California Set To Raise Solar Net Metering Cap

At the end of last week, the California State Assembly passed AB 510, a bill to raise the cap on net metering for solar photovoltaic systems. Having passed the Senate last week, the bill now only needs the Governor's signature to become law.

Existing law requires California’s major electric utilities to make net metering available to customers on a first-come-first-served basis until the total program capacity exceeds 2.5 percent of the utility’s peak demand. AB 510 doubles the net metering program capacity to 5 percent, ensuring that Californians continue to have fair access to this critical solar program for the near term.

“California leads the nation in solar energy, accounting for more than 65 percent of the all the solar installed in the U.S. Net metering has been absolutely fundamental to that success. The passage of this bill means continued green job growth, further energy bill savings, progress in the fight against climate change, and a brighter future for California," said Assemblymember Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley) who authored the bill.

Through net metering, solar customers’ electricity meters to spin forward when they are using power from the utility grid, and reverse, spinning backward when customers are producing more energy than they are using. The customer is billed only for the net energy used. Today more than 50,000 California homes, schools and businesses take advantage of the state’s net metering program to lower their utility bills.

"Net metering makes solar more affordable for those who want to make the investment in clean energy. And because solar produces reliable power during peak hours when we all need it most, that same investment in solar helps lower costs for all ratepayers. Today, Assemblymember Skinner and the legislature took a bold step to make solar a significant part of our energy future," said Adam Browning, executive director of the Vote Solar Initiative.

Net metering has no direct impact on the state’s general fund and allows government agencies and schools to have an incentive to install solar. California public agencies have already installed at least 51 megawatts (MW) of solar, saving taxpayers more than US $270 million in avoided utility payments.

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LDK Solar Acquires Best Solar's Crystalline Module Manufacturing Plant

XINYU CITY, China and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LDK Solar Co., Ltd. (NYSE: LDK), a leading manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the crystalline module manufacturing plant of Best Solar Co., Ltd. ("Best Solar"). Under the terms of the transaction LDK Solar will acquire Best Solar's crystalline module manufacturing plant at cash consideration of $21.5 million, representing the fair value of the assets acquired determined on an arms-length basis.

"This acquisition will significantly enhance LDK Solar's position in the downstream PV market," stated Jack Lai, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Secretary of LDK Solar. "LDK Solar has been fulfilling the majority of its solar module needs through purchases from Best Solar over the past three quarters. We look forward to realizing cost efficiencies by bringing crystalline module manufacturing in-house. This acquisition represents an important step as we continue to expand the scope of our vertical integration and strengthens our competitive advantage within the sector."

Best Solar is wholly owned by LDK New Energy Holding Limited, which is LDK Solar's controlling shareholder, and wholly owned by Mr. Xiaofeng Peng, Chairman and CEO of LDK Solar. The terms of the agreement have been reviewed and approved by LDK Solar and Best Solar on an arms-length basis using the fair market value of the acquired assets. The fair market value was determined by a valuation analysis performed by a third party independent valuer and approved by LDK Solar's management team and Audit Committee. Best Solar has undertaken not to engage, and therefore compete with LDK Solar, in the module business after this transaction is completed.

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Con Edison Calls for More Solar Energy Projects

NEW YORK — Con Edison, a unit of Consolidated Edison Inc., on Tuesday filed a proposal with the state of New York calling for more funds for solar energy projects in New York City.

In Con Edison's filing with the New York State Public Service Commission, it called for the development of 25 megawatts of solar energy resources in New York City by 2015. The company said this will offset about 16,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, the equivalent of taking 2,400 passenger vehicles off the road.

Con Edison suggested the state set aside $24.8 million of its renewable energy funds for smaller solar projects for residential and commercial customers in New York City.

The company is also proposing that the state set aside $4 million for a residential program for New York City and Westchester County customers to use solar energy for hot water.

"We believe that New York City, with its urban roofscape, has great potential as a center for solar power and we are confident that we can use our unique knowledge of our customers to make that a reality," said John Mucci, vice president of Engineering and Planning.

These programs would be in addition to an earlier proposal to spend $125 million over five years throughout the Con Edison service area for larger installations.

Shares of Consolidated Edison rose 63 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $43.44.

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LDK Solar Becomes Member of PV CYCLE

XINYU CITY, China and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Feb. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LDK Solar Co., Ltd. ("LDK Solar") (NYSE: LDK), a leading manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, announced today that it has become a member of PV CYCLE, an organization based in Brussels, Belgium that promotes the take-back and recycling of end-of-life PV modules.

"LDK Solar is dedicated to sustainable practices that take into consideration the environmental impact of all stages of product life cycle, including end-of-life collection and recycling," stated Xiaofeng Peng, Chairman and CEO of LDK Solar. "We look forward to contributing to the development of new standards of sustainability with fellow members of PV CYCLE."

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1st International Conference on PV Module Recycling

More than 200 experts in photovoltaic (PV) energy, waste management and recycling participated today in the 1st International Conference on PV module recycling organized by PV CYCLE and EPIA in collaboration with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. Attendees had the opportunity to learn first-hand from different industry associations and companies what is currently being done to implement recycling mechanisms and to minimise the environmental impact of end-of-life solar panels.

“Since the early years of photovoltaics, in the 1990s, customers and industry alike have shown their dedication for protecting the environment and finding a reliable solution for the adequate disposal of modules,” explained Eleni Despotou, EPIA deputy secretary general. “An increasing number of manufacturers are working on the development of new and more effective recycling processes. However, the quantities of PV modules available for recycling are still too low to make any private scheme 100% commercially viable. This is why initiatives such as PV CYCLE can really make a difference for the industry.”

According to the forecast presented in a study commissioned by EPIA and the founding members of PV CYCLE, approximately 3,000 tonnes of PV modules will be disposed of in Germany during 2010, which represent close to 50% of all the PV waste that will be generated in Europe this year. Although this figure will remain relatively stable for the next two decades, the study shows that by 2030 about 130,000 tonnes of end-of-life PV modules will be disposed of in Europe.

“Because solar panels have a very long life span, the volumes of end-of-life PV modules will not start growing considerably for at least another 20 to 25 years from now. However, the industry has proactively begun to prepare. The take-back and recycling scheme that is being set up by PV CYCLE, which this month has become operational in Germany, will be fully operational by the time that significant quantities of modules start being disposed of. This scheme will be implemented gradually across the European Union and EFTA countries,” stated Jan Clyncke, managing director of PV CYCLE.

Representatives from related industry sectors also shared their experiences regarding the processes their companies have successfully implemented for TV monitors, electronic appliances, as well as glass recycling. The last part of the conference was dedicated to learning about recycling and collection activities in the USA as well as to discussing issues regarding the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of photovoltaics and the mathematical model of PV recycling infrastructures.

About EPIA www.epia.org: With over 200 members active along the whole value chain, the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA) is the world’s largest industry association devoted to the solar photovoltaic electricity market. For more information on how photovoltaics can become a mainstream energy supplier in Europe please consult ‘SET For 2020’, a study commissioned by EPIA to the strategic management consultancy A.T. Kearney.

About PV CYCLE www.pvcycle.org: PV CYCLE was founded in July 2007 to implement a voluntary take-back and recycling programme for end-of-life PV modules. The members of PV CYCLE currently represent more than 85% of the European photovoltaic market. Their goal is to provide clean and renewable energy as well as to embrace the principle of producer responsibility and thereby make the photovoltaic industry DoubleGreen.

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Intel Plans Massive Solar Installations

Intel Corp. on Monday said it will install 2.5 megawatts of solar electric systems at its campuses in four states, including its 5,500-employee campus in Folsom.

The Santa Clara-based chip-maker (Nasdaq: INTC) said the new installations will be completed over the next seven months and will be used to help power Intel campuses in California, Oregon, Arizona and New Mexico.

Intel expects to break ground on the 1.1-megawatt solar project in Folsom at the end of March and have the project producing power by the end of June, Intel spokesman Mark Pettinger said. The design has been approved internally and the project awaits permit approval from the city of Folsom.

The solar arrays would cover almost six acres on the southwest portion of the Intel Folsom campus, next to a concrete pad Intel poured nine years ago for what was to be its fifth building. When the tech bubble popped in 2001, Intel halted construction of the building.

Pettinger said the solar-power system may be partly visible from Highway 50 once it's built. Solar City would build the solar-panel system at the Folsom campus, which would produce about 40 percent of Intel's solar power, Pettinger said.

To put the investment in perspective, a megawatt of solar energy can power between 150 and 200 homes, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. That means Intel's 2.5 megawatts could power between 375 and 500 average-size homes.

Intel also said it would increase its purchase of renewable energy credits by 10 percent to 1.43 billion kilowatt hours, or the equivalent of 51 percent of its 2010 electricity use.

Renewable energy credits are tradeable commodities that represent 1 megawatt of renewable energy placed on the power grid. Acquiring RECs, as they’re called, is a way for corporations to certify that they are acquiring energy on the market from renewable resources.

Intel ranked at the top of the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s latest “Green Power Partners” list released Monday. The list, released quarterly, ranks the top 50 organizations for acquiring green power resources.

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Solar Demand Picking Up in China

China's solar panel demand is zooming up in the last quarter of 2009 as the nation embraces for greener energy for the next 5 years. According to the xinhua newsnet report, 2009 PV demand more than doubled compared to 2008.

This week, Suntech (STP) reportedly broke ground on a $100 million 100,000-square-meter extension to its solar cell factory based on rising demand in China and Asia. $454B green energy investment was announced in late 2009 to promote renewable energy in the nation. Solar energy has been the topic of the 2010 World EXPO in Shanghai. Suntech Power, Solarfun (SOLF) and other Chinese solar PV makers have installed solar systems to cover the electricity demand for the whole EXPO. Many westerners do not recognize how serious the government is. Renewable energy has been regarded as the next strategy for the nation to become a world leader in the clean energy industry in the new century.

Recently another Chinese solar maker, Solarfun Power also announced it will increase its production capacity of photovoltaic (PV) modules from 550MW to 700MW by April 2010 and its PV cell production capacity from 360MW to 480MW by July 2010; the company sees strong demand in 2010 from many markets worldwide.

The German market may grow slowly in 2010 while the Chinese and Japanese markets catch up faster than expected. Under the new administration, Japan is providing financial incentives for consumers to install solar panels on their properties, helping it meet its goal to significantly cut carbon emissions by 2020. As a result, companies who have more exposure to the Asian market will benefit the most. To name a few, Suntech Power, Solarfun, Trina Solar (TSL) and Yingli Green (YGE). First Solar (FSLR) is also investing heavily in Asia; the company has set up a factory in Malaysia.

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