Operation Solar Century

The Middle East is churning (for good cause this time) and oil prices are spiking.  What a shocker.  Isn’t this getting old already?  Oil price increases hurt the economy in the US and across the world. It’s effectively a tax hike on all consumers and businesses.  Just search “oil and recession” online and you will find an abundance of information about the correlation between oil price increases and the economic impact.  Here are just a few recent articles:

CBS Money Watch: Oil Prices and Recessions, 40 Years’ Worth
WSJ Article: Rising Oil Prices Raise the Specter of a Double Dip
NYT Times Article: Why the Disruption of Libyan Oil Has Led to a Price Spike

PROBLEM

What impacts economic growth?  Most agree that monetary policy (interest rates) and fiscal policy (taxes) are two of the most critical economic inputs.  Energy prices are probably in the top five.  What’s startling is that we have no control over the supply of such a critical economic input.  Imagine the US Federal Reserve, the entity responsible for setting monetary policy, were controlled by sovereign nations unbeholden to our national interests.  Who would stand for that?  Well this is what’s going on with OPEC.  A group of sovereign nations managing their assets to maximize revenue for their countries controls the price of the most important global commodity, and a top five variable that impacts the economy.  Since the majority of readily available global reserves reside within OPEC borders, its influence will only grow over time if current trends continue.  Furthermore, exogenous events such as revolutions, terrorist attacks and the like continue to pose a stark threat to supply.

Then consider the politics.  The US sends over $200,000,000,000 annually to OPEC.  Where are those funds going?  What type of regimes does this massive transfer of wealth support?  And while we don’t trade directly with Iran, our support of the global oil market enables that nation to sell its production at market rates. On the demand side, rising economic powers such as China and India have a seemingly insatiable appetite for petroleum and this new demand is contributing to surging prices.  We have fierce global competition for this vital resource.

It must be acknowledged that oil is only one component of the vast, complex and interconnected energy landscape.  Electricity is generated from diverse sources (oil continues to be a key fuel for power generation on Long Island).  But all fossil fuels have flaws, including severe environmental repercussions.  Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel, and increasing domestic supplies have helped keep the price of that fuel low.  Historically its price fluctuations correlated with oil but recently there is a divergence because of new supplies.  However, these new supplies have damaging environmental impact.  Take a look at this excellent piece in the NYT about the environmental challenges of natural gas drilling.

SOLUTION

Every day we grow more confident that implementing renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions is the answer to the energy challenge.

Take solar, our area of expertise.  Solar is a highly effective technology that we believe is going to dominate the 21st century energy landscape.  Today the technology works incredibly well and because of local, state and federal incentives it is a very smart investment to make by homeowners and businesses.

We are able to reduce or virtually eliminate many homeowners’ electric bills with the technology.  Businesses and non-profit organizations are reducing operating costs.  Fueling electric vehicles with solar energy is a home run.

Increased demand is leading to decreasing costs.  Incentives to go solar are still necessary but have been reduced gradually to promote market transformation.  One reason why solar is so promising is that costs should continue to come down over time, and incentives won’t be needed in the future.  Consider electronics such as computers and cell phones that are largely made of the same materials and manufactured in similar fabrication facilities.  Economies of scale have brought these technologies to the masses.

The potential benefits of solar from a macroeconomic point of view are profound.  Prices of this energy technology will come down over time.  Think about that.  Historically, energy prices have been volatile and risen over time, with occasional spikes that lead to economic misery.  Instead we have an energy technology that is going to come down in cost.  Replace uncertainty with certainty and all economic participants stand to benefit.

It is our theory that solar, other renewables, alternative fuels and energy efficiency will lead to dramatic economic growth, and growth in per capital income in the US and across the world.

Call To Action

It’s time to launch Operation Solar Century.  The goal of this operation is to make solar the dominant energy technology of the 21st century through strategic planning, smart policy and leadership.

We are grateful to solar advocates at LIPA, NYSERDA and in state and federal government, and numerous people and organizations for having the vision and determination to get us this far.  Because of these supporters we have a nascent but energized solar industry.

Now we must work together to promote the next generation incentive structure that can drive massive solar growth by providing long term visibility to the industry, and also be smart for ratepayers.  Both objectives can absolutely be achieved with the same policy.  New York has much to gain by taking a leadership role on this issue.  Stay tuned to learn about specific legislation that you can support.

Within time solar will achieve grid parity, at which point it will be competitive with the grid without subsidies.  To get from here to there we need smart policy and political leadership.  Decisions made today will have great consequence for economic well-being of our state, the nation and the world.  With the right leadership, solar will continue to be a wise investment for homeowners and businesses today, and over time will require fewer and fewer incentives to provide the same great economic benefit.

Now we must take the next steps to solidify our gains and make solar the dominant energy technology.

By working together, the 21st century will become known as the Solar Century.



INVERTER RECALL: NON-ISSUE FOR EMPOWERED CLIENTS

Last week LIPA sent a letter to all solar owners on Long Island about a Schneider Electric inverter recall that impacted products under the brand names Xantrex GT, SunPower, and General Electric.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS RECALL DOES NOT APPLY TO ANY EQUIPMENT INSTALLED BY EMPOWER               

Rest assured the inverter(s) that EmPower installed at your home or business is in great shape.  The recalled inverters are made by a company called Xantrex that was recently acquired by Schneider Electric.  While Xantrex was once a market leader, EmPower had several bad  experiences with them between 2005 and 2007 and has since never used them.                                                                                                     

Please know that you would certainly receive notice from us right away if a product recall affected your system.

Of course, do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Thank you as always for your commitment to EmPower and to solar energy.

We are honored to have you as our client.

David G. Schieren
Chief Executive Officer

Call (516) 837-3459 for further information
www.empowerces.com

The Smart Grid: Integrating rising demand & increased renewable energy into an aging and overburdened power grid

Last week I posted a blog about EmPower COO Greg Sach’s MIT Thesis on Smart Grid Design & Evolution.   This entry expands on that post with a little bit of background on where we stand right now and why we need to upgrade to a Smarter Grid.

The power grid in place in America today is still based on the plans that Thomas Edison constructed 120 years ago.  Energy demand has skyrocketed since then, and the antiquated power grid can hardly keep up!  Outages are becoming more common, power is lost in transmission, and inefficiencies in generation and distribution are costly.

Picture source: http://www.angelnexus.com/o/web/22672

Generating solar energy and monitoring it via SunPower’s Monitoring System is an example of a component of smart metering, an integral part of the future Smart Grid.  This monitoring system allows customers to see how much energy their system is producing in real-time on a display mounted inside the home, online via a web-based interface, and on-the-go via SunPower Monitoring apps for iPhone and iPod. By knowing electricity production, system owners can optimize their energy savings. Additionally, SunPower dealers like EmPower can remotely monitor the performance of all of our customer’s system’s, allowing for identification and correction of issues even before the customer notices a problem.

Picture source: http://us.sunpowercorp.com/residential/products-services/services/monitoring.php

With the smart grid of the future, people will not only be able to monitor how much their solar system is producing, but also how much electricity the entire building is using and real-time energy prices. This transparency allows residents to adjust their usage based on needs and costs.

To read more about the design of the smart grid, check out my previous post with the link to COO Greg Sach’s MIT Thesis on Smart Grid Technology.

EmPower COO Greg Sachs Graduates MIT, Publishes Smart Grid Design & Evolution Thesis

Having recently graduated from the System Design & Management (SDM) program at MIT, EmPower’s Chief Operating Officer Greg Sachs published his thesis on Next Generation Smart Grid Systems.  SDM is a joint program with the Sloan School of Management and Engineering School at MIT, where a core concept is that of defining “System Architectures”, which provide a toolset for designing and optimizing complex systems.  Greg’s program emphasis was on the technical and business aspects of renewable energy generation and power distribution.

The following is the abstract of his thesis, and you can download the whole report by clicking here.

Greg Sachs: A System Architect’s Basic Guide to Understanding & Designing Next Generation Grid Systems

A strong and growing desire exists, throughout society, to consume electricity from clean and renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and others. Due to the intermittent and variable nature of electricity from these sources, our current electricity grid is incapable of collecting, transmitting, and distributing this energy effectively.

The “Smart Grid” is a term which has come to represent this ‘next generation’ grid, capable of delivering, not only environmental benefits, but also key economic, reliability and energy security benefits as well. Due to the high complexity of the electricity grid, a principle based System Architecture framework is presented as a tool for analyzing, defining, and outlining potential pathways for infrastructure transformation. Through applying this framework to the Smart Grid, beneficiaries and stakeholders are identified, upstream and downstream influences on design are analyzed, and a succinct outline of benefits and functions is produced.

The first phase of grid transformation is establishing a robust communications and measurement network. This network will enable customer participation and increase energy efficiency through smart metering, real time pricing, and demand response programs.

As penetration of renewables increases, the high variability and uncontrollability of additional energy sources will cause significant operation and control challenges. To mitigate this variability reserve margins will be adjusted and grid scale energy storage (such as compressed air, flow batteries, and plugin hybrid electric vehicles or PHEV’s) will begin to be introduced. Achieving over 15% renewable energy penetration marks the second phase of transformation.

The third phase is enabling mass adoption, whereby over 40% of our energy will come from renewable sources. This level of penetration will only be achieved through fast supply and demand balancing controls and large scale storage. Robust modeling must be developed to test various portfolio configurations.

LBCRS Goes Green with EmPower Solar

On November 9, 2009, EmPower commissioned a 30 kW system for the Long Beach Catholic Regional School and Parish. Over the course of the year, the solar system will produce approximately 32000 kWh of electricity and reduce their bill by about $5500.

The School and Parish decided to install a solar system to reduce their environmental impact, reduce their energy bills, and provide a learning experience for the students. EmPower installed a monitor in the main hallway which displays daily energy production for students and visitors to see.

EmPower used SunPower solar panels and their PowerGuard mounting system. PowerGuard enables the panels to lie flat and interlock. No roof penetrations are required. The PowerGuard mounting system can withstand up to 140 mph wind and hail of up to 50 mph. Plus this mounting method provides extra insulation and protects the roof from UV and weather damage.