Not today Justin
titsay
Mike Driver
One Nice Bug Per Day
TVSTRANGERTHINGS
Three Goblin Art
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
blake kathryn
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
JBB: An Artblog!
izzy's playlists!
Kaledo Art
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
Misplaced Lens Cap
Sade Olutola
sheepfilms
Origami Around
Sweet Seals For You, Always
Show & Tell
PR's Tumblrdome
seen from United States
seen from Ireland
seen from United States
seen from Vietnam
seen from Türkiye
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Czechia
seen from France
seen from Belarus
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
seen from Germany
seen from United States
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Colombia
seen from Malaysia
@australiansolarquotes
Another step in the right direction as the National Australia Bank, otherwise known as NAB, along with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) have decided to offer small to medium size business enterprises a discounted finance option when they invest in solar power and improve energy efficiency within operations.
Many both within and outside of the aviation industry are amazed with the development of the Progress Eagle, a quantum airplane that is slated to become a reality in the next 10 to 15 years. Some comparing the structure to that of a cockroach, while others are now referring to the futuristic quantum airplane as a “Sky Whale.”
A research team from the The University of Kassel in Germany has just manufactured a fully functional building material that also doubles as a solar cell. Known as the DysCrete, the most integrel components of the design include electrographic concrete as well as its fruit juice liquids.
Upon further development, the solar cell material is expected to be used for the building of facades of edifices, while also being able to create electricity as it collects sufficient amount of solar energy.
Click link to continue reading.
Solar panel manufacturers in the United States and Canada are in a trade war with their Chinese counterparts over their unethical dumping of solar products in the North American region. Such practice ultimately causing the US and Canadian manufacturers to be on the losing end.
Reports abound claiming that Apple will start production of the very first Apple electric car starting 2020. News also revealed that the company is currently doing a series of tests that will help it develop a viable EV. These reports obviously sending everyone in the car and technology industry into frenzied speculations.
The Swiss manufactured solar powered plane, with a wingspan as wide as that of a jumbo jet, has just finished the first leg of its historic flight around the world. With its starting point at Abu Dhabi, the lightweight plane landed safely in Oman’s capital city of Muscat, after flying for over 13 hours and crossing around 300 miles over wide deserts and mountain ranges.
CEC Warns: Cutting Solar Support Will Cause Job Cuts
The Clean Energy Council recently released a paper warning that if the Australian government continues cutting solar support, up to 5,800 jobs could be at risk. CEC’s paper was entitled: “Why the Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme Should Be Retained”.
Australia is the only country in the world to have removed the carbon tax, and now, it is slashing its support for renewable energy. Keen observers have seen the axe coming when Dick Warburton was appointed as the chairperson for the government review of the RET (renewable energy target).
Chairperson of RET Review is "Sceptical" of Climate Change
In an interview early this year, Warburton said: “I am not a denier, nor a sceptic actually, of climate change per se. What I am sceptical is the claim that man-made carbon dioxide is the major cause of global warming. I’m not a denier of that, but I am sceptical of that claim.”
Warburton has already completed the review and has recommended an immediate closure, or a massive scaling back of the bipartisan 41,000 GWh target. This is expected since he is sceptical to the idea that climate change is primarily human caused.
Now, it is believed that cutting solar funding will scrap jobs estimated to total 5,800. The CEC also emphasized that it will also be more difficult for low and middle-income households to access solar technology to reduce their electricity bills if the federal government continues cutting solar support.
“The Renewable Energy Target helps reduce the price of solar power and solar hot water systems for mums and dads across the country, and drives investment and employment in the process,” said Kane Thornton, acting Chief Executive of the Clean Energy Council.
Previously, Thornton mentioned that speculation on the abolition of the Renewable Energy Target by Prime Minister Tony Abbot sent shockwaves to the 13,000 workers in the solar industry. This action of cutting solar will scrap jobs on the solar industry sector.
Cutting Solar Support Will Lead to Increased Power Costs
The CEC has commissioned a modelling of what will happen if cutting solar support continues from ROAM Consulting. It showed that the average household would pay around $50 less per year for their electric bills in 2020 if the Renewable Energy Target is continued, compared with what they will pay it the RET is abolished.
In addition, the CEC modelling showed that the average household will pay over $100 per year over the decade after 2020 for their electric bills if the RET is scrapped.
According to the CEC, the result can be explained because of the fact that more renewable energy minimizes the requirement for gas. The price of gas is projected to rise dramatically over the decade because exports will influence the domestic price to keep up with the increase in international prices.
In order not to scrap jobs, solar funding must continue. “Given what a nation of sun lovers we are, solar should have a bright future,” stated Thornton. “This is an industry that has grown to employ a large number of hard-working Australian men and women, and a reckless move like slashing the target would put thousands of them out of work,” he concluded.
- Australian Solar Quotes
Recycling Old Car Batteries To Produce Solar Panels
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology proposed recycling old car batteries to turn them into vital elements of solar cells. Old and defective car batteries will no longer be part of the landfill if this innovative recycling scheme from MIT is really feasible.
This proposed system for recycling old car batteries is discussed in detail in a study published in the Energy and Environmental Science journal. The study was co-authored by professors Paula T. Hammond and Angela M. Belcher, in cooperation Po-Yen Chen, a graduate student and three other individuals.
Recycling Old Car Batteries For Perovskite
The concept is based on the latest development on solar cells. A compound known as perovskite, or more accurately called organolead halide perovskite has been the subject of many trials and tests. Experiments on this compound have reached a point where its efficiency is almost that of other kinds of solar cells.
Belcher was satisfied with the compound’s test performances. At this point, the researchers found that perovskite-based photovoltaic cells have over 19 per cent power-conservation efficiency. This is very near the efficiency of most commercial silicon-based solar cells.
“It went from initial demonstrations to good efficiency in less than two years,” Belcher said.
The original description of this perovskite technology mentions the use of lead. But there’s a drawback in lead production from raw ores. This process results in the production of toxic residues.
The MIT research and experiments circumvented this issue by recycling old car batteries and extracting the lead. Recycling old car batteries also brought out an unseen benefit: it can divert toxic materials from accumulating in landfills, and use them instead in the production of photovoltaic panels, which if done properly can generate power for a long time.
The MIT research team was also encouraged by this project because during the process of production, the perovskite material takes the form of a thin film about, one-half millimetre thick. This could mean that the lead from just one car battery could be used to produce solar cells that can generate power for approximately 30 households.
Furthermore, the MIT research team has found out that recycling old car batteries for solar panel production is a fairly simple and benign process compared to conventional solar panel production. “It has the advantage of being a low-temperature process, and the number of steps is reduced,” said Belcher.
Graduate student Po-Yen Chen, a member of the MIT research team said that these factors will make the production process of perovskite PV panels “easy to get to large scale cheaply.”
With these advantageous features of perovskite, Belcher believes that its production process will be adapted by other photovoltaics researchers. The main reason is that they can now fine-tune the technology to get maximum efficiency.
Because of the positive result of the MIT research, there are a number of companies that are already starting their own commercial production of perovskite PV panels. These companies can now prevent their miners and workers from being exposed to toxic residues produced by conventional lead production.
If Solar Demand Continues to Rise, Expect a Shortage of Solar Panels
There is a coming shortage of panels for solar systems and if no preventative measures are taken to avert this looming shortfall, the solar industry might take a dive. This situation reverses a two-year slump triggered by a glut in the global supply of solar panels.
This oversupply of photovoltaics pushed prices down. It made solar power more affordable and drove up the demand. But this situation also pulled down many manufacturers into bankruptcy and made the survivors fearful of making additional investments.
But now that the price per watt of solar power is going down and the demand for solar systems is climbing up, the inevitable result will be an acute shortage of panels. For instance, in the past 9 years, the demand for solar systems has multiplied 53 times. The production and supply of PV systems needs to be stimulated to ensure the growth of the industry. This will prevent the projected lack of supply which is driven by the reduction in price per watt of solar panels.
Demand for solar systems is expected to increase by 29% this year, therefore; consumers should not be surprised that manufacturers will experience difficulty in keeping up.
Elon Musk, CEO of Solar City, anticipates the problems of insufficient capacity and stated that manufacturers of solar panels need to build additional solar gigafactories.
In 2006 the market experienced a shortage of PV supply. In that year, the industry only installed 1.5 gigawatts. This year, the industry is looking to install as much as 52 gigawatts and an additional 61 gigawatts by 2015. It appears that this is the crunch number for solar panel manufacturers.
The biggest beneficiary of this shortage of panels are the largest PV manufacturers, including Yingli Green Energy of China and Trina Solar. If these suppliers continue to favour their largest customers, a shortage may develop outside the markets in North America and Asia.
Smaller rooftop systems such as those seen in households and small factories, will take second priority over utility-scale solar farms such as those installed in large manufacturing facilities.
“The cell and module glut has certainly dried up,” said Stefan de Haan, an IHS Inc. solar analyst. “There is no massive overcapacity anymore,” she added.
In total, the solar industry has a capacity to produce 70 gigawatts of solar power systems. However, considering that some of the manufacturing machineries are already obsolete, de Haan’s conservative estimate is only 59 gigawatts. Even then, that should keep the price per watt of solar panels steady for the foreseeable future.
Solar Leasing: The Future of the Australian Solar Market
Solar Leasing in Australia is expected to expand substantially in the next decade, and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has mobilised financing to make this possible.
CEFC recently approved a total of $120 million in financing to three solar companies to help boost the solar leasing market in the country. The three companies are Kudos Energy, US solar giant Sun Edison, and Tindo Solar, the only solar module manufacturer in Australia. Their company profiles are available on Australian Solar Quotes.
CEFC’s financing aims to facilitate the removal of financial barriers to rooftop solar and open up the solar leasing market in the country by the elimination of up front costs. It believes that it can expand the solar market in the country way past the 3.4GW of electricity that has impacted more than 1.25 million households.
Kudos Energy
Kudos Energy, which received $30 million in financing from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, believes that there is a huge potential for the Australian solar leasing market. It projects that the market for rooftop solar leasing for home and commercial use could top the $100 billion mark by the turn of the new decade.
Kudos Energy Managing Director David Jones says that the solar leasing market in Australia is about to take off thanks to the depth of the Australian capital markets, and the amount of investments that the country has allocated to the sector.
Aside from the $30 million in financing from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Kudos will raise $20 in equity to handle as much as 3,000 solar panel installations.
Also called third-party ownership, solar leasing provides numerous benefits to home owners and business owners. In this arrangement, the rooftop panel system is owned by a third-party, which is also responsible for the installation and maintenance of the system. The contract usually extends to 20 or more years.
Aside from the lack of upfront costs, a solar leasing arrangement shields home owners and business owners against rising prices of electricity.
Light-leasing
Kudos Energy follows the footsteps of other solar companies that have tried to jumpstart the solar leasing business in Australia. Late last year, Chinese company Trina Solar introduced a solar leasing scheme through a new company called Light-leasing.
According to Infinity Solar, the removal of upfront costs would enable customers to install superior quality photo voltaic system. The company also said that the reduction of interest rates would translate to energy savings, reduced power bills and cover the monthly loan amortisations so customers can save money from the very start.
Sun Power One of the first companies that went into the business of solar leasing was California, U.S.A.-based SunPower. The solar leasing model that the company rolled out in Australia more than two years ago even drew the interest of banking giants Citi and Credit Suisse.
The solar leasing product of SunPower was launched in August 2012 and in partnership with the Community First Credit unit. The company offered financing of a maximum $35,000 stretched over ten years. Likewise, Citi and Credit Suisse agreed to finance $300 million of lease capacity.
For more information regarding solar leasing and financing visit Australian Solar Quotes
SPG Solar Now Makes and Uses Own Solar Energy Trackers
Australian Solar Quotes carefully follows the evolving solar power technologies as they are released into the international solar market.
SPG Solar, a former EPC, recently launched its next generation SunSeeker single-axis tracker, the G3.3. This particular model was specifically designed to improve quality, shorten delivery; lower installation times and reduce costs.
This particular technology reduces 20 per cent of the system’s hardware and relocates the supply chain. Hence solar customers are realizing significant savings in shipping costs and lower labour hours.
SPG Solar began as an EPC in 2001 by constructing the first commercial grid tied system in the U.S. This facility was located at Blakes Autobody in Rohner Park, California.
The company now has a total of 72 employees and is proud to list many firsts in its portfolio. One of them is the Kentfield School District in Kentfield, California which they built in 2004. This is the first school district to be completely dependent on a solar power system.
Later, in 2006, this former EPC built the first non-penetrating system on the side of a dam for the Sonoma County Water Agency.
But it is in its solar tracking products that this company is well known for. “The key to achieving tracker differentiation lies in the product design, delivery and install,” says Tim Cain, Vice President of Product Management.
“SPG Solar has taken a lead in optimizing a total solution that drives down cost, while ensuring top quality. Our engineering team has now released the most cost effective and efficient single-axis tracker in the market today,” he adds.
The solar trackers produced and installed by this company coupled with California Senate Bill 594 are the ideal combination that will help alleviate Los Gatos Tomato’s energy costs. Los Gatos Tomato is a farm which also operates a tomato paste processing plant. This company uses solar power in their farm and processing facilities.
There are multiple wells in the farm which use large amounts of energy in the afternoon. With the solar trackers in place, the solar system delivers the most energy at that time. Under SB 594 the company can combine multiple meters on adjoining pieces of land. That means energy from a solar system can offset costs of several wells.
Australian Solar Quotes works with a number of commercial and residential solar companies, some that offer solar trackers for large-scale solar projects.
Sunseeker Trackers are automated single axis trackers that can follow the sun as it goes through its course during the day. This method produces more than 30 per cent solar energy compared to a fixed tilt solar system.
SPG Solar resorted to developing their own solar tracking system because of the inherent advantage of the business concept. “To begin with, there was a clear need in the market,” said Dylan Dupree, Vice President of EPC at SPG.
Dupree says that they have the experience in installing such systems. They have already installed more than 100 MW of solar systems in the United States. The cost aspect is also attractive, he says. Instead of buying equipment from another company, they get their materials directly from component suppliers.
“In terms of operations and maintenance, we’re able to service these systems quickly and reliably through our technology and training centre in Sacramento,” says Dupree."
Dramatic Hikes in Power Bills Shocks Queensland Residents
Despite the repealing of the carbon tax, Queenslanders are still facing the specter of dramatic hikes in power bills. Even homeowners using Brisbane solar panels are also likely to take a hit to their hip pockets.
Electricity bills appear to have dramatically increased in the past quarter. Many Sunshine Coast homeowners are wondering what’s going on.
A resident in Mount Coolum, Bruce Blair, couldn't believe his eyes when he saw his latest power bill significantly increase to more than $1000 from his usual $600 to $700. His household is composed of six people and everybody was trying to keep their electric consumption low by using “all the discounts”.
In a nearby house, Melanie McRae was also surprised at her latest power bill. From $800 a quarter last year, it has doubled to $1600 this year. Her family has ducted air-conditioning to keep the electric consumption low, and they don’t have a swimming pool. In addition, their three children under 13 had been away for three weeks.
Apparently, the same situation is true to other Queensland residents. Janine Cullity, another Sunshine Coast homeowner, saw her power bill went up from $700 to $900. It appears that no matter how much electricity a resident consumes, he will surely see his electricity bill go up.
According to the Queensland Competition Authority, even though the carbon tax is no longer implemented from July 1, the average residential customer who consumes around 4,100 kWh per year can expect an increase of 5.1% or $72. This caused a lot of frustration to the residents because of this unexpected increase.
It has been projected a while back that the average power bill is expected to rise by $191, or 13.6%. The major reasons for the increase are the green policies of the government, and the increasing cost of wires, poles, and electricity generation.
Another primary reason for the increase is the Solar Bonus Scheme. This scheme pays a Brisbane solar feed-in tariff to residential customers. Approximately 7% of the total bill is attributed to it.
The good news is the price of electricity will only go up by about 5.1% if the carbon tax is repealed by the government. This is what is being experienced now by most residents in the Sunshine Coast.
The Energy Minister of Queensland, Mark McArdle, has blamed most of the increase on the former Labor government. He said that they have over-invested in the power distribution network.
“Every power bill that is issued, 54% of that bill relates to the cost of poles and wires – the gold-plated legacy of Labor that we’re now having to unravel,” said McArdle.
However, he said his government is trying its best to give relief to the beleaguered Queensland residents. “The Queensland government promised to lower the cost of living where ever we could and we’re making sure that pensioners and other vulnerable Queenslanders get some relief on household costs,” he added.
Thankfully, pensioners and senior citizens have the chance to apply for an electricity rebate of $320 after the government increased concessions to $165 million for this financial year.
Take it or leave it, a solar lease has become more than just an option to generate electricity autonomously for...
More than 140,000 homes in California are now enjoying solar power supplied by the Ivanpah Solar Power Generating System. This new solar power generating plant has just opened early this year in California’s Mojave Desert.
The declining Australian government support to the solar industry in terms of incentives is causing the diminishing number of solar jobs in...
Solar leasing is projected to boost the solar energy sector with the government slowing down on its stance on feed-in-tariff...
Concerns that the Australian Renewable Energy Target (RET) was under threat under the Coalition government were intensified on Tuesday when...