SolarSummary: April 22 – 28, 2003

by Kirsten Elder

Companies in the news

BP Solar

Carmanah Technologies

Dankoff Solar

Duke Solar

Global Solar Energy

Kyocera Solar

PowerLight Corp

RWE Schott Solar

Sealite

Sharp Corp

Spire Corporation

SunWize Technologies

New Products

Sharp Corporation has announced the introduction into the Japanese market of a new single crystalline photovoltaic module. The NT-167AK achieves a conversion efficiency of 17.4 percent, making it the world’s most efficient PV module designed for residential applications. This achievement makes it possible to install a 3-kW PV generating system in an area of just 17.3 m2, the smallest surface area requirement in the industry. Sharp plans to promote the use of these modules in “zero-energy houses” which demand higher power generating capacities using only limited roof surface area, and will work to encourage the widespread adoption of PV power generating systems for homes having small-surface-area roofs, which make up the majority of residences in urban areas.

Carmanah Technologies Corporation is due to enter the worldwide aviation lighting market with the launch of its solar-powered LED aviation lights for applications including temporary / permanent runway and taxiway edge lighting, obstruction, barricade, heli-pad and construction lighting. (Solarbuzz.com, 24/04/03)

Applications

Officials in Boulder City, Nevada are entering final negotiations to lease land to Duke Solar Energy for construction of the state’s largest solar field, in a deal that could generate $2 million a year for the city. The Nevada Public Utilities Commission last month approved contracts between Nevada Power and the Eldorado Solar Electric Generation Station, paving the way for the Duke project, which is expected to begin operation in 2005. (Review-Journal via Solarbuzz.com, 26/04/03)

The Discovery Science Centre (DSC) in Santa Ana has installed 560 BP Solar panels, which are among the most efficient solar PV modules on the market. The 40 kW array, which was sold by BP Solar to the DSC at a significantly reduced price, will generate 77 thousand kWh of electricity each year and supply 10 to 15 percent of the centres electricity needs. Any excess electricity generated by the system will flow directly into the region’s electric power grid for local customers. The DSC can in turn receive the benefits of net-metering legislation to help pay off the system. (SolarAccess.com, 23/04/03)

The largest green building complexi the US officially opened its doors for business as part of Earth Day celebrations at the headquarters of Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc. A massive 536 kW PV system installed by Powerlight provides the core of the building’s efficiency and environmental attributes. The project has received a Gold Level certification from the US Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building rating system. The complex, the largest ever to receive a LEED gold rating, has 624,000 square feet of office space and will initially house about 2000 Toyota associates (SolarAccess.com 23/04/03).

Markets

The Tennessee Valley Authority, the US’s largest public utility, is offering to pay homeowners and small businesses for their wind or solar-generated electricity. This new feature will pay homeowners and businesses for the power they generate and credit them for consuming less. TVA will pay $500 to offset the cost of the extra meter and 15 cents for every kilowatt hour generated by wind or solar. That’s more than double the 6 cents a kilowatt hour residential customers pay for TVA power. (KnoxNews.com, 23/04/03)

In the Philippines, the National Power Corp. (Napocor) has committed to prioritising the use of renewable energy resources in its effort to energise remote islands that remain without electricity under the power firms missionary electrification program. Napocor has aligned its policy to that of the Department of Energy which is to prioritize the use of New and Renewable Energy resources (NREs) to achieve the countrys total electrification and reduce the countrys dependence on imported fuel, said the Napocor corporat
e communications manager. (The Manila Times via Solarbuzz.com, 28/04/03)

Policy and Incentives

In Germany, the Bundestag has passed a resolution calling on the federal government to create an International Renewable Energy Agency as an international governmental organisation, with a goal of promoting renewables on a global scale. Once a plan of action for IRENA has been developed, the government will appoint a commission of international members to assess the prospects of success, and to allocate funds in the 2004 national budget. (Refocus Weekly, 23/04/03)

Industry Reports and Events

A report, PV for rural electrification in developing countries released by IEAs PV Power Systems Programme, has identified capacity building measures that should be undertaken as an integral component of rural electrification implementation programs based on PV. Unfortunately, the project-by-project nature of many agencies mean that local skills and capacity are not developed in a strategic manner so that after a project has been completed, the skills gained tend to dissipate, meaning the process has to start again when the next project is initiated explains the report. The 28-page report provides guidance to project developers, particularly donor agencies and financing organisations, to promote the development of skilled personnel at all levels in PV programs. (Refocus Weekly, 23/04/03)

A solar powered LED marine lighting unit from Sealite has won the prestigious DesignMark award at the Australian Design Awards, which are a national event drawing products from leading Australian companies in fields such as engineering, software development and industrial design. The Sealite SL70 was recognized for the elements of electronic, optical and polymer engineering. (SolarAccess.com, 25/04/03)

Elsewhere in Solar

Roland Winston, Ph.D., a distinguished physicist and one of the US’s leading solar power experts, has been appointed professor at the University of California Merced. Winston will bring Renewable Energy alternatives to the research department at UC Merced, the newest campus of the University of California system, and first major research university to be built in the 21st century. (SolarAccess.com, 23/04/03)

Corporate News

SunWize Technologies and Global Solar Energy have reached an exclusive agreement to sell flexible folding photovoltaic modules to the United States government. The agreement also gives SunWize the non-exclusive right to sell products built from Global Solar’s technology in other domestic markets. (25/04/03)

Kyocera Solar, Inc. will be the exclusive provider of PV panels to the “Fiesta Solar Community Caf,” located in the old Brentwood train station of Long Island, New York. The historic building, constructed in 1904, will incorporate an ultra-modern rooftop PV system from Kyocera to generate electricity from sunlight, as well as a separate solar thermal system to produce hot water. (Solarbuzz.com, 22/0403)

RWE Schott Solar has announced that the company has designed one of the US’s largest federally-owned solar power systems at the United States Pentagon as part of the Department of Defences (DOD) Pentagon Reservation Solar and Hydro Energy Farm program. The DOD formed the Pentagon Reservation Solar and Hydro Energy Farm to uncover new ways of generating power with clean, renewable energy resources. (Solarbuzz.com, 23/04/03)

Paul Benson, president and general manager of Dankoff Solar Products Inc. in Santa Fe, has been named New Mexico Small Business Person of the Year by the US Small Business Administration. Benson, whose company makes high-efficiency solar water pumps, was judged on such criteria as growth in sales and employees, financial reports, innovativeness, response to adversity and contributions to the community. (Albuquerque Tribune via Solarbuzz.com, 23/04/03)

Spire Corporation has shipped a turnkey photovoltaic module production line to Huangshan Ho Tin Solar Technology Development Ltd., a new company located in Huangshan City, China. The company is a joint venture between Ho Tin Industries Ltd., of Macau, and Huangshan Chaoyang New Energy Resources Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd. of Huangshan City. (28/04/03)

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