, a global financial crisis, massive U.S. auto bankruptcies, and the departure of Isuzu, a founding partner, from the operation — SIA has rolled out more than 3 million vehicles and has never resorted to layoffs. Instead, it's given workers a wage increase every year of its operation.

Staffers also enjoy premium-free health care, abundant overtime ($15,000 each, on average, in 2010), paid volunteer time, financial counseling, and the ability to earn a Purdue University degree on-site — all in a state that has lost 46,000 auto jobs and suffered multiple plant foreclosures in the past decade.

And the truly astonishing thing is how it achieved all this: through a relentless focus on eliminating waste. "This is not about recycling, or a nice marketing to-do," says Dean Schroeder, a management professor at Valparaiso University who has studied the plant. "This is a strict dollars-and-cents, moneymaking-and-savings calculation that also drives better safety and quality."

Subaru's sustainable drive

Toyota made kaizen — the Japanese principle of constant "change for the better," with a special focus on efficiency, aka "pushing lean" — famous. SIA, you could say, has instilled green kaizen, or pushing green.

Starting in 2002, SIA set a five-year target for becoming the nation's first zero-landfill car factory. That meant recycling or composting 98 percent of the plant's waste — with an on-site broker taking bids for paper, plastic, glass, and metals—and incinerating the remaining 2 percent that isn't recoverable at a nearby waste-to-fuel operation to sell power back to the grid. Within two years, the results spoke for themselves.

"Everyone quickly saw the green dividend of not wasting anything," says Tom Easterday, the plant's executive vice-president, passing a stack of yellowed Styrofoam cases that have survived four round trips around the globe. "You reduce packaging, negotiate a better deal from suppliers, and everyone then shares in the savings."

At Subaru, sharing the love is a market strategy

Today, the plant abounds with boxes and containers scribbled over with marks that show how many times they have traveled from Japan to Indiana and back (and back again). On a tour of the plant, Easterday sped a golf cart past a welder whose metal shavings are swept off the asphalt floors and auctioned into a roaring bull market for copper.

Last year, Easterday says, SIA saved approximately $5.3 million by obsessively reducing, recycling, composting, and incinerating; Valparaiso's Schroeder calculates that Subaru saves multiples of that figure by using zero-landfill discipline to reduce worker injuries and fatigue. He cites the example of SIA's switch away from taking cars apart to check the quality of welds — a process that wasted metal and risked jackhammer injuries — to ultrasonic technology that did so better, faster, and far cheaper.

SIA workers get bonuses (grand prize: a new Subaru Legacy) for pointing out excess packaging and processes that can be cut from the assembly line and then rebated by suppliers. All the savings are effectively plowed back into plant operations — and overtime.

Subaru: Japan 's hottest car company

To score a cherished "associate" position at the factory — there's a 10-1 ratio of applicants to openings — would-be employees are expected to put in long hours learning and practicing SIA's low-impact manufacturing. That means scrutinizing every byproduct, from welding slag to plastic wrap, for savings. And obsessively slicing seconds off assembly procedures. And a willingness to work whole months of six-day shifts, and likely years on the graveyard shift, while resisting the siren call of unionization. (The United Auto Workers has failed three times to organize the plant's workers.)

There's always a catch, and at SIA it's this: All that ultra-efficiency — when applied to employees — can lead to unforgiving schedules. SIA workers, who start at just over $14 an hour and peak at about $25 an hour, put in 47-hour workweeks that include two Saturdays a month at time and a half — good for $50,000 to $60,000 a year in per-employee salary. (That means roughly 100 employee salaries were protected by the aforementioned $5.3 million zero-landfill rebate.)

The upside? When the Japan earthquake interrupted the supply of parts in March, slowing down the plant's breakneck output, SIA was able to keep paying its workers in full to volunteer in town.

The downside: "Everyone's burned out here," says Kay Tavana, a 48-year-old who installs airbags and headlights. Not that she isn't grateful for the work and the SIA perks. Working while on chemotherapy for a blood disease, Tavana avails herself of SIA's free gym to rev up for her shift from 4:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m.

The cost savings and social programs at SIA wouldn't amount to much if Subaru's cars weren't in demand. From 2008 to 2010, unit sales jumped 41 percent, while last year the company's 22 percent rise in vehicle sales was double the broader car market's increase.

"You get worker commitment to productivity by offering job security," says Kristin Dziczek, who studies labor issues at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. "But the best job security is still a product people will buy."

With SIA operating at maximum capacity and with an expansion plan under way, Vice-President Easterday says this "experiment" in the middle of Indiana corn country could someday export its American-made Japanese cars to the rest of the world. His SIA case study left Schroeder convinced that "Dumpster diving can be great for business."

Article by Roben Farzad, Courtesy of  MSNBC

Flexible Solar Cells Reach Record Efficiency of 18.7%

The Previous Record was 17.6%

Scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have made flexible solar cells made of copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) with a light-conversion efficiency of 18.7 percent, a new world record. This milestone, about 1% higher than the previous record, might seem like a small step forward, but when looked at in the context of constant incremental improvement, it is significative. What truly matters is the rate of improvement, and how it can be leveraged (1-2% multiplied by many gigawatts of capacity makes a huge different).

The measurements have been independently certified by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Freiburg, Germany.

It's all about money. To make solar electricity affordable on a large scale, scientists and engineers worldwide have long been trying to develop a low-cost solar cell, which is highly efficient, easy to manufacture and has high throughput. Now a team at Empa's Laboratory for Thin Film and Photovoltaics, led by Ayodhya N. Tiwari, has made a major step forward. "The new record value for flexible CIGS solar cells of 18.7% nearly closes the "efficiency gap" to solar cells based on polycrystalline silicon (Si) wafers or CIGS thin film cells on glass," says Tiwari. He is convinced that "flexible and lightweight CIGS solar cells with efficiencies comparable to the "best-in-class" will have excellent potential to bring about a paradigm shift and to enable low-cost solar electricity in the near future."

One major advantage of flexible high-performance CIGS solar cells is the potential to lower manufacturing costs through roll-to-roll processing while at the same time offering a much higher efficiency than the ones currently on the market. What's more, such lightweight and flexible solar modules offer additional cost benefits in terms of transportation, installation, structural frames for the modules etc., i.e. they significantly reduce the so-called "balance of system" costs. Taken together, the new CIGS polymer cells exhibit numerous advantages for applications such as facades, solar farms and portable electronics. With high-performance devices now within reach, the new results suggest that monolithically-interconnected flexible CIGS solar modules with efficiencies above 16% should be achievable with the recently developed processes and concepts.

At the forefront of efficiency improvements

In recent years, thin film photovoltaic technology based on glass substrates has gained sufficient maturity towards industrial production; flexible CIGS technology is, however, still an emerging field. The recent improvements in efficiency in research labs and pilot plants -- among others by Tiwari's group, first at ETH Zurich and since a couple of years now at Empa -- are contributing to performance improvements and to overcoming manufacturability barriers.

Working closely with scientists at FLISOM, a start-up company who is scaling up and commercializing the technology, the Empa team made significant progress in low-temperature growth of CIGS layers yielding flexible CIGS cells that are ever more efficient, up from a record value of 14.1% in 2005 to the new "high score" of 18.7% for any type of flexible solar cell grown on polymer or metal foil. The latest improvements in cell efficiency were made possible through a reduction in recombination losses by improving the structural properties of the CIGS layer and the proprietary low-temperature deposition process for growing the layers as well as in situ doping with Na during the final stage. With these results, polymer films have for the first time proven to be superior to metal foils as a carrier substrate for achieving highest efficiency.

Record efficiencies of up to 17.5% on steel foils covered with impurity diffusion barriers were so far achieved with CIGS growth processes at temperatures exceeding 550°C. However, when applied to steel foil without any diffusion barrier, the proprietary low temperature CIGS deposition process developed by Empa and FLISOM for polymer films easily matched the performance achieved with high-temperature procedure, resulting in an efficiency of 17.7%. The results suggest that commonly used barrier coatings for detrimental impurities on metal foils would not be required. "Our results clearly show the advantages of the low-temperature CIGS deposition process for achieving highest efficiency flexible solar cells on polymer as well as metal foils," says Tiwari.

The projects were supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI), the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), EU Framework Programmes as well as by Swiss companies W.Blösch AG and FLISOM.

Scaling up production of flexible CIGS solar cells

The continuous improvement in energy conversion efficiencies of flexible CIGS solar cells is no small feat, says Empa Director Gian-Luca Bona. "What we see here is the result of an in-depth understanding of the material properties of layers and interfaces combined with an innovative process development in a systematic manner. Next, we need to transfer these innovations to industry for large scale production of low-cost solar modules to take off." Empa scientists are currently working together with FLISOM to further develop manufacturing processes and to scale up production.

Article courtesy of Science Daily

SEIA: “Solar is the Fastest-Growing Industry in the US”

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) hosted a press teleconference today to discuss an emerging trend in the utility-scale solar market toward diversifying solar technologies in utility-scale power plants. But the call strayed from the diversification topic and addressed some of the major issues confronting the U.S. market in 2011.

 

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Rhone Resch, President of SEIA, said that the solar industry employs 100,000 Americans and that that number could double in the next two years. Within a few years, the U.S. will be the world's largest solar market, according to SEIA.

 

1603 Tax Grant Program and Solar

Resch said that the 1603 tax grant program has filled the void in the collapse of the tax equity market and that the grant program has doubled the efficiency of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC). He remarked that it is scheduled to expire despite the tax equity market not having fully recovered. (The 1603 program provides a 30 percent grant in lieu of the tax credit.)

Resch said, "We have found it to be absolutely critical in the last two years." Resch added that SEIA wants the1603 program extended through 2016 "so we have business certainty. We've found that the 1603 program is an extremely efficient policy for job creation." In the last two years, the solar industry has created 50,000 jobs, according to Resch, adding that the U.S. market will double from 1 gigawatt in 2010 to 2 gigawatts in 2011 and could possibly double again if the tax credit is extended.

This is the kind of policy that yields huge results, creates jobs and doesn't have an enormous impact on taxpayers, according to Resch.

Extension of 1603 is the number-one priority of SEIA and they are working with Republicans and Democrats on the issue. SEIA thinks it has a good chance of extending the program -- and instead of extending it for one year, the group would prefer to see "it ingrained in the tax code through 2016."  The 2012 Obama budget does have an extension of the TGP for one more year, according to Resch.

Resch added that 1603 is "simply the most important policy for continuing renewable energy growth in the U.S." The 1603 grant provision was actually passed during the Bush Administration.

It's not just large-scale solar that will feel the pain if 1603 expires. Tax equity and grants are what keeps solar residential financing companies like SolarCity, SunRun and Sungevity in business. 

According to law firm K&L Gates, "The 1603 Treasury Grant Program is dead after 2011. There won't be an extension." That information was reported by Ed Gunther while attending a GABA event.

 

Pushback From the Environmental Community on the Solar "Land-Grab"

Large-scale solar farms on public lands have pitted environmentalists against solar developers, with a bit of help from media amplification. And tortoises.

Resch notes that the oil and gas industry has received 74,000 permits for drilling on public lands over the last century, while the solar industry has received nine permits to build on public lands. "There is no land grab," said Resch, adding, "The EIR [environmental impact report] to study these areas has been comprehensive."

Resch also notes that 75 percent of the U.S. public support locating solar on public land instead of using it for grazing or other uses.

 

Technological Diversification, etc.

Arizona wants to be a leader in solar. (In 2010, Arizona was the fourth largest state market for solar with 55 megawatts of solar installed.) But that is certainly set to change.

Pat Dinkel, VP of Resource Planning, Arizona Public Service spoke of the Solana solar trough plant -- an Abengoa project with a U.S. DOE loan guarantee, the $500 million, 100 megawatt Arizona Sun project and the plan for Gila Bend to be the solar capital of the world.

In addition to those large projects, APS is working on a number of projects in the 15-megawatt to 20-megawatt range using c-Si panels on trackers or CdTe on fixed mounts. 

Tom Georgis, Senior VP of SolarReserve, spoke of the Crescent Dune project (which is backed with a loan guarantee) and the Rice project (which is currently going through the loan guarantee process). Georgis restated the need for clarity and certainty around policy in order to attract project and corporate capital.

Jim Stein, VP of Government Affairs, Schott North America, does qualify as a diverse supplier, as the company manufactures PV panels as well as CSP tubes. The firm has nine manufacturing sites in the U.S. and a flagship Albuquerque solar facility employing over 300 people and looking to expand to a workforce of 1,500 in the near future.

Article by Eric Wesoff, GreenTechMedia

United Kingdom Plans World's First State-Backed Green Investment Bank

The British government outlined plans for the world's first state-backed green investment bank on Monday – a key plank of its pledge to transition the country into a low-carbon economy.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the bank will open for business next April and will likely focus initially on investing in areas such as offshore wind, waste and non-domestic energy efficiency.

The bank will be capitalized with an initial 3 billion pounds ($4.8 billion) from the Treasury coffers but will be given independence from the Treasury and will be able to borrow in the capital markets and from the private sector from April 2015.

Clegg said he expects the bank to have injected some 15 billion pounds into the green economy within four years.

"The bank is intended to bridge the gap between venture capital and the green economy, provide the finance for low-carbon infrastructure and lay the foundation for long-term, balanced growth," said Clegg, the leader of the junior Liberal Democrats party in the Conservative-led coalition government.

"The green investment bank will go from an idea to a flow of investment in under two years, and quickly grow into an independent investing, and then borrowing, institution," he added, noting it was an "an extraordinary political commitment" at a time the government is axing billions of dollars of spending to cut heavy national debt.

Clegg said the global market for low-carbon and environmental goods and services was worth 3.2 trillion pounds in 2008/09, and is forecast to continue to show strong growth.

Many countries around the world have a development bank, but Britain will be first to have a national bank dedicated to the green economy.

The plans announced by Clegg make some key concessions for critics who had feared the bank would be too tightly controlled by the Treasury, which had argued for the bank to be allowed only to borrow from the government.

Campaigners argued that if the bank was not allowed to borrow from the capital markets, it would be unable to deliver the necessary investment in low-carbon technology.

Clegg said the bank will have full operational independence "as soon as possible." And it will have borrowing powers from April 2015 as long as targets for reducing government debt have been met.

Greenpeace executive director John Sauven welcomed the government's commitment to the bank's independence, but said that it will be "hamstrung from the outset by keeping the restriction on borrowing powers until at least 2015."

John Cridland, the director general of the Confederation of British Industry, said the bank must deliver certainty for investors if it is to generate the scale and pace of investment needed to shift the UK to a low-carbon economy.

Cridland, who has forecast that 450 billion pounds of investment is needed by 2025 to bring green jobs and opportunities to Britain, warned the bank "won't work if it needs the Treasury's permission to blow its nose."

"The bank needs to be able to get into the markets itself and do what it's intended to do," he added.

Article by Jane Wardell, Huffington Post