| The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week the availability of $14.3 million in grants for value-added agriculture business ventures. In keeping with a trend started in 2003, the USDA is giving priority consideration to grant applications that dedicate at least 51 percent of the project costs to biomass energy. To date, the USDA has provided more than $100 million in value-added grants, including grants to more than 80 energy projects that related to producing biomass energy, generating wind power, or producing biodiesel or ethanol fuel. Grant applications are due by May 6th. See the USDA press release. The Value-Added Producer Grant program was authorized by the Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000 and the 2002 Farm Bill. Grants are available to independent producers, agricultural producer groups, farmer or rancher cooperatives, and producer-based business ventures. The grants are available for the planning activities needed to establish a viable marketing opportunity for an agricultural product (such as a biobased fuel or co-product) or to acquire working capital to operate a business venture (such as a biomass energy facility) that will allow producers to better compete in domestic and international markets. See the USDA's Value-Added Producer Grants Web page. Leaders from the solar power industry launched a new group, "Americans for Solar Power - PV Manufacturers Alliance," at last week's Power-Gen Renewable Energy Conference. The new alliance aims to establish thriving, sustainable mainstream markets for cost-effective distributed solar power, through policy and regulatory initiatives that lead to robust market growth. The alliance, based in Arizona, is dedicated to helping the United States achieve an annual 1-gigawatt market for distributed solar power by 2010. See the press release on the Americans for Solar Power Web site. A study released by the Energy Foundation last week finds a price breakthrough would be one route to huge growth in U.S. solar power markets. The study, prepared by Navigant Consulting, Inc., concludes that a price of $2 to $2.50 per installed watt for grid-connected solar photovoltaic rooftops could yield a U.S. market of 2.9 gigawatts per year by 2010, nearly three times the alliance's goal. See the Energy Foundation press release (PDF 135 KB) or go directly to the full report (PDF 2.0 MB). Download Acrobat Reader. A less encouraging report from the Business Communications Company, Inc. (BCC) predicts that the worldwide market for photovoltaic devices will grow from 973.1 megawatts in 2004 to 1,778 megawatts (or about 1.8 gigawatts) in 2009. If foreign markets continue to be larger than U.S. markets, that would make it difficult to create a 1-gigawatt U.S. market by 2010. In a related report from DOE's Energy Information Administration (EIA), a comparison of renewable energy policies in the United States and four other countries concludes that many U.S. policies are enacted at the state level and may not be synchronized with federal policies, which themselves are subject to periodic reauthorization or appropriations legislation. In contrast, policies to promote renewable energy in Germany, Denmark, and Japan have tended to be coordinated and consistent, thereby helping to build significant renewable energy markets in those countries. See the BCC press release and the EIA report. PowerLight Corporation announced last week that it will build a 3.1-megawatt solar power project at four sites in and around Las Vegas, Nevada. The project includes four solar power systems at the Las Vegas Water District's Las Vegas Springs Preserve, as well as three additional systems at reservoirs owned by the Water District. The Water District's board of directors approved the project in October 2004, and the Nevada Public Utilities Commission added its approval in late February. The solar arrays at the Springs Preserve will also provide shaded parking for up to 200 cars. See the PowerLight press release.  |  A person is dwarfed by the solar modules at one of the Bavarian solar power sites.
Credit: K&S Consulting Group | PowerLight recently had the honor of building the world's largest solar photovoltaic power system, a 10-megawatt installation in Bavaria, Germany. Like the Las Vegas project, the Bavarian project is spread over three sites, with the largest single installation providing 6.3 megawatts of solar power capacity. That project was supported by a $5-million working capital line of credit guaranteed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States. See the January 3rd and February 4th press releases from PowerLight. In other solar power news, WorldWater & Power Corporation announced last week that it is planning its second installation of a solar power system to power a 200-horsepower irrigation pump. WorldWater will install the system at the Cocopah Nurseries tree farm in Thermal, California. GE Energy also announced last week that it has supplied 256 solar modules for 16 roof-mounted solar power systems in a residential development in Cornwall, New York. Each system has a capacity of 2.64 kilowatts, for a total capacity of 42.24 kilowatts. See the press releases from WorldWater and GE Energy. The latest wave of research in solar photovoltaic cells aims to boost their efficiency while incorporating them into flexible plastics, lightweight foils, and even textiles. Konarka Technologies, Inc. announced in mid-February that it will work with a leading Swiss university to develop photovoltaic fabrics that will allow tents, shirts, hats—you name it—to generate power. Konarka is already known for its flexible plastic solar material (the company calls it "light-activated power plastic") and was recently awarded a $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to improve its performance. See the February 16th and March 2nd press releases from Konarka. While Konarka's power plastic is intended for down-to-earth uses, DayStar Technologies, Inc. is producing a high-efficiency flexible solar material better suited for high-altitude aircraft or space vehicles. DayStar's new "LightFoil" consists of a high-efficiency copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film solar cell deposited onto a thin, lightweight titanium foil. With the ability to convert 15.2 percent of the sunlight that hits it into electricity, the LightFoil has produced 1,440 Watts of power per kilogram of material in laboratory tests. According to DayStar, that's a record production of solar power per weight, about 50 percent better than today's thin-film devices. The material is also flexible and can be cut to shape, making it ideal for covering surfaces of aircraft or space vehicles. DayStar is currently developing a manufacturing process for the material, with a commercial goal of producing at least 1,000 Watts per kilogram of material. The company expects to have engineering samples available by early this summer. See the DayStar Technologies press release. When Steve Fossett completed his record-breaking solo flight around the world last week, a significant aspect of his achievement was the high fuel efficiency of his aircraft, the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. Starting with a highly aerodynamic design, the aircraft structure was built entirely out of graphite and epoxy, including stiff carbon fibers in the wings. Even the seat was made of carbon fiber, keeping the vehicle's weight at only 3,350 pounds when empty. At takeoff, however, the aircraft weighed 22,006 pounds, with fuel contributing to 83 percent of its weight. See the aircraft description on the GlobalFlyer Web site. While Fossett is the first person to fly non-stop around the world using fuel, a European team of adventurers still hope to fly around the world using only solar power. Although no news has come from the Solar Impulse team recently, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced last year that it was helping to design the craft. As currently envisioned, the craft will have a wingspan of about 76 yards that will be covered with solar cells, with two tail-mounted propellers. Initial test flights are expected to start in 2006, but the team doesn't plan to make its around-the-world attempt until 2009. See the Solar Impulse Web site and the ESA press release. It's a far cry from the Super Bowl, but the first-ever competition to create energy-efficient power supplies—called "Efficiency Challenge 2004"—drew entries from companies and universities around the world. The Grand Champion award winner in the "market-ready" category, announced on Monday, was a power supply for a home phone designed by Power Integrations, Inc. The power supply operates at an average efficiency of 69 percent, compared to operating efficiencies of at most 55 percent in conventional models. The Grand Champion in the "open" category is a stand-alone AA battery charger designed by Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The battery charger operates at 74 percent average efficiency and draws only 0.16 Watts of power when not in use. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the California Energy Commission jointly sponsored the Efficiency Challenge 2004. See the Power Integrations press release and the full details on the competition, including a press release (PDF 68 KB) and fact sheet about the winners (PDF 46 KB), on the Efficient Power Supplies Web site. Download Acrobat Reader. While the Efficiency Challenge covers a wide variety of power supplies, electric utilities and energy efficiency programs in eight states are focusing their efforts on computer power supplies. The "80 Plus Program" offers financial incentives for desktop computer power supplies that are at least 80 percent efficient across a wide range of loads. In mid-February, the program announced its first successful entry: a power supply from Sea Sonic Electronics Co., Ltd. See the Sea Sonic press release and the 80 Plus Web site. |
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