INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL INTRODUCTORY ... - PHOTON Info

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42 Politics guide companies interested in applying. Like the Treasury grants, there is a premi- um on rapid results: applicants needed to demonstrate that their project could begin construction by September 30th, 2011. Additionally, companies hoping to land a section 1703 DOE loan guarantee – the first round of applications were due on September 14th – had to be able to provide 20 percent of the total project cost via equity, with the DOE agreeing to guarantee the remaining 80 percent. Research and development assistance Believe it or not, the DOE loan guarantees and Treasury grants, while poten- tially providing the biggest impact, are by no means the only stimulus programs designed to help the PV industry. Com- panies like XeroCoat are benefiting from ARRA funds designed to boost research Stimulus funding for the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy $ mn 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 800 400 346 Biomass Geothermal Technologies Energy Efficient Building Technologies 256 Industrial Technologies Solar Technologies Program 117 110 100 93 Wind Energy Projects Vehicle Technologies NREL Facility and Infrastructure <strong>Info</strong> & Communication Technology and development. In fact, thanks to the stimulus, research funds devoted to PV have reached their highest level since the early 1980s, before former President Rea- gan gutted support for solar. Determining exactly where the money is headed, and who is benefiting from it, is a challenge. The funds are being awarded and distributed through a mixture of universities, companies and national research laboratories, like the National Re- newable Energy Lab (NREL) in Colorado. But one thing is certain: in May, Presi- dent Obama announced that $16.8 billion stimulus cash would go to the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renew- able Energy, $117 million of which was targeted for the Solar Energy Technolo- gies Program. Of that $117 million, $92 million in stimulus money is earmarked for PV. Adding in the $145 million that 50 42 32 25 22 Fuel Cell Markets US Hydropower Projects Mass. Wind Technology Testing Center Community Renewable Energy Deployment Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program and Energy Star $0.3 billion Alternative-Fueled-Vehicle Pilot Transportation Electrification $0.4 billion Advanced Battery Manufacturing Grants $2 billion Applied Research, Development and Conservation Block Grants $2.5 billion had already been allotted through the regular 2009 budgeting process, the total funding for solar reaches $237 million – that’s a 75 percent increase from 2008. Outside of the Solar Technologies Program and the regular budget, an additional $277 million in stimulus money was awarded in August to 46 Energy Frontier Research Centers – including universities and laboratories – not all of which are focused on PV, although many are. In all, stimulus funds directed towards PV research and development have landed in the coffers of companies as large as General Electric, DuPont and 3M, and as small as XeroCoat. Just one example of the programs: the PV Tech- nology Pre-Incubator program aims to help promising, small companies take their products from concept to commer- cially viable prototype. Total $16.8 billion Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants $3.2 billion Grant Program $0.3 billion Weatherization Assistance $5 billion State Energy Program $3.1 billion A partial breakdown: Of the $16.8 billion of stimulus money directed to the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, $117 million is devoted to solar research and development. Here’s how that portion is being divided - and it doesn’t include the billions allotted for Treasury grants and DOE loan guarantees November 2009 source: Department of Energy, graphic: <strong>PHOTON</strong>
Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory Calling all solar companies: Dr. Steven Chu, a winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics and a long-time supporter of renewable energy, is Obama’s Secretary of Energy. Much of the stimulus money devoted to helping PV will be disbursed by Chu’s agency There are still other ways that the stimulus bill is geared towards helping PV, including giving financial assistance to training programs for installers, and $2.3 billion to fund a manufacturing tax credit to attract cell and module manufacturers to the country. Funding from the ARRA has also gone directly to states for a number of applications beneficial to the PV industry, including the establishment or support of state incentive programs. »States have cre- ated or expanded existing solar programs,« says SEIA’s Resch. »The State of Virginia never had incentives for solar energy, but now they do. Many states, because of their dire financial situation, would have prob- ably dramatically cut their solar programs. This has kept them alive.« States have used stimulus money to do more than just to bolster incentives. In Massachusetts, which had just 2.9 MW of PV in 2008, Governor De- val Patrick launched a so-called »Solar Stimulus« to install a total of 16 MW of PV on public buildings, such as schools, housing developments, and even Bos- ton’s Logan International Airport. A bumpy road It’s alluring to think that the combina- tion of billions of dollars, and the personal attention of the President of the United November 2009 43 » States, would translate instantly into smooth sailing for the stimulus bill – and provide a tremendous boost for renewable energy in general, and PV in particular. The truth is that setting goals, formu- lating policies, and making attention- grabbing speeches are the easy part. The execution is the difficult part, especially when it involves this much money and this much bureaucracy. The stimulus has certainly faced its share of problems dur- ing the roll out. Even the administration’s most ardent supporters concede that the speed at which the rules for applying and receiving stimulus dollars were for- mulated and released, particularly for the Treasury grant and DOE loan guarantees, was detrimental to the industry’s poten- tial in 2009. »In many ways, the delay in announcing the [grant] program has held back the industry this year,« says SEIA’s Resch, who contends that the pace of large PV projects has increased now that cash grants are being awarded. »Solar projects were put on hold until the program was announced.« In some ways, all of the attention sur- rounding the initial announcement of the stimulus package and its impact on solar, followed by months of inactivity, may have caused more disappointment than if the ARRA funds had been unveiled quietly.
Page 1: A LONG, STRANGE TRIP SOUTHERN EXPOS
Page 4 and 5: 4 Under the Sun National Renewable
Page 6 and 7: 6 Photo of the month The garden of
Page 8 and 9: May we introduce ourselves? The PHO
Page 10 and 11: 10 Readers‘ letters PHOTON, welco
Page 12 and 13: 12 Readers‘ letters So why are so
Page 14 and 15: 14 Under the Sun History A long, No
Page 16 and 17: 16 Under the Sun The headquarters o
Page 18 and 19: Under the Sun selling book, »A Gui
Page 20 and 21: Under the Sun Academy of Sciences,
Page 22 and 23: Under the Sun made to uniquely fit
Page 24 and 25: Under the Sun to figure out how to
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Page 28 and 29: 28 The 13 Solar Colonies PHOTON inv
Page 30 and 31: Politics to federal income tax. Als
Page 32 and 33: State 32 Politics invest. If histor
Page 34 and 35: 34 Politics San Francisco From mega
Page 36 and 37: 36 Politics (see table below). Acco
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Page 40 and 41: 40 Politics Stimulus package Feel t
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In Practice bluntly: »We have this
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Elkus’ golden trout pond is the l
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Test Laboratory A couple of years a
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Events From system inspection to in
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November 19-20, 2009 Alternative En
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Who should exhibit? • Manufacture
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Education & Training Producer-indep
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Internships New internships in the
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