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HP Buys 80 Gigawatt-hours from Airtricity

HP’s contract with Airtricity is for the supply of 80 gigawatt-hours of wind energy to a number of its facilities in Ireland for fiscal year 2008. The electricity supplied by Airtricity is generated by both onshore and offshore wind farms. HP’s agreement with SunPower covers installation of a 1-megawatt solar electric power system and required maintenance of the system for the next 15 years. HP

Wind Hydrogen for less than $3/kilogram

12/8/06 Hydrogen can be produced at a wind turbine site for $5.55 / kg in the near term to $2.27 / kg in the long term, explains ‘Wind Energy & Production of Hydrogen & Electricity - Opportunities for Renewable Hydrogen’ prepared the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory. A second analysis examined if wind could produce hydrogen in a distributed fashion, where a windfarm signals a remotely located electrolyzer that would allow the electrolyzer to run only when the wind is blowing. Details

Solar

Solar Could Provide 10 Percent of U.S. Electricity Generation by 2025

(6/17/08) For the first time solar power is beginning to reach cost parity with conventional energy sources. As solar prices decline and the capital and fuel costs for coal, natural gas, and nuclear plants rise, the U.S. will reach a crossover point by around 2015. -Installed solar PV prices are projected to decline from an average $5.50-$7.00 peak watt (15-32 cents kWh) today to $3.02-$3.82 peak watt (8-18 cents kWh) in 2015 to $1.43-$1.82 peak watt (4-8 cents kWh) by 2025."One of the big takeaways from this report is that, in many ways, the future of solar is in the hands of utilities," said Ron Pernick, Clean Edge cofounder and managing director and USA Study coauthor. "Reaching 10 percent of our electricity from solar sources by 2025 will require the active participation of utilities along with the support and participation of regulators and solar technology companies." Clean Edge Report

A Solar Grand Plan

By Ken Zweibel, James Mason and Vasilis Fthenakis (12/07). By 2050 solar power could end U.S. dependence on foreign oil and slash greenhouse gas emissions. A massive switch from coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear power plants to solar power plants could supply 69 percent of the U.S.’s electricity and 35 percent of its total energy by 2050. This quantity includes enough to supply all the electricity consumed by 344 million plug-in hybrid vehicles. Scientific American Article

Solar Santa Monica

12/14/06 John Addison Santa Monica wants to be the nation’s first “Net Zero” city. Through energy efficiency, solar and other renewable energy, the city envisions generating clean energy that matches its total energy consumption. Solar Santa Monica formally launches a two year program on January 1, 2007. The voluntary program will start with 50 residential and commercial buildings. Santa Monica goes beyond clean electricity to be a city that models clean transportation. Over 80% of the city’s 519 vehicles are either alt-fuel or electric. 5 of the city’s fleet of Toyota Priuses were converted by Quantum to run on pure hydrogen. Article

Solar Power 2007

By John Addison (10/2/07) Solar Power 2007 was such a hot event that registration had to be closed a week prior to the conference opening in Long Beach, California. There was enthusiasm for high growth and technology advancements in photovoltaics (PV) and in large-scale concentrating solar power (CSP). In 2006, PV grew over 40% to $20 billion in revenue and over 2,500 MW of new solar power. Complete Article