Top Solar News

Sustainable rooftop technologies--including green roofs, white roofs, and solar photovoltaic panels--can provide great environmental benefits, but studies of these technologies often look only at their use in hot climates and do not assess their full environmental consequences.

A new study that compares the technologies in the cold Canadian climate shows that photovoltaic panels demonstrate the highest environmental performance in all impact categories considered and is the preferred option from an environmental perspective.

Green roofs result in fewer beneficial environmental impacts, but are the only rooftop technology that reduces both heating and cooling energy use.

And although white roofs--which are made of light colored roofing materials--are an outstanding option in warmer climates, they have a net negative environmental impact in cold climates due to their high solar reflectance that reduces the amount of heat absorbed.

"Environmental performance of building technologies is very dependent on climate conditions. Therefore, conclusions from technology assessments elsewhere were not necessarily valid in cold climates such as Canada," said

Dr. Joule Bergerson, senior author of the Journal of Industrial Ecology study. "Our study builds on the existing knowledge of rooftop technologies and provides recommendations directly relevant for our context."

Trina Solar Limited has supplied 6.9 MW of Trinasmart PV modules to Anesco's utility-scale/ground-mounted solar farm in the UK that was commissioned in March 2015.

The installation incorporates patented Trinasmart technology, a complete solution that includes power optimisation to increase system performance by up to 20 per cent together with monitoring built into the module junction box.

Trinasmart allows monitoring and controlling of the PV array at the module level rather than at inverter level compared to traditional modules.

It can also be monitored and controlled in real time with a smart mobile device or PC. Furthermore, in cases of emergencies such as electrical failure and fire emergency, the modules can be totally deactivated with a single click to eliminate high voltages and secure the safety of the firefighters.

Trinasmart is fully covered by Trina Solar's 10-year product warranty and 25-year linear performance warranty.

"Once again Anesco is leading the way in technological advances. This installation - on this scale - is an important milestone and underlines our commitment to pushing the boundaries of solar energy production," said by Adrian Pike, CEO of Anesco. "Our collaboration with Trina Solar demonstrates what can be achieved when likeminded organisations on a global scale work collaboratively to solve problems and create real opportunities within the electricity market."

"Trina Solar has built its business on providing high-quality innovative products and value-added services such as Trinasmart to the market, and on maintaining a position as a prudent and reliable partner," said by Ben Hill, president for Europe and Africa at Trina Solar.

"As the market leader in the UK, it is hugely satisfying to be working alongside an organisation with the reputation of Anesco to deliver the largest optimised solar farm in Europe. It is this kind of innovation which keeps both our organisations ahead of the game which is vital in the fast changing solar PV sector."

Solar Power Network Japan K.K. (SPN), a distributed power generation company based in Tokyo and headquartered in Canada, is pleased to announce that the completion of its first site in Japan, 1.2 MW rooftop solar power system atop Fuji West terminal treatment plant in Fuji city in Shizuoka prefecture. The project was designed and developed by SPN and constructed by Kokusai Land and Development.

The project was won by the joint venture created by SPN and KLD for the solar power system atop a terminal treatment plant in Fuji City. The output of the system is approximately 1.2 MW, sufficient to power 310 typical Japanese households, which makes it the largest rooftop solar plant in Shizuoka prefecture. The system will be grid connected with contracts under Japan's Feed-In Tariff system and all the electricity they generate will be sold under this scheme to TEPCO.

The PV system is to make good use of the unused rooftop of a sewage plant by producing the renewable energy. The Fuji West center is listed as a Tsunami shelter and as such the PV system will provide emergency power for the refugees.

The SPN and KLD joint venture is developing another rooftop solar system on top of Fuji East terminal treatment plant in Fuji city. The total output of the two solar power systems will be about approximately 2.3MW (DC), sufficient to power about 600 typical Japanese households. Both solar systems are equipped with production monitoring system to promote environmental education in the local area.

"SPN is happy to be able to support Fuji City with its vision of utilizing these assets to provide clean, renewable energy to the community. This concept is a cornerstone of our own vision and as such it is with great pride that we announce the connection of this our first power facility in Japan." said Mr. Peter Goodman, CEO and President of Solar Power Network.

Using quantum chemical calculations, they were successful in interpreting the data and obtaining a detailed picture of the intermediates and reaction kinetics. The work, which has now been published in Nature, could prove helpful in developing novel catalysts for chemical storage of solar energy.

All plants do it: they store solar energy in the form of carbohydrates with the help of a metallic compound. Chemically storing sunlight would also be ideal for society's energy needs. To develop this, however, we would need to better understand exactly what happens when photons strike molecules. The primary processes run on timescales of only a few hundred femtoseconds (one femtosecond = 10-15s).

Now an international collaboration has been able to map the evolution of the chemical bonds in these kinds of ultrafast processes on the level of orbitals "We were able to determine how incident optical photons rearrange the valence electrons of a metallic carbonyl compound.

The results could help to utilise these processes in the future for more efficient conversion of sunlight into chemical energy," explains Dr. Philippe Wernet, first author of the article that has now been published in Nature.

Ballet of the valence electrons in iron pentacarbonyl
The team carried out their measurements on iron pentacarbonyl (Fe(CO)5), a metal complex in which an iron atom is surrounded by five carbon monoxide groups. This yellow liquid is used as a primary material for synthesizing organometallic compounds and may also function as a catalyst. Fe(CO)5 has 18 valence electrons and is therefore inert like a noble gas, but can be activated by light.

Photons cleave off a carbon monoxide so that the remaining Fe(CO)4 molecule only has 16 valence electrons making it a so called 16-electron catalyst. Such homogeneous catalysts can be potentially used in converting methane to methanol, for example.

Fe(CO)4 is highly reactive, however, only as long as it is in the singlet state. If the molecule is instead in the triplet state, it remains inert and does not form further compounds according to the laws of quantum chemistry. The study demonstrates how atom-specific probing of the frontier-orbital interactions uniquely enables correlating quantum-chemical properties of the system with its reactivity.

One year of setup, sixty hours of measurements, four years of evaluation
Twenty-one researchers from eleven research institutions participated in the research project - many of them within the Helmholtz Virtual Institute "Dynamic Pathways in Multidimensional Landscapes". Alexander Fohlisch provided the unique expertise in time resolved resonant inelastic X-ray scattering with his 2009 established institute at HZB and Potsdam University.

The experiment was set up by the PhD student Kristjan Kunnus with Philippe Wernet and the team at HZB and in collaboration with Simone Techert and her group, then at the Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry in Gottingen, now DESY and Goettingen Research Campus, who also brought in the chemistry expertise and liquid jet technology.

After characterization at BESSY II all was shipped for 60 hours measurement to the x-ray free-electron laser LCLS of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in the USA. It involves what is known as a pump-probe scheme in which a very short laser pulse in the optical region excites the valence electrons of the molecule (pump), while soft X-ray pulses arrive a well-defined time delay in the femtosecond range later and probe the system for information.

Michael Odelius' team and his PhD student Ida Josefsson at the University of Stockholm modelled the compound and its excited states using quantum calculations over the following years. Only after these calculations were made could the data be interpreted to such a level of detail that the experimental observables could be unambiguously correlated with chemical interactions in the system.

"We had created basically four-dimensional data records with new coordinates of the incident energy, transferred energy as well as the intensity for various time delay between pump and probe pulses of every hundred femtoseconds", explains Kristjan Kunnus.

Prospects:
The results also show the extent to which the spin states of the electrons determine whether the molecules transition to reactive states or not after being excited by the sunlight. This is essential because actually both possible spin states, in the present case, were found to be represented due to the ultrafast transitions between singlet and triplet states.

The measurements are a first step toward development of multidimensional X-ray spectroscopy in order to measure chemical dynamics on pulsed X-ray sources like Free Electron Lasers or BESSY-VSR. "Now that we understand the reaction kinetics, we can control them or design a system to favour desired reactions, for example, in order to chemically store solar energy", according to Wernet.

Global investments in renewable energy rebounded strongly last year, registering a solid 17% increase after two years of declines and brushing aside the challenge from sharply lower crude oil prices.

Major expansion of solar installations in China and Japan and record investments in offshore wind projects in Europe helped propel global 2014 investments to $270 billion, a 17% surge from the 2013 figure of $232 billion.

It was the first annual increase in dollars invested in and committed to renewables (excluding large hydro-electric projects) in three years, a total just 3% below the all-time record of $279 billion set in 2011. The falls in the investment figures for 2012 (to $256 billion) and 2013 (to $232 billion) were attributed in part to lower prices for renewable energy technologies due to economies of scale.

The 103Gw of generating capacity added around the world made 2014 the best year ever for newly installed capacity, according to the UNEP's 9th annual "Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investments" report, prepared by the Frankfurt School-UNEP Collaborating Centre, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

A continuing sharp decline in technology costs -particularly in solar but also in wind -means that every dollar invested in renewable energy bought significantly more generating capacity in 2014. The 103GW of capacity added by new renewable energy sources last year compares to 86GW in 2013, 89GW in 2012 and 81GW in 2011.

The 103GW of capacity added by renewables last year equals the energy generating capacity of all 158 nuclear power plant reactors in the USA.

Wind, solar, biomass and waste-to-power, geothermal, small hydro and marine power contributed an estimated 9.1% of world electricity generation in 2014, up from 8.5% in 2013. This meant that last year the world electricity system emitted 1.3 gigatonnes of CO2 -roughly twice the emissions of the world's airline industry -less than it would have if that 9.1% had been produced by the same fossil-dominated mix generating the other 90.9% of world power.

"Once again in 2014, renewables made up nearly half of the net power capacity added worldwide"says Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNEP.

"These climate-friendly energy technologies are now an indispensable component of the global energy mix and their importance will only increase as markets mature, technology prices continue to fall and the need to rein in carbon emissions becomes ever more urgent."

"The growing penetration of renewable generation in the world's developing economies is one of the important and encouraging aspects of the 2014 report."

China saw by far the biggest renewable energy investments last year -a record $83.3 billion, up 39% from 2013. The US was second at $38.3 billion, up 7% on the year (though this is below its all-time high reached in 2011). Third came Japan, at $35.7 billion, 10% higher than in 2013 and its biggest total ever.

As in previous years, the market in 2014 was dominated by record investments in solar and wind, which accounted for 92% of overall investment in renewable power and fuels. Investment in solar jumped 25% to $149.6 billion, the second highest figure ever, while wind investment increased 11% to a record $99.5 billion. In 2014, some 49GW of wind capacity and 46GW of solar PV capacity were added worldwide, both records.

The dominant feature of the solar sector was unprecedented expansion in China and Asia. Between them, the two Asian giants invested $74.9 billion in solar in 2014, around half the world's total.

In China, utility-scale projects of more than 1MW made up about three-quarters of the solar investment of $40 billion, which was a 45% increase on the previous year. In Japan, on the other hand, investment was dominated by small scale projects of less than a megawatt, which accounted for 81% of a total solar investment of $34.8 billion, a 13% increase on 2013.

A boom in European offshore wind development resulted in seven $1 billion-plus projects reaching "final investment decision"stage in 2014. Among these, the $3.8 billion 600MW Gemini installation off the cost of the Netherlands was the largest non-hydro renewable energy plant to get the go-ahead anywhere in the world.

Offshore wind projects worth $18.6 billion were financed globally in 2014. This was 148% higher than the previous year and 45% higher than the next highest year, 2010. Most of this total -$16.2 billion -was in Europe with China accounting for the remaining $2.4 billion.

Other renewable energy sources did not perform so well by comparison. Biofuels fell 8% to $5.1 billion, biomass and waste-to-energy dropped 10% to $8.4 billion and small hydro was down 17% to $4.5 billion. Only geothermal bucked the trend with a 23% increase to $2.7 billion.

A salient feature of the 2014 result was the rapid expansion of renewables into new markets in developing countries, where investments jumped 36% to $131.3 billion. China with $83.3 billion, Brazil ($7.6 billion), India ($7.4 billion) and South Africa ($5.5 billion) were all in the top 10 investing countries, while more than $1 billion was invested in Indonesia, Chile, Mexico, Kenya and Turkey.

In contrast, the total renewables investment in developed economies rose only 3% to $138.9 billion. Even accounting for the booming offshore wind sector, investments in Europe hardly changed at $57.5 billion.

Despite turnaround, challenges remain

Although 2014 was a turnaround year for renewables after two years of shrinkage, multiple challenges remain in the form of policy uncertainty, structural issues in the electricity system -even in the very nature of wind and solar generation, with their dependence on breeze and sunlight.

Another challenge was, at first sight, the impact of the 50%-plus collapse in the oil price in the second half of last year. According to Udo Steffens, President of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, however, the oil price is only likely to dampen investor confidence in parts of the sector, such as solar in oil-exporting countries, and biofuels in most parts of the world.

"Oil and renewables do not directly compete for power investment dollars,"said Steffens. "Wind and solar sectors should be able to carry on flourishing, particularly if they continue to cut costs per MWh. Their long-term story is just more convincing."

Of greater concern is the erosion of investor confidence caused by increasing uncertainty surrounding government support policies for renewables.

"Europe was the first mover in clean energy, but it is still in a process of restructuring those early support mechanisms," notes Michael Liebreich, Chairman of the Advisory Board for Bloomberg New Energy Finance. "In the UK and Germany we are seeing a move away from feed-in tariffs and green certificates, towards reverse auctions and subsidy caps, aimed at capping the cost of the transition to consumers.

"Southern Europe is still almost a no-go area for investors because of retroactive policy changes, most recently those affecting solar farms in Italy. In the US there is uncertainty over the future of the Production Tax Credit for wind, but costs are now so low that the sector is more insulated than in the past. Meanwhile the rooftop solar sector is becoming unstoppable."

There are also structural challenges in the electricity system as grids and utilities in many countries struggle to cope with the increasing penetration of wind and solar in the generation mix. Coping with 25% or more variable generation is more difficult for grids and utilities than managing a 5% proportion.

Governments have often struggled to produce policy measures that keep up with the advance of renewable power and its knock-on effect on the rest of the electricity system. ing

2014 was a year of eye-catching steps forward for renewable energy with investment rallying strongly. If these positive investment trends are to continue it is increasingly clear that major electricity market reforms will be needed of the sort that Germany is now attempting with its Energiewendeenergy transition. The structural challenges needing to be overcome are not simple ones, but are of the sort that have only arisen because of the very success of renewables and their over two trillion dollars of investment mobilized since 2004.

Over $2 trillion invested in renewables since 2004
The 2014 global investment of $270 billion in renewables followed investments of $232 billion (2013), $256 billion (2012), $279 billion (2011), $237 billion (2010), $178 billion (2009), $182 billion (2008), $154 billion (2007), $112 billion (2006), $73 billion (2005) and $45 billion (2004) - an 11-year total of $2.02 trillion (unadjusted for inflation).

Other highlights:
+ Although asset finance of utility-scale renewable energy projects went up 10% to $170.7 billion, the increase for small-scale projects of less than 1MW was even bigger at 34%, to $73.5 billion. Recent sharp reductions in solar system costs are making rooftop solar a more competitive option for businesses and households looking to generate part of their own power needs. The US, Japan and China had the biggest increases in small-scale project investment.

+ Among other investment categories, equity raising by renewable energy companies on public markets jumped 43% in 2014 to $15.1 billion, helped by the recovery in sector share prices between mid-2012 and March 2014, and by the popularity with investors of US "yieldcos" and their European equivalents, quoted project funds.

+ Venture capital and private equity investment in renewable energy rallied to $2.8 billion last year, up 27% on 2013's depressed figure, but still little more than a quarter of the record established in 2008. R and D spending on renewables edged up 2% to $11.7 billion, with corporate entities accounting for $6.6 billion and governments $5.1 billion.

+ Although outside the scope of the UNEP report, large hydro-electric projects (more than 50MW) saw final investment decisions reached on an estimated 15-20GW of fresh capacity worldwide, equivalent to financial commitments of some $31 billion.

With a chorus of major industry bodies joining the renewable energy sector in calling for an end to the damaging Renewable Energy Target (RET) impasse, it is now time for political leadership to finally resolve the crisis confronting the industry, the Clean Energy Council said [today].

Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Kane Thornton said the organisation's proposal to both major parties to 'split the difference' and meet in the middle of their negotiating positions on the RET was a significant compromise from the sector in order get the industry moving again.

"This proposal was presented to the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition over a week ago, with no formal response yet received from either party," Mr Thornton said.

"This crisis in Australia's renewable energy sector will only end when the two major parties agree on a sensible outcome. Special deals with the cross bench senators or complex regulatory work around for exemptions will not provide the political bipartisanship and long-term certainty necessary to restore confidence in Australia's renewable energy sector.

"The renewable energy sector's compromise proposal of 33,500 gigawatt-hours by 2020 will preserve a multi-billion dollar investment pipeline over the next five years, creating thousands of jobs, predominantly in rural Australia. It will also generate significant business for hundreds of small businesses across Australia.

"It is now more than 13 months since this review began. It has resulted in a collapse of investment in new large-scale renewable energy such as solar and wind farms to levels almost 90 per cent lower than the year before.

"The announcement this week from one of the world's largest banks, Banco Santander, to leave Australia due to the continuing investment uncertainty, demonstrates the ongoing impact of this situation."

Mr Thornton said the Clean Energy Council proposal to resolve the RET impasse had been welcomed by a diverse set of peak business groups including the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Aluminum Council and the Energy Users Association of Australia.

"Liberal MPs Ken O'Dowd and Sarah Henderson have displayed clear leadership and spoken publicly in favour of reaching a compromise, while manufacturer Keppel Prince says it will re-employ the blue collar workers it was forced to retrench last year due to the uncertainty on the RET if a deal can be reached," he said.

"The consequences of inaction will be widespread job losses, which can be easily avoided through some much-needed political leadership. We are calling on both major political parties to work together in order to resolve this."

GE Energy Financial Services and Virginia Solar Group subsidiary Pacifico Energy have partnered for a third time to construct a solar power project in Japan. GE Energy Financial Services and Virginia Solar Group will jointly invest equity in a 96.2-megawatt (DC) photovoltaic solar plant, with GE Energy Financial Services' commitment totaling Yen 7.5 billion.

Construction of the plant is underway in Hosoe on Kyushu Island, in the prefecture of Miyazaki. A Yen 35 billion term loan facility with a 22-year tenor - led by The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. as the sole and exclusive mandated lead arranger - was provided on a non-recourse project finance basis with a syndicate of 12 Japanese financial institutions. Additional transaction details have not been disclosed.

Pacifico Energy is the project developer managing construction and operations of Hosoe, which is being built on 140 hectares of land that was originally intended for a golf course. Once complete, it will be the largest solar power plant on Kyushu Island and consist of approximately 300,000 photovoltaic modules supplied by Trina Solar.

Toyo Engineering Corporation is the construction company on the project, and Asahi Dengyo is providing operations and maintenance services. In addition to capital, GE is supplying the project with 50 units of 1.26-megawatt Brilliant solar inverters, which eliminate the need for an intermediate transformer, resulting in higher conversion efficiency and superior grid performance.

Hosoe is expected to begin commercial operations in the spring of 2018 and will sell its power to Kyushu Electric Power Company under a 20-year power purchase agreement. It is expected to generate enough clean energy to power up to 30,000 households and avoid 68,200 tons of CO2 emissions per year.

By 2020, Japan aims to have 20 percent of its energy generated from renewable power sources, a goal which is supported by the country's regulatory policies and feed-in tariff. Sushil Verma, a managing director and head of Asia Pacific at GE Energy Financial Services, notes that Hosoe is the third transaction between GE Energy Financial Services and Pacifico Energy that contributes to the country's renewable energy goals.

"We aim to continue helping Japan achieve a diversified power mix. Working with reliable and regional counterparties supports our international expansion and renewable energy investment commitments," Verma says.

GE Energy Financial Services has made equity and debt investment commitments of $1.9 billion in nearly two gigawatts of solar power projects worldwide, and plans to continue to invest over $1 billion annually in renewable energy projects. Hosoe is the fourth Japan solar project in which GE Energy Financial Services has invested since last May.

Last year, the company invested in Pacifico Energy's Kumenan and Mimasaka Musashi solar projects in May and December respectively, and in September, the GE unit helped finance Japan's largest solar project, which is being built in Setouchi City.

Kazuomi Kaneto, president of Pacifico Energy K.K. added "We are excited about partnering again with GE on Japan's third largest solar power plant, and the largest in the country which is invested 100 percent by foreign financial institutions. This investment, leveraging the extensive development experience of our team, helps Japan achieve 20 percent of its power generated from renewable sources."

Pacifico Energy has started construction on 75 megawatts (DC) of solar power projects in Japan in 2014 and is set to start construction in early 2015 on another 149 megawatts (DC). The company currently has another 300 megawatts (DC) in development.