Masdar PV, which manufactures thin-film solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, has secured a 17-year loan to finance one of Thuringia's largest thin-film solar PV parks. The lending consortium led by Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden and the Sparkasse Gotha provided the loan.

The plant is located near Masdar PV's production premises in Ichtershausen, Germany. The solar park, which has an installed capacity of 11.7 MW, covers an area as large as 40 football pitches. The ground-mounted solar park's annual yield of 10.8 million kilowatt hours is enough to provide power for around 3,400 households. The solar park offsets about 6,400 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, which is the same as taking more than 2,000 medium-sized cars off the roads.

The 17-year loan was secured at very competitive rates, and serves as a benchmark for Masdar PV's microcrystalline photovoltaic technology. Alongside Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden and the Sparkasse Gotha, Sparkasse Jena and Sparkasse Mittelsachsen participated in the financing. (Excerpt from AltEnergyMag Press Release)


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RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- The city's Building & Safety Services Department will host two workshops tailored for solar and electrical contractors covering the newly streamlined solar photovoltaic permitting process for systems 10 kilowatts and smaller.

Attendees will be guided through the permit process, new forms, and have their questions answered by Building & Safety staff.  (Excerpt from DailyBulletin)


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Enel Green Power Romania, the local renewable energy subsidiary of Enel Group, has connected its first PV plants in Romania.

The two plants now connected to the EGP network, have a combined installed capacity of 19MW, hopefully generating 29 million kWh annually.

The plants, Berceni 1 and Berceni 2, are located in south-central Romania, Prahova County, which is well known for traditional oil processing.

Berceni 1 has a 10MW installed capacity, and is expected to generate 15 million kWh annually, providing energy for 7,500 homes.

Berceni 2 is 9MW, aiming for 14 million kWh generated annually, powering 6,500 homes.

Enel Green Power is based in Italy, and has also recently completed two PV plants in Salerno Province. (By PV-Tech)


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The agency that oversees California utilities reported Wednesday that its program to promote rooftop solar power generation in the state has reached two thirds of its target. According to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), its California Solar Initiative (CSI) is well on the way to meeting its goal of installing 1,940 megawatts of solar capacity by the end of 2016.

The CPUC released its annual report on the CSI on Wednesday. According to that report, the program has backed the installation of rooftop solar at at 167,878 "customer sites" -- rooftops, parking structures and other locations. CPUC estimates that those installations add up to 1,629 megawatts of power generating capacity.

In 2012 alone, a record 391 megawatts of rooftop solar capacity was installed with help from the CSI. What's more, enough CSI-backed projects are pending to make up another 19 percent of the program's goal.

All of the projects included are under one megawatt in capacity, and 94 percent of the rooftop generating capacity is enrolled in utility net-metering programs. That means these figures don't include utility-scale solar projects that sell power directly to the grid, and it also means that the solar power capacity is above and beyond what utilities are obligated to buy under the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard law.

The CSI, the largest rooftop solar program in the U.S., began in January 2007 as part of the state's overall initiative to build three gigawatts of solar power generatiing capacity in California.

The CSI program covers installations on both residential and commercial properties. According to the report, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE) are leading their competitor Southern California Edison (SCE) in installing residential solar projects. SCE has installed only 62 percent of its goal under the program, according to CPUC, while PG&E and SDGE have met or exceeded their goals. PG&E leads the pack in commercial installations, which tend to be significantly larger, wiith 70 percent of its goal met.

Overall, the CPUC says the CSI is a success story even as it runs low on funding. The intent of the program was to bring material and labor costs for solar down by paying for a whole lot of PV panels between 2007 and 2016, and those prices have certainly dropped -- though it's fair to say China's subsidiizing of its PV factories has much more to do with the price drop. As CSI winds down, that price drop will likely pick up the slack: it's getting to be about as expensive in the long run to install solar as it is to face 20 years of electric bills. (By KCET)


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The U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium (PVMC), an industry-led collaboration headquartered at SUNY’s College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) in New York that is designed to accelerate next-generation solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies, has released the first-ever U.S. CIGS PV Roadmap reports.

“Photovoltaics and especially thin-film PV are again at a tipping point,” said Larry Kazmerski, co-chair of the U.S. CIGS PV Roadmap. “We want PV to be a substantial part of the world’s energy portfolio and our efforts with this roadmap are aimed to help make CIGS thin films a significant part of that solar success.”

“In building on the innovation strategy of Governor Andrew Cuomo that is establishing New York as a hub for solar energy technologies and companies, we engaged over 75 partner firms and 100 industry experts to develop a 10-year projection in the first-ever U.S. CIGS PV roadmap,” said Dr. Pradeep Haldar, PVMC Chief Operating and Technology Officer and CNSE Vice President for Clean Energy Programs. “This blueprint identifies the critical challenges for CIGS PV manufacturing, applications for sustainable innovation, and technical developments that will serve our members and stakeholders, and enable a competitive U.S. solar industry amid the global marketplace.”

Spearheaded by SEMATECH and CNSE as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SunShot Initiative, PVMC is targeting a reduction in the total installed cost of solar energy systems by 75 percent over the next decade. The CIGS PV Roadmap aims to provide a congruent plan for the national CIGS industry, including module and systems manufacturers, suppliers, and end-users, that will identify common challenges and define the areas of technical developments needed to sustain and advance a competitive U.S. photovoltaic industry.

The annual roadmap entitled “2013 U.S. CIGS PV Roadmap Reports,” identifies the technology challenges to attain projected module cost and performance targets over the next 10 years. The various reports, based on the latest industry analysis, advance the effort for achieving the SunShot initiative target.

The roadmap addresses six focus areas relevant to the entire industry, including roll-to-roll, rigid glass, metrology, modules and packaging, substrates and materials, and reliability/certification/test. Each section outlines the current status and critical challenges for each technology, discusses the role of industry standards for CIGS, and potential areas of innovation for the pre-competitive domain.

As the primary sponsor of the effort, PVMC provides the resources for managing and coordinating the roadmap activities. Members of the CIGS PV Roadmap represent all areas of the PV industry, including module producers and integrators, equipment suppliers, materials and metrology tools, end-users, and the research community.

On July 11, during the Third Annual U.S. CIGS PV Roadmap Public Forum held during Intersolar North America 2013, roadmap working group leaders will present summaries of these reports and announce plans for a revised 2014 roadmap. The Forum, sponsored by PVMC and hosted by SEMI, will encourage public debate and invite new members to join the various teams to develop the next assortment of reports. (By Nanowerk News)


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The global market for photovoltaic (PV) materials is poised to grow 52% to $27.2 billion, up from $17.8 billion in 2012. As PV supply and demand come back into balance in 2015, margins will steadily improve and create new opportunities for innovative materials developers, according to Lux Research.

Metals, including polysilicon, metallization pastes, and metallic absorber materials in CIGS, will gain the biggest market share, reaching $12.8 billion in 2018. Polysilicon alone will make a $6 billion market, based on global x-Si module demand.

“Differentiated materials that enable high cell or module efficiencies or longer lifetime will be able to earn a premium and cash in on the growing demand,” said Fatima Toor, Lux Research Analyst and the lead author of the report titled, “From Cost Reductions to Performance Enhancements: Mapping the $27 Billion Photovoltaic Materials Market.”

“In addition, the push towards improved quality will lead to materials innovations that not only drive down the $/W but also the $/kWh, enabling sustainable growth of global PV demand,” she added.

Lux Research analysts used detailed cost and demand models to evaluate materials opportunities in the emerging landscape. Among their findings:

●Crystalline silicon tops market share. Materials needed for crystalline silicon modules present the largest opportunity, reaching $23.8 billion in 2018. Materials like backsheets, non-EVA encapsulants, metallization pastes, and antireflection (AR) coatings for module glass provide opportunity for innovation.
●Differentiation is key. As module manufacturers drive to offer improved efficiencies or reliability, they need innovative materials such as Innovalight’s silicon inks for selective emitter cell design. Other innovators include 1366 Technologies, Natcore, Bandgap Engineering, Polyrise, Cencorp, and Sinovia Technologies.
●Move toward quality. The solar industry now prioritizes low $/kWh on top of $/W, offering modules with a longer lifetime. Material suppliers like DuPont and downstream developers are setting the new standard. Simultaneously, companies such as Solar Buyer are helping financial institutions rate module quality. (By Pennenergy)


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Solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in the US have now broken through the 10 gigawatt (GW) barrier, following strong market deployment since the start of 2010. During the first half of 2013, more than 1.8 GW of new solar PV capacity was installed in the US, according to the NPD Solarbuzz North America PV Market Quarterly report.

A change in system configuration from, first, cavity to frit glass and, second, from frit glass to thin film encapsulation is needed to drive the cost down. Today, encapsulation layers (including desiccant and adhesive) cost $400-$500/m2.

The integrated substrate is also a substantial cost driver. The integrated substrate includes the substrate (glass), transparent conductive layer (mostly ITO), metal electrodes, planarization (all patterned by photolithography/etch) and external light extraction film. The entire stack today costs $800-$900/m2 although this can be driven down to $100-$120/m2 in 2023. Innovation is taking place here with the advent of printing, grid materials, etc.

OLED lighting offers high potential for large-area emission, although today OLED production takes place on Gen-2 substrates only. Similarly, OLED lighting offers good form factors, although today most OLED lighting applications are made on rigid glass.

Nevertheless, OLED lighting is still embryonic

It is of course important to add that LED lighting development is far more mature – and more money has been spent on it than OLED lighting. Recently many companies have become active in OLED lighting and investment is increasing. For example, we expect the active materials to experience a fast cost reduction rate.

This is because of leverage from the OLED display industry and also because costs will scale with volume. This is different from the other two layers since the demand is mostly driven by factors outside the OLED lighting space. Currently, active materials cost $350-$400/m2 but expect this to fall to $70-$90/m2 in 2023.

The growth of the OLED display industry will aid the OLED lighting sector with cheaper, higher performance devices over time – with some overlap in supply chains. The challenges faced in OLED lighting applications will not be solved by the panel manufacturers alone.

Design factors

LED lighting is intrinsically a point source light, whereas OLED lighting is a surface emission device. While OLED lighting is likely to have a competitive edge here, its advantage is not as compelling as first evident. This is because the use of multiple LEDs in conjunction with waveguides is enabling the effective realisation of surface emission. At the same time, most OLED production today takes place on Gen-2 substrates.

Form factor (mechanical flexibility) is often claimed as a major selling point too. Today OLED technology falls short due to the encapsulation layers being based on glass – but progress on flexible barriers for OLED displays is likely to help this in the future. OLEDs also have the edge on colour warmth, low weight and thinness.

The onus over the coming years is therefore likely to be on luminaire/fixture designers who develop and sell niche products, capitalising on improved design parameters made available by OLEDs. (Excerpt from Electronics Weekly)


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IDTechEx Research finds that in its “most likely” forecasts scenario OLED lighting will become a $1.3 billion market in 2023 – equating to 1.3% of the market size of LED lighting at that time.

A report by IDTechEx “OLED vs LED Lighting 2013-2023” finds that OLED lighting is likely to struggle to define and communicate its unique selling points and may remain an over-priced and under-performing option compared to LED lighting, unless Apple-like design innovation occurs.

OLED lighting companies will inevitably have to capitalise on superior design features to carve out niche markets in the hospitality, shopping and architectural sectors. Profits for panel makers will be squeezed due to stiff competition and value will migrate downstream to fixture/luminaire designers, who will be the demand creators.

OLED lighting performance today – efficiency and lifetime

OLED displays are growing quickly but their lighting counterparts are still actively trying to define their unique selling points vis-à-vis LED lighting. Today, they lag behind in terms of efficiency. This is because LEDs regularly offer 90-100 lm/W at package level (the LED chip encapsulated), while OLED modules are still in the region of 20-50lm/W. The lifetime of LEDs far exceed that of OLEDs.

Indeed, LED lamps regularly offer in excess of 50,000 hours, which is why they initially found a niche market in out-of-reach outdoor applications. In contrast, OLED lighting offers 5,000 to 15,000 hours of operational life even when encapsulated.

Cost

LED lighting is also now low cost, selling at $5/klm at package level (luminaires costs $20-$100/klm). Contrast this with the extortionate price of OLED today. They cost $300-$500/klm at panel level, excluding the cost of fixture design, retail, installation and profit margins.

The main cost drivers are the encapsulation layer (barrier, adhesive and desiccant) and integrated substrates (transparent conductive layer, substrate and out-coupling layer).

In the current configuration, cavity glass is used as the barrier. This is expensive because (a) additional processing is required (sand blasting) to carve out a cavity, and (b) large glass manufacturers are reluctant to commit production capacity given the low demand. (Excerpt from Electronics Weekly)


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The New LED lights allow the operator to adjust light levels from Low-Medium-High with the flip of a switch to optimize light levels based on needs. This is a first for towable light towers of any type. The standard or medium setting fits the needs of the majority of applications but there may be times where more or less light is desirable, Progress Solar offers that option. In addition, unlike most LED lights, these custom, weather-proof (IP-66) LED light fixtures are designed specifically for our use to insure that they are durable for on/off road travel and provide brilliant white light in any environment from desert heat to arctic cold (clears frost and humidity) that frequently cause problems in other LED light fixtures. LED lights are more vibration resistant (no filament) and typically last 5-10x longer than metal halide light fixtures on diesel light towers.

Progress solar offers the largest selection of portable outdoor lighting systems powered by solar and wind power. The company celebrated its fourth consecutive year of significant growth in 2012 and has again expanded its manufacturing capabilities. Progress Solar is a preferred or approved vendor for most of the top U.S. Equipment Rental Companies and distributes in many other countries outside of the USA. The Progress Solar and Solar/Wind Light Towers are made in the U.S. (patents pending) and resemble a traditional towable diesel light tower, but are designed to operate on renewable energy eliminating or minimizing the use of fossil fuels or generation of carbon emissions. The light plants can be powered a number of ways. They are powered primarily by two on-board solar power generators and an optional wind generator housed above the LED flood lights. The large battery bank stores numerous days of lighting (now up to 60 hours run time without solar) to cover inclimate weather days, and as a back-up, can always be charged via an on-board, dual-bank AC power charger if ever needed.

The Progress Solar Series of Light Towers are rugged, mobile, outdoor lighting systems that provide high-intensity, bright white lighting on-demand, where and when you need it. It is equipped with high power generating Solar Modules housed on automated solar wings that can be optimally positioned toward the sun to maximize solar energy gain; an optional wind turbine at the top of the telescoping mast; four (4) or more solid-state LED flood lights with high lumen output; and a long-life Power Module with AGM, no maintenance, sealed, deep-cycle batteries to store energy for use when needed at night or during inclimate weather. The light tower is fully adjustable from 12-30ft in height, lights can be individually tilted up/down and the mast can be rotated to direct the light exactly where it is needed. The solid-state LED flood lights provide a tremendous amount of light, minimize power requirements; provide instant-on/off with no flickering; are extremely reliable, vibration and shatter resistant; and designed to provide up to 5x longer run time between bulb changes than metal halide lights. The Solar/Light Control Module protects the system from over/under charging and the lights can be turned on/off automatically from a timer, at user-programmable time intervals or manually on-demand. The system is on a portable trailer customized for maximum functionality and convenience and can be easily towed to its destination. (Excerpt from AltEnergyMag)


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