Public Power - July/August 2008 - (Page 18)

Solar Energy Rising prices, said Neal Lurie, spokesman for the American Solar Energy Society. At that point, the economics of solar power “will be so overwhelmingly compelling that it will dwarf the boom we are seeing today.” “The whole landscape has changed,” said Robert Margolis, National Renewable Energy Laboratory senior energy analyst. Total U.S. investments in solar energy—a mere $250 million in 2004—nearly doubled for the second year in a row in 2007 to $2.8 billion. That investment was split about evenly between solar public equity activity and venture capital/private equity investments, with another billion dollars in government support, he said. The budget for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Technology Program reflects Margolis’s assertion. The Solar Program’s annual budget for solar energy technologies has roughly doubled under the Solar America Initiative to $160 million in 2007. In addition, the revenue flowing into the PV industry has increased substantially, hitting $20 billion in 2006 and estimated at $30 billion in 2007. Pricewaterhousecoopers called solar the “prime mover” in last year’s 42.4 percent gain in the Cleantech Index of publicly traded renewable and alternative fuel companies. Venture capitalists poured $598 million into young, non-public U.S. solar energy generation companies during 2007. That compared to $259 million in 2006, $91 million in 2005, $34 million in 2004 and just $5 million in 2003. Investors are most excited about learning how plentiful solar energy is, said Margolis. For instance, less than 2 percent of the land now used in the United States for crops and grazing could provide for all of the nation’s electricity needs, he said. However, in terms of existing U.S. generating capacity, solar’s contribution remains miniscule. Two of its sectors, photovoltaic and concentrating solar power (also known as high-temperature solar thermal, a system that uses mirrors to focus the sun’s rays onto a small area used to heat a working fluid) have a total installed capacity barely topping 1,200 MW, including off-grid capacity. That includes 750 MW of photovoltaic, of which 600 MW is off-grid and 425 MW of concentrating solar power, according to Monique Hanis of the Solar Energy Industries Association. Since its two largest segments do not actually generate electricity, these figures shortchange the industry’s reach. The first solar heating systems, or low-temperature solar thermal systems, use solar collectors to absorb the sun’s radiation and directly heat water or air. The second segment uses panels to heat pools. In 2004, 90 percent of solar energy consumed was used for heat rather than electricity, according to the U.S. Venture Capital Invested in Solar Companies, 2003-2007 700 600 Research by PricewaterhouseCoopers 500 400 300 200 100 0 5 2003 34 2004 2005 Million $ Invested 598 259 91 2006 2007 Energy Information Administration. Installed solar water and space heating in U.S. buildings totals the equivalent of 2,250 MW, according to Solar Energy Industries Association. Pool heating systems represent the equivalent of another 13,500 MW. Therefore, the industry’s total U.S. market penetration is equivalent to just under 17,000 MW. In 2006, existing U.S. electric generating capacity stood at 1 million MW. In terms of energy, figures are hard to come by. EIA reports solar generation only for central station photovoltaic or concentrating solar power plants of 1 MW or more, of which there are only a handful. By this measure, the annual amount of power solar generated has ranged steadily between 500 and 600 MWh over much of the last 10 years—barely noticeable compared to the 4 billion MWh generated annually in the United States. The majority of that small percentage was from a single facility in the Mojave Desert. Markets and applications for both photovoltaic and concentrating solar power have evolved quickly, creating myriad investment opportunities across a range of technologies. While crediting the investment tax credit, Solar Energy Industries Association said more than 354 MW of solar was added in the United States during 2007 alone, a 55 percent increase from 2006. That figure includes 250 MW of gridtied photovoltaic, 40 MW of off-grid photovoltaic and a 64 MW concentrating solar power plant. Photovoltaic distribution has been accelerating since 2003—and in double digits since 2004. In the 10 years ending in 2006, more than 618,000 peak kilowatts of photovoltaic cells and modules were shipped domestically, including 206,500 peak kilowatts in 2006, more than 16 times the 12,500 peak kilowatts shipped in 1997, according to EIA. U.S. installations of grid-connected photovoltaic systems have been growing faster than off-grid systems since 2001, surpassing them in late 2005, Solar Energy Industries Association reported. Nearly 13,000 on-grid systems were added in 2007, a 45 percent increase over 2006. Just over half of those installations were in California. Nevada, Colorado, Hawaii, Connecticut and Oregon PUBLIC POWER 18 JULY-AUGUST 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public Power - July/August 2008

Public Power- July/August 2008 Contents Perspective 10 Questions Solar Energy Rising Sacramento's Solar Shares Gainesville Crowns a Conservation Idol By the Numbers Curbing Costs of Outages Reliability Green Energy Hometown Connections Customer Service Parting Shot

Public Power - July/August 2008

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