Web Blog Hackers-

Scotty writes: The Web Site that posted this information is posing as Scotty. http://souperdonsone.com/support/ is run by computer hackers. they have hacked this site. Rather than remove the content I'm using it as a warning to everyone.

I will be postings additional details as they become available. build green, Scotty

Scotty writes: The Web Site that posted this information is posing as Scotty. http://souperdonsone.com/support/ is run by computer hackers. they have hacked this site. Rather than remove the content I'm using it as a warning to everyone.

Scotty writes: The Web Site that posted this information is posing as Scotty. http://souperdonsone.com/support/ is run by computer hackers. they have hacked this site. Rather than remove the content I'm using it as a warning to everyone.

Scotty writes: This site that posted this information is posing as Scotty. http://souperdonsone.com/support/ is run by computer hackers.  they have hacked this site.  Rather than remove the content I'm using it as a warning to everyone. I will be postings additional details as they become available. build green, Scotty
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Solar and the Novermber Election- Political Issues vs Industry

Rhone Resch: An Industry, Not an Issue

By David Wagman, Chief Editor, Renewable Energy World North America magazine   |   October 13, 2010  

Rhone Resch looks to the November mid-term elections and worries that renewable energy–and solar in particular–may be cast as a political issue and not recognized as the industry both have become.

 

Tulsa, OK, USA -- "Any time you are embraced by the administration it's a great thing, but opponents to the administration can make it work against you," said Resch, the 44-year-old president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association. This Washington, D.C.-based trade group represents the interests of the solar energy industry. Resch said he expects the mid-term congressional elections to result in more of a numerical balance between Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. But he also believes fewer opportunities will exist for Congress to pass aggressive legislative initiatives that benefit renewables.

The solar industry became something of a political target in August. That was when $1.5 billion was pulled from Department of Energy loan guarantee programs by lawmakers as they looked for money to fund a bill benefitting teachers and state health care programs.
"Basically, it came down to political pressure that forced the leadership in Congress to search broadly to pay for education and state-level health care programs," Resch said. Assurances have since come from the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader and the White House that money taken from renewable energy will be reallocated later. But in a conversation with The Interview, Resch expressed frustration that the Department of Energy may be taking too long to make loan guarantees available.
"It's been a slow, laborious process in a program with a short deadline," he said. As many as 80 loan guarantee applications for solar energy projects remain under review at DOE. One of the only solar-focused loan guarantees made to date–a $530 million guarantee to California-based Solyndra in March 2009–was actually an application related to a 2005-vintage program.

Resch said he believes that as loan guarantee applications are reviewed, DOE and the Office of Management and Budget have imposed requirements and standards far more onerous than anything private sector lenders might propose. Perhaps more troubling, project developers have received little guidance from DOE on how to modify their applications to speed up the review process.

"It's the Department of Energy; they should be able to tap into the greatest minds to get technology assurances," Resch said. "DOE is slow in getting the money out."
Resch grew up in Wilton, Conn. and got an early idea that the environment might be his career after his kindergarten teacher presented him with a "Class Environmentalist" award, most likely for efforts to protect bugs on the playground, he said. (In February 2010 this magazine and RenewbleEnergyWorld.com presented Resch with a Leadership Award for his more recent work on behalf of renewable energy.)

Resch attended the University of Michigan and holds an MPA in Management from Syracuse University's Maxwell School as well as a Master of Environmental Engineering from SUNY Syracuse. During the Clinton administration Resch served as program manager at the Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Protection Division and later worked for the Natural Gas Supply Association. At EPA he directed the Natural Gas STAR program, which encouraged oil and natural gas producers to voluntarily cut methane emissions that result from leaks and losses in pipelines, gas gathering and related processing facilities. His time working with an "adversary" industry helped him appreciate the benefits of looking for common ground and areas of cooperation across the energy industry.

He views the EPA as both the logical and the correct choice to pursue carbon and greenhouse gas regulation. He also sees the natural gas industry as potentially a strong ally for the solar industry.

On the first point, Resch said carbon dioxide emissions from the electric power industry presents a classic example of inefficiency that can and should be corrected through regulation. Fossil-fired generators may object to new regulations, but the long-term effects of regulation typically benefit the economy and the environment.

"EPA regulating carbon emissions is a very, very important first step to addressing global warming," he said.

When it comes to alliances with natural gas, Resch said the fossil fuel could be a good friend of renewable energy as perhaps 50 GW of coal-fired generation is retired in the coming years due to regulation and obsolescence. The natural gas industry expects an extended period of stable supply and prices as new, so-called unconventional resources are developed, primarily in tight sand and shale geologic formations across the Appalachians and into Texas. As these fields are exploited, opportunities will likely emerge to marry natural gas-fired peaking and intermediate-load plants with renewable sources such as solar photovoltaic and solar thermal to replace coal-based generation.

The combination of low natural gas prices, growth of utility-scale solar and interest in renewable energy among independent power producers signals the "beginning of a partnership" with natural gas, Resch said. At the same time, many utilities realize that solar energy can help them meet peak loads. After all, solar energy hits its maximum output around the same time of day that peak demand occurs. Solar energy has "huge value," Resch said, because it can help meet peak load while reducing the need to burn natural gas in peaking facilities. At the same time it can strengthen reliability, particularly if solar PV is distributed widely across a utility's service territory.

As state renewable portfolio standards evolve, Resch sees the need for mechanisms that create a distributed generation carve-out. Such mechanisms would create a solar renewable energy credit to send price signals. In east coast markets, for example, such credits already generate price signals that help justify more renewable energy investment in general and more solar in particular.

Unfortunately, Resch sees few of those same principles reflected in proposed federal renewable portfolio standards. "A straight 15 percent standard by 2020 doesn't benefit all technologies," he said.

Also inadequate–although appreci- ated–was the 30 percent tax credit for manufacturing included as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the popularly termed "stimulus bill" of 2009.

"It's great it was created but it's woefully inadequate" to support the U.S. solar manufacturing industry, Resch said. One reason is that in the competition for manufacturing jobs, Asian governments are proving to be more aggressive than almost any U.S. state or even the federal government. Where a manufacturer might receive a one-time tax credit to locate a solar technology operation in a state, foreign governments may offer incentives that include long-term tax holidays, free land, low-interest loans and workforce training.
Such incentives are largely "not matched" in the U.S., Resch said. In the coming years, he expects the cost of manufacturing to focus less on the cost of labor and more on the cost of transportation and the importance of access to markets. It's on those points that he sees U.S. companies having an advantage as the domestic solar energy market grows, perhaps even to lead the world within the next several years. Strengthening the prospects for manufacturers is the fact that solar energy comprises multiple technologies, everything from concentrating PV to building-integrated PV to solar thermal and hot water production.

"All have different applications and price points" as well as manufacturing opportunities, Resch said. Arizona, Oregon, North Carolina and Georgia have shown leadership in offering incentives to manufacturers. And Resch pointed to the $1 billion investment Dow Chemical announced last February it is making to build a manufacturing plant in Michigan for its shingle-integrated solar PV technology.

"To be honest, a lot of people poo-poohed solar," Resch said. That attitude is largely a thing of the past and states now view solar as an attractive industry both for manufacturing jobs and for clean energy.

In his six years as head of SEIA, Resch said his most satisfying accomplishment has been to help the industry speak with one voice and with a consistent message. He said the investment tax credit might not have been created without the industry working and speaking collectively when it went to Capitol Hill.

"It takes a few dozen years to get to know how the legislative process works," Resch said of working in the nation's capital. He acknowledged that it's a big challenge to work with companies and CEOs to keep them together and on message. "We've taken a fractured industry and brought it together to be a powerful voice in Washington D.C.," Resch said.
And–no small feat–to reach a point where solar energy may finally be seen as an industry and not merely as an issue.
--
Scott's Contracting
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2010 Snake Oil Awards- Vote Here

On Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 10:10 AM, Dave Boundy, Repower America <info@repoweramerica.org> wrote:

Dear Scotts Contracting, Who was the dirtiest opponent of clean energy this year? I don't think it would be too hard to name at least a handful of big oil companies and professional polluters that lied and cheated to protect their billions in profits. That's why Repower America is asking you to vote this fall for the worst offender of 2010. The depths to which the fossil fuel companies and their cronies have sunk this past year are unprecedented. Corporate polluters have hijacked our democracy, devastated our environment, denied the science of climate change and made record profits doing it. Who was the dirtiest opponent of clean energy this year? Nominate a fossil fuel company for the 2010 Snake Oil Award and make sure it gets the recognition that is truly deserved. The nomination period begins today and remains open until midnight on Friday, October 22. Our slate of nominees will be announced November 1, and after supporters like you cast your vote, the "winner" will receive our first annual Snake Oil Award. It's up to you to decide who's the worst of the worst: Is it Massey Energy and CEO Dan Blankenship for the way they handled the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in West Virginia last April? Or how about Koch Industries, led by brothers Charles and David Koch, for polluting our planet and bankrolling countless climate deniers using shadowy front groups? And let's not forget this year's critical darling BP for devastating the Gulf Coast with the worst offshore oil spill in history, hampering the investigation and sending their CEO Tony Hayward off in a golden parachute. Submit your nominee for the 2010 Snake Oil Awards. When climate activists come together and speak out, snake oil salesmen have nowhere to hide. Get involved today and help shine a spotlight on the biggest disgrace of 2010. Thanks for getting involved, Dave Boundy Campaign Manager Repower America     This email was sent to scottscontracting@gmail.com. Paid for by the Alliance for Climate Protection

--
Scott's Contracting
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Politico Morning Energy Report- Kit Bond Included

POLITICO's Morning Energy, presented by America's Natural Gas Alliance: EDF'S new ad blasts Bond – Alaska Republican's private security 'arrests' reporter – California regulators look to make drivers pay for pollution

Monday, October 18, 2010 4:46 AM

 

POLITICO's Morning Energy
By Josh Voorhees

ME FIRST LOOK - The Environmental Defense Fund will begin running a new TV spot today blasting Sen. Kit Bond for his efforts to block U.S. EPA from writing new air pollution rules. The ads will run throughout the week in major media markets in the retiring senator's home state of Missouri.

The 30-second video makes no mention of global warming or greenhouse gases, but instead focuses on the potential health impacts of air pollution, complete with video of a young girl in a hospital bed. Watch the not-so-subtle ad here: http://bit.ly/bUUlVH

BACKGROUND - Bond is on the greens' naughty list as a result of his unsuccessful bid last month to attach an amendment to the defense bill that would have undercut EPA's ability to regulate carbon emissions and his opposition to tighter standards on mercury pollution from boilers. "While Senator Bond's efforts did not succeed, it is clear that this is the beginning of a sustained assault on the air pollution rules that protect the health of all Americans," EDF's Tony Kreindler e-mails Morning Energy.

A WARNING SHOT - "While Senator Bond is retiring, we intend this ad to be [a] message to any Member of Congress - Democrat or Republican - who might consider following his lead in the weeks and months ahead," Kreindler said.

GREENS' GREEN - LCV spent a combined $555,000 yesterday on House races in Ohio, Michigan and Nevada, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission. The cash went to Reps. John Boccieri ($250K for a pair of TV ad buys), Mark Schauer ($100K for a field program; $5K for a TV ad) and Dina Titus ($200K for a TV ad buy). (Hat tip: POLITICO's Ben Smith) http://bit.ly/aP25O9.

View some of the ads here: http://bit.ly/c1uumF

The expenditures come on the heels of last week's announcement by the group that it was adding Prop 23 to its "Dirty Dozen" list. LCV and its sister organization have spent a total of $1.2 million so far to defeat the California ballot initiative.

** A message from America's Natural Gas Alliance: When used for power generation, natural gas is twice as clean as coal when it comes to carbon emissions. It has 80% fewer NOx emissions and virtually no sulfur dioxide, particulate matter or mercury. http://bit.ly/d652Uo **

CHENEY'S 'FOG OF DISINFORMATION' - The NYT's editorial board today blasts GOP Senate candidates for disappearing "in a fog of disinformation" when it comes to addressing climate change. "The candidates are not simply rejecting solutions. ... They are re-running the strategy of denial perfected by Mr. Cheney a decade ago, repudiating years of peer-reviewed findings about global warming and creating an alternative reality in which climate change is a hoax or conspiracy." http://nyti.ms/arrTxL

POLLUTER PAYS? - Air quality regulators in California's San Joaquin Valley are proposing to charge the owners of the region's 2.7 million cars and trucks an annual fee of $10 to $24 as a way to cover federal fines that could top $30 million for exceeding federal ozone limits, the NYT reports today.

"Although the surcharge is not expected to change how much people drive or what cars or trucks they buy, air pollution experts say it is a harbinger of the future. After decades of forcing industry to clean its smokestacks, retool car and truck engines and fine-tune gasoline, regulators are exploring what they can do to force consumers to face up to the pollution they cause." http://nyti.ms/9ehwr1

LATE BREAKING - The editor of an online Alaska news site was arrested (and handcuffed) last night by Joe Miller's private security guards as the editor attempted to interview the Senate hopeful at the tail end of a public event in Anchorage, according to multiple media reports.

The Anchorage Daily News:"[Tony] Hopfinger, who was holding a small video camera, said he was attempting to draw out a statement from Miller on why he was disciplined by the Fairbanks North Star Borough when Miller worked there as a part-time attorney. After Miller walked away, Hopfinger said, he was surrounded by Miller supporters and security guards and felt threatened, so he pushed one of them away." http://bit.ly/adjcUk

The Dispatch's take, complete with slideshow: http://bit.ly/dzJzBD

SPEAKING OF ALASKA - With ENR ranking member Lisa Murkowski closing the gap on Miller in recent weeks, officials and candidates in The Last Frontier are preparing for the legal fight that is all but certain to break out over which misspellings of her name should be counted in her favor, WSJ reports today. http://bit.ly/aSthbp

HAPPENING TODAY - The Natural Resources Defense Council will release its latest polling data at noon on how a yes vote on Waxman-Markey is affecting the reelection efforts of 23 House lawmakers.

The list: Jerry McNerney (Calif.-11); Betsy Markey (Colo.-4); Alan Boyd (Fla.-2); Suzanne Kosmas (Fla.-24); Alan Grayson (Fla.-8); Leonard Boswell (Iowa-3); Debbie Halvorsen (Ill.-11); Phil Hare (Ill.-17); Frank Kratovil (Md.-1); Mark Schauer (Mich.-7); Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.-1); Harry Teague (N.M.-2); Dina Titus (N.V.-3); John Hall (N.Y.-19); Steve Driehaus (Ohio-1); Mary Jo Kilroy (Ohio-15); John Boccieri (Ohio-16); Zack Space (Ohio-18); Paul Kanjorski (Pa.-11); Patrick Murphy (Pa.-8); John Spratt (S.C.-5); Tom Perriello (Va.-5) and Steve Kagan (Wisc.-8).

ALSO TODAY - GridWeek 2010 kicks off this morning at D.C.'s Walter E. Washington Convention Center with a keynote from Commerce Secretary Gary Locke at 8:30 a.m. From there, participants can choose one of three tracks for the opening day, including discussions on global grid activity and industry collaboration. But those novices who don't know a CBL from a CPP have no need to worry: There is also a three-part primer for beginners (Ballroom B).

AND TOMORROW - Ford Motor Co. and Microsoft are hosting a discussion Tuesday entitled, "Charged Up: Is America Ready for Electric Vehicles?" (ME SPOILER: Ford plans to have a trio of its plug-in models on hand for test drives, so we're pretty sure what the panel's answer is going to be.) The two-hour discussion will feature: David Sandalow, DOE assistant secretary for policy; Sue Cischke, Ford's environmental group vice president; and Mark Duvall, electric transportation director at the Electric Power Research Institute. 10 a.m. in The Newseum's Knight Studio.

EPA HOMECOMING - The Environmental Law Institute holds a forum tomorrow to discuss EPA's "future role using 20th century law." The panel includes a number of EPA alumni, including: former general counsels Jonathan Cannon and Ann Klee, and former deputy administrator Hank Habicht. Current deputy administrator Bob Perciasepe is also expected to be on hand. 3:30 p.m. at the Omni Hotel. 2500 Calvert St. NW.

LIGHTNING ROUND:
--The Project on Government Oversight is using the release of an e-mail between Steven Henke, then of BLM, and the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association to question the decision by government ethics officials to allow Henke to leave his job as an oil and gas regulator to become head of the trade group. http://bit.ly/ajIX3R

--EPA chief Lisa Jackson spent her weekend touring low-income neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay area as part of her "environmental justice" tour. LAT: http://lat.ms/95bVrn

--Starting next season, NASCAR will use a new E15 racing fuel. http://bit.ly/bRWDUk

--NYT separates "myth from fact" about the soon-to-be-released Chevy Volt. http://nyti.ms/aRB4FW

THE WEEK AHEAD:

Tuesday: The Clean Diesel conference kicks off at the Washington Convention Center. The two-day event officially begins with a welcome luncheon at 11:30 a.m., where a TBD U.S. EPA official is slated to give the keynote.

Wednesday: The National Capital Planning Commission will hold a discussion on how federal agencies are meeting new greenhouse gas emissions requirements. Participants include: White House Council on Environmental Quality's Michelle Moore. 401 Ninth St. NW. 6 p.m.

Thursday: The Environmental and Energy Study Institute holds a briefing on the low-carbon lessons that can be learned from Nordic countries. 9 a.m. in the Capitol.

Thursday: Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack will give a speech on his agency's progress toward reaching the Renewable Fuels Standard (36 billion gallons). National Press Club. 9: 30 a.m.

CHECKING THE TRAPS:

Bloomberg - BP has agreed to sell assets in Venezuela and Vietnam to its Russian joint venture TNK-BP for $1.8 billion. http://bit.ly/b36A6e

WSJ - In Israel, Texas-based Noble Energy Inc. and other oil companies are set to start drilling what executives are hailing as one of the world's most promising natural-gas prospects in years. http://bit.ly/bhWN26

LAT - A number of lawmakers are looking to remove wolves from the nation's endangered species list. http://lat.ms/9J12TD

WaPo - The American chestnut tree is ready for a comeback. http://wapo.st/9p7fWK

AND FINALLY - We leave you with a dispatch from POLITICO's Darren Samuelsohn, who apparently is always on the clock. Darren was on his way home Saturday evening from a reporting trip to California when he spotted a pair of "energy heavyweights" on board his final leg from O'Hare to D.C.

"David Sandalow, DOE's assistant secretary of energy for policy & international affairs, said he was on the final leg of his return trip from Shanghai, where he had been attending energy bilaterals with President Barack Obama's top science adviser, John Holdren. By sheer coincidence, Howard Gruenspecht, deputy director of the Energy Information Administration, was a few rows back. He said he was connecting from Calgary."

** A message from America's Natural Gas Alliance: One solution for more abundant domestic energy is staring us in the face. Natural gas is the natural choice-now and in the future. We know we need to use cleaner, American energy. And, we have it. Today, the U.S. has more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil, giving us generations of this clean, domestic energy source. Natural gas supports 2.8 million American jobs, most states are now home to more than 10,000 natural gas jobs. As Congress and the Administration look for ways toward a cleaner tomorrow, the answer is right here: natural gas. Learn more at www.anga.us . And, follow us on Twitter @angaus. **

Go to Morning Energy Now >> http://www.politico.com/morningenergy

--
Scott's Contracting
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.com
scotty@stlouisrenewableenergy.com

Solar Power Reliability and Balance-of-System Designs

 

By Mike Fife, P.E., PhD, PV Powered Inc.   |   October 14, 2010   |  

Balance-of-system component providers can significantly reduce the levelized cost of energy by boosting device reliability.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA -- In order to compete more effectively with other energy sources, the solar industry is focused on decreasing the levelized cost of energy (LCOE), a term that refers to the price at which solar energy is valued taking into account all the lifetime costs of the solar power system. This includes the cost of the initial investment, the cost of capital, the cost of system operations and maintenance and repair costs. While there is much visibility on bringing down the purchase cost of solar cell technologies, the cost of maintenance and repairs represents the major variable cost over the lifetime of a photovoltaic (PV) system. In fact, although PV balance-of-system (BOS) components (inverters, trackers, junction boxes, combiners and transformers) represent only about 10 percent of system costs, they have historically been responsible for up to 70 percent of system failures.1,2,3,4 Fixed cost and downtime associated with these failures can have a significant negative impact on solar power economics.

One of the most effective things that BOS component providers can do to help bring down the LCOE is to increase the reliability of their devices in solar plant applications. Such a program needs to start with an analysis of where failures can occur.

Sources and Likelihood of Failure

Some pioneering work to improve reliability was done by PV Powered Inc. in partnership with Boeing on a project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under the Solar America Initiative (SAI). As part of the project, a Boeing engineer performed a system-level failure analysis of a 10 MW plant. A mathematical model of the whole plant was constructed using reliability data provided by the component manufacturers for each subsystem (inverters, disconnects, fuses and so on).⁵ The model takes into account the estimated probability of failure of all components and the estimated cost and time to make repairs when a component fails.

Time to repair is a key element of the equation because it is directly related to calculating the amount of energy lost during the outage. In some cases, the cost of lost energy production can far outweigh the cost of the failed components.

It is well known in reliability engineering that equipment typically goes through three phases during its fielded lifetime. A complete system-level failure analysis needs to take into consideration multiple failure types. For example, one type of failure is "infant mortality" for which the probability of failure–as the name implies–decreases with time as shown in the traditional "bathtub curve" (see Figure 2). Random failures, such as those due to lightning strikes, have the same probability of occurring at any time in the system's life. Finally, the probability of wearout failures, such as those due to contact oxidation or moving parts wearing out, increases with time.

Because the probability of failure of the system as a whole increases with each component, the number of parts in the system is a major variable contributing to system reliability. It stands to reason that, all other things being equal, systems with fewer components will be more reliable than those with more components. And in this regard, there's a balance between adding devices that can contribute to increasing the energy harvest and the contribution that the additional devices make to increasing the chance of failure. For example, DC-DC converters placed between the arrays and the inverters are being promoted as a way to increase power output from the arrays. But the additional system components must be factored into the reliability equation. A similar observation can be made regarding solar tracking systems that adjust the arrays for maximum irradiation.

For their part, inverter manufactures have different design philosophies resulting in different component makeups and hence different reliability profiles for their products. Therefore, just as developing a reliability model for a solar power system involves taking into account the reliability profile of each system element, calculating the reliability of a particular system element (such as a solar inverter) requires constructing a reliability model of each of its components. Some components may be specially selected to withstand harsh environments and some may incorporate redundancy so that a failure will not affect the operation of the system as a whole.

The operating environment that solar equipment is typically subjected to poses particular challenges to component reliability. To accurately predict component stresses and associated wear-out mechanisms that solar system electronics experience due to natural temperature cycles, a complex time-dependent thermal modeling approach is required. This type of modeling allows component temperature changes to be simulated over a long time period in a particular environment.

To accomplish this, factors such as solar heating, conduction and convection to and from each component must be considered. Any active cooling system control parameters must also be considered since they can affect component temperatures by, for example, turning on a fan. Therefore, many component temperatures do not track ambient conditions, but instead follow a more complex pattern that is a function of ambient temperature changes, geometry of the inverter power profile and cooling control system setpoints. There are a number of methods that can be used to perform thermal simulations. The preferred method at PV Powered is a custom Matlab program that solves the heat transfer equations (convection, conduction and heating rate) given an input file containing a set of component properties, thermal interaction parameters and cooling control law parameters.

In calculating long-term component reliability under changing temperature conditions, simpler constant-hazard-rate and mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) calculations that might apply in other situations are not applicable. More advanced techniques such as cumulative damage modeling can be used, however.

Improving Inverter Reliability

Because of the complexity of the problem and the need to optimize the results, PV Powered started with a clean sheet of paper in designing its commercial and utility-scale inverters. The resulting designs employ between 30 percent and 50 percent fewer components compared to other inverter designs. With fewer components to fail the projected uptime of the system can be extended accordingly.

Another contributor to the PV Powered inverters' reliability is a redundant cooling system. The design principle behind this is to use a single airflow source with redundant fans that allow the inverter to continue to operate at full power if one should fail. Variable fan speed control is used to deliver the necessary amount of cooling air to assure long-term component reliability, but no more, thus minimizing fan power and maximizing fan lifetime. Fan speed, energy use and temperatures are remotely sensed and alerts and faults are generated if problem conditions occur. High capacity air intake filters are used to keep entire inverter clean.

Protection against random events that affect solar system reliability is also a design consideration. For example, lightning strikes have been found to be a significant cause of inverter damage. PV Powered exceeds recommended lightning protection measures internal to the inverter by incorporating dual redundancy and failure detection. But lightning protection needs to be approached from a system perspective and requires much more than just internal protection. Standards such as IEC 62305 can be used as a guide for establishing system-level protection of PV systems from lightning strikes.

Validating System Reliability

The theoretical reliability projections for solar system components can be validated through testing. Two types of testing are performed at PV Powered: Accelerated life testing of designs can improve reliability as part of the qualification process and stress screening is performed during production testing to screen infant mortality defects. Accelerated life testing is performed by operating inverters at elevated stress levels chosen to rapidly and quantifiably accelerate degradation mechanisms. Stress screening, also called burn-in, is performed at maximum inverter operating temperatures under careful monitoring for abnormalities.

The most important thing that solar power component and system designers can do is understand potential failure modes that can arise so that designs may be produced that minimize the chances of those failures occurring. And by increasing the reliability of solar power systems, we're able to decrease system downtime, which is a major contributor to the levelized cost of energy.

1. E. Collins, et al., "Reliability and Availability Analysis of a Fielded Photovoltaic System," 34th IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Philadelphia, Penn., USA, June 2009
2. H. Laukamp, ed., Task 7 Report International Energy Agency IBI-PVPS 77-08: 2002, "Reliability Study of Grid Connected PV Systems Field Experience and Recommended Design Practice," Fraunhofer lnstitut fur Ware Energiesysteme, Freiburg, Germany, March 2002
3. N.G. Dhere, "Reliability of PV modules and balance-of-system components," Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, 2005. Conference Record of the Thirty-first IEEE , vol., no., pp. 1570-1576, 3-7 Jan. 2005
4. L. M. Moore, and H. N. Post, "Five Years of Operating Experience at a Large, Utility-scale Photovoltaic Generating Plant," Progress in Photovoltaics: Research and Applications, 2007
5. Russell W. Morris, and John M. Fife, "Using Probabilistic Methods to Define Reliability Requirements for High Power Inverters," Proceedings of the SPIE vol. 7412 74120G-2, 2009

Dr. J. Michael Fife is director of Reliability for PV Powered. He has more than 15 years of experience in technology development and failure analysis. His experiences include managing engineer at Exponent Inc. and aerospace research engineering roles at the Air Force Research Laboratory Electric Propulsion Group and NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. He is a licensed professional engineer and holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from MIT and a B.S. from Texas A&M University.

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Solar Financing News-Public-Private-Funding-options

Public-Private Partnerships Can Help Finance Renewable Energy Projects

By Lee J. Peterson, Reznick Group   |   October 18, 2010   |   Entities that don't pay taxes can still take advantage of tax credits for renewable energy installations. Here's how.

 

Even in tough economic times, great opportunities exist, especially for governments and tax-exempt organizations interested in using of renewable energy. In fact, it is precisely these tough times that are making renewable energy the smart choice right now. This is especially true for cities and schools, where declining tax revenues and high operating costs are forcing cutbacks to balance budgets.

Because investments in renewable energy can often lower otherwise fixed operating costs, renewables are a wise solution – one where everyone wins, as long as you go about it the right way. 

In general, renewable energy investments, like solar systems, have a substantial upfront cost.  For most, this poses a challenge for tight budgets.  As a result, clever city managers and school administrators are looking for solutions that solve the problem of meeting energy needs while managing and lowering costs.

A good solution exists and here's how it works.

In general, renewable energy equipment, like solar panels, wind turbines, biomass, and geothermal heating and cooling systems, qualifies for large federal income tax benefits which cover up to 30 percent of the costs for such equipment – with resourceful structuring, the tax benefits can often times generate up to 40 percent of the equipment costs. 

The problem for governments and tax-exempt organizations is that they don't pay taxes and therefore when purchasing renewable energy equipment, these entities could end up paying more.  Fortunately, if the government or school can arrange a proper public-private partnership, this is not true.

So how is this done? Simply by not owning the equipment – at least for the five-year period that is required by the U.S. tax code. If the government or tax-exempt entity allows a private partner to legally own the equipment, and simply signs a five-year energy service agreement, the tax benefits can be realized by the private partner and the school or government takes advantage of the lowered energy costs.

There are other partnerships that can be structured and an experienced renewable energy tax advisor can help sort through the tax code.  For example, in some instances ownership by a so-called "blocker corporation" may allow the school or tax-exempt entity to hold partial ownership of the equipment.  Unfortunately, this it isn't a solution for governments (only for tax exempts) because of special federal tax rules that differ for governments. 

So what can be done if neither ownership, lease, nor a blocker works?  Focus on the tax law rather than just state law.

There is also a little known, and highly esoteric, federal income tax rule whereby if a taxpayer can establish ownership for federal income tax purposes, you can in essence ignore state law legal ownership for federal tax purposes.  Therefore, if the IRS agrees that, based on all the facts and circumstances of the transaction between the public and private parties, the private party is the owner of the equipment, even if there is a bona fide state-law lease or legal title held by an exempt entity, then federal tax benefits may be realized by the private party.  But again, I highly recommend that you seek tax counsel of the utmost competency, and cooperative tax-exempt partners in order to take advantage of this type of "threading the needle" on tax code.

As I mentioned earlier, the simplest solution is for a private sector party to own the renewable energy equipment and sell the energy back to the government or tax-exempt entity through an energy services contract or a power purchase agreement (PPA). By selling energy under contract where the contract is not characterized as either ownership or a lease for federal tax purposes, the federal (and maybe state) tax benefits stay with the private party. As long as such sales of energy are legal in your state, this is a powerful solution.

Lee J. Peterson is a tax senior manager at Reznick Group, a top 20 national accounting firm. 

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2010 Tied for Warmest on Record So Far

This year has been a steamy one so far, with the first nine months tied for the warmest on record with the same period in 1998, according to a new report looking at combined land and ocean surface temperatures.

The global average land surface temperature for January-September was the second warmest on record, behind 2007; and the global ocean surface temperature for that stint was also the second warmest on record, behind 1998.

The report was put out by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Climate Data Center and includes records going back to 1880.

Here are some of the highlights:

• For the year-to-date, the global combined land and ocean surface temperature of 58.67 degrees Fahrenheit (14.75 degrees Celsius) tied with 1998 as the warmest January-September period on record. That record is 1.17 degrees F (0.65 degrees C) above the 20th century average.
• The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature for September 2010 tied with 1998 as the eighth warmest month on record at 59.9 degrees F (15.5 degrees C).
• The September 2010 global land surface temperature was the ninth warmest September on record.

Warmer-than-average conditions dominated the world's land areas this year. The most prominent warmth was in western Alaska, most of the contiguous United States, eastern Canada, Greenland, the Middle East, eastern and central Europe, western and far eastern Russia and northeastern Asia.

Cooler-than-average regions included much of Australia, western Canada, parts of the northern United States, parts of western and central Europe, and central Russia.

Arctic sea ice reached its annual minimum on Sept. 19, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The 2010 average extent of 1.89 million square miles (4.90 million square kilometers) was the third lowest September sea ice extent on record (30.4 percent below average).

Antarctic sea ice reached its annual maximum in September, and marked the third largest sea ice extent on record (2.3 percent above average), behind 2006 (largest) and 2007 (second largest).

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