DESERTEC Press Release
Today, the DESERTEC Foundation announced the termination of its membership with Dii GmbH. (...)
In 2009, Dii GmbH had been founded as a cooperation between many renowned firms and DESERTEC Foundation to create appropriate conditions for the realisation of DESERTEC in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.
The non-governmental Foundation, which is the main idea- and name-giver for the DESERTEC concept, is taking this step as a result of many irresolvable disputes between the two entities in the area of future strategies, obligations and their communication and last but not least the managerial style of Dii’s top management. DESERTEC Foundation also wants to avoid being dragged into the maelstrom of negative publicity about the management crisis and disorientation of the industrial consortium. The dispute at the management level has already led to resentment among the partners of the DESERTEC Foundation and it negatively affects our reputation and trust. This is what the DESERTEC Foundation intends to avoid.
DESERTEC Foundation explicitly emphasises its understanding for the challenges the industrial consortium has to face. “It was always clear to us that our idea of producing electricity from the deserts on this earth was never an easy task and will always face extreme challenges. The employees of Dii have contributed enormously to the global transition towards renewable energy. However, after many months filled with a lot of discussions we had to conclude that the DESERTEC Foundation needs to preserve its independence. This is why Dii and DESERTEC Foundation will go separate ways which does not exclude future cooperation,” said Thiemo Gropp, Director of the DESERTEC Foundation.
terça-feira, 2 de julho de 2013
CPV: Amonix Founder Speaks, Blames VCs, Laments Lack of Supply Chain
Greentech Media
It's tough times for concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar firms. GreenVolts went under and Amonix went quiet after shuttering its Nevada factory and laying off much of its staff last year. SolFocus is trying to sell itself and finding no buyers. Only Soitec seems to be developing new CPV systems, helped presumably, by a healthier balance sheet. (...) [Amonix's founder] Garboushian described CPV as an impoverished market with 100 megawatts deployed and $500 million invested over the last ten years, compared to the $50 billion received by the silicon industry. Garboushian said that what CPV needs is a supply chain, large-scale manufacturing, consolidation of the technology, and a big corporate backer instead of VCs looking to flip companies in a few years' time. (...) He called CPV bankable technology -- but it's hard to be considered bankable if the vendor is not going to be around in one year, let alone twenty.
A colleague and early employee at a rival CPV firm notes, "The CPV industry remains locked in a battle against declining costs with silicon technologies. The 2012 surge in cost reduction achieved by silicon may ultimately prove to be the death blow to today's commercial CPV providers, though there continue to be innovations in CPV cell efficiency and module design that could keep the technology alive in the highest-DNI environments. The big question is whether silicon will allow some breathing room in 2013 with the price increases that some predict, or whether further cost and price reductions in 2013 make the gap wholly uncrossable."
It's tough times for concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar firms. GreenVolts went under and Amonix went quiet after shuttering its Nevada factory and laying off much of its staff last year. SolFocus is trying to sell itself and finding no buyers. Only Soitec seems to be developing new CPV systems, helped presumably, by a healthier balance sheet. (...) [Amonix's founder] Garboushian described CPV as an impoverished market with 100 megawatts deployed and $500 million invested over the last ten years, compared to the $50 billion received by the silicon industry. Garboushian said that what CPV needs is a supply chain, large-scale manufacturing, consolidation of the technology, and a big corporate backer instead of VCs looking to flip companies in a few years' time. (...) He called CPV bankable technology -- but it's hard to be considered bankable if the vendor is not going to be around in one year, let alone twenty.
A colleague and early employee at a rival CPV firm notes, "The CPV industry remains locked in a battle against declining costs with silicon technologies. The 2012 surge in cost reduction achieved by silicon may ultimately prove to be the death blow to today's commercial CPV providers, though there continue to be innovations in CPV cell efficiency and module design that could keep the technology alive in the highest-DNI environments. The big question is whether silicon will allow some breathing room in 2013 with the price increases that some predict, or whether further cost and price reductions in 2013 make the gap wholly uncrossable."
Obama apoia acesso a energia na África Subsariana com 5,38 mil milhões
Portal das Energias Renováveis
O presidente norte-americano anunciou, este domingo, uma iniciativa para estimular o acesso à energia elétrica, mais limpa e eficiente, na África Subsariana, sublinhando o interesse dos Estados Unidos em que o continente atinja o seu pleno potencial. A parceria "Power Africa" contará com um financiamento dos Estados Unidos na ordem dos 5,38 mil milhões de euros, revelou Barack Obama num discurso na universidade da Cidade do Cabo, na África do Sul, um dos três países visitados pelo chefe de Estado dos EUA (para além do Senegal e Tanzânia) para promover o comércio e o investimento num continente em rápido crescimento.
Este projeto de ajuda pública ao desenvolvimento - que será completado por financiamentos privados na ordem dos 6,91 mil milhões de euros - vai permitir a duplicação do acesso à energia elétrica na África Subsariana, onde mais de dois terços da população não a tem, segundo indicações da Casa Branca..
A General Electric está entre as empresas que contribuirão comprometeu-se a ajudar a levar para a Tanzânia e o Gana 5.000 megawatts de nova energia.
Durante a primeira fase de cinco anos, o projeto deverá traduzir-se na soma de mais de 10.000 megawatts de energia mais limpa e eficiente, que será levada a, pelo menos, mais vinte milhões de lares e empresas, ainda de acordo com a Casa Branca.
O presidente norte-americano anunciou, este domingo, uma iniciativa para estimular o acesso à energia elétrica, mais limpa e eficiente, na África Subsariana, sublinhando o interesse dos Estados Unidos em que o continente atinja o seu pleno potencial. A parceria "Power Africa" contará com um financiamento dos Estados Unidos na ordem dos 5,38 mil milhões de euros, revelou Barack Obama num discurso na universidade da Cidade do Cabo, na África do Sul, um dos três países visitados pelo chefe de Estado dos EUA (para além do Senegal e Tanzânia) para promover o comércio e o investimento num continente em rápido crescimento.
Este projeto de ajuda pública ao desenvolvimento - que será completado por financiamentos privados na ordem dos 6,91 mil milhões de euros - vai permitir a duplicação do acesso à energia elétrica na África Subsariana, onde mais de dois terços da população não a tem, segundo indicações da Casa Branca..
A General Electric está entre as empresas que contribuirão comprometeu-se a ajudar a levar para a Tanzânia e o Gana 5.000 megawatts de nova energia.
Durante a primeira fase de cinco anos, o projeto deverá traduzir-se na soma de mais de 10.000 megawatts de energia mais limpa e eficiente, que será levada a, pelo menos, mais vinte milhões de lares e empresas, ainda de acordo com a Casa Branca.
sexta-feira, 28 de junho de 2013
New solar cell records
The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Lab [Myles Steiner] has announced a world record of 31.1% conversion efficiency for a two-junction solar cell under one sun of illumination. (...) The previous record of 30.8% efficiency was held by Alta Devices. The tandem cell was made of a gallium indium phosphide cell atop a gallium arsenide cell, has an area of about 0.25 square centimeters and was measured under the AM1.5 global spectrum at 1,000 W/m2. It was grown inverted, similar to the NREL-developed inverted metamorphic multi-junction (IMM) solar cell -- and flipped during processing. The cell was covered on the front with a bilayer anti-reflection coating, and on the back with a highly reflective gold contact layer.
More info: Conversion-efficiency record for a two-junction solar cell measured under one-sun illumination
Sharp Corporation has achieved the world's highest solar cell conversion efficiency of 44.4%, using a concentrator triple-junction compound solar cell. These solar cells are used in a lens-based concentrator system that focuses sunlight on the cells to generate electricity. (...) Sharp's concentrator triple-junction compound solar cells use a proprietary technology that enables the efficient conversion of sunlight into electricity by means of a stack of three photo-absorption layers, the bottommost of which is made from InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide).To achieve a concentrating conversion efficiency of 44.4%, Sharp worked to widen the effective concentrator cell surface and ensure uniformity of width at the interface of the connecting concentrator cell and electrodes.
quinta-feira, 6 de junho de 2013
EU announces provisional duties on Chinese solar products
EC press release
The European Commission announced yesterday that it will impose provisional antidumping duties on wafers, solar cells and modules imported from China. The duties will be valid for a period of six months and will come into force starting on June 6 with no retroactive effect. The Commission decided to introduce the duties according to a »phased approach« starting with an 11.8% tariff for the first 2 months. Following that, the tariff will be raised to 47.6% for the remaining 4 months. The Commission stated that the provisional antidumping duties will counteract unfair trade practices that have harmed the European solar industry. The Commission stressed that the level of the tariffs is significantly lower than the 88% rate at which Chinese manufacturers have been dumping their products on the EU market. Despite the fact that the Commission found that Chinese manufacturers have dumped their products on the market, it also reiterated its commitment to finding an amicable solution to the solar trade dispute through continued negotiations with Chinese companies and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. To this effect, the Commission said that »provisional duties can be suspended if a negotiated solution is achieved.« The EU will issue a final decision on the antidumping duties on Dec. 5, 2013.
The European Commission announced yesterday that it will impose provisional antidumping duties on wafers, solar cells and modules imported from China. The duties will be valid for a period of six months and will come into force starting on June 6 with no retroactive effect. The Commission decided to introduce the duties according to a »phased approach« starting with an 11.8% tariff for the first 2 months. Following that, the tariff will be raised to 47.6% for the remaining 4 months. The Commission stated that the provisional antidumping duties will counteract unfair trade practices that have harmed the European solar industry. The Commission stressed that the level of the tariffs is significantly lower than the 88% rate at which Chinese manufacturers have been dumping their products on the EU market. Despite the fact that the Commission found that Chinese manufacturers have dumped their products on the market, it also reiterated its commitment to finding an amicable solution to the solar trade dispute through continued negotiations with Chinese companies and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. To this effect, the Commission said that »provisional duties can be suspended if a negotiated solution is achieved.« The EU will issue a final decision on the antidumping duties on Dec. 5, 2013.
Further news on the subject:
- EU Imposes Duties on Chinese Solar Panels, But Keeps Door Ajar for Talks at Renewable Energy World.
- Shares of solar power companies fell Wednesday after the European Union said it plans to slap tariffs on solar products made in China, says BusinessWeek.
- Tit-for-tat tariff war: European wines, Chinese solar panels, on CNN.
Portugal added only 1.1 MW of PV power in the first quarter
DGEG (Renováveis - Estatísticas Rápidas- Março 2013)
Portugal added just 1.1 of new PV capacity in the first quarter of 2013, according to the latest data from the Portuguese Directorate General for Geology and Energy. The country therefore now has a cumulative installed PV capacity of 226.6 MW. The newly installed capacity in the month of March was of around 900 kW, up from 200 kW installed in the first two months of this year. For comparison, Portugal added 67.8 MW of PV power last year. PV covered 0.7% of the country’s total electricity demand in March, the same value as was registered in February. Portugal currently only grants FITs to PV systems up to 250 kW in size. For 2013, the government has allocated 11 MW of PV capacity for micro-generation systems (up to 3.68 kW). The government has not said how much capacity it will allocate this year for mini-generation installations (up to 250 kW).
Portugal added just 1.1 of new PV capacity in the first quarter of 2013, according to the latest data from the Portuguese Directorate General for Geology and Energy. The country therefore now has a cumulative installed PV capacity of 226.6 MW. The newly installed capacity in the month of March was of around 900 kW, up from 200 kW installed in the first two months of this year. For comparison, Portugal added 67.8 MW of PV power last year. PV covered 0.7% of the country’s total electricity demand in March, the same value as was registered in February. Portugal currently only grants FITs to PV systems up to 250 kW in size. For 2013, the government has allocated 11 MW of PV capacity for micro-generation systems (up to 3.68 kW). The government has not said how much capacity it will allocate this year for mini-generation installations (up to 250 kW).
As Europe's Dominance Wanes, Others Pick Up Solar PV
Renewable Energy World
Europe's role as the main driver for the global solar photovoltaics (PV) market is coming to an end, concludes the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) in its latest report.
"The results show clearly" that Europe's dominance is declining, said the trade body in its Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics 2013-2017. Europe accounted for more than 70 percent of the world's new PV installations in 2011, while in 2012 this number was around 55 percent, the report found. In 2013, said EPIA, it "is almost certain" that the majority of new global PV capacity will be installed outside Europe, and that this trend will continue.
Europe's role as the main driver for the global solar photovoltaics (PV) market is coming to an end, concludes the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) in its latest report.
"The results show clearly" that Europe's dominance is declining, said the trade body in its Global Market Outlook for Photovoltaics 2013-2017. Europe accounted for more than 70 percent of the world's new PV installations in 2011, while in 2012 this number was around 55 percent, the report found. In 2013, said EPIA, it "is almost certain" that the majority of new global PV capacity will be installed outside Europe, and that this trend will continue.
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