Environmental group sues to stop solar project

Riverside Press-Enterprise - Environmental group sues to stop solar project

By David Danelski, Jan 20

An environmental group has filed a lawsuit contending the federal government's "fast track" approval of a solar energy development -- already under construction in northeast San Bernardino County -- violated several laws.

The Western Watersheds Project, which works to protect watershed areas in six western states, wants a federal court to rescind the approvals and halt construction.

The complaint, filed Friday, names as defendants the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and other federal officials.

BrightSource Energy Co. broke ground in October on the 5.6-square-mile solar field in the Ivanpah Valley off Interstate 15 near Primm, Nev. The project was approved in an expedited process intended to help energy developers meet federal deadlines to qualify for stimulus subsidies.

BrightSource, based in Oakland, plans to focus heat from thousands of mirrors onto three "power towers" to generate steam and run turbines that would produce enough electricity for as many as 140,000 homes. The project is on public land controlled by the BLM.

"This project was just rushed," said Michael Connor, California director for Western Watersheds Project. "It was a rush to judgment. They had already decided they were going to build these things."

Lois Grunwald, a Ventura-based Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman, said she had not seen the complaint and could not comment on it. BLM officials also had no comment, spokesman David Briery said.

A BrightSource spokesman said in an e-mail that the company "does not comment on legal matters pertaining to governing bodies that regulate our industry."

The watershed group says the federal agencies cut corners on environmental reviews, violating the National Environment Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act, among other laws.

Among several allegations, the group accuses the government of inadequate reviews of alternatives, such as allowing BrightSource to build on nearby Ivanpah Dry Lake, which has little or no habitat value for desert tortoises, a species threatened with extinction, and other wildlife. The lawsuit says 30 tortoises have been found at BrightSource's current location.

The government also did not fully analyze how upgrading power lines will affect wildlife, the suit alleges.

The Western Watersheds lawsuit is one of several legal challenges to solar projects that the Obama administration approved last year on public land in the Mojave Desert.

The Sierra Club on Dec. 30 sued the California Energy Commission over its approval last fall of the Calico solar development, planned off Interstate 40 about 37 miles east of Barstow, said Gloria Smith, an attorney for the club. The suit, filed with the California Supreme Court, faults the commission for not detailing how the developer would compensate for lost wildlife habitat.

Also in December, a Native American cultural protection group and tribal members sued the Obama administration over the fast-track approvals of six large solar developments, including Ivanpah and Calico. They contend federal officials violated laws that protect sacred places.

Barclays - Trina, RenaSola Top Picks

Barclays on Clean Technology: SPI Preview - Case for Multiple Expansion; TSL & SOL Top Picks

1:39 pm ET 09/24/2010 - StreetInsider

Barclays on Clean Technology: SPI Preview - Case for Multiple Expansion
Barclays analyst says, "Solar companies will be hosting investor meetings at the Solar Power International conference in LA next month (Oct 12-14). We maintain positive bias on stocks heading into the conference. Although stocks have bounced off the May lows, several stocks are still down year to date and are trading at single digit multiples on conservative street estimates. Solar sector performance has historically been strong during the seasonally stronger period for industry fundamentals. We expect this trend to continue in 2010. We see an increasingly stronger case for multiple expansion as the upcycle extends into 2011 and street estimates edge higher. Trina Solar (NYSE: TSL), RenaSola (NYSE: SOL) remain our top picks."

The Solar Module Market: Concerns Ahead « TechPulse 360

The Solar Module Market: Concerns Ahead « TechPulse 360

Sales in other European countries, Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic, are moving ahead in advance of tariff cuts of their own. This is leading prices to be stable and wafer prices to even climb a bit. According to Y. Edwin Mok, an analyst at Needham & Co., crystalline cell pricing has risen to $1.35 a watt, compared with $1.25 a watt or so in the first quarter.
This could help vendors such as SunPower, JA Solar and Suntech Power Holdings.
The danger is that this year’s strength will turn into next year’s softness. The fear is especially high in Italy and Spain, which are facing large tariff cuts, says Mok. German installations could decline as well, he adds.
Mok is not alone in his assessment. John Hardy at Gleacher & Company said he expects the world’s largest module maker, First Solar, to post better-than-expected second-quarter sales later this month and speak favorably about the rest of the year.
“The big industry test is coming” in the first quarter of 2011, he says. That’s when sales could slump and another rapid decline in prices could spark worries of another 2009.

Survival Path Seen For Amorphous Thin Film « TechPulse 360

Survival Path Seen For Amorphous Thin Film « TechPulse 360

Equipment supplier Oerlikon, on the other hand, is not balking. O’Brien says he expects the global production capacity of amorphous cells to someday rival that of cadmium telluride, presently the most popular thin-film technology. First Solar, the world’s largest solar producer and the only significant maker of cadmium telluride, has about 18 percent of the global solar market.
Amorphous production capacity from manufacturers, such as Sharp and Konica Minolta, will add up, says O’Brien.
Thin-film advocates, such as Oerlikon, argue that a lot of the expected cost reductions have already been wrung from crystalline-cell manufacturing. Price declines will eventually slow.
This will leave an opening for thin film. It is an opening Oerlikon hopes to capitalize on. The company says the cost of thin-film cells made with its equipment will drop to 70 cents a watt by the end of the year, from $1 at the year’s start and a $1.50 in 2008.
This may not enable them to catch those from First Solar, which early this year reached 81 cents. (First Solar is likely to offer a new benchmark when it releases quarterly earnings next week.) But O’Brien sees competition increasing and says more significant cost reductions are expected next year. He declined to offer a target.
He says Oerlikon was able to avoid Applied Materials’ fate by maintaining a technological advantage. First, the company’s micromorph tandem junction technology is generating module efficiencies of 8.5 to 9 percent, up from the 7 to 8 percent of a single junction cell.

First Solar’s Cautious Sales Outlook, Cost Improvement « TechPulse 360

First Solar’s Cautious Sales Outlook, Cost Improvement « TechPulse 360

On a conference call, it said:
*Module manufacturing costs fell to 76 cents a watt, down 5 cents from the first quarter. Annual throughput per line was up 6 percent to 59 megawatts and material costs were lower. The company’s target is to reach 52 cents to 63 cents a watt in 2014.
*Utility-scale projects are expected to increase. First Solar said it anticipates building 500 to 700 megawatts of projects in North America during 2011, up from 175 megawatts this year.
*Demand is expected to exceed supply in 2010. First Solar expects production capacity to be 2.2 gigawatts by 2012, up from 1.4 gigawatts this year. Module conversion efficiency was 11.2 percent in the second quarter compared with 11.1 percent in the first quarter.

SolarEdge PV Series A - Inverters

Venture Capital Access Online | Venture Capital News

The SolarEdge PV (Photovoltaic) power harvesting solution includes PowerBoxes, which are module-integrated power optimizers, solar inverters and a module-level PV monitoring portal. This unique solution enables production of up to 25% more energy from any PV installation and a faster return on investment. In the past year SolarEdge has expanded its product portfolio, established mass production lines and global delivery infrastructure, partnered with leading PV module manufacturers, integrators and distributors worldwide, and generated significant sales growth. This extraordinary momentum has strengthened SolarEdge’s position as the leader in PV power optimizing.

Silicon Valley’s Solar Innovators Forced to Retool - NYTimes.com

Silicon Valley’s Solar Innovators Forced to Retool - NYTimes.com

Petra Solar® - Intelligent Energy By Design - Home Page

Petra Solar® - Intelligent Energy By Design - Home Page

which has standardized a photovoltaic product for installation on power poles, thereby enabling utilities to meet renewable portfolio standard requirements while also improving the quality and management of power throughout their distribution grids.

Clean Break » Blog Archive » Q-Cells and ATS Automation create Ontario JV to develop 64MW of solar

Clean Break » Blog Archive » Q-Cells and ATS Automation create Ontario JV to develop 64MW of solar

Q-Cells, one of the world’s largest solar PV providers, has inked a deal with ATS Automation Tooling Systems of Cambridge, Ont., to develop 64 megawatts worth of solar projects in Ontario already conditionally approved as part of the feed-in-tariff program. The two companies have formed a 50-50 joint venture called Ontario Solar PV Fields Inc. that is expected to begin construction in 2011. ATS will use Q-Cells’ PV cells in modules it will manufacture at its Photowatt Ontario facility in Cambridge, allowing the JV to qualify under 60 per cent local content requirements. “The Ontario market is projected to be one of the dominant solar markets in North America in 2011,” said Marc van Gerven, Q-Cells North American chief executive.
As I mentioned in a previous post, ATS is one of more than 10 companies that had annunced intentions to make solar modules in Ontario, adding up to more than 1,000 megawatts annually of local manufacturing capacity. ATS was promoting a dual strategy — producing both its own product as an Ontario extension of its France-based Photowatt business, and making modules for other companies under contract. This JV fits with the latter.

Morgan Solar

Morgan Solar Website

Clean Break » Blog Archive » Morgan Solar recruits eSolar CEO as its own

Clean Break » Blog Archive » Morgan Solar recruits eSolar CEO as its own

The folks over at Green Energy Reporter are reporting that eSolar’s founding chief executive Asif Ansari has decided to join Toronto-based Morgan Solar as its new CEO. I knew this deal was in the works, and apparently Ansari has been with the company now for a couple of weeks and plans to relocate his family from California to Toronto. It’s a good catch by the Morgan boys, who I’m betting will be making more news over the next couple of years. Ansari tells Green Energy Reporter, “I took a look at Morgan’s technology and I instantly understood that they had developed a game changer.” That’s the feeling I walked away with as well. It’s a great story unfolding.

Clean Break » Blog Archive » Who knew? World’s largest solar PV plant is now in Ontario

Clean Break » Blog Archive » Who knew? World’s largest solar PV plant is now in Ontario

Sarnia solar power plant and that the facility now ranks as the largest solar PV plant in the world. The plant is owned by gas and pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. — you know, the guys who had the big oil spill in Michigan. The press release says it is an 80-megawatt plant, but over at PRResources.com it ranks the project first at 97 megawatts. Not sure what the deal is there. But even at 80 megawatts it’s still 33 per cent larger than the second-largest plant, which is in Olmedilla, Spain. The next largest in Canada, ranking 24th worldwide, is the 23.4 megawatt facility in Arnprior, Ontario.

Finer System Level Details for the Comparison of Photovoltaic Technologies | Alternative Energy Stocks

Finer System Level Details for the Comparison of Photovoltaic Technologies | Alternative Energy Stocks

Flexible PV modules promise to be integrated into building materials, similar to the way United Solar, a division of Energy Conversion Devices (ENER), laminations have been used in single ply roofing and standing seam metal roofing. When a PV technology can reduce the structural balance of systems (BOS) cost there is an economy for the installation due to the lack of glass and the potential for true building integration. Look for CIGS companies like Miasolé, Global Solar Energy, Ascent Solar (ASTI), and Nuvosun to follow in SoloPower's footsteps in certifying the long-term performance and safety of high efficiency flexible PV modules for building integrated (BIPV) and other flexible applications.

JA Solar (JASO) and LDK

View From the Turret: Crossroads Trading -- Seeking Alpha

Solar Strength
A number of key solar names were sharply higher last week as traders reacted to a few compelling themes:

1. LDK’s $8.9 billion dollar funding from China Development Bank has the industry hopeful that additional funding and liquidity will be available in the quarters to come.
2. A sustained rally in the euro makes exports from Chinese manufacturing companies to European buyers more attractive.

Many of the stocks are extended significantly beyond an appropriate buy point, but a pullback in the next few days could offer an attractive entry point.
JA Solar Holdings (JASO) is one of the many solar companies that is seeing a rebound in both revenue and earnings, and analysts have been increasing their expectations for the next two years.
With a stable balance sheet and a PE multiple that is still in the single digits, JASO could continue to rally for some time to come. I’m not interested in chasing the stock at these levels, but a pullback to near $7.50 or $8.00 along with a period of consolidation would have me much more interested in picking up a small position and then adding more exposure as the trend reasserts itself.

Walmart to Install Thin Film Solar Panels

Walmart to Install Thin Film Solar Panels

Walmart uses First Solar (CdTe) and MiaSole (CIGS) for its solar installations. The company notes an important decision in using this technology was its lower environmental life cycle cost, supporting my master's thesis on the lifecycle environmental impact of solar technologies.

Investment Managers Still Lagging in Response to Climate Change

Investment Managers Still Lagging in Response to Climate Change

California State Teacher's Retirement System (CalSTRS) $130 B

"As a long-term investor, CalSTRS wants to invest in well-managed companies that can address the physical risks of climate change and adapt to the changing regulatory and market realities of a carbon-constrained economy," said Jack Ehnes, chief executive officer of CalSTRS, the nation's second largest public pension fund, with more than $130 billion of assets under management. "Our asset managers need to ask the right questions and critically evaluate how companies are positioned so that we’re sure that our investments will produce outstanding risk-adjusted returns for our members."

The survey was done at the request of the Investor Network on Climate Risk, a network of 80-plus pension funds and other institutional investors who rely on asset managers to manage their investment portfolios. Eighty-four asset managers managing $8.6 trillion in assets completed the survey, including 66 in the P&I top 500 list and 18 others who responded at the specific request of INCR client members.

In summary, the survey found only a few asset managers – MFS Investment
Management and F&C Asset Management plc, among those – that are including
climate risks and opportunities throughout their investment analysis – in their
asset allocation, portfolio valuation, and corporate governance due diligence. Like
companies that are rethinking and retooling their business strategies in response to
climate change, these asset manager leaders are positioning themselves to capture
the opportunities and understand and manage the risks of climate change across
their portfolios.
The vast majority of respondents, 84 asset managers managing $8.6 trillion
completed the survey, including 66 in the P&I 500, are in the preliminary stages
of including climate risk in their due diligence.

A Power Sticker to Boost Solar Power Generation

A Power Sticker to Boost Solar Power Generation

Boosts efficiencies by 10%. Cost to existing installations of 1%.  Genie Lens Technologies

On Clean Energy, China Skirts Rules - NYTimes.com

On Clean Energy, China Skirts Rules - NYTimes.com

Solaren Corp. to Launch Solar Panels into Orbit

Solaren Corp. to Launch Solar Panels into Orbit

Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) from San Francisco is in the energy sector for decades. They have produced power from atomic energy, natural gas and water. Now PG&E has gone ahead and collaborated with Manhattan Beach start-up called Solaren Corporation. But what put this deal apart from others? Actually Solaren Corporation aims to launch a series of giant solar collectors into orbit 23,000 miles above Fresno. They will beam the energy to earth in the form of radio waves. Now PG&E has finalized a contract with Solaren to buy the power on one condition if they can make the technology work.

Solar Reserve's (spun out of UTI) Molton Salt CSP Technology