First Solar, Inc. recently announced it reduced its manufacturing cost for solar modules in the fourth quarter to 98 cents per watt, breaking the $1 per watt price barrier.

“This achievement marks a milestone in the solar industry’s evolution toward providing truly sustainable energy solutions,” said Mike Ahearn, First Solar chief executive officer. “First Solar is proud to be leading the way toward clean, affordable solar electricity as a viable alternative to fossil fuels.”

First Solar began full commercial operation of its initial manufacturing line in late 2004. From 2004 through today, the company reports that manufacturing capacity has grown 2,500% to more than 500MW in 2008. First Solar expects annual production capacity to double in 2009 to more than 1GW, the equivalent of an average-sized nuclear power plant. These escalating volumes have been accompanied by a rapid reduction in manufacturing costs. From 2004 through today, First Solar’s manufacturing costs have declined two-thirds from more than $3 per W to less than $1 per W. First Solar is confident that further significant cost reductions are possible based on the untapped potential of its technology and manufacturing process.

First Solar says that it is not only committed to making solar power affordable, but also to making it environmentally sustainable. The Company takes responsibility for its products throughout their life cycle, ensuring that First Solar modules have the smallest carbon footprint of any current photovoltaic (PV) technology. First Solar has implemented an end-of-life module collection and recycling program, recycling more than 90% of each collected module into new products.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 24th June 2009

Renewable energy seems to be all the buzz at the Statehouse this session,

as lawmakers offer bills designed to do everything from creating training programs

for the “new energy economy,” to requiring homebuilders to offer prospective

homebuyers a solar-power option.

Assistant House Majority Leader Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, previewed the latest effort

to boost alternative energy at a press conference at the Capitol on March 29.

The next day Kerr officially unveiled House Bill 1312, concerning renewable energy

and energy efficiency for schools, which would bring together two of this session’s

hot-button issues: renewable energy projects and education.

HB 1312, “The Renewable for Schools” proposal, would create a plan through the

Governor’s Energy Office and the State Treasury to provide school districts with

low-interest loans.

The districts would use the loan money to install solar panels

or wind turbines, or to convert diesel-powered school buses to battery or

hybrid-electric power. Kerr said the program would allow money now spent on

energy to be used on classroom education instead.

The low-interest loans are funded by the Public School Permanent Fund,

which was created in the 1800s, when the state set aside vast acreages of land

for the benefit of schoolchildren. Proceeds from these land sales have been

invested by the state and currently are available for this program at a 5.1%

interest rate. The balance of the fund is currently estimated at $581 million.

Kerr hopes these renewable energy loans will reduce energy costs for schools,

promote energy independence and provide students with an opportunity to learn

about renewable energy technologies.

“The Renewable for Schools program creates a win-win-win situation,”

said Colorado State Treasurer Cary Kennedy, who has partnered with Kerr

to promote the bill. “It’s a win for taxpayers and schools who will save money

on energy costs, providing more funds for the classroom. It’s a win for the state,

which will see a high investment return on our dollars loaned to schools, and

it’s a win for the economy as we create new ?green’ jobs across the state.”

There was, however, opposition at the House Education Committee meeting on

Monday from Barbara Walker, executive officer of the Independent Bankers of

Colorado. Walker also testified on behalf of the Colorado Bankers Association.

Walker said local community banks would not be able to compete with the low

interest rates offered by the state and would lose business under HB 1312.

Although Walker could not pinpoint the exact percentage rate that community banks

would offer school districts for renewable energy loans, she said that in typical

financing through a community bank, municipal financing rates ? those that a

school district can obtain ? would always be below the market rate available to the

commercial public. She said HB 1312 would put community banks in direct

competition with the state to appropriate loans, thereby putting local community

banks at risk for failure on these types of loans.

Kerr said the difference between loans through HB 1312 and loans school districts

could obtain through community banks is that, under his proposal, the school

district is required to apply for a loan through the Governor’s Energy Office.

He said the office would evaluate each project application before making its

recommendations to the state treasurer.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 23RD June 2009

North America’s only production machining focused show – returns to the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, OH, April 28-30, 2009.

PMTS is an international gathering of manufacturers, suppliers and end users of products and services dedicated entirely to the production of precision machined products and turned parts.

For more information, please visit: www.pmts.com.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 23rd June 2009

Roughly 30% of the energy used in the U.S. is for heating and cooling, and a large proportion of the energy used for heat comes from burning oil. While using renewables to generate electricity and solve transportation issues (the other 70% of the equation) receives the lion’s share of attention from policymakers, the organizers of the first “Heating the Northeast with Renewable Biomass” conference that took place in Nashua, NH, are hoping to change that.

Opening the conference was a keynote by New Hampshire Governor John Lynch, who said that New Hampshire is a good place to focus on renewable biomass for heat.  The region is comprised of 84% growing forest and therefore biomass is in large supply.

Neibling also unveiled the Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC), a new organization that will work in Washington, DC to bring awareness about and favorable policy for biomass thermal energy.

William Straus, President of FutureMetrics, a firm that performs economic modeling and forecasting, explained that just in the state of Maine, 80% of the homes heat with oil.  That adds up to more than $1 billion dollars annually spent on oil with a large proportion of that money going overseas.   If you look at the entire Northeast, which includes New England and New York, the number is $13.7 billion annually – all money that is traveling out of the region.

Straus showed a model of a hypothetical scenario in which 1% of the homes in the Northeast converted to biomass thermal heating systems each year for 10 years, with local or federal governments offering a $6,000 tax credit (roughly the difference between a new high-end oil furnace and a pellet furnace).  In 10 years time, he explained, the government would be looking at a net benefit to the treasury of approximately $7.1 billion in increased tax revenue and more than one-hundred thousand new jobs.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 23rd June 2009

The Dual PSI enables users to provide DC power to multiple outdoor PoE-equipped devices, including wireless access points, broadband wireless backhaul, and surveillance cameras.

Available as a complete system within an enclosure for pole-top applications or as a sub-assembly component for OEM installation, the product’s unique design allows two independent DC power sources to deliver 0V to 60V per PoE device. This PSI can also be used to separate the power from the PoE input to run a non-PoE device, such as an analog camera.

The Dual PSI can be powered from any standard DC power source, used with Solis Energy’s Solar Power Plants, Continuous Power Bridges,  or Outdoor UPS’s, which continuously power critical, low-wattage devices (typically 100 watts or less), wherever they are located, even where grid-supplied electricity is either unavailable or unreliable.

For applications that are not pole-top and do not require the complete PoE enclosure, Solis Energy offers the same Dual PSI as a sub-assembly component.  Engineered for fast and easy installation, the sub-assembly component mounts in an existing enclosure, either on the inside wall or DIN rail.

Sourced and published by Henry Sapiecha 23rd June 2009