Download the PDF - Global Solar Technology

Analyst Buzz
out to be more like 50 percent than 25,
the Netherlands will have reached a milestone
of 1.5 million installed solar energy
systems within five years, compared to the
100,000 that are already operational.
“This is nothing short of a revolution.
Since we’re right in the middle of it, the
speed of it all isn’t that noticeable. In ten
years, we will look back at this point in time
and fully realize the change that has taken
place,” said Edwin Koot, CEO of Solarplaza.
At the end of 2012, solar panels in the
Netherlands already offered a combined
capacity of 280 megawatts. Last year,
around 240 million kWh of solar energy
was generated, corresponding to 0.22
per cent of overall national electricity
consumption. And this is in addition to the
growing amount of solar systems already
constructed without subsidies, for which
there is no detailed data.
With solar photovoltaic (PV) panels
becoming increasingly cheaper and
energy prices continuing to rise, solar
energy generated on private roofs is now
cheaper than energy tapped from the grid.
Furthermore, investing in a solar system
can generate interest rates three times as
high as those of a regular savings account.
This will only contribute to the apparent
growth. It’s likely that in three years’ time
there will already be more than 440,000 PV
systems in the country, covering 1 per cent
of the national electricity consumption.
In 2020, an annual production of 4,000
megawatts of solar energy could cover 3
percent of the national consumption. But if
the growth of solar energy turns out to be
closer to 40 percent – which is very likely –
this contribution will be close to 6 percent.
On sunny days, this could mean that coal
and gas plants will have to be shut down.
In Germany last year, a sunny month of
May resulted in 50 percent the electricity
demand being provided by solar panels,
while the annual share amounted to 5
percent.
According to Solarplaza, the
Netherlands are underestimating the
consequences of this phenomenon. While
coal and gas plants will become less and less
profitable, they will continue to be needed
during periods without sun. In the summer,
this could lead to these plants having to
dump their electricity on the international
market, as their German counterparts
have already experienced. Energy utilities
will also lose out on a considerable part of
their revenue, when their clients generate
their own electricity through solar panels.
“That’s why energy utilities need to find
new business models and really face the
challenges head-on. They will need to focus
their attention on energy storage systems,
advanced energy management and smartgrid
solutions,” according to Koot.
The fifth consecutive edition of The
Solar Future: NL ’13, which is to be held
on 23rd May in the Evoluon in Eindhoven,
will welcome experts such as Professor
Wim Sinke, Professor Han Slootweg and
the successful Australian/American entrepreneur
Danny Kennedy, who will share
their visions on the trends and developments
in the field of solar energy.
New Federal Report shows
solar achieved history in
March
For the first time, solar energy accounted
for all new utility electricity generation
capacity added to the U.S. grid last
month, according to the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission’s (FERC’s) March
2013 “Energy Infrastructure Update.” More
than 44 megawatts (MW) of solar electric
capacity was brought online from seven
projects in California, Nevada, New Jersey,
Hawaii, Arizona, and North Carolina. All
other energy sources combined added no
new generation.
Solar also had a strong showing in
FERC’s quarterly generation numbers,
accounting for about 30 percent of all utility-scale
new capacity. The report focuses
exclusively on larger facilities and does not
include energy generated by net-metered
installations. Net-metered systems account
for more than half of all U.S. solar electric
capacity.
“This speaks to the extraordinary
strides we have made in the past several
years to bring down costs and ramp up
deployment,” said Rhone Resch, president
and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries
Association. “Since 2008, the amount of
solar powering U.S. homes, businesses and
military bases has grown by more than 600
percent—from 1,100 megawatts to more
than 7,700 megawatts today. As FERC’s
report suggests, and many analysts predict,
solar will grow to be our nation’s largest
new source of energy over the next four
years.”
FERC’s report supports other findings
which show solar power to be one of the
fastest growing energy sources in the U.S.,
powering homes, businesses and utility
grids across the nation. The Solar Market
Insight annual edition shows the U.S.
installed 3,313 megawatts (MW) of solar
photovoltaics (PV) in 2012, a record for the
industry.
Some of this growth is attributed to
the fact that the cost of a solar system has
dropped by nearly 40 percent over the past
two years, making solar more affordable
than ever for utilities and consumers.
“In 2012, the U.S. brought more new
solar capacity online than in the three prior
years combined,” Resch added. “These new
numbers from FERC support our forecast
that solar will continue a pattern of growth
in 2013, adding 5.2 GW of solar electric
capacity. This sustained growth is enabling
the solar industry to create thousands of
good jobs and to provide clean, affordable
energy for more families, businesses, utilities,
and the military than ever before.”
Today, America’s solar industry
employs 119,000 workers throughout the
country. That’s a 13.2 percent growth over
2011’s jobs numbers, making solar one
of the fastest-growing job sectors in the
nation.
Solar Fuels: The USD3.5
trillion opportunity
To maintain current standards of living in
developed economies and raise them in
developing ones, the world is going to need
a lot more power than it is now producing.
The impact of growth in world population
occurring in a period of decreasing fractional
use of fossil fuels for energy production,
accompanied by a significant increase
in affluence resulting from globalization of
the world economy, will be a huge growth
in the demand for energy over the 21st
century.
The increase of growth in world electrification
over the period from 1980 through
2000 and forecast though 2030 show an
estimated 2-fold increase in electric energy
intensity resulting from an estimated 4-fold
increase in electric energy consumption by
a world population that will increase 2-fold
over the 50-year period.
Given a worldwide intensive effort
for energy conservation, the addition of
3 billion people on Earth, coupled with
additional large future applications of
electric energy intensive technologies, and
further coupled with the reduction of fossil
fuel combustion for generation of electricity
and automotive transportation raise
serious concern about the sustainability of
worldwide energy supply.
This is according to a recent report
from Amadee+Company, Solar Fuels,
Artificial Photosynthesis, Hydrogen, Fuel
Cells and the Future of Clean Energy:
2013-2023 Analysis and Forecasts.
The scale of the energy problem is
huge. In 2001, the world used 13.2 TW (1
terrawatt=10*12 watts) of energy. By 2050,
it will need 28 TW. This increase need of
15 TW is not feasible using existing energy
sources like oil, gas coal and nuclear.
32 – Global Solar & Alternative Energies – May/June 2013 www.globalsolartechnology.com