Jack Kurtz/The Arizona RepublicSolar collectors at the Stirling Energy Systems facility. The Stirling Energy Systems plant in Peoria will generate enough power to light up between 425 – 480 homes.
More on this topic at http://www.azcentral.com/business/articles/2010/01/22/20100122biz-stirlingsolar0123.html
The Maricopa Solar power plant could benefit Stirling, because if it runs well and proves the technology works efficiently, more utilities are likely to invest in the technology, likely creating more jobs in Arizona.
Until the plant came online in late December, the only operating SunCatcher dishes were used for research at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico. That was problematic because many utilities want to see a demonstration project before building a power plant, and some, such as Arizona Public Service Co., require it.
Already, Stirling has taken utility officials from the Middle East, Spain, and elsewhere on tours of the Maricopa Solar plant in Peoria.
“Having the first megawatt and a half online is hugely important for us,” said Bob Lukefahr, CEO of Tessera Solar, Stirling’s sister company that builds and runs power plants.
“It allows us to demonstrate a plant at commercial scale, and to integrate power to the grid.”
Besides plants under way in the U.S., the companies are working on international projects from an office in London. Any prospective customers are likely to visit the Peoria plant before signing a deal.
Stirling has already attracted international attention for its promising technology. In 2008, the Irish alternative-energy company NTR plc paid $100 million for a controlling interest in Stirling.
Building the Maricopa Solar plant also demonstrates a complete supply chain for SunCatchers, which is important if Stirling and Tessera are going to reach their goal of assembling tens of thousands of the 40-foot-tall dishes across the nation’s deserts.
About 90 percent of the components for the dishes come from North America, and many of them from existing factories making automotive components, Lukefahr said.
That domestic supply chain not only promises to create American jobs as Tessera builds bigger power plants, but also means the company is not subject to fluctuating supplies of semiconductor material such as more common photovoltaic solar panels, he said.
Stirling and Tessera have contracts for two massive plants in California and a small plant in Texas that the company plans to break ground on this year. The first California plants would use more than 60,000 SunCatchers, with the Texas project using about 1,000, he said.
The big projects could create as many as 4,000 jobs making SunCatcher components and at the construction sites, according to Tessera.
Tessera can build its plants for about $2.8 million per megawatt of capacity, which makes the combined value of the California projects about $5 billion.
Tessera sells all the power from the small, 1.5-megawatt Maricopa Solar plant to Salt River Project, and in direct sunlight, it can supply enough electricity to run appliances in about 375 homes at once.
The plant will help SRP meet a small portion of its goal to use more renewable power, but the project is much more about demonstrating and learning about the technology than meeting energy demand.
SunCatchers, which look like big satellite dishes, use mirrors to concentrate heat on small engines. The sunlight heats hydrogen gas to push pistons and generate electricity in the engines, which have no emissions.
Unlike other concentrating-solar or solar-thermal plants, SunCatchers don’t make steam to run turbines or use water to cool the system, and the amount of water needed to keep the mirrors shiny is much less than is required by traditional power plants.
“That’s one of the promising things about this technology,” said Lori Singleton, SRP’s sustainable-initiatives manager.
SRP is leasing land to Tessera next to the natural-gas-fired Agua Fria Generating Station, and has a 10-year contract to buy the electricity. A farmer previously leased the land, using more water than the plant will, she said.
Singleton would not disclose what SRP will pay for the electricity, but said the utility will pay a premium for the environmental benefits of the power, and that the price is competitive with other sustainable-energy sources such as wind and geothermal power.
“SRP will have firsthand knowledge of how the dishes perform and the potential for future development,” Singleton said.
The biggest potential for SunCatchers is in places such as California, where the demand for electricity peaks midday, when the sun is brightest, Lukefahr said.
In Arizona, the summer peak demand for electricity occurs later in the day, between 5 and 6 p.m., when the sun is low in the sky and most solar technologies are not producing at their peak capacity.
Arizona will benefit if Stirling succeeds, even if it doesn’t build more plants here.
In addition to adding about 75 employees to Stirling and Tessera’s Arizona operations since the investment from NTR in 2008, Michigan-based Tower Automotive recently said it will build a $50 million factory in Arizona to make some of the components for SunCatchers, employing 200 people by the end of this year.
Maricopa Solar, Peoria: 60 dishes, 1.5 megawatts, selling power to Salt River Project, completed in December.
Solar One, San Bernardino County, California: planned for 34,000 dishes, 850 megawatts, deal to sell power to Southern California Edison.
Solar Two, Imperial County, California: planned for 30,000 dishes, 750 megawatts, agreement to sell power to San Diego Gas and Electric.
Western Ranch Solar, Western Texas: planned for 1,080 dishes, 27 megawatts, agreement to sell power to CPS Energy.
SunCatcher dishes
• 40 feet tall.
• 25 kilowatts maximum output (enough for about six or seven homes at once).
• Seven to eight dishes per acre.
Every morning, 60 large, mirrored dishes in Peoria “wake up,” turn to the sun and use the concentrated heat to send electricity to the grid.
The small power plant uses unique, waterless, SunCatcher solar technology developed by Scottsdale-based Stirling Energy Systems Inc., giving a glimpse of much larger plants the company plans to start building this year in California and Texas.
First Solars Field of panels will stretch for 25 miles
by Ryan Randazzo – Sept. 9, 2009 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic
Tempe-based First Solar Inc announced a plan Tuesday to build the world’s largest solar power plant in China, opening the door for the manufacturer to serve one of the world’s most rapidly developing economies.
The plan not only represents a milestone for alternative energy but a validation of the company’s efficiency and low production costs. First Solar faces at least five major solar-panel manufacturing competitors in China.
First Solar signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government Tuesday to build a 2,000-megawatt plant in Ordos City, Inner Mongolia.
When finished in 2019, the field of black panels will measure 25 square miles. If built in a square, the field would stretch from Camelback Road to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and from 32nd Street to Scottsdale Road.
The biggest solar-power plants using black panels such as First Solar’s are in Spain, Portugal and Germany, ranging in size from 40 megawatts to 60 megawatts of capacity in direct sunlight.
The plant will have a higher capacity to generate electricity than a single nuclear reactor or coal-burning power unit, although unlike those plants, it won’t operate around the clock. Solar panels
can’t make electricity after dark.
In direct sunlight, the plant would be able to power 500,000 homes at once in Arizona.
The plant would cost $6 billion if built in the United States, according to First Solar, but could be less expensive in China because the company could build a new manufacturing facility in China to supply the project.
It’s unclear what the company’s profit will be from the project because, as with all solar power, the project depends on subsidies.
China is expected to enact a “feed-in tariff” that guarantees an above-market rate for power from the plant. The company’s profit will depend on how high that tariff is set.
“This major commitment to solar power is a direct result of the progressive energy policies being adopted in China to create a sustainable, long-term market for solar and a low-carbon future for China,” said First Solar CEO Mike Ahearn, who recently announced he would step aside to be replaced by Honeywell Aerospace President Rob Gillette.
First Solar has plants in Ohio, Germany and Malaysia where it costs the company an average of 87 cents per watt of capacity to make panels. That means a 75-watt solar panel costs the company $61.50, less than any other company in the world.
Ahearn and other First Solar executives showed off their technology while giving a delegation of Chinese officials a tour of their Tempe headquarters during the holiday weekend.
“We are very pleased to be partnering with one of the solar industry’s global technology leaders in a project of such significance,” said Cao Zhichen, vice mayor of the Ordos Municipal Government. “Discussions with First Solar about building a factory in China demonstrate to investors in China that they can confidently invest in the most advanced technologies available.”
At least one analyst noted on Tuesday that First Solar’s industry-leading prices might be slipping, but said that breaking into the Chinese market was significant.
“This year First Solar is on parity with other . . . companies,” Credit Suisse analyst Satya Kumar wrote in a research note. “That said, the positive is that First Solar is now tied to China demand.”
First Solar shares closed up $12.94, or 10.7 percent, to $134.41 Tuesday.
The news sent stock prices higher for publicly traded Chinese competitors including Suntech Power, Yingli Green Energy, Trina Solar, LDK Solar Co. and JA Solar.
The First Solar announcement was part of an estimated $12.4 billion in contracts that the Chinese delegation acted upon during a U.S.-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Forum Tuesday including Gov. Jan Brewer and officials from Colorado, Idaho, Kansas and Nevada. Forty-one contracts were signed by business partners during the event, according to the Arizona Department of Commerce.
Power-plant size comparisons
First Solar Inc. plant (planned in China): 2,000-megawatt* capacity on 25 square miles.
Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station (near Tonopah):
3,900 megawatts from three reactors.
Santan Generating Station (Gilbert): 1,225 megawatts from six natural-gas fired generators.
Solana Generating Station (planned in Gila Bend): 280 megawatts on 3 square miles.
* One megawatt of capacity is enough electricity to power about 250 homes in Arizona at once.
Read the Entire Article here:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2009/09/09/20090909biz-firstsolar0909.html
7 Trends That Will Dominate the Intersolar Show
By Katie Fehrenbacher - Earth2Tech
The Intersolar conference, being held in downtown San Francisco this week and which will see over 15,000 solar execs meeting, mingling and doing business across 120,000 square feet of space, comes at a unique point in the development of the U.S. solar market: one of major hurdles and massive opportunities. It’s only the conference’s second year — it’s the North American version of the massive German solar show, which delivers major news from the solar industry every year — and was launched last year to take advantage of the emergent nature and importance of the U.S. solar market.
Here’s the issue: The U.S. solar market (both as a supplier and as a consumer) has the potential to be one of the largest in the world, and has a wealth of startups, many born out of the labs of U.S. universities and pumped full of venture capital dollars, that are trying to scale new technologies to bring down the price of solar to grid parity (so it’s equal to the cost of fossil fuels). But until more recently, the U.S. solar industry hasn’t had the types of incentives that have encouraged other international solar markets to grow (Germany, Spain). But with the passage of the stimulus package, the extension of the clean energy tax credits, and the climate bill that’s winding its way through the Senate, the U.S. is starting to offer important government support. At the same time, the U.S. industry has to face the international economic slump that has delivered less demand for solar projects, in addition to dropping silicon prices (the key ingredient in solar panels), and, of course, international competition. It’s a difficult landscape to navigate, but here are seven trends to look for:
1. How to Maneuver U.S. Federal Policy: On the top of everyone’s discussion list is how to tap into the new funds and opportunities from the U.S. federal government. First, as part of last year’s bailout, the renewable energy tax credits (which provide a 30 percent tax credit for investing in clean power projects) were extended significantly, and allocated $18 billion, including an eight-year extension for the tax credits for solar. At the time that the extensions passed, Roger Efird, Solar Energy Industries Association chairman, said that the incentives would deliver “policy certainty that will attract investment, expand manufacturing, and lower the cost of solar energy to consumers.”
Then there’s the stimulus package, which President Obama signed into law at the solar-powered Denver Museum of Nature & Science back in February. It allocates around $43 billion in various funding forms to clean energy and energy efficiency. That includes billions in clean energy grants for solar projects — the guidelines for which are just starting to be detailed — as well as funds for renewable energy manufacturing tax credits, and building out transmission lines, which will make way for plugging in more solar projects.
Finally, there’s the the climate bill, which won’t be looked at in the Senate until September, but if passed would create two important federal policies for solar. It would create a cap and trade system that would deliver a decidedly friendlier solar climate, using market mechanisms to level the cost of clean power generation. In addition, the House-passed climate bill includes a national renewable portfolio standard, which says utilities must deliver a certain percentage of their electricity from clean power by a certain year. How the solar industry will access recently released funds and how it will help get the climate bill passed, will be a big topic at the show.
2. Oversupply Up; Silicon Prices Down: There can be a big problem with subsidies, however, if when combined with a poor economy, they help create a market with more supply than there is demand. Researchers say that solar module capacity will reach 10.4 GW this year, outpacing demand nearly twofold, and the overall solar market will shrink to $29 billion and 5.3 GW, down from $36 billion and 5.5 GW in 2008. In addition, some reports suggest that the price for silicon, the key ingredient in solar panels, will drop this year, which on one hand is good for the industry as a whole to make it more competitive with fossil fuel power, but means solar panel makers have to sell their products for less.
All of this creates a difficult market for solar companies. Expect a lot of the talk at the show to be centered around how to overcome tough margins for solar manufacturers (cut production costs) and how to deal with potential consolidation in the industry. Already this year, we’ve seen renewable energy project financier Recurrent Energy buy up the solar project assets of Chicago-based UPC Solar; Spanish solar power developer Fotowatio is looking to purchase some of the assets of San Francisco’s MMA Renewable Ventures; and rooftop solar installer Borrego Solar Systems is selling off its residential solar power installation business to groSolar.
3. Will China Achieve its Solar Potential Soon?: China is the awakening giant for many industries, and as the world’s largest solar panel producer for the last two years, the country already is a major solar player. But now, some industry experts say, it’s expanding from being mainly a solar panel supplier to also becoming a substantial customer. That’s thanks to aggressive government policies like a subsidy for building-mounted photovoltaic systems which could pay up to 20 Chinese yuan (about $2.93) per watt for systems larger than 50 kilowatts, and one of the most aggressive renewable portfolio standards in the world. The country’s emergence as a solar consumer will effect the international solar industry, creating a massive market for solar products, as well as help China, which is soon expected to overtake the U.S. as the largest energy consumer in the world, find a cleaner solution for energy growth.
4. Next-Gen Thin Film Makers Still Ramping Up: While all eyes are on how U.S. thin film solar leader First Solar will fare under the current difficult market conditions, many are also closely watching how companies using next-generation thin film solar technologies are doing after many have been trying to move into or scale up production for the last year. Unusually quiet Nanosolar says it will have some news out in September (we’re hoping its production metrics), HelioVolt has yet again delayed commercial scale production, and SoloPower recently lost its CEO and won’t start high volume production until next year. A few panels at the show will be focused on thin film technologies, and we’ll be looking for some good — as well as more negative — news coming from the industries players.
5. Chip Companies Making Solar Friends: Will the chip companies have a strong showing at the show? No doubt Applied Materials will have a lot to say about its thin film solar production machines, but what about some of the newer entrants that are looking to tackle the emergence of the market for chips to optimize solar systems? The barrier for chip companies to enter the solar arena has recently started dropping as optimization has become a hot topic, and according to some reports, could be a $6 billion market this year.
6. Utilities Owning Solar: Northern California utility PG&E had talked about owning its own solar distribution a great deal over 2008, and this year finally got around to launching a project to make it happen. We’ll be listening to see if this is an emerging trend that many utilities at the show plan to follow.
7. Solar Thermal’s Permitting and NIMBY Woes: Massive solar thermal plants that need large areas of dedicated land — and permits and approval from state and federal regulatory bodies — have long been frustrated over the long time tables and opposition from environmentalists to building the projects. But recently, the Bureau of Land Management decided to fast track studies for 24 areas of BLM land for solar projects, which could help speed up the approval process. Solar thermal companies will be looking to discuss how to overcome hurdles in the permitting process, how to access these lands, and how to work with the BLM in a more productive way.
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