Sharp Corporation has increased annual production capacity for solar cells at its Katsuragi Plant in Nara Prefecture by 100 MW (megawatts) to meet burgeoning demand in Japan and abroad, and has constructed a system that will be able to enter full production by November 2006. As a result, solar cell production capacity at the Katsuragi Plant will reach 600 MW per year, the world's highest.
Source : CleanEdge
The Hurun Report, a luxury business magazine known for its annual surveys of China’s wealthiest citizens, recently released its 2006 China Energy Rich List, which ranks the wealth generated from the nation’s booming energy sector. Shi Zhengrong, a solar energy tycoon, tops the list with a personal wealth of US$1.95 billion, followed by Jia Tingliang and Wang Suolan with the coal company Shanxi Datuhe Coke & Chemicals, with US$525 million.
While entrepreneurs from traditional energy industries such as coal mining, oil and gas distribution, and power generation still dominate the energy “rich list” (occupying more than half of the fifty spots), the share of wealthy Chinese representing the “clean energy” sector—which includes solar and wind power, batteries, bioenergy, incineration power generation, and thermal energy—has increased to 14, up from only 4 last year. Rupert Hoogewerf, CEO of the Hurun Report, concedes that “valuing the wealth of China’s Rich is as much an art as it is a science,” but believes the list offers a useful glimpse into the dynamics of China’s energy market and illustrates how private companies struggle to share the energy pie with their state-owned counterparts.
According to Shanghai Security Daily, the 2006 list reflects two main trends: the ongoing restructuring of China’s traditional coal mining industry, and the rapid entry of private companies into the clean energy field. The coal industry restructuring, which is being overseen by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), is intended to accelerate technological modernization and improve the industry’s ability to meet projected growth in demand—as well as protect the environment and improve industrial safety, according to Xinhua News. Under new policies, several large private coal companies have been able to merge, renovate, and regroup smaller mines, enter the overseas market with their competitive costs, and switch to deep coal refining. These activities have contributed to the emergence of several new tycoons.
Unlike those in traditional energy industries (also known as “black gold” industries), investors in the clean energy field have been able to strike it rich by adopting cutting-edge clean technologies. In addition to rich-list leader Shi Zhengrong, who has built Suntech Power into one of the world’s leading solar cell manufacturers, five other Chinese entrepreneurs have generated large amounts of wealth for themselves by investing in solar technologies. Another clean-energy giant is Yu Jianqui, the head of Gushan Group, a leading biodiesel producer in China, who ranks fifth overall with a personal wealth of US$400 million.
Dr. Wu Daohong, who heads Beijing Shenwu Thermal Energy Co., Ltd. (BSTET), a company dedicated to the research and development of energy-efficiency technologies, ranks 21st on the list. His firm recently became the first Chinese member of the Chicago Climate Exchange, a U.S.-based greenhouse gas emissions registry, reduction, and trading system. Clean technology has also fostered the emergence of “green” heroes in the power generation industry. Dou Zhenggang, president of Jinjiang Group and No. 11 on the list, owns China’s largest private company that generates power from waste incineration, with more than 10 facilities across the country.
State-owned companies continue to dominate China’s fossil fuel industry, making it difficult for private enterprises to make their mark in petroleum exploration and refining (though they are involved to some degree in distribution). However, the Chinese government has encouraged broad participation from all sectors in developing the nation’s renewable energy market. On February 28, 2005, the State Council (China’s parliament) passed the Law on Renewable Energy Resources, which came into effect on January 1 of this year. The goal of the law is to “improve China’s energy structure, diversify energy supplies, safeguard energy security, protect the environment, and realize the sustainable development of the economy and society.”
Source : China Watch
A Melbourne, Australia-based company called Solar Systems has received government funding to proceed with construction of a 154-megawatt solar PV power station in north-west Victoria. The Australian government will contribute $75 million and the government of Victoria will contribute $50 million toward this $420-million (Australian dollar) project, the company said.
The technology will be deployed at a number of locations, and will be based on "Heliostat Concentrator Photovoltaics." In other words, fields of sun-tracking mirrors will be set up that focus the sun's rays on ultra high-efficiency solar modules. Solar Systems is working with Boeing's Spectrolab to optimize the system -- typically used in space applications -- for use on earth. "The resulting photovoltaic cell arrays are three times more efficient than typical solar panels," the company said.
The Australian has an excellent article about the announcement. I urge you to give it a read.
What I find interesting is that nearly $1 billion (Canadian) is being spent to build an 880-megawatt combined cycle natural gas "peaking" plant in Ontario. That works out to about $1.15 billion in Australian dollars.
On a per megawatt capacity basis, the natural gas plant is costing $1.31 million versus $2.73 for the solar plant. But if you consider that you don't need any fuel for the solar plant, and that the solar plant is ideal for typical peaking situations, then over time it does appear cost competitive with natural gas.
This, of course, is just a rough calculation. But it gets you thinking about the potential, particularly in an ideal climate like Australia. This meshes with Vinod Khosla's belief that big solar power plants is where the biggest opportunities for solar lie.
Source : CleanBreak
Miasole Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif.-based developer of thin-film solar cells, has raised $35 million in Series C funding, according to VentureWire. No participant information was disclosed, although the company previously had raised over $21 million from firms like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Bessemer Venture Partners and VantagePoint Venture Partners. www.miasole.com
Source : PE Week Wire
At the Solar Power 2006 Conference & Expo in San Jose, the crowded exhibition hall was filled with rows and rows of all things solar. There were panels, concentrators, chargers, lights, and even a robot. And solar enthusiasts wandered through, engaging the exhibitors and exchanging ideas and business cards. The showroom closed Wednesday, but the conference continued Thursday, with “post conference” events Friday.
Solar panel maker Solon displays its solar tracking system, the Solon-mover, at the entrance to the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.
The company brags that the tracker is the “largest industrially manufactured ready-to-go” solar tracking system in the world, specially developed for large solar power stations and capable of supplying entire cities with solar energy. Solon claims it was the first German solar company to go public, in 1998.
Greg Gaucher, a technical salesperson with Menova Energy, studies Sharp’s solar concentrator. Concentrators use mirrors or lenses to magnify—or “concentrate”—sunlight onto smaller solar cells. Ron Kenedi, vice president of Sharp’s Solar Energy Solutions Group, says concentrators will take hold soon, becoming significant in three to five years (see Q&A: Sharp’s Ron Kenedi). Menova also makes solar concentrators.
Larry Anderson, left, a sales representative for Menova Energy, discusses the company’s Power-Spar PS-2 with a conference attendee from MCR Holdings. The product is a “trough style” solar concentrator, which moves on two axes to track the sun. The absorber (the bar on top) can be switched out to provide solar electricity, solar heating, or direct lighting via fiber optics, said Nathalie Bastien, a Menova sales consultant based in San Jose.
The aluminum concentrator is light and can be stamped together very rapidly, cutting manufacturing costs, she said. Ottawa, Canada-based Menova is just starting to expand into the U.S. market, and expects the Power-Spar 2 to deliver its clients a return on investment in only two to three years, she said. The company showcased a demonstration unit; the real ones are 40-feet long.
Cruise Car is giving away this solar-paneled electric vehicle, called the Sunray. But don’t call it a golf cart. Technically, it’s only a golf cart if it goes less than 20 miles per hour, said Michael Margulis, a manufacturer representative based in Lakeport, California. This “low-speed vehicle” hits a top speed of 22 miles per hour—25 mph downhill, he jokes—and is street legal. It has a range of 65 miles, and can actually travel much farther if it’s in the sun, he says.
The vehicle costs $7,000, before a $1,000 federal tax credit. The non-solar version, called the Classic Golf, costs $5,500 and has a range of 40 to 49 miles. In November, Cruise Car will come out with a speedier solar-paneled neighborhood electric car, the Solar Kudo, which will retail for $9,000, Mr. Margulis said.
A conference goer watches as a robot demonstrates picking up a solar panel and placing it on a frame. Normally, the robot, RV40, would trim the panel to match the size of the glass that would go on top. Reis Robotics originally built the robot for automotive applications, dye casting machines, laser cutting, and so on, said Julio De Souza, an Elgin, Illinois-based field service engineer for the German firm. Two years ago, Reis created a program to apply the robot to solar manufacturing, he said.
Source : Red Herring
EnerWorks Inc. of London, Ontario, has snagged $3.65 million in equity financing to "rapidly scale production" of its proprietary solar hot-water heating systems, and to advance development of new solar and geothermal heating and cooling applications in collaboration with Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. The company's solar collector products have already been installed in hundreds of single family homes, housing developments and commercial facilities across North America. This financing round was led by Chrysalix Energy Management and co-investor Investeco Capital. Previous investors Covington Venture Fund Inc. and VentureLink Brighter Futures Fund Inc. also participated in the round.
This funding is a reminder that solar thermal systems play a huge role in the renewables space and are unfortunately overshadowed by interest in more costly solar PV technologies. Fact is, solar thermal for space and water heating is competitive today. It's interesting to note that EnerWorks' solar and geothermal technology is being used by Clean Energy Developments for the Marshall Homes "green" subdivision in Oshawa.
Source : CleanBreak