SolarSummary: October 22 28, 2002

by Kirsten Elder

Companies in the news

Konarka Technologies

PowerLight Corp

Schott APC

Shell Solar

New Products

The North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) has released the second draft of t he requirements for the voluntary certification program of installers of PV systems. According to the NABCEP, the certification is not intended to prevent qualified individuals from installing PV systems or to replace state license requirements but rather, it is meant to provide a set of national practitioner standards by which PV installers with skills and experience can distinguish themselves. Certification will provide an educational tool for consumers and will encourage increased financing and reduced insurance rates for PV projects. It will be available voluntarily to those PV installers who feel they will benefit from it. NABCEP is asking for comments and feedback to these proposed requirements. (SolarAccess, 29/10/02)

Applications

One of the world’s largest photovoltaic roofs is getting bigger. In about a month, an additional megawatt of Shell Solar PV panels will be connected to the grid atop the Munich Trade Fair Centre in Germany. The planned commissioning of the PV System will be in November 2002. 7,560 solar modules with a peak output of 1.058 MW are currently being installed by Shell Solar on a total of 63,000m2 roof space of the centre’s six southern halls. A 1 MW photovoltaic system on the roofs of the northern halls came on stream back in 1997. The combined peak output (2.1 MW) is sufficient to cover the annual power consumption of about 700 households. (Solarbuzz, 28/10/02)

Markets

Shell Solar is to integrate its solar technology throughout the remote South African Village of Lucingweni. Consisting of 220 homes, the village is located about 4 km inland from the Hluleka Nature reserve, and according to Shell Solar, the village is ideally suited to test the companys mini-grid solar program. Shell Solar will be installing the generating equipment on the top of the North-facing hill above the village. The equipment will consist of 6 off Proven 6 kW wind generators and a 50 kW array of S100 solar modules. In the longer term it is envisaged that a number of mini grids will be interconnected forming a “Macro” grid and eventually as the national grid comes to the area, to connect into the multiple mini grids. The existing generating equipment will then feed into the national grid as well. (SolarAccess, 23/10/02)

Industry Reports & Events

A survey of energy entrepreneurs and investors conducted at the recent EnerTech Forum in Phoenix indicates wind power generation, energy information systems, fuel cells and photovoltaic technologies, will capture the market over the next decade. In the near term energy information systems and wind-powered generation will emerge as the two most significant energy technologies in the next five years, with fuel cells and photovoltaic technologies emerging as critical technologies, toward the end of the decade. Respondents were not as enthusiastic, however, about the chances that a “hydrogen economy” would become a reality in the near future. Seventy-six percent predicted it would be at least 2020 before it occurred. Within that group, 24 percent said it would happen sometime after 2020, and 15 percent said it would never occur. Survey respondents also acknowledged the slow speed at which utilities have moved to adopt new technologies. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said utilities would someday adopt outsourcing, but that it would occur at a very slow pace. (Eyeforfuelcells.com, 27/10/02)

The 15th National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Industry Growth Forum will be held October 29 and 30 at the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center, Albany, New York. More than 100 financiers including venture capitalists, angel investors, commercial and investment bankers and private lenders, as well as representatives of the nation’s largest and most innovative energy companies – will attend the event. Thirty of the top clean energy companies will present their business plans in the “National Clean Energy Venture Competition,” sponsored by Bechtel. (SolarAccess, 28/10/02)

The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) said Friday a number of new products, projects and awards will be unveiled at its seventh annual Photovoltaic Experience Conference and Exhibition (UPEx’02) in Austin, Texas, November 12-15, 2002. UPEx’02, combining for the first time with Texas Renewables ’02, will feature leading-edge green technologies, including a new product release by Schott APC and a multiple-product launch event by PowerLight Corporation. A major joint venture between one of the leading PV module manufacturers and one of the nation’s most experienced installers will be announced, as will a report on current incentives for commercial and residential customers of PV generation systems. In addition, the conference will feature the announcement of the annual SEPA Award winners for Solar Program Achievement. (SolarAccess, 28/10/02)

Corporate News

Shell Solar has announced that it intends to restructure in order to improve its competitive position in the global photovoltaics market. Industry-wide there is substantial overcapacity in PV manufacturing around the world, which has affected all companies in the sector, including Shell Solar. The company plans to maintain a position in all stages of the manufacturing chain and increase its activity in sales and marketing. At the same time Shell Solar intends to optimise manufacturing to reduce production costs and overheads. Shell Solars PV manufacturing operations will be consolidated in Camarillo and Vancouver in the United States, Gelsenkirchen in Germany and Evora in Portugal. This will lead to the closure of
the solar cell and panel manufacturing facility in Helmond, the Netherlands, and the solar module manufacturing facility in Munich, Germany. (Solarbuzz, 24/10/02)

Konarka Technologies, a developer of flexible, polymer and nano-particle-based photovoltaic technology, has closed its Series B round of financing, having raised US$13.5 million. Round leader Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) was joined by three other venture capital firms: Zero Stage Capital (leader in Round A), Ardesta LLC, and NextGen Partners. Corporate investors ChevronTexaco and Eastman Chemical Company completed the round. (SolarAccess, 28/10/02)

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