November 2007 Archives

As I've written several articles about how solar panels are evolving and becoming available on a large scale through companies such as Citizenre, I thought it was also important to touch on the ways we can save energy as we create it.

Greenpeace recently partnered with famed artist Jason Bruges (who does a lot of different art with light) at an event in London to advertise new dimming fluorescent CFL bulbs. These bulbs look a lot better than some of the first CFL versions and add the benefit of being dimmable like old fashioned light bulbs. As solar panels help us generate more electricity, it's also important to conserve the electricity we do have. New technologies let us have the best of both worlds.

Recently the city of San Francisco created a solar mashup using Google Maps and their own technology that allows residents to enter their building address in the City and instantly see the energy and money savings that going solar could provide to them. Since Google recently expanded their own offices to include a building in downtown San Francisco near the Giant's Stadium area, I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up using their own technology to map out future solar expansions.

The San Francisco Google Maps solar system has great benefits if you are a business owner or real estate mogul and have property in the downtown area. This is a great step in the right direction to empower more people to consider solar and go beyond the standard red tape to get this kind of thing done including building restrictions, homeowners associations, and structural limitations. Unfortunately the Google maps solar mashup currently does not work for anyone outside of San Francisco but we'll keep you updated as the program expands and hopefully moves to other large cities in the US and abroad. In the mean time, we here at Solar Power Authority have launched three Google maps of our own charting out different clean car charging and fueling stations around the US including solar electric.

Some of the coolest new solar technologies have nothing to do with solar panels at all! Recent innovations have focused more on using mirrors, directional motors, and lenses to reduce the amount of photo voltaic and silicone products (which are very expensive) that are needed to produce energy. One of the most valuable shifts has nothing to do with technology, it has to do with the business model being used.

In terms of technology, one of my favorite products is the Sunflower by Energy Innovations. These guys actually worked with Google recently to install their traditional solar panels and I was lucky enough to randomly run into one of the lead designers from Energy Innovations on a road trip this month. This technology still requires using PV materials and silicon but it uses it way more efficiently by surrounding it with a lens. This method is called "high concentration". For those of you lucky enough to have access to the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA or to be given a tour there, you will see a Sunflower unit in the main lobby just under the Spaceship One repkica hanging from the ceiling! Check out the video of the Sunflower posted below...

Other methods for concentrating solar energy involve using parabolic shapes to capture light energy and either heat water or absorb it more efficiently. The most classic example of this technology is a dish shaped mirror with a steam or water powered mechanical generator suspended just above.

As new technologies emerge some people worry about investing in today's standards. Indeed, it can be daunting to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a system that will soon be outclassed and devalued. I think it's comparable to the advances we've seen with computers. A few companies are addressing these concerns by renting solar panels instead of selling them. In this way, they install and maintain the system and the consumer just pays to use it at their location. Moreover, as advances do take place in the industry the "renter" just upgrades their equipment over time and enjoys bulk purchase discounts and economies of scale. The residential consumer will never have to worry about the technology at all. One company that is pursuing this new business model is called Citisenre.

Another possibility all together is the adaptation of large electricity providers to using renewable resources. As this happens end users will continue using the same infrastructure they currently do but the power will suddenly be green. As this happens solar manufacturers will cater more to niche end users with remote cabins or vehicles that need additional power supply.

It's not just Google going solar these days, actually, several companies have been exploring these new options and saving a bundle in the process! Hewlett Packard announced recently that it has partnered with SunPower. The new systems will be put in at the plant down in San Diego. Microsoft has also embraced solar opportunities, and it's been doing it since 2006, over a year before Google had them put in. General Motors is another great example of a company that has put solar energy to use at it's corporate offices shown in the video below.

Having two parents that work at HP, several friends at Microsoft, and having worked at Google myself it's hard to know whether this is more of a publicity race or really about profit? One thing is for sure, as more companies embrace solar the technology becomes cheaper for you and I due to economies of scale.

One company called Citizenre is in the process of building one of the largest solar plants in the world in order to lower the cost of photo voltaic converters (the stuff that powers solar panels) and their business model allows them to rent this technology to residents at the same price as an electric bill. More info available at http://jointhesolution.com/begin

Many companies are viewing solar power technology as a great investment. Just yesterday Google announced that it will begin investing in and exploring solar technology for itself and as a new business. Having worked at Google myself, I was there when they installed all of the new solar panels on the roof of their main building "The Googleplex" in Mountain View California and it was a very exciting event. I was also really impressed when they put panels on all of the car ports and strung down plugs for electric cars! While Google has plenty of money to dabble in these cutting edge technologies, I was surprised to find out they are actually saving money in tax credits.

Other companies are catching on, even in less sunny environments such as Colorado. Sun Microsystems is exploring solar energy for it's Colorado campus and is using Google Maps and Sketchup (a company that started in Boulder Colorado and was recently acquired by Google) to map out what it would look like. You can see their solar panel configuration proposal in the video below.

As it relates to consumers, several new companies are coming forward to help provide solar technology to homeowners who are interested but can't necessarily afford it. One company, Citizenre, has announced plans to build a large manufacturing plant to lower the cost of panels which it then plans to rent at the same monthly price that users already pay for dirty energy off the grid. As Google looks towards the solar panel industry and several companies are seeing huge profits (as this article in Bloomberg attests) people are lining up to reserve a spot with the REnU system from Citizenre.

The idea of renting products that would otherwise require a large sum of up front capital has been around for a long time. Living in an apartment is probably the most common form of renting and it is widely accepted across the US and most of the world today. With the price of installing a complete solar system nearing $20,000 (or less depending on if you do some of it yourself) renting solar panels is an idea that we can expect to catch on in the coming years.

In one such example, a company called MMA Renewable Ventures acts as a middle man to provide Solar Panels nearly free of charge to large businesses. They help to coordinate the deals between solar panel companies, investors, and the organization that wants to go solar! In this way, the company just redirects their electricity bill to MMA and the extra profit is used to pay off the costs of renting the technology. Read the full article in Business Week

This business model is very similar to what Citizenre is planning to offer for residential home owners all across America in late 2008. Under their model, home owners will rent solar panels by paying the same amount of money they were used to paying for dirty energy. By renting REnU solar panels to residents, installing and maintaining them, and providing a monitoring system, Citizenre is empowering residents to go solar with very little up front investment. Learn more about Citizenre at http://jointhesolution.com/begin and check out the short video below that we found on YouTube showing a small model of a home using net metering with solar panels to spin the electricity meter backwards.

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