January 27, 2012 Leave a Comment

GE and Solarcentury to get UK schools generating £68,000 from solar power

December 13, 2011 Leave a Comment

• GE Capital to finance school solar purchase and installation.
• Government’s Feed-in tariff to generate income for school’s loan repayments and more for 25 years.

GE has formed a partnership with Solarcentury, the UK’s most experienced solar energy company, to provide financial services support for its Solar4Schools programme. The programme, which has already installed solar electric systems in over 250 schools across the UK, aims to introduce solar power to hundreds of schools across the nation over the next two years.

For schools and local authorities looking to make savings and hedge against rising electricity prices, GE Capital, the financial services arm of GE, is offering an exclusive and unique financial package for schools. This initiative could enable schools to save up to £840 a year on electricity bills and generate an income of over £3,000 a year, without the full upfront cost of buying solar. The school will simply pay back the equipment cost over 15 years using income generated from the recently introduced solar feed-in tariffs. Over a 25 year period a typical secondary school could see income and savings of around £68,000.

Unlike other school solar initiatives, where a utility or equipment provider owns the system, GE’s scheme will mean schools or local authorities own their equipment once the lease is repaid, enabling local communities to benefit from the full feed-in tariff payments from year 15 to 25 of the scheme. GE will pay the cost of installing the solar technology, starting at £16,000, with either local authorities or schools typically funding a small initial deposit.

Comments Mark Elborne GE’s President and CEO:

“At GE we are very keen to showcase the breadth and depth of our technological and financial expertise. This unique scheme highlights how the financial services sector can help the UK in its aim to reduce carbon emissions, by enabling change. By linking up with Solarcentury and the Solar4Schools programme, we will be able to help schools throughout the UK recognise the positive impact of green technologies by reducing their carbon footprint, saving money on their energy costs and generating income through their energy consumption”

Derry, Newman, CEO, Solarcentury:

“We’re delighted GE is helping roll Solar4Schools out on a larger scale. It’s a great example of private sector innovation for community scale benefit. Solar electricity is a very positive investment for schools, as it introduces a long term income stream as well as cutting C02 emissions and bill costs. As local authorities face budget cuts, this is an opportunity for them to create a long term revenue stream as well as educate children on the importance of renewable energy for a sustainable future. ”

Solar4Schools encourages education in environmental issues and renewable energy, providing lesson plans and a teacher kits to schools with its solar power. Also, the amount of electricity generated and C02 savings is shown on a display in school with system data available online.

The Feed-in tariff, launched by the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change in April 2010, pays those with solar electric systems a premium on all of the electricity they generate for a guaranteed 25 years. Solarcentury’s Solar4Schools aims get schools generating income from the tariff and taking full advantage of the scheme.

Currently there are over 29,000 schools without any renewable energy source

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Another major source of solar loans: The U.S. Ex-Im Bank

December 6, 2011 Leave a Comment

By Ucilia Wang Sep. 7, 2011, 12:00am PT Comments Off

While an uproar has arisen over the loan guarantees for solar from the U.S. Department of Energy (namely the one for Solyndra), another federal agency has also been making hundreds of millions of dollars worth of loans and loan guarantees to support the U.S. solar industry. Will it have a better success rate?

From the start of this fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2010) through Sept. 1, the Export-Import Bank of the United States — which provides financing for U.S. companies to produce goods for export — has approved about $650 million in financial support for U.S.-made solar products and services, the bank said. Specifically, last Friday, the bank announced loan guarantees worth $455.7 million for First Solar’s Canadian project company First Solar Development Canada to help it build two solar farms in Canada using First Solar’s panels.

The bank has been offering both loans and loan guarantees for solar. Loan guarantees are given to companies to help them secure loans from commercial banks, and through the guarantees the Ex-Im Bank promises to pay back loans if the borrowers can’t.

Soon-to-be-bankrupt Solyndra has also benefited from the Ex-Im Bank’s help. The bank offered a $10.3 million loan guarantee to support a loan provide by the KBC Bank NV in Belgium to German solar project developer U/S/E to buy 3 MW of Solyndra panels. Solyndra has since gained notoriety for receiving a $535 million loan guarantee from the DOE, drawing down on most of that loan from the Federal Financing Bank, but then just last week planning to file for bankruptcy. Solyndra filed the bankruptcy papers on Tuesday.

The Solyndra failure raises questions about how the federal government has been supporting clean power, how much risk should the government take on, and should the government supports loan guarantee programs that pick winners and losers. The Ex-Im Bank’s support of solar will also likely come under this lens in the wake of the Solyndra controversy.

Will the Ex-Im Bank’s solar support fare better?

Like the DOE, the Ex-Im Bank’s aim is to help fill the funding gap created by banks in the private sector, which sometimes won’t loan funds to riskier clean power companies unless the loans are backed by a sure source of repayment, such as the federal government. The financial market meltdown in 2008 made it extremely difficult to secure bank loans initially, though that has climate has improved since.

Ex-Im Bank is eager to set itself apart from the DOE, which has offered loan guarantees and essentially direct loans from the Federal Financing Bank. Ex-Im Bank’s spokesman, Phil Cogan emphasized in an interview with us that the Ex-Im Bank has historically experienced a low default rate of 1-2 percent. And the bank has collected enough interests and fees from borrowers to cover defaults, he added. When the Ex-Im Bank makes loans, it borrows the money from the Treasury and pays the money back with interest (it charges the borrowers a higher interest), he said.

Arizona-based First Solar has been a big beneficiary of the bank’s heightened focus on renewable energy exports. The bank announced a $15.7 million loan to solar developer Azure Power Rajasthan Pvt. Ltd. in New Delhi in July to buy solar panels from First Solar, as well as inverters from SMA Solar Technology and cables from General Cable. Azure wanted the loan to build a 5 MW project in the state of Rajasthan.

The bank also approved an $19 million loan guarantee to support a loan issued by PNC Bank of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania to ACME Solar Technology in India. ACME was planning to build a 15MW project in the state of Gujarat in India. In addition, the Ex-Im bank approved an $84.3 million loan to a project by Reliance Power to build a 40 MW plant with First Solar’s panels in Rajasthan. On Monday, First Solar said the 40 MW is part of a 100 MW deal to sell its solar panels to Reliance.

First Solar, having been in business since 1999 and traded on the Nasdaq, is a significantly less risky loan than a loan for VC-backed startup like Solyndra. First Solar reached 1.5GW of production capacity by the end of 2010 and is set to reach $2.3 GW by the end of 2011.

But Ex-Im is supporting less established solar companies, too, and other solar companies that have benefited from the bank’s help include Colorado-based Abound Solar and Infinia. The bank announced a $9.2 million loan to Punj Lloyd Solar Power in India to buy solar panels from Abound, and offered a $30 million loan to Dalmia Solar power in India to buy 10 MW of solar electric systems from Washington-based Infinia.

Infinia is working on raising $25 million in venture capital to commercialize its Stirling engine technology, which uses mirrors to concentrate the sunlight to heat and expand helium gas in order to drive an engine for electricity production. Stirling engine-based solar projects have so far proved not be economical, and Stirling Energy Systems has struggled, as has its Irish investors NTR.

Image courtesy of First Solar

By Ucilia Wang Sep. 7, 2011, 12:00am PT Comments Off

Will the Ex-Im Bank’s solar support fare better?

Image courtesy of First Solar

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Franklin County School District Launches $1.6 Million Energy Efficiency Improvement Project

November 22, 2011 Leave a Comment

News Release

Franklin County School District Launches $1.6 Million Energy Efficiency Improvement Project

– High Performance Upgrades Will Reduce Lighting Costs by 61% –

Winchester, TN, June 30, 2010—The Franklin County Board of Education has just completed implementation of a $1,595,415 energy efficiency improvement project with their energy partner—Excel Energy Group, Inc. The project involved upgrading and controlling the antiquated lighting system in the 15 major buildings within Franklin County Schools’ purview. Through grant funding and low interest rate loans, the entire project is paid for with no capital outlay and solely with the energy and maintenance savings generated by the upgrades. Excel guarantees the project will generate more annual savings than annual expenses, meaning the district will retain more of its budget to devote to other necessary expenditures. If the savings generated do not cover the total cost of the project, Excel will refund any shortfall to the Franklin County Schools.

The total scope of the project encompassed 15 buildings and involved the updating or replacement of nearly 25,000 lighting fixtures. To fund this initiative, Franklin County Schools has been awarded $128,384 in Energy Efficient Schools Initiative (EESI) grant funding plus $139,072 in rebate incentive money from the Tennessee Valley Authority. The remaining balance of the project is being funded with a combination of 0% and low interest financing.

The improvements will generate over $213,000 in energy and demand savings per year. When coupled with the $16,871 annual maintenance savings generated, the project will account for nearly $230,000 in annual savings for the District. With annual payments totaling $209,953, the project will not only pay for itself, it will generate an additional $20,013 in savings every year. The upgrades will ultimately eliminate over 2.3 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every year. That represents a more than 60% reduction in the District’s current lighting expenses.

The District will realize the benefits of these upgrades for years to come. The upgrade will reduce overhead (saving a million dollars over five years), will improve light levels and the learning environment for students, and benefit the environment as well. These state of the art efficient fixtures burn brighter, last substantially longer, and require less money to maintain. Furthermore, the amount of greenhouse gas emissions prevented by the decrease in kilowatt-hours used will equal 3,701,217 pounds of Carbon Dioxide, 16,521 pounds of Sulfur Dioxide, and 6,079 pounds of Nitrous Oxide per year—the equivalent of 188,846 gallons of gasoline consumed every year.

Through grants, incentives, low interest financing, and energy savings guarantees, the School District will not only be able to implement all these upgrades without capital outlay, but will also enjoy a positive cash flow throughout the life of the project. By pairing cutting edge technological upgrades with creative financing options, the Franklin County School District looks to significantly improve its economic outlook and future stability while reducing its carbon footprint

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Which states have the most solar potential

November 17, 2011 Leave a Comment

Which states have the most solar potential? Here’s a roundup of the states with the best natural solar resources, the best solar incentives for homeowners, and the greatest amount of solar power already installed.

By Megan Phelps
September 16, 2009

Image GalleryA PV array in Arizona — one of the best places in the United States for generating solar power.
ISTOCKPHOTO/ THOMAS POLEN

Article Tools
Image GalleryPrintE-mailCommentsRSS Wherever there’s sunlight, you can take advantage of solar energy. However, different places have different solar resources, so the same set of photovoltaic (PV) panels will produce much more electricity in some locations than in others.

Many factors make a difference in how much electricity a PV system can produce at any one time — including constantly changing factors such as time of day, season and weather, but also geographic traits such as climate and latitude. In general, areas closer to the equator have far greater potential for producing solar electricity than those closer to the poles, and areas with consistent sun have greater solar potential then areas that are frequently overcast.

As a whole, the United States has terrific solar resources. For perspective, check out this map of global solar radiation from the United Nations Environment Programme. Now consider that Germany and Spain lead the world in installed PV power. The United States is currently third in installed PV power worldwide, but has far greater natural solar resources than either Spain or Germany.

But while the United States has strong solar potential across the country, some states are definitely sunnier than others. Here’s how you can find out which states have the best natural solar resources, and which have policies that support the development of solar power.

Naturally Sunny States
For the absolute best solar resources in the United States, think southwest.

Take a look at this solar resources map from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Based on this map, New Mexico and Arizona are red hot with solar potential, and California, Nevada, Texas, Utah and Colorado also have large areas highly favorable for PV development. PV systems will generate more electricity in these spots — and therefore earn more money — than PV panels in areas with fewer natural solar resources.

Both this U.S. map and the global map mentioned above use a common measurement of solar irradiation, which is kwh/m2/day, also known as peak sun hours. Here’s more information about peak sun hours and how you can calculate them for your location using the PV Watts1 website.

For yet another look at solar resources state-by-state, check out the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) state energy profiles. This is a set of maps and energy profiles of all 50 states. Any areas with above six peak sun hours per day are shaded on the maps to indicate that they are good sites to consider for future solar projects.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy/Solar-Incentives-Solar-Power-Resources.aspx#ixzz1e09XOTg1

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