Status and Technology of Solar Power Generation is Hot Topic on May 26, 2011
Utility sized concentrating solar power plants covering a land area equal to
just 9 percent of the state of Nevada could provide 100 percent of the power
consumed in the U.S. today. Global warming and resulting state mandates that
require renewable energy to make up from 10 to 30 percent of the power supplied
by utilities within the next 10 to 15 years is driving interest and investment
in solar power. Yet most energy forecasts for the U.S. indicate that combustion
of fossil fuels including coal, oil and gas will provide the lion’s share of our
power for the next 25 years and beyond with solar contributing only a small
share of the renewable portion of the power mix.
Concentrating solar power plants of a utility size have been in operation for
over 25 years and with the advances in technology and operating experience over
this time have proven to be reliable and economic. And with economic thermal
storage using molten salt now available, solar plants could be utilized to
provide base load capacity. However, with the exception of a few utility sized
projects announced over the past few years, utilities seem to be focused on
distributed arrays of small roof top photovoltaic panels for integrating solar
power into their power source mix and using solar primarily to provide power
during periods of peak demand.
The following speakers will discuss the economic issues of PV and concentrating
thermal solar power, the driving forces (regulatory, government incentives, GHG
reduction) for utilities to utilize these technologies, the economics and
technical issues favoring either distributed arrays of PV versus utility sized
solar plants, solar base load plants versus peaking power, new technology under
development or in testing to reduce the cost of power per kWh and improve the
reliability or reduce maintenance requirements and provide an update on current
PV and thermal technology in use and experience with plants in operation.
Bart Krishnamoorthy,
Research Associate with the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), will
discuss current solar technology and market trends, including types of solar
technologies, current and future deployment patterns, and declining price
points, with a particular focus on analyzing the data within an electric utility
context. In addition, the presentation will look briefly at utility solar
procurement strategies and evolution, as well as an overview of current utility
strategies in solar integration.
Paula Mints,
Principal Analyst, PV Services Program and a
Director in Navigant's energy practice, will discuss how PV, CSP and CPV compete
on the utility scale battleground -- competitors and allies, all solar
technologies must support each other while competing for the prize -- which is,
ironically, to sell commodity electricity at the lowest price. This presentation
will detail how each technology (thin film flat plate, crystalline flat plate,
CSP and CPV) approach the battlefield.
Dr. Peter Johnston,
Project Manager for Clean Energy Technologies
at Burns and McDonnell Engineering Company and Matt Brinkman,
Solar Business Unit Manager for Burns & McDonnell's Energy Global Practice, will
present the reasons they see that photovoltaic solar systems are enjoying
multiple installations even into the 100's of MW and solar thermal systems are
not so prolific. They will also discuss how solar thermal systems can be
integrated into fossil fueled power plants to reduce fossil fuel consumption and
potentially generate some of the cheapest solar MWh for utilities.
Joseph (Joe) Bessler,
President and CEO of Silverwood Energy, Inc, will discuss the status of the
California utility market - utility owned programs versus third party provider
programs. A snapshot of the California utility solar market as it stands
today.
John King,
Founder, President and CEO of Combined Power Cooperative, a provider of
disruptively low cost Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) technology, will provide a
survey of the current state-of-the-art and incipient developments in reflector
systems, receivers and thermal energy storage.
To register for the "Hot Topic Hour" on Thursday, May 26, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. CDT
(Chicago time), click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/hot_topic_hour_registration.htm.
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Here are the Headlines for the May 13, 2011 – Utility E Alert
UTILITY E-ALERT
#1024 - May 13, 2011
Table of Contents
OVERVIEW
COAL – US
COAL
– WORLD
GAS / OIL – WORLD
BIOMASS
GASIFICATION
CO2
·
Alstom Announces Successful Results of Mountaineer CCS Project
NUCLEAR
BUSINESS
HOT TOPIC HOUR
For more information on the Utility Environmental
Upgrade Tracking System, click on:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/energy.html#42ei.
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Solar Roofs Decrease Energy Costs
More and more companies are seeing value in using their roof tops to generate
power from solar cells. A few items from recent McIlvaine Renewable
Energy Updates illustrate that point.
China Sunergy Co., Ltd., a specialized solar cell and module manufacturer based
in Nanjing, China, announced that it has entered into an approximately 7 MW
solar module supply contract with CEEG (Nanjing) Solar Energy Research
Institute, for the Nanjing South Railway Station solar roof project. This is the
world’s largest stand-alone building integrated photovoltaic project for one
structure. A major stop along the Beijing-Shanghai high speed railway, the
Nanjing South Railway Station will be one of the most energy efficient public
buildings in China.
Kaiser Permanente’s Santa Clara Medical Center has gone live with solar power,
becoming one of the U.S.’s first major medical centers to receive a significant
amount of its energy from the sun.
Kaiser Permanente agreed recently to install solar power systems at 15 of its
California facilities – deploying a total 15 MW of solar energy – by the end of
2011. The agreement with Recurrent Energy, a solar project developer and
generating company providing clean electricity to utilities and large energy
users, launched one of the largest sustainable energy programs in U.S. health
care.
Kaiser Permanente’s investment in solar power will reduce the organization’s
reliance on the public power grid and help it diversify its energy sources. The
15 MW of solar power will produce an average of 10 percent of the electricity at
each of the facilities, which also include the Vallejo Medical Center in
Northern California, and medical offices in Lancaster and La Mesa in Southern
California.
Kaiser Permanente agreed to purchase the solar power through power purchase
agreements with San Francisco-based Recurrent Energy, which will own and operate
all of the solar power systems. Kaiser Permanente also will retain all the
Renewable Energy Credits awarded for these solar projects.
FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. and the world’s largest express
transportation company joined with Cologne Bonn Airport in Germany to inaugurate
the new FedEx Central and Eastern Europe hub.
The Cologne hub is the second FedEx Express hub to be solar-powered and the
fifth solar facility in operation within FedEx Corp. The roof features the
largest FedEx Express solar power installation worldwide and represents one of
the largest rooftop solar installations in North Rhine-Westphalia, with an area
of 16,000 square meters, producing about 800,000 kWh per year.
Prudential Financial, Inc. announced that it has installed solar panels on its
office building in Scottsdale, AZ and added charging stations to be used for
electric cars when they become widely available.
The solar panel installation project in Scottsdale also included constructing a
covered employee parking facility and the addition of several car charging
stations. The solar panels in Scottsdale involved installing 4,508 panels that
generate approximately 30 percent of the building’s power use, with a peak
output of 885 kWh.
The Port of Los Angeles has completed its World Cruise Center solar rooftop
project, a 71,500 square foot, 1 MW system capable of generating approximately
1.2 million kWh of electricity annually to the Los Angeles Department of Water
and Power (LADWP) energy grid.
The solar photovoltaic installation, which is expected to result in an annual
$200,000 energy cost savings, is the first phase of a multi-location solar power
program that will eventually produce 10 MW of solar system generation capacity.
The $10.8 million project includes a total of 1.16 million square feet of
rooftop solar panels, larger than the size of a football field. Three additional
project phases are slated for completion over the next five years.
IKEA, the home furnishings retailer announced solar energy is planned for its
Denver-area store under construction in Centennial, CO. Pending governmental
permits, installation of solar panels on the store’s roof were to begin in
February, with completion by grand opening in Fall 2011. REC Solar will design,
build and install this solar energy system.
The 60,000-square-foot solar array will consist of a 498-kW system, built with
2,212 panels, and will produce approximately 740,000 kWh of electricity annually
for the store.
IKEA U.S. already has solar energy systems in Brooklyn, NY, Pittsburgh, PA and
Tempe, AZ, and is installing systems at eight existing locations in California
and two stores on the East Coast. Additionally, IKEA Centennial will be the
first U.S. IKEA store to integrate a geothermal component as part of its
heating/cooling system.
California State University Bakersfield (CSUB), installed a 1.2 MW solar parking
canopy located on the CSUB campus. The solar parking canopy was made possible
through a Solar Power Service Agreement between CSUB and SunEdison that required
no upfront costs from the university. CSUB will purchase the clean energy
produced over a period of 20 years to offset their demand from the utility grid.
CSUB will also retain the renewable energy credits generated by the production
of clean energy from the solar parking canopy.
The 1.2 MW solar parking canopy will generate over 1.6 million kWh of clean
energy in the first year of operation and produce over 30 million kWh over 20
years.
Further details may be found at:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Renewable_Energy_Brochure/renewable_energy_WM_brochure.htm
You can register for our free McIlvaine Newsletters at:
http://www.mcilvainecompany.com/brochures/Free_Newsletter_Registration_Form.htm
Bob McIlvaine
President
847-784-0012 ext 112
rmcilvaine@mcilvainecompany.com
Copyright © 2011 McIlvaine
Company. All Rights Reserved
Ph: 847-784-0012 | Fax:
847-784-0061
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