Germany sets new solar power record

Reuters
German solar power plants produced a world record 22 gigawatts of electricity per hour - equal to 20 nuclear power stations at full capacity [ and nearly 50 percent of the nation's midday electricity needs]- through the midday hours on Friday and Saturday

Students Create Award-Winning Robot That Cleans Solar Panels

Inhabitat
Solar panels must be regularly cleaned and maintained in order to keep them operating efficiently and maximize the amount of sunlight they convert into electricity. With this in mind, a group of students from CalTech and UCLA have developed an impressive robot that cleans solar panels. The design won a third of $200,000 in prize money in the DOE’s National Clean Energy Business Plan Competition.

UPDATE: PV trade war

Tariffs Levied Against Chinese Module Manufacturers

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) levied a second round of preliminary tariffs against Chinese solar module imports in the ongoing trade war between U.S. solar manufacturers and their Chinese counterparts. The following are the anti-dumping tariffs handed down in the ruling:

• Suntech: 31.22 percent
• Trina: 31.14 percent
• Named Chinese firms: 31.18 percent
• Firms that did not provide info to Dept. of Commerce: 249.96 percent

[GTM comment] At these margins, China-based manufacturers would certainly have to raise U.S. prices to turn a profit. It is not feasible for them to maintain prices at tariff-free levels and still be profitable. In the short term, this is likely to lead to module price increases in the U.S. which would serve to dampen demand and installation growth. If the Chinese were to absorb the tariff, it would place their costs close to parity with many U.S.-based suppliers.”“However, Chinese firms are hardly likely to stand still. Broadly speaking, they have two strategies: set up cell manufacturing outside China, or use the tolling services of Taiwan-based suppliers to turn wafers into cells there, and then assemble the modules in China. Both strategies would allow the Chinese to bypass import tariffs. We estimate that tolling cells to Taiwanese firms would increase Chinese costs by 6 percent to 12 percent, which is meaningful but manageable

Suntech responses to preliminary decision on antidumping tariffs for PV cells from China:"As a global company with global supply chains and manufacturing facilities in three countries, including the United States, we are providing our U.S. customers with hundreds of megawatts of quality solar products that are not subject to these tariffs," continued Mr. Beebe. "Despite these harmful trade barriers, we hope that the U.S., China and all countries will engage in constructive dialogue to avert a deepening solar trade war. Suntech opposes trade barriers at any point in the global solar supply chain. All leading companies in the global solar industry want to see a trade war averted. We need more competition and innovation, not litigation," continued Mr. Beebe.

SolarWorld comment: “The verdict is in,” said Gordon Brinser, president of SolarWorld. “In addition to its preliminary finding that Chinese solar companies were on the receiving end of at least 10 WTO-illegal subsidies, Commerce has now confirmed that Chinese manufacturers are guilty of illegally dumping solar cells and panels in the U.S. market. We appreciate the Commerce staff’s hard work on this matter.”

Background history: here

Czech Constitutional Court backs state over solar clampdown

Czech Position
The Czech Constitutional Court has ruled that the government was fully within its rights to slap a retroactive tax on solar power plant investors to curb a solar boom in the country. (...) The main feature of the retrospective government step to put a brake on the costly solar boom was a 26 percent tax on profits from solar plants which were connected to the overall power network in 2009 and 2010. (...) It added that the effects of the government’s blanked action could nonetheless have had a serious impact on some solar investors, such as small producers who had taken out high interest bank loans on the basis of a planned fast return on the investment. The boom was party sparked by a sharp fall in the price of solar panels while long-term guaranteed Czech prices for solar-produced power remained at previous high levels. This produced a stampede to set up solar power plants in the country before the government belatedly began to count the cost of the investment fever on electricity users and the government as it tried to cushion the effects on consumers.

Qual o potencial solar do seu telhado?

CiênciaHoje
Um grupo de investigadores do Centro de Estudos de Geografia e Planeamento Regional (e-GEO) da Universidade NOVA de Lisboa e do Departamento de Engenharia Geográfica, Geofísica e Energia da Universidade de Lisboa, está a estudar o potencial fotovoltaico da cobertura dos edifícios.
O objectivo é estimar a rentabilidade da instalação de sistemas fotovoltaicos em áreas urbanas, através de uma solução que a equipa desenvolveu que cruza elementos como a área de telhado disponível, o rendimento alcançado por cada painel solar e custo da instalação.
Segundo explicou a engenheira florestal do e-GEO, Teresa Santos Silva, ao Ciência Hoje, o projecto “permite que as pessoas saibam quanto é que têm de investir e quanto tempo demora a retornar esse investimento na conta da electricidade”.

Para isso, basta aceder ao site e “facilmente se consegue obter o potencial energético do edifício”, desde que se localize na freguesia de Alvalade, em Lisboa, e numa parte da freguesia de Carnaxide, em Oeiras, onde por enquanto está disponível o serviço.
Para extrair informação relevante ao estudo, o grupo de investigadores utilizou a detecção remota/imagens aéreas. De entre os diferentes dados recolhidos por este meio, a equipa destaca os obtidos por varrimento laser (LiDAR – Light Detection And Ranging), que “têm mostrado ser uma fonte de informação útil sobre edifícios em meio urbano”.
Portugal tem poucos recursos em energias fósseis e enorme dependência energética do exterior, ainda que seja um país com índices de irradiação solar elevado: 1,74 MWh/m2/ano, bastante superior à média europeia (1,16 MWh/m2/ano). “Estes valores justificam, só por si, o crescente interesse em soluções energéticas mais amigas do ambiente”, sublinha Teresa Santos Silva.
Actualmente “em negociações para saber se o projecto segue em frente”, os próximos passos no estudo incluem a avaliação do potencial solar térmico e da possibilidade de reconversão de topos de edifícios em ‘coberturas verdes’.
Estas ‘coberturas verdes’ são jardins com certas características em cima de telhados que permitem, entre outras coisas, “uma grande eficiência térmica dos edifícios”, exemplifica a investigadora.