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Pretty looking things.... My only question is how that they will handle heat.
Tesla, Panasonic “inconspicuous” solar panels unveiled
JC Torres - Apr 10, 2017
While best known for its electric vehicles, Tesla, much like its founder Elon Musk, is a company with many interests. As part of its venture into batteries for its cars, Tesla has also dabbled in alternative sources of energy, particular solar energy. Together with Panasonic, it has embarked on a quest to not only make solar roof panels more efficient but also more fashionable. And that will be through Panasonic’s new 325 watt panels that are designed to be so sleek and so low-profile that they can be installed on almost any pre-existing roof.
One of the biggest problems with solar panel roofing is that, most of the time, roofs have to be designed and built around them. It’s not exactly easy to install one without changing roofs, which isn’t just a financial burden but a design one as well. Tesla’s new panels promise to solve those by making them easier to install and look good too. And it will be accomplishing that with the help of partners and acquisitions.
Panasonic, of course, will be making the panels at Tesla’s Gigafactory 2 in Bufallo, New York, where the battery making the panels exclusively for Tesla. Low-profile mount design was actually something that was being developed by mounting equipment company Zep Solar, who was acquired by SolarCity, which, in turn, was acquired by Tesla.
The solar panels aren’t the only new thing either. These companies will also have new business models moving forward. As mentioned, Tesla has exclusivity to Panasonic’s new panels. But more than that, the now Tesla-owned SolarCity, who previously sourced its panels from multiple suppliers, will only be using these new panels once the modules go into production.
As to when all that will start and how much it will cost homeowners, those details are still kept under wraps for now.
Bill to help solar customers clears one hurdle in Nevada Legislature
https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/bill-to-help-solar-customers-clears-one-hurdle-in-nevada-legislature/
By Sean Whaley Las Vegas Review-Journal
April 3, 2017 - 6:27 pm
CARSON CITY — A bill that would restore commercially viable rates for homeowners who want to install rooftop solar panels and participate in net metering survived the first of many legislative hurdles on Monday.
Assembly Bill 270, which would bring back retail rates for homeowners who want to install rooftop solar systems, was forwarded to the full Assembly Commerce Committee with several amendments but no firm recommendation from the subcommittee that reviewed the proposal.
This is what I've been talking about. This is how you do it...
https://www.off-grid.net/love-tesla-lovers/
Jason Hughes is a happy hacker – but not of computers – he is known for leaking Tesla’s plans ahead of the company’s actual announcements, and now he has revealed photos of his own Tesla battery-powered compound in North Carolina. The 4,500 square-foot home has 102 commercial-grade solar panels to capture energy from the sun which then gets stored into a home battery storage unit composed of battery modules ripped from two Tesla Model S 85 kWh packs.
The 44.4 kW home solar system produces enough energy to not only power the entire home and all of its electrical appliances, but also provides enough energy to charge a pair of his and hers Model S each day. The end result is an elaborate home-engineered system that took roughly a year to design and build, and has allowed Hughes and his family to remain 99% self-sufficient for the past two years.
The battery banks used for storing solar energy are derived from*battery packs found from a salvaged Model S. Hughes dismantled the packs to create a stacked array of battery modules. A total of 36 modules are used in the home set up which equates to 2.25x Model S 85 kWh battery packs.
Here’s a video of Hughes performing a teardown of one of the Model S battery packs.
hughes-solar-home-electrical-roomhughes-solar-home-tesla-battery-module-2hughes-solar-home-tesla-battery
COSTS OF SOLAR POWER
Hughes says a large portion of the overall expenditure went to the $40k cost in Tesla batteries. He admits that the project likely doesn’t make sense from a financial perspective, but it’s important to understand that the value of his project goes beyond what a cost benefit analysis may yield.
Beyond being able to show that living solely off of sustainable energy is possible, the main inspiration behind his yearlong project was his father who taught him at a young age of 9 how to build a small off-grid solar system that produced enough energy to power his bedroom light, a small TV and a PC. That became the catalyst to what would become a lifelong dream to design an off-grid system capable of powering an entire house, along with electric vehicles.
36 modules from 2.25x Tesla 85kWh packs
191.25 kWh (DC side)
~4,200 Ah
43.2V nominal @ 3.6V per cell
15,984 cells (!)
Inverters: 8x Outback Radian GS8048A
240VAC @ 60Hz w/neutral
64kW continuous AC output
30 minute surge: 72kW; 5 second surge: 96kW; 100ms surge: 135.76kW
Grid->Battery Charging Capacity: 57kW
Expected AC output from pack after safe SoC window and efficiency considerations: ~160 kWh usable AC power
PV: 102 Sunpower Commercial Panels @ 435W (20% efficiency) for 44,370 Watts DC
Split into 17 sets of 6 panels (3 parallel of 2 in series)
17 individual MPPT charge controllers (Midnite Solar Classic 200)
https://www.off-grid.net/love-tesla-lovers/
Southwestern utilities back down from rooftop solar fight
Public support for rooftop solar has led to more moderate positions.
Elizabeth Shogren DC Dispatch March 10, 2017 Web Exclusive
http://www.hcn.org/articles/southwestern-utilities-back-down-from-rooftop-solar-fight
Not long ago, major electric utilities in much of the Southwest seemed bent on chasing rooftop solar companies out of the region. They saw the booming industry as a threat to their profits and sought rate changes that would make solar panels less financially attractive to homeowners. The electric companies advocated slashing the compensation those customers get for sending their excess power to the grid and adding new fees to their electric bills.
Because the electric companies are monopolies, state regulators have to approve such changes. In late 2015, the Public Utility Commission of Nevada set new rates that were so unfavorable to solar customers that they nearly snuffed out the residential solar business in the state. The number of households applying to connect solar panels to the grid dropped from a peak of nearly 3,000 in August 2015 to just 14 the next year. The biggest solar installation companies left the state, laying off thousands of workers.
But that’s not the end of the story. The public was outraged, and its objections resulted in a surprising shift: gradual rollback of the commission’s anti-solar decision. In November, voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to do away with utility monopolies. The public utility commission restored higher compensation rates for existing solar customers statewide and future customers in northern Nevada. It’s considering doing the same in the southern part of the state.
Now, the biggest electric utility in Arizona seems to have taken a cue from Nevada. The Arizona Public Service last week reached a settlement with solar installation companies, homeowner groups, local governments and other stakeholders. That will, by all accounts, keep the residential solar panel industry in business for years to come. While the settlement doesn’t resolve a lawsuit, like in Nevada, it instead aims to avoid a similar protracted fight in Arizona. If approved by regulators, the Arizona Corporation Commission, that settlement will set the terms for rooftop solar for decades.
Apparently big electric companies are learning that given the broad popularity of solar in the sunny desert region, they will have to accommodate rooftop solar instead of trying to kill it. This reflects the growing political might of the solar industry as it’s seen as a key job creator in much of the Southwest.
“We’re seeing that utilities recognize that they can’t go too far, and if they do, there’s going to be this backlash from customers,” says Alex McDonough, vice president for policy at Sunrun, a large solar panel leasing company based in San Francisco. “And so they have to work with us to provide access to solar. It doesn’t matter if it’s a red state or a blue state, there’s enormous customer demand.”
The deal for solar customers under the Arizona settlement is much more favorable than an earlier proposal from the company, which would have sharply reduced the compensation customers get for sending power to the grid. Instead, under the settlement, customers that already have solar panels would keep their existing deal, under which they get compensated at the full retail rate. For customers who get solar panels in the future, the compensation rate would start slightly lower than current retail rates and gradually decrease. That compromise reflects that Arizona Public Service got the message: the public wouldn’t stand for such a crackdown on rooftop solar. “We understand solar is a wildly popular resource,” Greg Bernosky, director of state regulation at the utility, told High Country News.
Arizona Public Service hopes the settlement (expected to be approved by the Arizona Corporation Commission in July) will put to rest the intense political battle over solar that has raged in the state since the rooftop solar businesses took off several years ago. The plummeting prices of photovoltaic panels spurred the growth of companies like SolarCity and Sunrun, which lease panels to residents and charge them less than their monthly electric bills. About 1,500 of the Arizona Public Service’s million residential customers sign up for solar every month, and by the end of January, a total of 55,000 Arizona Public Service customers had solar panels on their homes, according to the utility. That growth triggered a major press from the utility to increase the amount that residential solar customers pay. The utility argued that these customers were not paying their fair share of the costs of the grid, which shifted costs to customers without solar.
The compromise serves both interests. “There’s a sense that people want to just focus on doing business, offering customers products and services, and not always being tangled up in deep policy debates,” Bernosky said.
Still, solar companies complain that the new deal undervalues solar. They cite studies showing that rooftop solar has negligible impacts on electricity costs, even when solar customers are compensated at a one-to-one rate, getting as much for every unit of electricity they add to the grid as they pay for the electricity they take off the grid.
For companies like Sunrun that rent solar panels to residents, the solar compensation rate directly impacts their bottom line. But installers agreed to take less for power fed to the grid rather than face an extended fight that they might not have won in the end. The uncertainty over Arizona Public Service’s new deal with solar customers already had been cutting into business, the installers said. “It was in everyone’s interest to get to the table,” Sunrun’s McDonough said.
The recent developments in Arizona and Nevada show there’s a major shift underway in the relationship between large electric utilities and customers who generate power and share it with the grid. Utilities are coming to terms with a future where rooftop solar will provide a growing share of the electricity.
“We haven’t seen the end of utilities trying to clamp down on or really slow down the solar market. But there’s a growing awareness that a business has to give a customers what they want,” said Sean Gallagher, the Solar Energy Industry Association’s vice president for states.
Correspondent Elizabeth Shogren writes HCN’s DC Dispatches from Washington.
Tesla wants to save the grid in South Australia.
(and I want to get off the grid) 
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/tesla-reckons-its-batteries-could-resolve-australias-blackouts-2017-3
Telsa thinks its technology provides a solution for Australia’s energy problems.
The company’s energy products vice-president Lyndon Rive says a roll-out of up to 300 megawatts of grid-scale battery storage, which can be achieved in just 100 days, would be enough to prevent a blackout from occurring.
“If you had storage deployed during the blackout (in) South Australia you wouldn’t have had the blackout,” Rive said.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, such a feat would be at a cost of about $66 million per 100 megawatts, and would require a change in electricity market rules.
The South Australian blackouts were found to be largely due to unplanned power plant or transmission outages.
Grattan Institute energy program director Tony Wood told the SMH he was sceptical about such larger-scale proposals.
“If Tesla think they can do that, what’s stopping them? Providing they aren’t asking the government for some sort of subsidy and want to risk their own money, fantastic,” he said.
Around 6500 battery systems across all brands were installed in households across Australia in 2016. Rive expects within a decade all homes with solar will also have batteries.
Tesla says its batteries could fix Australia's energy problems in 100 days
http://www.smh.com.au/business/energy/tesla-says-its-batteries-could-fix-australias-energy-problems-in-100-days-20170309-guum3v.html
They are only starting to gain a foothold in the Australian market, but could batteries provide a near overnight solution to the energy woes that have hit South Australia and risk spreading east?
At least one company believes so. In an elaborate launch in a former power substation in suburban Newport, in Melbourne's west, Tesla Inc said its technology could provide a fix within 100 days.
The Californian company's energy products vice-president Lyndon Rive said it could install up to 300 megawatt hours of grid-scale battery storage in that timeframe at a cost of about $66 million per 100 megawatt hours.
"If you had storage deployed during the blackout [in] South Australia you wouldn't have had the blackout," Mr Rive said.
It is understood the company believes the proposal would require a change in electricity market rules, but not a direct subsidy.
Tesla is not the first to make this sort of suggestion. Zen Energy, chaired by economist Ross Garnaut, last month said its proposal for a $100 million large-scale solar plant with battery storage could solve most of South Australia's electricity problems if rules were changed to make it viable.
It comes amid heated political debate about how to ensure energy security and reliability, and to limit price rises while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Wholesale electricity prices have more than doubled across the national grid, largely due to sky-high gas prices and a policy vacuum that business groups say is preventing investment in power plants to replace ageing coal generators.
Meanwhile, South Australia has suffered blackouts in recent months following a huge growth in wind power driven by the national renewable energy target and the closure or mothballing of several coal and gas plants.
The blackouts have largely been caused by freak events and unplanned generation or transmission outages – on September 28 the state was hit be an extraordinary storm and there have been network operator mistakes - but have highlighted the need for flexible back-up as the grid is transformed.
Tesla expects a significant part of the answer to come from solar panels connected to home battery systems. About 6500 battery systems across all available brands were installed in households across Australia last year.
Mr Rive, Tesla founder Elon Musk's cousin, said within a decade he expected all homes with solar to also have batteries.
Tesla's latest lithium ion battery, the Powerwall 2, promises 14 kilowatt hours of storage for about $10,000 including installation. The new model is said to more than double the storage of the first Powerwall, and is 40 per cent smaller.
It can sit on the ground or be attached to a wall, and allows owners to store solar energy in the day to run their homes at night and to use it as back-up power should the grid go down.
Grattan Institute energy program director Tony Wood said batteries would play a role at a household level, but was sceptical about larger-scale proposals.
"If Tesla think they can do that, what's stopping them? Providing they aren't asking the government for some sort of subsidy and want to risk their own money, fantastic," he said.
Mr Wood said the electricity grid needed reliability and flexibility. That could potentially come from batteries, gas, pumped hydro storage, stronger connections between states and managing demand at peak times. The Turnbull government has earmarked pumped hydro, recently announcing $20 million in research funding.
He warned against putting too much faith in predictions about which energy technologies would prove viable, citing past hype about geothermal energy.
"The one thing you can say about technology forecasts is they're all wrong. The only question is which are going to be less wrong and by how much," he said.
In shift, more homeowners are buying solar panels than leasing them
The solar energy market is growing 24.2% annually
http://www.computerworld.com/article/3178342/sustainable-it/tectonic-shift-in-solar-sees-homeowners-now-buying-more-than-leasing-panels.html
By Lucas Mearian | Follow
Senior Reporter, Computerworld | Mar 8, 2017 12:52 PM PT
More homeowners now choose to buy solar panel systems rather than lease them, according to a new report.
Solar leases, which typically last up to 20 years and keep the ownership of solar rooftop panels in third-party supplier hands, peaked in 2014, with 74% of solar-panel home customers choosing that option. In the fourth quarter of 2016, however, the market that had been quickly moving away from leases jumped the shark, and only 47% of homeowners chose leasing, according to a report from GTM Research.
"All signs point to the continued rise of customer ownership. Leasing was a necessary temporary solution that sparked the original growth of residential solar, but the future is cash and loans," GTM stated in its report.
There are a few reasons for the fourth-quarter flip from leasing to owning.
Overall, the national third-party ownership share declined to 53% in 2016. Third-party-owned capacity was roughly flat from 2015, while customer-owned solar grew almost 50%, according to the report.
A year ago, GTM Research released a report indicating the price of rooftop solar systems for residential and small business were dropping precipitously, and consumers were increasingly choosing to buy their systems rather than lease.
Rooftop solar systems that used to cost as much as a luxury car five to 10 years ago now cost about the same as an economy car, or between $15,000 and $18,000 on average. And, the return on investment for a solar system is now estimated to be three to five years, depending on government rebates and tax incentives and the region in which they're installed.
In 2014, nearly three-quarters of all residential solar systems in the U.S. were owned by a third party, such as SolarCity, Vivant Solar or Sunrun, according to GTM. That means most consumers leased their systems or were under a solar power purchase agreement (PPA) with a solar provider.
Another market that has expanded is the solar power loan industry, where instead of purchasing systems with cash, homeowners take out personal loans as an investment in the less expensive energy source.
"The solar loan market has exploded," said GTM Research solar analyst Nicole Litvak. "Every ... financier has introduced or is planning to introduce a loan, and an entirely separate group of pure-play loan providers has emerged."
Tyler Ogden, a solar analyst with Lux Research, said consumers are aware that the installation price for solar has fallen and they see an opportunity to get all the financial benefits from installations, from tax incentives to free electricity.
A typical solar system installed today can pay for itself in electricity savings in a period ranging from a few years to 10 years -- with five years being the average ROI, Ogden said.
Another growing area for consumers choose is in solar marketplaces, where homeowners and businesses can compare pricing among solar providers.
For example, in 2015, 93% of users of solar marketplace EnergySage chose to own their system, compared to the national average of 37%, according to its CEO Vikram Aggarwal.
Founded in 2009, EnergySage is similar to Expedia or Kayak in that it's a free online service that allows users to input their information and retrieve standardized quotes for a service -- in this case, the installation of a rooftop solar system. EnergySage generates revenue from fees paid by solar suppliers. The company is part of a nascent industry that includes other, smaller players, such as Geostellar.
"From our perspective, we don't care what the customer selects. We get the same revenue if you select a lease or PPA or take out a loan for the system," Aggarwal said. "We're agnostic toward your decision."
There are, however, pros and cons to owning a solar system, Ogden said. For example, as solar panel owners, they get the full benefits, but they also inherit full responsibility for maintenance.
That doesn't mean consumers are without a safety net, as solar systems typically have warranties to perform with up to 85% of their original efficiency for 25 years. After 25 years, Ogden said, solar power systems can still generate electricity, but at a rate typically far less than 85%.
Separately, another report released today showed the solar market is growing robustly, from a value of $86 billion in 2015 to a projected value of $422 billion by 2022, representing an annual growth rate of 24.2%.
Energy storage deployments in the U.S. totaled 336 megawatt-hours in 2016, doubling the megawatt-hours deployed in 2015. According to GTM Research and the Energy Storage Association's U.S Energy Storage Monitor 2016 Year in Review report, 230 megawatt-hours came online in the fourth quarter of the year, more than the sum of the previous 12 quarters combined.
BioSolar Focuses on Driving Down Lithium-ion Battery Prices
No mention of WHEN....
But some fluff
http://www.altenergymag.com/news/2017/02/28/biosolar-focuses-on-driving-down-lithium-ion-battery-prices/25705/
Use of the Company's lower cost silicon-metal anode materials to play an important role
02/28/17, 03:08 PM | Energy Storage & Distribution, Other Energy Topics | BioSolar, Inc.
Feb. 28, 2017 -- BioSolar, Inc. (OTCQB:BSRC), a developer of breakthrough energy storage technology and materials, today further described its plan to help drive down the cost of lithium-ion batteries. The Company's management believes that use of its silicon-metal (Si-M) anode materials, currently under development, can help reduce the cost of lithium-ion batteries.
Recent reports indicate that lithium-ion battery costs have continued to fall drastically, while the small-scale battery storage market continues to significantly grow in market potential. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), "lithium-ion battery prices have fallen ‘by almost half just since 2014" with the electric vehicle industry being the key driver. The falling cost of batteries has resulted in electric vehicles reaching $300 per kWh price point which is needed to be considered competitive with natural gas plants. The author of a ThinkProgress article cites that when "battery prices drop another 50 percent, which BNEF thinks will happen within a decade or so, batteries dominate the market."
"The decline in the cost of batteries has been the result of new innovative manufacturing processes, as well as the scale of economy associated with higher manufacturing volume," said Dr. David Lee, BioSolar's Chief Executive Officer. "While these recent milestones and projected advancements are terrific, future projections are more heavily dependent upon innovations in and upgrades to battery materials not commercially available at present time."
The Company's Si-M anode material is expected to be substantially less expensive than that of the benchmark silicon-carbon anode material, which is the key cost issue typically associated with battery technology. Material costs represent over 60 percent of the total battery cost in a typical lithium-ion battery. BioSolar believes its strategy of pursuing anode material advancements to support next-generation lithium-ion batteries can play an important role within the electric vehicle sector, and the broader energy storage technology industry.
"By providing key material technologies to reduce lithium-ion battery costs, coupled with the mainstream adoption of electric vehicles, the BioSolar team believes it can serve a tremendous market opportunity," concluded Dr. Lee.
About BioSolar, Inc.
BioSolar is developing a breakthrough technology to increase the storage capacity, lower the cost and extend the life of lithium-ion batteries. A battery contains two major parts, a cathode and an anode, that function together as the positive and negative sides. BioSolar initially focused its development effort on high capacity cathode materials since most of today's lithium-ion batteries are "cathode limited." With the goal of creating the company's next generation super battery technology, BioSolar is currently investigating high capacity anode materials recognizing the fact that the overall battery capacity is determined by combination of both cathode and anode. By integrating BioSolar's high capacity cathode or anode, battery manufacturers will be able to create a super lithium-ion battery that can double the range of a Tesla, power an iPhone for two days straight, or store daytime solar energy for nighttime use. Founded with the vision of developing breakthrough energy technologies, BioSolar's previous successes include the world's first UL approved bio-based back sheet for use in solar panels.
To learn more about BioSolar, please visit our website at http://www.biosolar.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
Matters discussed in this press release contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "may," "intend," "expect" and similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those contemplated, expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the expectations of the Company and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. These include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties associated with: the impact of economic, competitive and other factors affecting the Company and its operations, markets, product, and distributor performance, the impact on the national and local economies resulting from terrorist actions, and U.S. actions subsequently; and other factors detailed in reports filed by the Company.
Investor Relations Contact:
Tom BeckerBioSolar, Inc.ir@biosolar.com
(877) 904-3733
For Media Inquiries:
Eric Fischgrund
FischTank Marketing and PR
eric@fischtankpr.com
Just Wait: Better Batteries Are Going to Turn the Energy Industry Upside Down
Batteries are getting much cheaper and more compact, much faster than many expected. Soon, that's going to upend multiple industries.
Travis Hoium
(TMFFlushDraw)
Feb 26, 2017 at 10:45AM
https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/26/just-wait-better-batteries-are-going-to-turn-the-e.aspx
Sometimes it's hard to see innovation happening until one day, you wake up and realize everything has changed. A decade ago, smartphones were the stuff of science fiction, cheap solar energy was a pipe dream, and Elon Musk was still struggling to keep his electric car startup alive. Today, all three are huge growth stories.
The underlying technologies that drove the innovative products in smartphones, solar, and EVs were present in 2007, but most people just didn't see how they could be practically adapted to revolutionize the world in such a short time.
Today, improvements in battery technology are on the cusp of changing everything we know about energy in transportation and electricity. The groundwork has already been laid, and a decade from now, we'll look back and think about how obvious the transformation should have been ahead of time.
Batteries are the new solar panels
Before we dive into how batteries will change everything, I think it's important to frame what's going on today. The future of growing battery use and falling cost has some precedent in the energy industry. When I started writing for The Motley Fool in 2010, the solar power industry was small, and the cost to manufacture a solar panel was about $1.10 per watt, meaning buying a panel on the open market would cost you around $1.60 per watt. In 2017, solar panel prices hit $0.40 per watt on the spot market, a quarter of their cost just seven years earlier, and a much faster cost reduction than anyone had predicted. It's no coincidence that between 2010 and 2016 solar installations globally nearly quintupled from 16 GW to 74 GW.
The same dynamic is happening in the battery market today, with massive capacity additions, cost reductions, and technology improvements happening at multiple companies simultaneously around the world. Tesla's (NASDAQ:TSLA) Gigafactory gets a lot of attention, and Musk has said a 35% reduction in battery costs could be coming. Worth noting that he claimed his costs were below $190 per kWh early last year.
By 2020, the forecasts have battery costs falling to below $100 per kWh, with manufacturers Samsung, Panasonic, and LG Chem leading the way. LG Chem is the supplier for the recently launched Chevy Bolt, which reportedly got battery cells for just $145 per kWH.
On top of these cost reductions, industry sources say that energy density has doubled, allowing more energy to be packed into a smaller space. And as space constraints fall and costs come down, the potential for batteries to disrupt the energy sector increases.
Changing everything we thought we knew about transportation
When electric vehicles started to emerge on the scene, battery cost alone was a deterrent to manufacturing or buying them. When batteries were $400 per kWh a few years ago, that meant that by itself, the 65 kWh battery that powered a Tesla cost $26,000. But with $100 per kWh pricing on the horizon, a 100 kWh battery would cost just $10,000 and provide a car over 300 miles in range per charge, making EVs a much more palatable choice.
It's no coincidence that General Motors (NYSE:GM), BMW, Tesla, and many others are accelerating their EV development now. Batteries themselves are no longer a hurdle for the industry to get over; soon, they will be a cost advantage over conventional vehicles.
I'm also becoming more convinced that transportation can be disrupted on a larger scale. Electric buses built by companies like Proterra are now cost competitive with diesel powered models, Mercedes-Benz is testing urban e-trucks, and new companies like Nicola One are launching electric semi-tractors.
The market growth of electric vehicles of all sizes is like a ball rolling down a hill -- we just don't know how fast it's rolling or where it's going to land. But with battery prices dropping, we can be assured that the disruption in the transportation industry is just beginning.
Electricity will never be the same
While batteries in vehicles will be a highly visible application, power storage may be just as important to the energy industry overall. Batteries can store energy to make the grid more reliable, to offset the intermittence of renewable energy sources like wind and solar, and even justify delaying or cancelling the construction of "peaker plants" that come online only during periods of high demand.
The incredible innovation better, cheaper batteries allow is the ability to think of electricity as more than a constant supply-and-demand equation. Since the grid was built, generators had to match their production capacity with peak demand, no matter what that demand was. Now, we can move excess supply from one time of a day to another, and begin to start using energy more efficiently.
Batteries can also be installed in homes, at businesses, or by grid operators. When a customer can react to price signals at a moment's notice or can cheaply and easily store the energy from their rooftop solar panels for use at night, it changes the electricity business forever.
Batteries are going to change everything
The rapid cost reductions and improving technology in the battery industry are going to change a lot of what we thought we knew about energy. And as these products get more cost effective they'll become more common and soon they'll be commonplace.
A decade from now, it won't be strange to drive an electric car, or take an electric bus, home from work, and flip on lights that are powered by solar or wind-generated electricity stored in your battery system. The revolution is clearly happening, and investors should make sure they're on the right side of the disruption so they don't get run over.
Caterpillar looking past coal...
http://www.decentralized-energy.com/articles/2017/02/caterpillar-solar-pv-to-backbone-illinois-microgrid.html
http://www.cat.com/en_US/campaigns/awareness/microgrid-solutions.html
Caterpillar solar PV to backbone Illinois microgrid
21/02/2017
By Diarmaid Williams
International Digital Editor
Caterpillar has announced that Cat dealer Altorfer has commissioned a 1000 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system in Rantoul, Illinois, US.
Built to fulfill a 20-year power purchase agreement with the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency (IMEA), the installation was constructed on an eight-and-a-half-acre site near Heritage Lake Park and the University of Illinois Transportation Lab in a southeast section of the former Chanute Air Force Base.
Altorfer Power Systems leads the installation, maintenance and operation of the facility in Rantoul, which is expected to produce an estimated 1.6 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, while diversifying the IMEA’s power generation.
The solar PV system is powered by advanced thin-film solar modules, an improvement on conventional silicon solar panels. Fully scalable and pre-engineered for quick and easy installation, the system offers reliable and predictable energy in all climates and applications with modules that are independently tested to pass accelerated life and stress tests beyond industry standards.
The offering is a key component of the Cat Microgrid technology suite, an innovative lineup of power systems that adds environmentally friendly solar panels, state-of-the-art energy storage, and advanced monitoring and control systems to Caterpillar’s traditional line of reliable power generation equipment, including generator sets, switchgear, uninterruptible power supplies and automatic transfer switches.
The Cat Microgrid technology suite is designed to reduce fuel expenses, lower utility bills, decrease emissions, and reduce the total cost of ownership while increasing energy efficiency in even the most challenging environments.
“With the cost of renewable energy rapidly declining, the use of microgrid technology is quickly becoming more popular. Advances in solar panel technology and energy storage have enabled Cat Microgrid technology to become one of the most effective ways to produce clean, reliable and affordable power,” said Rick Rathe, general manager of new ventures for Caterpillar’s Electric Power business. “Cat Microgrid technologies deliver an innovative, financially viable way to incorporate sustainable sources of energy into any existing portfolio of traditional power generation offerings.”
Credit Agricole.
Total assets: 1.661 trillion USD (2016)
BTW how is the weather affecting you?
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FWIW:IF you believe The Fool:In Case You Missed It, This Hasn't Happened in the Solar Industry in 16 Years
The solar industry has been on a growth tear, but that may soon come to an end. Is this disaster or a short lull for the solar industry?
Travis Hoium
(TMFFlushDraw)
Feb 11, 2017 at 10:17AM
In Case You Missed It, This Hasn't Happened in the Solar Industry in 16 Years
The solar industry has been on a growth tear, but that may soon come to an end. Is this disaster or a short lull for the solar industry?
Travis Hoium
(TMFFlushDraw)
Feb 11, 2017 at 10:17AM
https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/11/in-case-you-missed-it-this-hasnt-happened-in-the-s.aspx
The solar industry has been on a growth streak for the past 16 years and is now a formidable force in energy. But this year may finally see the growth streak come to an end.
According to GTM Research, 2017 is expected to see a 7% decline in installations from 74 GW to 69 GW. This would be a significant downturn after years of growth, but it's not all that surprising to industry observers. First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR), SunPower (NASDAQ:SPWR), Canadian Solar (NASDAQ:CSIQ), and even shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in SolarCity were all hammered by this decline before the calendar turned to 2017.
While this year may be bad for solar energy, it may be the calm before a wave of installations hits starting in 2018. And if you look out on the horizon the solar future looks to be getting brighter everyday.
A series of unfortunate events
The decline in installations in 2017 will be driven by a number of negative events all hitting at once. There was an urgency that drove a boom in installations in 2016 when the investment tax credit (ITC) in the U.S. was set to expire, but the extension in late 2015 took away any urgency for utilities to sign solar contracts for 2017. Long-term, the extension will lead to more solar installations, but not until the 2018-2021 timeframe.
China will also be a drag after installing a record 34.2 GW of solar (enough to power 5.6 million U.S. homes) in 2016 according to the Chinese National Energy Administration. No one quite knows how much solar will be installed in China in 2017, but the NEA only plans to average 27.5 GW of installations over the next four years so it's safe to say installations will be down.
Japan is another country where the solar industry is in for a rough year. According to GTM Research, an estimated 10.2 GW of solar was installed in Japan in 2016, but that will drop to 8.8 GW in 2017 as feed-in tariff reductions hit. Japan is a high potential solar market, but public policy hasn't kept up with potential and that will keep a cap on growth short-term.
Why growth is on the horizon
While these factors in the U.S., China, and Japan will drive a decline in solar installations in 2017, that doesn't mean the industry is heading into a dark chapter. Solar energy has never been cheaper and bids for new power plants are coming in under 4 cents per kWh in some locations, a price that would beat any new fossil fuel or nuclear plant on a cost basis.
Emerging markets like Chile, Mexico, Argentina, India, and the Middle East are starting to see the potential of solar as well. Mexico's recent auction resulted in clean energy contracts with an average price of 3.3 cents per kWh and given the low cost many countries are following with their own reverse auctions in 2017. Nearly four dozen countries could have energy auctions this year and that would lead to a boom in demand in 2018 and beyond.
Solar energy is cost effective today, but energy projects have this lag between when people decide to go solar and when projects are in the ground. That's the lull the market is in today. Leading developers like First Solar, SunPower, and Canadian Solar could will their backlog in 2018 and 2019, despite having a down year in 2017.
Solar energy is still the future of energy
Over the past decade alone, solar energy has grown from a 2 GW industry that could install enough power generation to power 368,000 homes per year to an industry giant that installed 74 GW, or enough to power 12.1 million homes, in the last year alone. And growth was driven by a whopping 90% drop in solar panel costs as technology improves across the industry.
2017 may be a down year for the solar industry for a variety of reasons, but it doesn't fundamentally change the fact that solar energy is the most abundant energy source in the world and the cost to generate solar power is now lower than fossil fuels in most of the world.
Like it or not, the solar boom is really just beginning and 2017 will be a calm before what could be another 16 years of consecutive growth for solar energy.
Travis Hoium owns shares of First Solar and SunPower. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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