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GRID Alternatives Helps High Schoolers Get Their Hands Dirty On Solar Job Sites

A group of 40 high school students from California’s Inland Empire region that was trained through the Solar Future program of GRID Alternatives has helped to install solar power systems on four houses built by Habitat for Humanity in Moreno Valley, Calif.

During the two-day event in November, juniors and seniors who had been through classroom instruction conducted by GRID Alternatives served as volunteers for the installation of photovoltaic panels provided by SunPower. Five high schools were involved in the Habitat for Humanity solar build, three of which have long-term partnerships with GRID Alternatives. About eight to 15 students from each school were involved.

SunPower has contributed 1 MW of solar panels and inverters to Solar Futures and similar GRID Alternatives programs.

Bambi Tran, regional director of the Inland Empire at GRID Alternatives, says the installation serves as the culmination of coursework intended to raise awareness of the opportunities in the solar industry while also providing some of the training and knowledge related to those opportunities. The Solar Futures program provides the students with an orientation that focuses on general knowledge about renewable energy and energy efficiency. It also provides an overview of tools, safety gear and safety practices.

“A lot of the learning actually happens on-site, where installation supervisors take the students step-by-step through everything from laying out the systems to splicing the rails and using power tools,” Tran says.

Tran adds that the Inland Empire region has only recently been emerging from the economic downturn - and very slowly at that. Students are trying to figure out what career possibilities are available to them. Through Solar Futures, GRID Alternatives is seeking to show students that the solar sector can offer opportunities they might not otherwise have considered. The opportunities extend beyond installation, although there is clearly a need for that. Other less obvious opportunities include or deal with sales, finance, design, logistics and other necessary skills the solar industry needs.

“There is a need for young talent to join the solar industry at all different levels,” Tran says. “We get contacted all the time by companies asking us if we have leads on qualified or trained people who have been through our programs - not just for installation, but also for sales, design and permitting.” - Michael Puttré

 

UGE International Embarks On Panama Expansion With Local Talent And Opportunity

New York-based UGE International - formerly Urban Green Energy (UGE) - and its Panama-based partner OTEPI Renewables have unveiled the fist half dozen of an expected portfolio of 22 commercial-scale solar photovoltaic installations, with a total capacity of 4.5 MW, for Cochez y Cia SA, a chain of retail home improvement stores with locations throughout Panama.

The installations represent a significant investment in Panama for UGE, which had completed its first solar project in the country last year also in partnership with OTEPI and Cochez. Nick Blitterswyk, CEO of UGE, says the move into Panama is the result of a careful analysis of the local market conditions, as well as the cultivation of relationships with local partners and customers.

On the market side, Panama satisfies what Blitterswyk describes as the “Goldilocks formula” for successful solar project development in the commercial and industrial (C&I) space, which is UGE’s primary area of focus. Elements of this formula include satisfactorily high electricity prices at which solar can compete at the retail level; an overall economic infrastructure wherein projects can be installed cost-effectively; a business-friendly climate in which the developer can have confidence a deal closed will go forward; and a banking structure favorable to financing such projects - and, it doesn’t hurt that Panama uses the U.S. dollar.

“This mix of factors has led Panama to become a key market for us,” Blitterswyk says. “It’s a little bit trickier in some of the other markets in the region.”

Partnerships are sometimes a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Last year, OTEPI, a firm specializing in engineering, procurement and construction work, approached UGE for assistance in closing a deal with Cochez to build a 190 kW rooftop array for one of the company’s locations in Panama City. UGE provided sales, procurement and financing services to bring the project off.

Blitterswyk says the experience of working with OTEPI and Cochez on the 2014 installation led directly to the significantly more ambitious program this year. “From doing that first project with Cochez, we were able to sell them in January on the idea of doing a full portfolio of 22 sites,” he says. “The economics were so compelling, and the first project had gone so well. It was very much a repeat customer sort of relationship.”

At the same time, UGE and OTEPI have worked to win over other customers - yet to be announced - throughout Panama. Those other deals will increase the number of projects the partners have embarked on this year to nearly 30. The rapid expansion has required significant investments in talent and material, but Blitterswyk says the economies of scale and competitiveness of solar in Panama make such expansion worthwhile.

This is not to say the expansion is without its risks. Panama generates a significant portion of its electricity from oil, and the recent drop in oil prices is cause for some concern. Until this year, the average over the last 15 years was a 4.3% annual increase in the price of electricity. “It’s easier to sell solar when everyone is expecting another such increase than when people are expecting a decrease,” Blitterswyk says.

On the other hand, transmission and distribution charges are high enough that he says the price of oil could drop to zero, and distributed-generation solar would be a pretty good deal for C&I customers. What would be even better is if Panama would lift its 500 kW net-metering cap.

“On the one side, net metering is allowed,” Blitterswyk says. “On the other, it could be higher, right?” - Michael Puttré

 

Buyers Will Pay A Premium For Solar Homes

Photovoltaics have added value to homes in six markets, according to a new report published by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Researchers engaged a team of seven appraisers from across the six states to determine the value that solar PV systems added to single-family homes using the industry-standard, paired-sales valuation technique, which compares recent sales of comparable homes to estimate how much the premium buyers would pay for PV.

According to the report, the appraised premiums also confirmed statistical modeling results from a large Berkeley Lab study conducted in 2013 that found that buyers were willing to pay $15,000 more for a home with an average-size solar photovoltaic system (3.6 kW), though premiums for any individual home are market dependent and are likely smaller, given currently falling installed solar prices.

For each of the 43 pairs of comparable PV and non-PV homes, appraisers found premiums were highly dependent on the underlying system and market characteristics. These characteristics include the size of the system, the available incentives and installed prices at the time of sale, and the underlying retail electricity rates.

The study also found that price-per-watt was the appropriate metric for valuing PV systems and that there was no consistent difference in days on the market between PV and non-PV homes.

“These results will benefit appraisers, real estate agents and mortgage lenders who increasingly encounter PV homes and need to understand the factors that contribute to, and detract from, market value,” says Ben Hoen, an energy technologies researcher at Berkeley Lab and co-author of the report.

 

New Group Forms To Support Distributed Generation In Hawaii

Six organizations have joined to create the Distributed Energy Resources Council (DERC) to promote distributed energy and smart-grid technologies in Hawaii.

Hawaii has committed itself to achieving 100% renewable electricity generation by 2045.

Member companies include E-Gear, a battery energy storage system provider; Enphase, a manufacturer of micro-inverters; the Hawaii Energy Connection, a sustainable energy solution provider; Hygrid, an energy consulting firm; Stem, an energy storage and software provider; and Tabuchi, a manufacturer of solar inverters.

The organization says it plans to actively participate in proceedings at the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, as well as monitor and engage in relevant legislative opportunities.

“We are pleased to see the formation of this collaboration platform for distributed energy technologies in Hawaii,” says Dawn Lippert, director of the Energy Excelerator, a program of the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research that funds seed-stage and growth-stage start-ups with compelling and immediate applications in Hawaii. “The utility landscape is changing, and we need new technology companies at the table in order to help our utilities transform to a clean energy future. We hope DERC will work with policymakers, utilities and regulators to pave the way for new jobs, innovation and collaboration in Hawaii’s energy sector.”

 

Goldman Sachs Commits $150 Billion To Clean Energy

As part of its updated environmental policy framework, the Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has announced plans to expand its clean energy target to $150 billion in financings and investments by 2025.

First established in November 2005, the framework codifies the road map for continued environmental progress across each business of the firm.

Some highlights of the updated framework include the following:

By 2025, Goldman Sachs aims to reach $150 billion in clean energy financing and investments, expanding the existing $40 billion target set in 2012.

The firm says it will be the first U.S. investment bank to be carbon neutral across its operations and business travel by this year. By 2020, it plans to achieve $2 billion in green operational investments and seeks to source 100% renewable power for its global electricity needs.

Goldman Sachs will target the deployment of clean energy solutions to underserved markets to facilitate more equitable and affordable access through the launch of a clean energy access initiative.

The Goldman Sachs Center for Environmental Markets will invest $10 million in grants through partnerships that will demonstrate the potential of innovative financial mechanisms to unlock capital for environmental solutions.

The framework also includes initiatives to facilitate capital for water, climate risk solutions, and other environmental opportunities and develop innovative applications for green bonds. In addition, Goldman Sachs Asset Management will expand its environmental, social and governance, and impact investing capabilities.

Since 2006, Goldman Sachs says it has invested and financed $65 billion in clean energy around the world, structured over $14 billion in weather-related catastrophe bonds, invested $3.3 billion in green operational investments, and made over 50% of its global office portfolio green-building certified.

“Over the past 10 years, we have built on our commitment to harness market-based solutions to help support a healthy environment and address the problem of climate change,” says Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs. “We will continue to work toward deploying innovative financial mechanisms through an expanded investor base focused on environmental opportunities.”