After: The 6th Street Bridge after high pressure sodium streetlights were replaced with LEDs (See end of post for a before photo).
(Credit: City of Los Angeles/Bureau of Street Lighting)Los Angeles is literally basking in a whole new glow.
The city has decided to replace its street lights and bus stop lighting with LEDs. The bus stop lighting will be solar-powered and off the grid.
LA's Bureau of Street Lighting has been actively testing out different types of energy efficient lighting to replace the public lighting that currently includes a combination of incandescent, mercury vapor, metal halide, and high pressure sodium lights.
In 2009, the agency began an LED street lighting energy efficiency program to actively replace its existing 209,000 streetlights. When complete, the city's energy consumption for public lighting should be cut by 40 percent and save 40,500 tons of carbon emissions per year, according to city statistics.
Now the city has decided on which specific lights to go with. Many of the street lamps will be LEDway streetlights from BetaLED. The solar-powered bus lamps are EverGen lights from Carmanah Technologies. Because the bus lights are self-sufficient, they will not need to be tied into the city's electric grid and will allow the city to remain lit even in the event of a blackout.
In a statement released Tuesday, Carmanah said its lights will also give the city more freedom to replace existing lights or introduce lights in new places without having to dig up sidewalks or tie into electricity poles, cutting down on installation costs.
But in addition to making the city more energy efficient, the switch from an abundance of high pressure sodium lights across the city's highways to LEDs is also drastically changing the city's look. Before and after photos provided by the city of the 6th Street Bridge over the Los Angeles River illustrate a clear change in tint from orange to whiter lighting.
Before: The orange glow of high pressure sodium lights on 6th Street Bridge over the Los Angeles River before they were replaced with LEDs.
(Credit: City of Los Angeles/Bureau of Street Lighting)
ANAHEIM, Calif.--Executives from solar power companies see clearer skies in 2010 for the beleaguered industry, even as quarterly reports from heavyweights like First Solar and SunPower have disappointed investors and dragged down shares.
The industry has struggled to emerge this year from tight credit markets, a global glut of panels, and falling prices.
"I think we're already in the middle of a turnaround. We've kind of gone through the low point of the recent past," said Steven Chan, Suntech Power Holdings' chief strategy officer, in an interview with Reuters.
Executives from Sharp, BP's solar unit, and other solar power players shared similar optimism about the sector's outlook in 2010 at the Solar Power International conference being held here this week.
The industry, which grew at a clip of more than 40 percent for several years, has suffered in the recession, but solar companies kept a bullish attitude on growth next year.
Executives cited various forces that could drive growth in 2010, including U.S. stimulus funds for green projects, extended tax incentives and new financing.
"I call it a warming up," said Ron Kenedi, vice president of Sharp Solar Energy Solutions Group, in an interview at the conference.
Kenedi said work on government projects has been a "bright spot," while BP Solar Chief Executive Reyad Fezzani said new subsidies in markets like India will spur industry growth and that Italy has built up a lot of momentum.
Fezzani predicted the sector could grow globally 50 percent next year and warned that pent-up demand could even spark fresh supply issues.
"It may be that the supply chain may get tight again...Quite frankly the way this market can shift from long to short and back remains the biggest challenge," Fezzani said during a panel discussion at the conference.
He cited reports that companies that make inverters are running short on inventory, and Suntech's Chan said his company was juggling how to allocate panels among its customers amid good signs for sales for the first quarter of 2010.
Inverters convert the direct current produced by solar cells into alternating current compatible with the U.S. electrical grid.
While panel prices have tumbled about 50 percent over the last year, companies said that the decline is slowing or has even stalled.
Chan said panel prices have been stable in the fourth quarter and they will decline about 8 percent to 10 percent in 2010.
Still, more polysilicon is expected to come onto the market, putting margin pressure on producers of the material, which is used in the majority of panels, said Olaf Koester, chief executive of Solon's U.S. unit, based in Tucson, Ariz.
Some in the industry also remain wary that financing has yet to fully recover. BP's Fezzani said that companies still need banks to provide financing in a timely way.
"They have the intent, they have the resources, they've hired the lawyers to do the due diligence. But, frankly, the issue is they're not signing the checks and it's causing delays," Fezzani told reporters at the conference.
Story Copyright (c) 2009 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
Additional stories from Reuters
Konarka's solar panel on a Neuber mailbag.
(Credit: Neuber)Konarka Technologies announced this week its Power Plastic flexible solar panels are going to be being used in carrier bags and possibly shade structures in the Middle East and Africa.
The company made a deal to supply its solar panels to German-based carrier manufacturer Neuber for bags that can double as chargers for small electronics like cell phones, digital cameras, and media players. Neuber is currently selling the so-called Energy Sun Bags at around 118 euros ($175) on the Neuber Web site.
Konarka's flexible solar panels in Neuber's range of mailbags are not the first instance of backpacks going solar, but they certainly are one of the first we've noticed in the growing trend in recent months of reasonably-priced solar bags coming on to the consumer market.
While not yet at the product stage, Konarka also announced this week it's partnering with Enviromena Power Systems, a solar project developer in the Middle East and North Africa whose clients include Abu Dhabi's planned green community Masdar City.
The plan is to integrate Konarka's flexible solar panels into shade structures.
Shade structures, tents, and awnings are already used ubiquitously for shade. It makes sense to find a double use for them as a solar panels to provide a recharge for cell phones or iPods.
As it does with most trends, Samsung is pursuing eco-friendly cell phones with vigor. It already gave us the Samsung Reclaim, and now we finally have a chance to review the Samsung Blue Earth. Like the Reclaim, the Blue Earth's shell is made from recycled materials--specifically, plastic water bottles--but it goes a giant step further with solar panels on its rear face. The solar panels actually work and can charge the phone in a pinch.
The Blue Earth is also free of harmful materials like polyvinyl chloride, and you can minimize battery use by adjusting the display settings. Outside of being green, the Blue Earth offers a functional feature set, but its small touch screen hampers its usability and there was static during calls. Check out our Blue Earth review for a more detailed look.
California regional finalists for the Cleantech Open were announced Wednesday.
(Credit:
Cleantech Open)
Think of the Cleantech Open, which started in 2006, as a Western divisions-only March Madness for environmental techies looking for funding. Contestants initially compete against each other in three Western U.S. regions: California, Rocky Mountain, and Pacific Northwest. Since its inception, the contest has garnered more than $125 million in funding for its contestants, according to Cleantech. It's also helped companies like Cool Earth Solar, and GreenVolts get noticed.
This year the California region judges had an initial pool of 278 teams, which it narrowed down to 49 semifinalists who then presented their projects in person. From those semifinalists, six regional finalists were chosen, one for each category of environmental technology that the Cleantech Open focuses on. Those final six, which received $100,000 worth in prizes for their regional win, will now go on to compete against finalists from other regions for the national award in their category.
This year's air, water, and waste category in California was won by Micromidas, a company trying to perfect a process to turn raw sewage into biodegradable plastic products.
Alphabet Energy, a team from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, won the energy efficiency category for a system that produces electricity from waste heat. The group, which twittered a thank you to "the academy" for its win, says its inexpensive method has the potential to offset up to 500 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
Tru2earth won the green building category for its Life Cycle Roof Tile made from recycled water and soda bottle plastic that can double as siphons for capturing gray water.
A DIY-installation solar roof panel system from Armageddon Energy, called the SolarClover, won the renewable energy category, while the smart power category was claimed by EcoFactor. The company developed an SaaS platform that "collects, analyzes and acts upon thousands of data points relating to a home's HVAC needs and preferences to help utilities improve demand management and enable consumers to lower energy costs and save money on utility bills without sacrificing comfort or giving up control."
"The Cleantech Open helped Armageddon Energy get off the ground. It brought the founding team together, helped us build our business plan and make crucial business connections. And, by winning the Renewable Energy category, it will undoubtedly help us as a small company gain credibility with crucial customers, supply chain partners, and investors," Armageddon Energy CEO Mark Goldman, said in a statement.
The transportation category was handed to FuelSaver Technologies. The team proposed a modified design for tractor-trailer trucks to minimize drag. The group claims the invention could reduce fuel consumption of a truck by as much as 25 percent depending on certain conditions, and could pay for itself in fuel savings within a year of long-haul driving.
"Our solution is a full body streamlining of the vehicle's aerodynamic profile, minimizing drag at the back of the trailer, underbelly of the trailer, and the gap between the tractor and trailer," the group said in a statement.
Finalists from each region will attend an awards ceremony and gala in San Francisco on November 17.
Skyline's high gain solar arrays installed at a San Jose, Calif., pilot project.
(Credit: Skyline Solar)Solar array manufacturing start-up Skyline Solar announced Thursday it has made a deal with auto-parts manufacturer Cosmo International to build its frames, racks, and reflectors.
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Cosmo, a unit of Magna International that includes 37 manufacturing plants, is known for making auto body parts and chassis for the automotive industry. Its fabrications include the door frame for the Mercedes M-Class, the tailgate for the Dodge Dakota, the hood of the BMW X3, and an "advanced high strength steel bumper assembly" for the Volkswagen Passat.
While the announcement is a "rust belt to green belt" example of how the U.S. can turn around its failing manufacturing economy with a refocus on green technology, the deal is not necessarily a bellwether.
Skyline Solar is uniquely suited to a partnership with a company that employs skilled sheet metal workers. In addition to the frames and mounting systems, its solar arrays are, in fact, made of bent sheet metal used to reflect sunlight on to a silicon collector containing monocrystalline silicon cells.
The solar start-up, based in Mountain View, Calif., which in addition to private funding has received $3 million in grant money from the U.S. Department of Energy, purposely designed its solar systems to be auto-manufacturing friendly.
Skyline Solar announced in May 2009 that, in addition to reducing the amount of silicon needed for a solar system, it had found a way to use pre-existing auto manufacturing sources as a way to cut down on solar manufacturing costs.
Solar incentives seem to be working to both increase the number of solar installations in the U.S. and bring down the initial cost, according to a report released Wednesday by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
"Findings...show that, after a three-year plateau, costs decreased by 3.6 percent from 2007 to 2008, marking a pivotal year for the American solar industry," said the report (PDF).
Broken down into real 2008 dollars, the report estimated that the actual cost of installing photovoltaic solar systems--excluding tax credits or financial incentives--was $10.80 per watt in 1998 versus $7.50 per watt in 2008.
That initial cost to the installer dropped significantly once incentives and tax credits were factored in.
Last year, the average cost of installation was $2.80 per watt for residential photovoltaic, when incentives and tax credits are counted, and $4.00 per watt for commercial.
The report attributed rising fuel prices since 1998 and government incentives for alternative energy to the solar market boom. There has been a significant increase in photovoltaic installations in the U.S. since 2007. Of the 566 megawatts of solar added to the U.S. grid since 1998, an estimated 293 megawatts of photovoltaic were added in 2008 alone. That recent uptick was attributed in part to "more lucrative" federal investment tax credits adopted for commercial photovoltaic systems in 2006.
If that figure of 566 megawatts seems low given the plethora of solar installation announcements from private and public organizations over the past few years, keep in mind these figures are for grid-connected systems only.
The report data evaluated the cost outlay for 52,000 residential and commercial installations, about 71 percent of all the grid-connected photovoltaic systems that were installed in the U.S. between 1998 and 2009. The report data did not include cost outlay for those residential or commercial systems operating off the grid.
But the report did include outside data for comparison of markets.
It showed that the recent growing popularity of solar is not just a U.S. phenomenon. About 5,948 megawatts of photovoltaic were installed globally in 2008 compared to 2,826 megawatts in 2007. Spain was the largest photovoltaic market in terms of installation in 2008, followed by Germany and then the U.S., according to the report.
Undoubtedly, the global installation figure will increase even more dramatically in the coming years. China alone has announced plans for large-scale photovoltaic installations ranging from 500 megawatts in Baotou, Inner Mongolia to 2,000 megawatts in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia. In the U.S., First Solar has been given rights to develop a 550-megawatt plant in California.
Lithium ion batteries used as energy storage for utilities will be a $1 billion industry by 2018, according to a report released Wednesday by Pike Research called "Energy Storage Technology Markets."
Much of the lithium ion battery development has been geared toward perfecting the batteries as power sources for electronics, and in recent years, cars. But the alternative energy industry is going to benefit from that research, too. Once that happens, there will be a surge in the sales of industrial-scale lithium ion batteries for power utilities, according to Pike research.
"Utilities will be the downstream beneficiaries of innovation and investment in lithium ion batteries for the transportation sector," Pike Research analyst David Link said in a statement.
The energy storage industry in general is poised to grow as more private and public organizations embrace wind and solar energy worldwide. Because wind and solar systems provide energy in bursts and their cycles are not usually in sync with local peak energy usage hours, power storage when using wind or solar will become an obvious necessity for utilities, according to Pike Research.
Out of eleven methods of energy storage, Pike Research found that lithium ion batteries for utility use will be the fastest growing segment of the storage industry.
Sodium Sulfur (NAS) batteries and kinetic storage systems like pumped hydro and Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) were seen as the next likely leading utility energy storage solutions.
Team Germany's winning SurPlusHome
(Credit: Department of Energy)A high-tech building covered on all sides with solar cells has won an international contest for the best home powered only by the sun.
Team Germany, which also won in 2007, took first place in the Solar Decathlon, beating out teams from Illinois and California.
At a ceremony Friday in Washington, D.C., the Department of Energy announced the winners of the competition, in which student teams designed and built solar homes on the National Mall. For the past week, the homes have been scored on architecture, market viability, and a number of objective measures, such as how much hot water the house can generate.
On the final day, Germany beat out its rivals by getting the highest score in the net metering contest, or the amount of excess electricity the home produced.
Germany's team, from Technische Universitat in Darmstadt, designed a building that not only had solar panels on the roof, but also on the walls, making the potential generation as high as 11,000 watts. The specially designed siding that used thin-film solar cells fitted onto aluminum strips. The solar cells ran all the electrical systems, including the hot water heater, and are capable of generating about twice as much electricity as the house needs.
Underneath the clapboard was a highly insulating material. That was one of a number of techniques, including automated louvers to take in outside air, that home used to increase its energy efficiency and conform to the Passive House low-energy home standard.
The cube-like structure not only allowed for a maximum surface area for solar cells, but also allowed the architects to build a two-story interior, unlike the other entrants. The cost for this sophisticated home was at the high end in the competition, with an estimated price tag in the $650,000 to $850,000 range.
By contrast, the second place team--Team Illinois from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign--made a home on the low end of the price range, estimated at about $250,000.
The Illinois team chose to focus on local architecture and local suppliers for its house. It used reclaimed wood from a family barn and a local grain elevator for the siding and decking. On the inside, it used a new product--structural bamboo beams--made from a fast-regenerating plant.
The designers at Illinois, too, chose to run the house entirely on solar electric panels, rather than have a combination of solar photovoltaics and solar hot water panels for all heating and cooling. The all-electric system allowed it to use highly efficient air-source heat pump. The building was also heavily insulated, getting an estimated R50 by using spray foam, and chose highly efficient appliances inside.
Team California, which was a collaboration between Santa Clara University and the California College of the Arts, came in third place, placing at the top in the communications and architecture categories.
The homes in the competition were limited to 800 square feet but California designed its home to give it a bigger feel by having different zones and a large deck that integrated with the main living space.
The team, which also scored well for home entertainment and appliances, designed a home-automation system that allows home owners to monitor energy usage from a touch-screen display. The same display also allows people to control lighting, the shades, and appliances.
The full scorecard and more photos of the homes can be seen at the Solar Decathlon site.
General unemployment may be on the rise, but the clean-tech sector should be a bright spot for job seekers, according to a report released Thursday by Clean Edge research.
The clean-technology sector was one of the largest recipients of venture capital last year, raising about $3.35 billion in the U.S., according to New Energy Finance statistics in the the "Clean Tech Job Trends 2009" report (PDF).
Unlike most reports from research firms, this one is free to download in full.
The 29-page report, which also draws on statistics from other organizations such as the Pew Charitable Trusts, includes a plethora of useful information for the clean-tech job hunter, including schools offering green career training, job posting and social media sites dedicated to clean-tech jobs, a list of the largest clean-tech employers, and a list of the best green-tech blogs.
Based on the number of job postings and placements, and public and private investment, the report found the solar industry to be the leading clean-tech sector, followed by biofuels and biomaterials, conservation and efficiency, smart grids, and wind power.
(Credit:
Clean Edge)
For those willing to move for a job, the report lists the 15 areas in the U.S. where people are likely to find the most clean-tech job activity, as well as a separate list for global clean-tech hotspots.
"Unlike the early days of computers and IT, the clean-tech economy is a highly dispersed phenomenon, with no single place, industry, or professional demographic controlling the sector," Ron Pernick, co-founder and managing director of Clean Edge, said in a statement.
Not surprisingly, the San Francisco and Los Angeles greater metropolitan areas topped the U.S. list at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. The greater New York metropolitan area (which includes northern New Jersey and Long Island) was No. 3 for clean-tech jobs. Here's the breakdown:
- San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
- Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County
- New York-northern New Jersey-Long Island (N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa.)
- Boston-Worcester-Lawrence-Lowell-Brockton (Mass., N.H.)
- Washington, D.C.-Baltimore (Md., Va., W.V.)
- Denver-Boulder-Greeley
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton
- Portland-Salem
- Chicago-Gary-Kenosha (Ill., Ind., Wisc.)
- Sacramento-Yolo County
- San Diego
- Austin-San Marcos, Texas
- Phoenix
- Detroit-Ann Arbor
- Houston-Galveston-Brazoria
The report also contains a comprehensive spreadsheet detailing the type of clean-tech jobs available, the typical degree level required, and the median pay levels. The jobs range in median pay from $36,100 to $106,000.
And while some jobs like project developer or geothermal power engineer require a bachelor's degree or even a specified engineering degree, most of the jobs on the list were true "green-collar" jobs in that they only require a high school diploma. Those jobs included HVAC service technician, journeyman lineman for smart grid, network operations center technician for smart grid, solar fabrication technician, and solar energy system installer.
