RenewableEnergyWorld.com
At the end of last year, the global photovoltaic market hit a cumulative installed capacity of 40 GW, of which 16.6 GW was added during 2010. A year of unprecedented growth saw new capacity more than double from 7.2 GW in 2009. Worldwide, solar PV already produces some 50 TWh each year. By 2015, though, capacity could climb to range from 131 GW to 196 GW. (...) Germany continued to lead the PV market worldwide, with 7.4 GW installed over the year, while Italy added a substantial 2.3 GW. Other countries with significant growth included the Czech Republic, which saw a 1.5 GW expansion in 2010, a rise unlikely to be sustained in 2011. Japan gained 990 MW, the United States 900 MW, and France 700 MW. Spain regained some ground by installing 370 MW after two years of strongly adverse conditions. Belgium connected more than 420 MW of PV.
terça-feira, 31 de maio de 2011
sexta-feira, 27 de maio de 2011
Record Efficiency of 18.7% for Flexible CIGS Solar Cells
Renewable Energy News
Scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have further boosted the energy conversion efficiency of flexible solar cells made of copper indium gallium (di)selenide (also known as CIGS) to a new world record of 18.7% – a significant improvement over the previous record of 17.6% achieved by the same team in June 2010.
Scientists at Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, have further boosted the energy conversion efficiency of flexible solar cells made of copper indium gallium (di)selenide (also known as CIGS) to a new world record of 18.7% – a significant improvement over the previous record of 17.6% achieved by the same team in June 2010.
domingo, 8 de maio de 2011
China doubles solar power target by 2020
AFP report
China has more than doubled its target for solar power capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2020, state media said, as the world's largest polluter steps up efforts to boost clean energy sources. The increased target follows a massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan that triggered a nuclear crisis in the country's northeast and fuelled worldwide debate about the safety of atomic power. China hopes its installed solar power capacity will reach 10 gigawatts by 2015 and 50 gigawatts by the end of the decade, the Shanghai Securities News said, citing Li Junfeng, deputy director of the energy research arm of the National Development and Reform Commission. The country's current installed capacity is less than one gigawatt, the official China Daily said last month. Li said China will soon publish a five-year blueprint and other supportive policies for the solar power industry. (...) It currently relies on carbon-belching coal for 70 percent of its energy needs.
China has more than doubled its target for solar power capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2020, state media said, as the world's largest polluter steps up efforts to boost clean energy sources. The increased target follows a massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan that triggered a nuclear crisis in the country's northeast and fuelled worldwide debate about the safety of atomic power. China hopes its installed solar power capacity will reach 10 gigawatts by 2015 and 50 gigawatts by the end of the decade, the Shanghai Securities News said, citing Li Junfeng, deputy director of the energy research arm of the National Development and Reform Commission. The country's current installed capacity is less than one gigawatt, the official China Daily said last month. Li said China will soon publish a five-year blueprint and other supportive policies for the solar power industry. (...) It currently relies on carbon-belching coal for 70 percent of its energy needs.
sexta-feira, 22 de abril de 2011
Residential Solar Systems Increase Sale Prices, Study Finds
NYTimes.com
All those homeowners who have been installing residential solar panels over the last decade may find it was a more practical decision than they thought. The electricity generated may have cost more than that coming from the local power company (half of which, nationwide, comes from burning coal), but if they choose to sell their homes, the price premium they will get for the solar system should let them recoup much of their original capital investment. (...) Homeowners who install solar on existing houses get nearly three times the premium of homeowners whose house came with solar panels. The study speculates about the reasons, suggesting that “new home builders may also gain value from PV as a market differentiator, and have therefore often tended to sell PV as a standard (as opposed to an optional) product on their homes and perhaps been willing to accept a lower premium in return for faster sales velocity.”
More details at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab site:
Hoen, B., R. Wiser, P. Cappers and M. Thayer. LBNL-4476E. April 2011
An Analysis of the Effects of Residential Photovoltaic Energy Systems on Home Sales Prices in California
All those homeowners who have been installing residential solar panels over the last decade may find it was a more practical decision than they thought. The electricity generated may have cost more than that coming from the local power company (half of which, nationwide, comes from burning coal), but if they choose to sell their homes, the price premium they will get for the solar system should let them recoup much of their original capital investment. (...) Homeowners who install solar on existing houses get nearly three times the premium of homeowners whose house came with solar panels. The study speculates about the reasons, suggesting that “new home builders may also gain value from PV as a market differentiator, and have therefore often tended to sell PV as a standard (as opposed to an optional) product on their homes and perhaps been willing to accept a lower premium in return for faster sales velocity.”More details at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab site:
Hoen, B., R. Wiser, P. Cappers and M. Thayer. LBNL-4476E. April 2011
An Analysis of the Effects of Residential Photovoltaic Energy Systems on Home Sales Prices in California
quarta-feira, 20 de abril de 2011
Rali Solar 2011
Por ocasião da celebração do centenário da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, a Sociedade Portuguesa de Energia Solar organiza no próximo dia 4 de Junho de 2011 o Grande Prémio Rali Solar na FCUL (Campo Grande, Lisboa), que inclui competições de carrinhos e barcos solares.
O concurso Rali Solar 2011 visa a promoção da energia solar nos ensinos básico, secundário e profissional. Surge no seguimento de concursos como o Padre Himalaya e o Rali Solar.
Para mais informações ver ralisolar2011.fc.ul.pt
O concurso Rali Solar 2011 visa a promoção da energia solar nos ensinos básico, secundário e profissional. Surge no seguimento de concursos como o Padre Himalaya e o Rali Solar.
Para mais informações ver ralisolar2011.fc.ul.pt
quarta-feira, 13 de abril de 2011
New Study Finds Solar Panels Are "Contagious"
StumbleUpon
Are you more likely to install solar panels if your neighbor has them? A new study (PDF) out of Stanford says that you are. More specifically, it finds that for every 1 percent increase in the number of installations in a particular zip code, the time until the next adoption of solar decreases by 1 percent. Or, as Vote Solar's Adam Browning put it: Solar is contagious!
Are you more likely to install solar panels if your neighbor has them? A new study (PDF) out of Stanford says that you are. More specifically, it finds that for every 1 percent increase in the number of installations in a particular zip code, the time until the next adoption of solar decreases by 1 percent. Or, as Vote Solar's Adam Browning put it: Solar is contagious!
terça-feira, 12 de abril de 2011
Associação Portuguesa da Indústria Solar diz que BPI fez estudo repleto de erros
Jornal de negócios online
A Apisolar não concorda. “Os custos de investimento da tecnologia [fotovoltaica] são hoje 25% inferiores aos mencionados, as tarifas consideradas estão inflacionadas no seu valor e no seu período de aplicação, a estimativa de evolução das tarifas está errada”, aponta a associação da indústria solar.
“Portugal está a desenvolver uma fileira industrial no solar fotovoltaico, com empresas de engenharia, fabrico e instalação de sistemas fotovoltaicos, com pretensão e capacidade para se afirmar também em mercados externos. Como se alavanca esta actividade sem um mercado interno?”, questiona a mesma entidade.
“Como é possível sugerir que se desinvista numa área tecnológica de elevado potencial futuro, sabendo-se que o preço da energia para a indústria não incorpora o chamado “sobrecusto das renováveis”, que aproveita os nossos recursos naturais e que é hoje criadora de empregos e geradora de fortes receitas em sede de IVA e IRC para o Estado?”, interroga ainda a Apisolar.
Críticas semelhantes, apontando vários erros ao estudo, já haviam sido feitas pelo presidente da Apren – Associação Portuguesa das Energias Renováveis, no início deste mês, em declarações de António Sá da Costa ao Negócios.
A Apisolar – Associação Portuguesa da Indústria Solar contesta o estudo que o BPI apresentou no final de Março, considerando que o relatório produzido pelo banco está "repleto de erros e omissões" e é "pouco rigoroso".
No seu estudo o banco presidido por Fernando Ulrich veio sugerir a não realização de novos projectos eólicos e fotovoltaicos em Portugal conforme previsto no Plano Nacional de Acção para as energias renováveis, até 2020. Uma opção que segundo o BPI se traduziria numa poupança de 10,9 mil milhões de euros [ver aqui]. A Apisolar não concorda. “Os custos de investimento da tecnologia [fotovoltaica] são hoje 25% inferiores aos mencionados, as tarifas consideradas estão inflacionadas no seu valor e no seu período de aplicação, a estimativa de evolução das tarifas está errada”, aponta a associação da indústria solar.
“Portugal está a desenvolver uma fileira industrial no solar fotovoltaico, com empresas de engenharia, fabrico e instalação de sistemas fotovoltaicos, com pretensão e capacidade para se afirmar também em mercados externos. Como se alavanca esta actividade sem um mercado interno?”, questiona a mesma entidade.
“Como é possível sugerir que se desinvista numa área tecnológica de elevado potencial futuro, sabendo-se que o preço da energia para a indústria não incorpora o chamado “sobrecusto das renováveis”, que aproveita os nossos recursos naturais e que é hoje criadora de empregos e geradora de fortes receitas em sede de IVA e IRC para o Estado?”, interroga ainda a Apisolar.
Críticas semelhantes, apontando vários erros ao estudo, já haviam sido feitas pelo presidente da Apren – Associação Portuguesa das Energias Renováveis, no início deste mês, em declarações de António Sá da Costa ao Negócios.
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