Prediction Time
December 24, 2009
Now is the time to look forward to the new year in terms of the tone for clean tech and sustainability. Check this article for some predictions: link. Much of Rob Day’s focus is on investing.
Category » Incentive/Stimulus
DOE Smart Grid Demonstrations
December 2, 2009
Check this post for some detail on energy storage demonstrations that were recently funded: link
Funding for Homeowners to go Solar: AB811
California bill AB811 was passed a year ago. It allows cities and counties to make low interest loans to homeowners for the purpose of installing permanently attached energy efficiency and solar electric systems.
What makes the idea different is that homeowners would pay the loans back though assessments on property tax bills. The liens transfer to any subsequent owner if the property is transferred.
It should be easier for cities to raise bond money to finance these programs because the loans are secured by liens. With property values lower, and more people out of work, perhaps many homeowners will get a better rate for funds if they get it through this new type of program compared to a traditional second mortgage.
Now cities need to step up to the plate and implement the program for their residents.
A company called Renewable Funding is promoting this financing arrangement. Check their link below to learn more.
PV Prices Are Down Again
July 20, 2009
In late April I made a post about tracking solar PV price trends. Prices have continued to erode. The module index price reported on US Solarbuzz is now at $4.56/Watt. They report:
“The reductions in recent months are a function of a major structure shift in demand, most notably a less attractive PV policy in force in Spain than prevailed last year. This severely cut demand in the country and, in turn, caused reverberations around the world, as PV companies seek to re-balance their supply/demand positions.”
More specifically, Spain set a 500 MW cap on their solar subsidy program. See this link for more detail. Interesting that a European feed-in tariff can result is solar prices going down.
And here is their latest chart:
- – From Solarbuzz –
“The Local Feed-in Tariff Solution”
May 7, 2009
Here is an excellent post regarding Feed-in Tarrifs:
http://www.localcleanenergy.org/node/150
The author gives a little background and effectiveness of FITs, and then proceeds to discuss the best pending California Bill for FITs as well as something called Community Choice Aggregation, which is giving local governments the authority to establish a FIT.
“Automotive Task Force Consultants Are Plug-In Skeptics”
April 15, 2009
A long but interesting post from CalCars about the Automotive Task Force’s position on the Chevy Volt, and Plug-in electrics in general, starts out:
“At a moment when the future of two of the Detroit Three hangs in the balance, the new administration’s Automotive Task Force (ATF) is relying in large part on the expertise and strategic outlook of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for its evaluation of GM’s and Chrysler’s prospects. Whatever BCG’s expertise on the auto industry in general, we are concerned …”
Read the entire post here: http://www.calcars.org/calcars-news/1055.html
Follow the (Recovery) Money
April 9, 2009
In the case you are interested to know detail about what initiatives the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) stimulus package (recovery bill) may fund in California related to the Smart Grid, there is public information available on this topic. The reason this is important for cleantech/greentech is that the ARRA appropriated $4.5 billion for the Smart Grid country wide which will reduce energy consumption and enable the transition to renewables. The reason it is important to Californians is that we need to compete with other states to get our piece of the pie, not only to shift our energy paradigm, but also for jobs.
Relevant information may be found here. There are links to presentations by the three Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) given at a workshop on March 27. I attended the workshop and am glad to see that the information has now been posted. The IOUs provide information about the projects that they want funded, often listing the dollar amount, the expected jobs created, and even the vendors involved. Projects are in the following categories: Smart Grid testing, Smart Grid demonstrations, synchrophasors, grid energy storage, auto-derivative battery storage, security, microgrid, smart-thermostats, PHEV truck fleet, demand response, and EV studies.