Southern California Edison Throws Switch on Seven New Neighborhood Solar Stations
SCE project lead Mark Nelson (left) and Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar
ROSEMEAD, Calif., Feb. 1, 2011 – Seven new solar power plants capable of providing electricity for 8,125 average homes are now online for Southern California Edison (SCE) customers, the utility announced today.
The newest solar photovoltaic installations, located in Ontario and Redlands, Calif., have a combined peak generating capacity of 12.5 million watts (AC). The new plants bring to 10 the number of SCE neighborhood solar stations.
Construction of the solar power plants last year created 250 temporary jobs. SCE estimates its entire solar photovoltaic project – 75 to 100 roof- and ground-mount installations – will create up to 1,200 such jobs.
“When Southern California Edison originally announced its goal of building a network of local solar plants, we wanted to help speed up California’s deployment of solar generation while driving down the cost of photovoltaic panels for everyone,” said Mark Nelson, SCE director of generation planning and strategy.
“Current market indicators reveal that solar photovoltaic power is now substantially less expensive for our customers than when we launched this project,” Nelson said.
Details of SCE’s new solar stations
The Ontario installations involved four solar stations on 1.8 million square feet of leased warehouse roofs owned by ProLogis. The 32,950 solar photovoltaic panels SCE has installed in Ontario are capable of generating 5.5 million watts (AC) of power.
“Ontario is proud to partner with Southern California Edison to provide renewable energy resources to our residents and businesses,” said Ontario Mayor Paul S. Leon. “Through this exciting new solar program, we are not only creating jobs for our community, but we are ensuring that sustainability is a key component of our long-term vision.”
“We are excited to continue our work with SCE and bring these additional rooftop installations into production,” said Drew Torbin, ProLogis vice president of renewable energy. “Our partnership makes sense in many ways; by bringing together a large rooftop owner and a utility, we have achieved the speed and scale that was necessary to make a true impact on the rooftop solar industry.”
In Redlands SCE has built three installations, with 34,600 panels spread over 1.5 million square feet of ProLogis warehouse roofs. The panels can generate 7 million watts (AC) of power.
“Two of our highest goals as a city are to encourage job creation and to build a greener tomorrow for our residents and future generations,” said Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar. “Southern California Edison’s solar project has supported both goals by making available 120 construction jobs and adding to our energy resources three power plants that are silent, emission-free and use a renewable fuel source.”
At the direction of the state utilities commission, SCE expanded its solar photovoltaic program by offering long-term power purchase agreements to independent producers willing to build neighborhood plants. So far, the utility has awarded 29 contracts, which will yield about 43 million watts (AC) of new solar photovoltaic power for SCE customers.
In addition, SCE has seen an increase in the number of cost-effective solar photovoltaic energy bids to provide renewable energy to the utility. The winning bids show a significant reduction in the cost of solar photovoltaic. In November, SCE signed 20 such purchase agreements with the potential to produce 239 million watts (AC) of power.
SCE’s neighborhood solar stations can be brought online quickly once the distribution circuits they are being connected to are prepared to handle the new generator output and voltage controls.
One of SCE’s objectives is to study the impact on local grid reliability, so that these distributed energy resources can be interconnected safely. Lessons learned during deployment of SCE’s solar photovoltaic project will be shared with other utilities and the solar industry to foster similar efforts.
Southern California Edison Signs Contracts for More Than 800 Megawatts of Solar Photovoltaic Power
Photo credit: Southern California Edison
ROSEMEAD, Calif., Jan. 10, 2011 — Southern California Edison (SCE) has signed contracts with SunPower Corp. and Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, Inc. (FRV) for more than 800 megawatts of electricity created from sunlight that will go directly to the California power grid. The contracts will include one of the country’s largest single solar photovoltaic installations.
Electricity generated as a result of these contracts will total 831 megawatts. Three contracts with SunPower will total 711 megawatts and include one of the largest single solar photovoltaic installations – 325 megawatts – in the United States. Contracts with FRV allow for the delivery of 120 megawatts of solar energy from four projects.
“This is an unprecedented time for solar photovoltaic,” said Marc Ulrich, SCE’s vice president, Renewable and Alternative Power. “We’re seeing growth in technological advances and manufacturing efficiencies that result in competitive prices for green, emission-free energy for our customers.”
The solar photovoltaic projects are located California’s Kern, Los Angeles and Merced counties. SCE estimates that when the projects all come online, the 831-megawatt capacity will be enough to power more than 540,000 average California homes.
The three contracts with SunPower include:
~ 110 megawatts from Solar Star California XIII, LLC, located in Los Banos, scheduled to be operational by Dec. 31, 2014.
~ 325 megawatts from Solar Star California XIX, LLC, located in Rosamond, scheduled to be operational by Oct. 31, 2016.
~ 276 megawatts from Solar Star California XX, LLC, located in Rosamond, scheduled to be operational by Oct. 31, 2016.
The four contracts with FRV include:
~ 60 megawatts from Regulus Solar L.P., located in Lamont, scheduled to be operational by Dec. 31, 2013.
~ 20 megawatts from Cygnus Solar L.P., located in Arvin, scheduled to be operational by Sept. 30, 2013.
~ 20 megawatts from Mojave Solar L.P., located in Mojave, scheduled to be operational by Dec. 31, 2013.
~20 megawatts from Mojave Solar 4 L.P., located in Lancaster, scheduled to be operational by Dec. 31, 2013.
The projects will interconnect with existing and forthcoming transmission lines.
These contracts are a result of SCE’s competitive renewables solicitation, and are contingent on approval by the California Public Utilities Commission.
Southern California Edison is the nation’s leading utility for renewables. In 2009, SCE delivered 13.6 billion kilowatt hours of renewable power to its customers, about 17 percent of its total power portfolio.
About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities, serving a population of nearly 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.
New Jersey’s Solar Market Is Focus Of Remarks By Managing Director Jamie Hahn
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. (Jan. 3, 2011) – New Jersey’s rapid emergence as a leader in the solar industry is due to aggressive state incentives and policies that have resulted in an increase from 7.5 kilowatts of installed capacity in 2001 to more than 200 megawatts today.
The preeminence of New Jersey as a solar leader was the subject of remarks by Jamie Hahn, managing director of Solis Partners, a leading developer and integrator of commercial solar power systems based in Manasquan, N.J., at a panel discussion on the New Jersey solar market at the recent Distributed Solar Summit 2010 in San Diego, Calif. New Jersey is second only to California in installed solar capacity.
The program on national distributed solar markets looked at these two leading markets, as well as at emerging markets in the Northeast and West. Panel participants provided insights into and analysis of the forces shaping these markets with the goal of providing the information needed to enable conference participants to make informed evaluations of solar opportunities.
The three-day summit drew participants including commercial, industrial and non-profit solar project developers, investors, lenders, photovoltaic suppliers, utilities, contractors and installers to explore how to take full advantage of the booming solar market. The event also provided opportunities for industry stakeholders to connect, build relationships and discuss deals.
Hahn highlighted the incentives that have helped New Jersey emerge as a solar leader, including the Solar Renewable Energy Certificate (SREC) program, a performance-based incentive. Under the program, utilities purchase SRECS, which are tradable certificates repesenting 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, from solar producers in order to meet state Renewable Portfolio Standard mandates.
“In New Jersey, SRECs have been one of the largest drivers in the adoption of solar,” Hahn said. “Because the price of electricity from solar is not yet comparable with that of electricity from traditional sources, we know that the only way to stimulate the the solar market is through policy initiatives that are implemented in the expectation that the industry will eventually stand on its own two legs.”
The New Jersey Solar Energy Advancement and Fair Competition Act, signed into law in January, has taken New Jersey a step closer to memorializing the SREC program, Hahn said. The law, which is a clear demonstration of the state’s commitment to solar, strengthens and reinforces the SREC program. The law is expected to attract additional solar development and increase investor confidence.
Hahn also pointed out the flaws of the incentives and offered some solutions. The problem with relying on policy initiatives is that they typically bring uncertainties to the marketplace that make the financial structuring of solar systems more complicated, Hahn noted. In order to clear up the uncertainties, New Jersey will have to make the incentives more transparent and more long term.
“For solar to reach real scale in New Jersey, policy incentives need to be more transparent and we need long-term certainty in the market,” he said. “With certainty you lower the risk profile. Lower risk will reduce the return requirements on the capital invested and lower return requirements will bring more competitive capital into the marketplace, resulting in lower costs for distributed solar power projects.”
For more information about Solis Partners, visit www.SolisPartners.com
About Solis Partners
Solis Partners is a leading developer and integrator of solar power systems for commercial, industrial, utility and not-for-profit clients. Solis Partners designs, engineers and constructs leading-edge, optimized solar power systems, enabling customers to meet their long-term energy needs while reducing operating costs and addressing their carbon liabilities. Solis is a comprehensive partner, offering the complete solution for both solar and roofing. Solis Partners is headquartered in Manasquan, N.J. For more information, please call (732) 800-0052, or visit www.solispartners.com
SILFAB ONTARIO ANNOUNCES NEW COO AND GENERAL MANAGER, PAOLO MACCARIO
Mississauga, December 6, 2010 – Silfab Ontario Inc., Canadian subsidiary of global vertically-integrated photovoltaic provider Silfab Spa, announced today that Paolo Maccario has been named Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, effective 1st of January 2011. Maccario will take over Silfab Ontario’s operations as the company is now entering a crucial phase of development that will lead up to the inauguration of its new 180 MW module manufacturing plant slated for spring 2011.
“Paolo Maccario brings the ideal mix of leadership experience and photovoltaic know-how to Silfab Ontario as we move forward on installing the first production line in our new manufacturing facility and proceed on hiring our first production specialists,” remarked Franco Traverso, President and CEO of Silfab Ontario and Silfab Spa. “Over the past couple of months, we have signed preliminary contracts for 102 MW with international and domestic partners. This is an extremely busy and exciting time for our company and I believe Paolo’s outstanding set of skills will be pivotal to accelerating Silfab Ontario’s growth and productivity in the years to come.”
“I am very excited to join Silfab Ontario,” said Paolo Maccario. “Silfab has a great international reputation and is a highly dynamic company that in the short duration since its entry is already playing a key role within the Canadian solar market. It is a great opportunity for me to work with a team of founding partners that not only has several decades of international photovoltaic experience, but also brings to Canada state-of-the-art technologies that are both highly competitive and ‘Feed-in-tariffs-ready’.”
With 15 years of experience as CEO of leading international automotive and clean-tech organizations, Paolo Maccario was most recently Chief Executive Officer of 6N Silicon Inc., one of the fastest growing Canadian manufacturers of high purity solar grade silicon. Prior to that, Maccario served as President and CEO of Meridian Technologies Inc., the world’s largest company engaged in the engineering and manufacturing of magnesium products for the global automotive industry. Earlier, he held senior management positions in automotive and industrial organizations operating in the U.S., Mexico and Italy, including Teksid Aluminum Foundry and various units of Fiat S.p.A.. Since 2001, Maccario has also served as the President and Chairman of Team Italia, an association aiming to bring together Italian companies and their executives operating in Canada.
SILFAB ONTARIO INC.
A subsidiary of vertically-integrated solar provider Silfab SpA, Silfab Ontario Inc. is a Canada-based company with headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario. In summer 2010, the company opened a sales office and secured a 100,000+ square feet facility to house a new 180 MW solar module manufacturing plant which will start production in early 2011. Fully-automated and operated by 200 skilled workers (at plant full capacity), the new plant will manufacture mono and multi-crystalline high-efficiency PV modules with a power up to 300 Wp, suited for both rooftop and ground-mounted applications. Part of the production will also be devoted to PV module OEM manufacturing on behalf of solar companies seeking to enter the Ontario market. Silfab Ontario Inc. has also been licensed to assemble and distribute in Canada and the U.S. Italian designed mono-axial sun tracking systems offered via a partnership with ESPE S.p.A, a leading Italian energy developer and technology provider.
SILFAB S.P.A
Headquartered in Padova, Italy, Silfab S.p.A is a leading vertically integrated provider of PV products and services globally. With activities spanning manufacturing, consulting and energy generation, the company seeks to further the advancement of photovoltaic energy through employing cutting-edge technologies. The company’s founders have extensive experience in the PV industry and have partnered with industry-leading engineering firms and equipment providers to establish a team with knowledge and demonstrated success across the entire photovoltaic value chain. Its founding partners include Franco Traverso, an Italian pioneer in the solar energy industry, Pan Asia Solar Ltd., whose principals co-founded some of the most successful listed PV businesses, including the subsidiary solar cell manufacturer Sunrise Global Solar Energy, and Sino- American-Silicon Products Inc., a stock-market listed provider of premium silicon wafers to the photovoltaic and semiconductor industries. Silfab is currently building a 100 MW pipeline of 1-5 MW PV plants in Italy and Central Europe. The company has also launched three new series of high-performing PV mono and multi-crystalline modules. Silfab’s headquarters are based in Padova (Italy) and New York.
Largest solar project in Virginia implemented at Eastern Mennonite University
HARRISONBURG, Va. – Eastern Mennonite University dedicated and celebrated the largest solar photovoltaic (PV) project built so far in the state of Virginia in a public ceremony held Monday afternoon, Nov. 15, on EMU’s campus.
During the celebration in EMU’s Campus Center , about 150 members of the campus community, public officials and local neighbors saw the university’s president Loren Swartzendruber unveil the website dashboard with the flip of a switch, revealing live graphs showcasing the daily, weekly and monthly output of the solar system.
“Caring for God’s good creation is central to who we are as a Christian university,” Dr. Swartzendruber told the gathering. “Our planet does not have unlimited natural resources, and it is imperative that we utilize clean renewable energy such as solar as part of the university’s long-term commitment to creation care and environmental sustainability,” he added.
Secure Futures, LLC of Staunton, Va., developed the project and contracted with Southern Energy Management in North Carolina to design, install and maintain the solar PV system. The installation on the roof of EMU’s Sadie Hartzler Library includes 328 high-efficiency photovoltaic panels manufactured by SunPower Corporation. The project represents the largest deployment to date of solar power in the Commonwealth of Virginia .
The solar project will cut EMU’s dependence on local utilities, helping to reduce the university’s reliance on energy from coal and other fossil fuels. The reduction will eliminate more than 6,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the projected 35-year life of the solar panels. In addition, EMU will adopt today’s electrical rates over the 20-year term of its agreement with Secure Futures, protecting the university from electricity rate increases.
“While developers have built larger solar installations in other states, EMU’s solar project represents a breakthrough in the commercial scale financing of solar power, as Virginia presents a uniquely challenging electricity and policy environment,” said Secure Futures CEO Anthony (Tony) Smith, who also co-directs EMU’s Steward-Leadership MBA Program. “ Virginia enjoys some of the lowest electricity rates in the country, and remains among a handful of states that rely exclusively on voluntary measures by utility companies to include renewable energy in their portfolio of electricity generation sources,” Dr. Smith added.
Secure Futures has formed a subsidiary Harrisonburg-based company, Community Solar, LLC, co-owned with local investors, to own and operate the project. Under a financing program embraced by colleges and universities in high solar states, EMU hosts the installation while Community Solar owns and manages the equipment, allowing EMU to gain access to on-site solar power without paying the capital cost of installing PV panels or the fees of ongoing maintenance. Community Bank, based in Staunton , Va. , provided construction financing for the project.
“Any student I’ve talked to values this sign of commitment to sustainability and creation care on campus,” said Benjamin P. (Ben) Bergey, EMU senior from Perkasie , Pa. , and co-president of the Student Government Association. “It is an outward example of how our Anabaptist values affect our behavior and decisions, in the case to find alternative forms of energy. So we as students are grateful to be at a school of integrity, with consistency between words and actions,” he added.
“We believe that with the right support in place, Virginia will be in a strong position to join the ranks as a leader in sustainable energy,” said Blair Kendall, strategic business development director with Southern Energy Management based in Morrisville, N.C., which conducted the engineering and installation of the panels and will maintain them for the 20-year term of the project agreement.
Using economic stimulus funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, DMME awarded an incentive grant for the project. ARRA funds through the US Treasury 1603 Investment Tax Credit grant will also help finance the solar installation.
“With a deep commitment to clean energy, I hope that this project represents just the beginning of EMU’s work to develop solar power,” said Swartzendruber, who also announced that the university hopes to host a second, larger solar system – to be financed and operated by Community Solar – in the first half of 2011. The president invited potential investors to contact his office or Secure Futures for more information on the upcoming solar project.
Ceramic materials help manufacturers of thin film photovoltaic cells achieve greater efficiency
The earth benefits from an impressive 125,000 terawatts (TW) of solar energy. While the future energy needs of the planet will undoubtedly be met with a combination of technologies, many believe that solar – in the form of photovoltaic (PV) cells – is the only renewable energy source with the capacity to make a significant impact on global energy production.
As a result, the race is on to push the performance of PV cells to a level where the total cost of the electricity generated is as cheap (if not cheaper) than that from carbon-based sources. Some predict that grid parity, as it is called, could be achieved in some locations within as little as a few years.
Most of the effort in this direction is now centered on thin film deposition, rather than wafer-based modules, although there is still discussion around the relative merits of both. The main arguments in favor of thin film are that it uses less material, and is much faster and simpler than the complex and delicate process of slicing, dicing and placing of silicon wafers. This means that if the cost of deposition can be reduced, and the efficiency of the resulting PV cells increased sufficiently, the goal of grid parity will be achieved.
What most commentators and manufacturers do agree on is that, for significant increases in efficiency, all components of the equipment and all steps of the process must be considered; there is no one panacea that will achieve the goal in a single step.
Thin film deposition process
Thin film deposition has been used for some years for a variety of applications, including semiconductor and optical components, decorative and low-emissivity architectural glass, and most recently in the manufacture of flat screens for TVs and computers. In solar cell production, the process offers a simpler and cheaper alternative to using silicon wafers.
Manufacturers continue to experiment with various materials and refinements of the thin film deposition process for solar cells based on silicon and other materials. The direct band-gap semiconductors cadmium telluride (CdTe), copper indium diselenide alloy (CuInSe2) and copper indium gallium diselenide alloy Cu(InGa)Se2, have high optical absorption coefficients (>105cm-1) are now emerging as the most popular materials for the photo absorption layer in thin film photovoltaic (TFPV) cells. More than a dozen companies worldwide are already actively producing these cells, or are in a start-up phase.
Creation of the TFPV layers can be achieved by various methods; using a physical or chemical vapor deposition processes, particle sintering or electro-deposition for example. Reports suggest that the best results are achieved using high temperature (up to approx 500°C) deposition and post-growth anneal of the TFPV layers.
While the processes are complex, and manufacturers continue to research, develop and refine, the essential features remain – high temperatures, aggressive and corrosive process materials.
Quality is key
To date TFPV cells have only achieved approximately 20% efficiency (which is the current benchmark for Crystalline Silicon PV cells manufactured in production quantity) over small areas and under laboratory conditions. In production quantities and large panel sizes the best efficiencies that manufacturers currently achieve is in the range of 10-12%.
In the push towards achieving the goal of grid parity, the manufacturing challenge is to create reliable and consistent process conditions that can reproduce laboratory quality in large quantities.
This is an area where manufacturers of PV cells and their equipment suppliers can benefit from the huge investment in materials research that has already been done over the years in the manufacture of semiconductors and flat screens, both of which have been through large-scale, fast ramp-ups in volume manufacture.
Ceramic – the perfect choice
Technical ceramic materials feature high hardness, physical stability, extreme heat resistance and chemical inertness. As such, they are highly resistant to melting, bending, stretching, corrosion and wear – and ideal for use in environments of extreme heat and aggressive chemicals, like that of TFPV deposition.
Morgan Technical Ceramics, a division of the Morgan Crucible Company plc, is a world leader in specialist engineering of ceramic components. A global business, the company is working with leading players in PV cell manufacture in USA, Europe and Asia, supplying a wide variety of components for both silicon-based and non-silicon based thin film solar cells.
Non-silicon thin film solar cell manufacture
In an application borrowed from the manufacture of architectural glass, fused silica rollers are used to move the hot glass panels through the deposition process. The thermal stability of silica is exceptional; it has a coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of <1 x 10-6/°C – lower than any other ceramic material. This low CTE combined with its chemical compatibility with glass make fused silica rollers an ideal choice for ensuring the glass remains perfectly flat during the process.
Morgan Technical Ceramics are supplying precision machined fused silica rollers for use in continuous flow TFPV deposition machines from its locations in Fairfield, NJ, USA and Yixing, China.
In TFPV deposition equipment, precursor vapors and gases are transported from a source vessel through a deposition zone onto a heated glass substrate to deposit the PV layer. Morgan Technical Ceramics produces a number of components used in this part of the TFPV process.
In some instances, solid materials are melted and vaporized from ceramic crucibles or boats to form a flux that is deposited on the heated glass substrate. It is critical that the ceramic crucible or boat be dimensionally stable and chemically non-reactive to the molten source material. Pyrolytic boron nitride (pBN) ceramic is an excellent material for this application due to its high corrosion resistance and non-reactivity with the source materials used in PV deposition. Morgan Technical Ceramics’ Hudson, NH USA site supplies pBN crucibles and evaporation boats made via a chemical vapor deposited (CVD) process that are ideal vessels due to the ultra-high purity nature of the CVD pBN material. Further, Morgan Technical Ceramics provides pBN-coated graphite heating elements used for material vaporization.
In other configurations, vaporized precursor materials are transported from the source to the deposition zone via a vapor distribution manifold. The manifold is formed from a perforated tube made of ceramic because it is one of the few materials with the chemical stability to operate without problems with these very toxic, hazardous chemicals, at high temperatures (above 500°C).
Morgan Technical Ceramics produces these tubes in mullite and in alumina, at its specialist extrusion facility in Waldkraiburg, Germany. Tubes are up to 2.5m (100inches) long x 105 mm (4inches) diameter, with multiple vapor exit points, for uniform deposition across the glass. They are extruded, fired in large kilns, and then precision machined to achieve final product tolerances within +/-0.15mm (0.005inch).
Silicon-based thin film solar cell manufacture
Oerlikon Solar, a European manufacturer of thin film deposition equipment for PV panel production, is using precision-engineered, high-purity ceramic bars in some of its higher temperature thin film deposition machines, for lifting, stacking and aligning components and the glass panels inside the chamber.
The ceramic is semiconductor-grade 99% alumina, chosen for its excellent thermal and chemical stability as an alternative to stainless steel, which has a tendency to buckle and bend at high temperatures.
Morgan Technical Ceramics is able to produce consistent flatness of less than 0.01mm over the 1.2m length of the bar and parallelism of less than 0.05mm, with a polished mirror finish. In fact, these tight specifications are well within the capability of the company’s specialist manufacturing facilities at Rugby, UK, where skills have been honed and refined through years of supplying critical components for the semiconductor, aerospace, laser and other demanding industries.
Ceramic pins, also made of high-grade alumina, are used as locators and separators between key components inside the TFPV deposition reaction module chamber. Shaped like a drawing pin, the component is about 15mm in length with tightly controlled dimensions to enable consistent deposition of the thin film layers within the reaction module.
Morgan Technical Ceramics’ Stourport plant, also in the UK, produces several thousand of these pins per month, and is expecting to double its production volume within the next 12 months.
Summary
In all these examples, two things are key. First, in these applications the very high quality engineering ceramics are not operating any where near the boundaries of their thermal and chemical stability. TFPV manufacturers are free to continue experimenting with higher temperatures and different thin film materials, safe in the knowledge that these components of the system will not have any adverse effect on the efficiency of the process or the finished PV panel. In such a rapidly developing market, this level of reliability is vital.
Second, Morgan Technical Ceramics has proven ability to produce consistently high specification components of this kind in large volume, and to be able to react quickly to sudden increases in demand on both sides of the Atlantic.
The manufacture of PV cells using thin film deposition processes is one of the fastest moving and most exciting manufacturing industries of our time. The global market is growing at a rate of 50% per year and estimates are that growth will continue at this rate until 2010, then increase even more rapidly for a couple years before ‘settling down’ to a steady 25% year on year growth. Clearly, the race is on, and the big money is there for PV manufacturers who can perfect their processes fast and take the lead.
Proven in other sectors, technical ceramics can make an important contribution to helping this roller-coaster of a developing industry achieve its goals of consistent quality in both the process and the finished product, for better PV cell efficiency in volume productions, and ultimately, parity with other sources of grid energy.
About Morgan Technical Ceramics
Morgan Technical Ceramics (MTC) has comprehensive range of Ceramic materials, from which its products are manufactured. Supplying to a variety of demanding markets, MTC has established an enviable reputation for providing value-added solutions through world-class research and development, innovative design and, perhaps most important of all, application engineering.
Morgan Advanced Ceramics, together with Morgan Electro Ceramics forms Morgan Technical Ceramics, a division of the Morgan Crucible Company plc. From manufacturing locations in Australia, North America, Europe and Asia, Morgan Technical Ceramics supplies an extensive range of products, including ceramic components, braze alloys, ceramic/metal assemblies and engineered coatings.
For more information on Morgan Technical Ceramics visit www.morgantechnicalceramics.com
Why Conservatives Are Bad on Energy: It’s All About the Costs
By Tom Rooney, CEO, SPG Solar
Conservatives, let’s talk about energy. And why so many conservatives are so
wrong — so liberal, even — on wind and solar energy.
Let’s start with a recent editorial from the home of ‘free markets and free people,”
the Wall Street Journal. Photovoltaic solar energy, quoth the mavens, is a “speculative
and immature technology that costs far more than ordinary power.”
So few words, so many misconceptions. It pains me to say that because, like many
business leaders, I grew up on the Wall Street Journal and still depend on it.
But I cannot figure out why people who call themselves “conservatives” would
say solar or wind power is “speculative.” Conservatives know that word is usually
reserved to criticize free-market activity that is not approved by well, you
know who.
Today, around the world, more than a million people work in the wind and solar
business. Many more receive their power from solar.
Solar is not a cause, it is a business with real benefits for its customers.
Just ask anyone who installed their solar systems five years ago. Today, many
of their systems are paid off and they are getting free energy. Better still,
ask the owners of one of the oldest and most respected companies in America who
recently announced plans to build one of the largest solar facilities in the
country.
That would be Dow Jones, owners of the Wall Street Journal.
Now we come to “immature.” Again, the meaning is fuzzy. But in Germany, a country
1/3 our size in area and population, they have more solar than the United States.
This year, Germans will build enough solar to equal the output of three nuclear
power plants.
What they call immaturity our clients call profit-making leadership.
But let’s get to the real boogie man: The one that “costs far more than ordinary
power.”
I’ve been working in energy infrastructure for 25 years and I have no idea what
the WSJ means by the words “ordinary power.” But, after spending some time with
Milton Friedman whom I met on many occasions while studying for an MBA at the
University of Chicago, I did learn about costs.
And here is what every freshman at the University of Chicago knows: There is
a difference between cost and price.
Solar relies on price supports from the government. Fair enough — though its
price is falling even faster than fossil fuels are rising.
But if Friedman were going to compare the costs of competing forms of energy,
he also would have wanted to know the cost of “ordinary energy.” Figured on the
same basis. This is something the self-proclaimed conservative opponents of solar
refuse to do.
But huge companies including Wall Mart, IBM, Target and Los Gatos Tomatoes figured
it out. And last year so did the National Academy of Sciences. It produced a
report on the Hidden Costs of Energy that documented how coal was making people
sick to the tune of $63 billion a year.
And that oil and natural gas had so many tax breaks and subsidies that were so
interwoven for so long, it was hard to say exactly how many tens of billions
these energy producers received courtesy of the U.S. Taxpayer.
Just a few weeks ago, the International Energy Agency said worldwide, fossil
fuels receive $550 billion in subsidies a year — 12 times what alternatives
such as wind and solar get.
Neither report factored in Global Warming or the cost of sending our best and
bravest into harm’s way to protect our energy supply lines.
Whatever that costs, you know it starts with a T.
All this without hockey stick graphs, purloined emails or junk science.
When you compare the real costs of solar with the fully loaded real costs of
coal and oil and natural gas and nuclear power, apples to apples, solar is cheaper.
That’s not conservative. Or liberal. That comes from an ideology older and more
reliable than both of those put together: Arithmetic.
