From GE:

GE ENERGY FINANCIAL SERVICES AND PACIFICO ENERGY PARTNER ON A THIRD SOLAR TRANSACTION IN JAPAN

March 31, 2015

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MIYAZAKI CITY, JAPAN – MARCH 31, 2015: GE unit (NYSE:GE) GE Energy Financial Services and Virginia Solar Group subsidiary Pacifico Energy have partnered for a third time to construct a solar power project in Japan. GE Energy Financial Services and Virginia Solar Group will jointly invest equity in a 96.2-megawatt (DC) photovoltaic solar plant, with GE Energy Financial Services’ commitment totaling ¥7.5 billion. Construction of the plant is underway in Hosoe on Kyushu Island, in the prefecture of Miyazaki. A ¥35 billion term loan facility with a 22-year tenor – led by The Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. as the sole and exclusive mandated lead arranger – was provided on a non–recourse project finance basis with a syndicate of 12 Japanese financial institutions. Additional transaction details have not been disclosed.

Pacifico Energy is the project developer managing construction and operations of Hosoe, which is being
built on 140 hectares of land that was originally intended for a golf course. Once complete, it will be the
largest solar power plant on Kyushu Island and consist of approximately 300,000 photovoltaic modules
supplied by Trina Solar. Toyo Engineering Corporation is the construction company on the project, and
Asahi Dengyo is providing operations and maintenance services. In addition to capital, GE is supplying
the project with 50 units of 1.26-megawatt Brilliant solar inverters, which eliminate the need for an
intermediate transformer, resulting in higher conversion efficiency and superior grid performance.

Hosoe is expected to begin commercial operations in the spring of 2018 and will sell its power to Kyushu
Electric Power Company under a 20-year power purchase agreement. It is expected to generate enough
clean energy to power up to 30,000 households and avoid 68,200 tons of CO2 emissions per year.
By 2020, Japan aims to have 20 percent of its energy generated from renewable power sources, a goal
which is supported by the country’s regulatory policies and feed-in tariff. Sushil Verma, a managing
director and head of Asia Pacific at GE Energy Financial Services, notes that Hosoe is the third
transaction between GE Energy Financial Services and Pacifico Energy that contributes to the country’s
renewable energy goals.

“We aim to continue helping Japan achieve a diversified power mix. Working with reliable and regional
counterparties supports our international expansion and renewable energy investment commitments,”
Verma says.

GE Energy Financial Services has made equity and debt investment commitments of $1.9 billion in nearly
two gigawatts of solar power projects worldwide, and plans to continue to invest over $1 billion
annually in renewable energy projects. Hosoe is the fourth Japan solar project in which GE Energy
Financial Services has invested since last May. Last year, the company invested in Pacifico Energy’s
Kumenan and Mimasaka Musashi solar projects in May and December respectively, and in September,
the GE unit helped finance Japan’s largest solar project, which is being built in Setouchi City.

Kazuomi Kaneto, president of Pacifico Energy K.K. added “We are excited about partnering again with
GE on Japan’s third largest solar power plant, and the largest in the country which is invested 100
percent by foreign financial institutions. This investment, leveraging the extensive development
experience of our team, helps Japan achieve 20 percent of its power generated from renewable
sources.”

Pacifico Energy has started construction on 75 megawatts (DC) of solar power projects in Japan in 2014
and is set to start construction in early 2015 on another 149 megawatts (DC). The company currently has
another 300 megawatts (DC) in development.

Note to Editors:

View a rendering of Hosoe, here.

About Pacifico Energy K.K.

Founded in 2012 to help meet Japan’s domestic energy needs, Pacifico Energy is a Japanese power plant development company focused on solar photovoltaic projects. Pacifico Energy covers all aspects of solar power plant development, including permitting, design, financing, construction, and asset management. Based in Tokyo, Pacifico Energy’s strength is in its team and investment partners consisting of professionals with deep solar industry and energy experience. For more information please see:www.pacificoenergy.jp

About Virginia Solar Group

Pacifico Energy is owned by investor group Virginia Solar and affiliated with the Jamieson Group, a California based oil & gas/real estate enterprise with annual revenues of over USD $800 million.

About GE Energy Financial Services

GE Energy Financial Services—GE’s energy investing business—works as a builder, not just a banker, to help meet the world’s power and fuel needs. We offer more than money—expertise—for essential, long-lived and capital-intensive power, oil and gas infrastructure—GE’s core business. Drawing on GE’s energy technical know-how, financial strength and risk management, we see value where others don’t and take on our customers’ toughest challenges with flexible equity and debt transaction structures. Based in Stamford, Connecticut, GE Energy Financial Services holds approximately $16 billion in assets. More information:www.geenergyfinancialservices.com. Follow GE Energy Financial Services on Twitter: @GEEnergyFinServ

About GE

GE (NYSE:GE) imagines things others don’t, builds things others can’t and delivers outcomes that make the world work better. GE brings together the physical and digital worlds in ways no other company can. In its labs and factories and on the ground with customers, GE is inventing the next industrial era to move, power, build and cure the world. www.ge.com

Tags

• Business Unit: Capital, Energy Financial Services, Energy Management, Power Conversion

BNL Newsroom | Solar Cell Polymers with Multiplied Electrical Output

New family of materials produces "twin" electrical charges on single molecules, potentially paving the way for easy manufacture of more efficient solar devices

BNL Newsroom | Solar Cell Polymers with Multiplied Electrical Output

Price Wars Seen Hurting Solar Sector in China

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Price Wars Seen Hurting Solar Sector in China

By KEITH BRADSHER

GUANGZHOU, China — China’s solar panel manufacturers, who dominate global sales with a two-thirds market share, are confronting growing trade and financial problems, a Chinese industry official acknowledged Tuesday, shortly before one of the industry’s largest companies, Trina Solar, announced weak results for the second quarter.

The Chinese manufacturers “face challenges of decreasing margins, decreasing exports, lack of capital, protectionism and an external environment that continues to deteriorate,” said the official, Chen Huiqing, the deputy director for solar products at the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products.

The United States Commerce Department has already imposed preliminary antidumping and antisubsidy tariffs on Chinese solar panels totaling more than 33 percent, although the tariffs are subject to a review by the department this fall that could raise, lower or even repeal them. A coalition of solar manufacturers in Europe has asked the European Union to impose antidumping tariffs.

Ms. Chen, who was the lead speaker Tuesday morning at the Guangzhou International Solar Photovoltaic Exhibition here in southeastern China, said that a team of representatives from the Chinese industry is in Brussels to try to persuade European officials not to start a trade investigation into Chinese solar panels in the coming weeks.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

The Secret to Solar Power

The following is an excerpt from an article in 

The New York Times
Sunday, August 12, 2012

The Secret to Solar Power

By JEFF HIMMELMAN

Most mornings, Danny Kennedy hops on a bike with orange saddlebags and rides half an hour from his home to Oakland’s Jack London Square. He makes for quite a picture cruising down Telegraph Avenue, decked out as he often is in an orange helmet, orange jacket and orange leather Adidas shoes. When he arrives at his office, he often makes his rounds on an orange indoor bike. (He’s not joking around with the orange thing.) Though Kennedy was once a young environmental activist documenting the horrors of the oil and mining industries, he’s now a 41-year-old company man. The orange that he wears daily — which extends even to the checks on his shirts, and which drives his wife crazy — is the brand color for his rapidly growing residential solar company, Sungevity, whose revenues grew by a factor of eight in 2010 and doubled again in 2011, and whose employees have grown to 260 from 3 since the company’s inception five years ago.

Given that growth, it’s somewhat surprising to learn that Kennedy and Sungevity aren’t taken very seriously by their larger competitors. Kennedy’s activist past and his willingness to wear his commitment to the solar industry quite literally on his sleeve are viewed by some as a liability in an industry desperate to demonstrate its seriousness. Thanks to increased Chinese production of photovoltaic panels, innovative financing techniques, investment from large institutional investors and a patchwork of semi-effective public-policy efforts, residential solar power has never been more affordable. But even with pricing that requires no initial capital outlay from consumers and guarantees lifetime savings — and even occasional opportunities to make money, by selling power back to the grid — Americans still aren’t buying into solar in significant numbers.

Two factors have hurt the industry’s growth. The first is abstract and well ingrained in the American psyche: the negative association of “green” technologies with inefficiency and idealistic, hippie-fueled impracticality. The second is concrete and recent: the sleek, vacant headquarters of Solyndra, the infamous federally subsidized solar-panel manufacturer that went bankrupt in 2011. The glassy campus sits just off the Nimitz Freeway, visible to commuters between San Francisco and Silicon Valley as they battle rush-hour traffic each morning, surreptitiously checking their phones.

Though the failure of Solyndra has dominated the political and social discourse around solar power, the reality of the industry — as evidenced by the enormous investments that companies like Google and Bank of America are making in residential solar power — is that it has rapidly become a smart, practical and profitable investment. Despite a lack of widespread acceptance, the market is growing and the competition is getting tight.

Where Kennedy will ultimately fit into all of this remains to be seen. He told me: “We don’t need missionaries anymore. We need mercenaries.” As the industry grows, big investments don’t necessarily flow toward the people with the deepest environmentalist roots. No matter how much orange Kennedy wears or how dedicated to corporate branding he appears to be, his bleeding heart still shows through. Missionary, mercenary: can he — can anyone — be both?

Press release:

Lockheed Martin to Integrate Fuel Cells, Solar Power for Military Applications Under Contract with Office of Naval Research

AKRON, Ohio – Aug. 8, 2012 – Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] secured a contract with the Office of Naval Research for the design and development of solid oxide fuel cell generator sets as an alternative to traditional battlefield power generation equipment. Lockheed Martin’s fuel cell technology will be integrated with solar panels, providing the military with the power needed to perform missions while using dramatically less fuel.

At the end of the 32-month development program, Lockheed Martin will demonstrate and deliver a multi-kilowatt JP-8 compatible Fuel Cell Efficient Power Node for evaluation by the U.S. Marines. The goal of the approximately $3 million dollar contract is to reduce overall fuel usage required for tactical electrical generation by 50 percent or more.

More than 100,000 military generators are used worldwide to power services from lighting and air conditioning to computers, radios, and command and control systems. Solid oxide fuel cells convert fuel into electricity using a chemical reaction that is 30 to 50 percent more efficient than the combustion engines used in diesel generators, which are the largest consumers of fuel on the battlefield today. Because fuel cells require less fuel to create the same amount of power, they offer the potential to save billions of dollars in operational costs and to reduce the number of military casualties that are directly related to the delivery of fuel.

“Lockheed Martin shares the U.S. Department of Defense’s top goals of increasing the safety of our troops and reducing operational costs,” said Dan Heller, vice president of new ventures for Lockheed Martin Mission Systems & Sensors. “Alternative energy solutions, such as the fuel cell we are developing for the Office of Naval Research, can help mitigate these challenges, advancing the strength and flexibility of our military operating in some of the world’s toughest conditions.”

Lockheed Martin is working with Cleveland-based TMI to mature the fuel cell technology. In addition to Lockheed Martin-funded research and development, this team has received competitive grants from the Ohio Third Frontier, a program committed to creating new technology-based products, companies, industries and jobs. In 2011, Lockheed Martin became the first company to continuously operate a solid oxide fuel cell generator set for over one thousand hours on standard DoD-supplied JP-8, and remains the only company to do so to date.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 120,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.

GE’s Latest Central Inverter Technology Clears Path for Utilities to Boost Solar Energy Production Worldwide

Press release:

30 July 2012

GE’s Latest Central Inverter Technology Clears Path for Utilities to Boost Solar Energy Production Worldwide

• GE’s ProSolar Inverter Allows BELECTRIC’s New Solar Station in Germany to Efficiently Convert and Deliver Renewable Electricity to Grid
• ProSolar System Plays Key Role in 1st Solar Power Station Rated at 1,500 Volts

PARIS—July 30, 2012—Marking a new technology milestone in the global effort to increase renewable energy production by driving down overall system costs, GE (NYSE: GE) has deployed the first 1,500-VDC (volts, DC current) open circuit (OC) central inverter for utility scale solar power plants. The inverter will help reduce overall system costs, which is vital to making solar power a more economical alternative to fossil fuel technologies.

Central inverters are key components of photovoltaic (PV) plants. The technology converts DC power produced by solar panels to AC power, which is then fed into the main grid.

GE Energy’s Power Conversion business developed, built and delivered its 1,500-VDC ProSolar central inverter technology to solar power plant system integrator BELECTRIC, the global market leader in terms of installed power. BELECTRIC installed GE’s advanced central inverter at its new solar power plant in southern Germany, utilizing PADCON’s 1500 VDC System Technology.

“GE’s ProSolar central inverter system is designed to help efficiently stabilize the power grid with defined active and reactive power around the clock. This is extremely important when it comes to countering the intermittent availability of solar energy,” said Bernhard Beck, CEO of BELECTRIC.

The 1,500-VDC OC central inverter for BELECTRIC is designed as an outdoor version and offers a number of key benefits. Most notably, it allows operation at high DC voltages on panel level with lower DC currents while increasing the rated power for inverters. This can result in significantly lower costs for the technical DC infrastructure as well as the overall balance of system costs. Since the power of the inverter system is limited mainly by the current, the power can be substantially increased by increasing the operating voltage, and this means additional cost savings.

Due to higher operating DC voltage and higher output with the same size as conventional ProSolar 1,000-VDC OC inverter units, the 1,500-VDC OC solution offers higher power density with the same small footprint that means optimized and flexible site layout. The liquid-cooled and improved power electronic topology ensures high efficiency, especially in partial load operations and is developed in Berlin.

GE Energy’s inverter technology has a long track record of extremely high reliability resulting from the company’s experience in the development of frequency converters for the wind energy, oil and gas as well as metals sectors and other industrial applications.

“Our inverter rated at 1,500 volts is an important breakthrough in efforts to achieve grid parity with photovoltaic systems in certain countries. GE offers customers with technology options to support renewable energy policies and push projects that build long-term energy security using solar energy,” said Georg Möhlenkamp, global product leadership manager for GE Energy Management’s Power Conversion business. “Reducing the costs of solar electricity generation through continuous innovation forms the basis for GE Energy’s long-term technology development strategy.”

By offering its solar inverter technology as part of its broad portfolio of products and solutions, GE Energy is supporting ongoing energy policy changes in Germany, which plans to increase the share of renewable energies to 35 percent of total power demand by the year 2020. By deploying the ProSolar central solar inverter to help reduce the costs of solar power generation, PV projects will become an increasingly economical alternative to fossil fuel technologies.

GE Energy acquired Power Conversion (then known as Converteam) in September 2011. GE Energy’s Power Conversion business applies the science and systems of power conversion to help drive the electric transformation of the world’s energy infrastructure. Designing and delivering advanced motor, drive and control technologies that evolve today’s industrial processes for a cleaner, more productive future. It serves specialized sectors such as energy, marine, industry and all related services. To learn more, please visit: www.ge-energy.com/electrifyingchange.

About GE

GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.

GE Energy works connecting people and ideas everywhere to create advanced technologies for powering a cleaner, more productive world. With more than 100,000 employees in over 100 countries, our diverse portfolio of product and service solutions and deep industry expertise help our customers solve their challenges locally. We serve the energy sector with technologies in such areas as natural gas, oil, coal and nuclear energy; wind, solar, biogas and water processing; energy management; and grid modernization. We also offer integrated solutions to serve energy- and water-intensive industries such as mining, metals, marine, petrochemical, food & beverage and unconventional fuels.

Follow GE Energy on Twitter @GE_Energy.

Obama Administration Releases Roadmap for Solar Energy Development on Public Lands

News release from the U.S. Dept. of Energy:

http://energy.gov/articles/obama-administration-releases-roadmap-solar-energy-development-public-lands

Press release:

IBM Smarter Cities Technology Helps NYC Envision Solar Energy Leadership through CUNY Ventures

Innovative Model Aims to Export Solar Market Analysis Tools to the World

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New York - 07 Jun 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) is helping New York City (NYC) become a global leader in urban solar energy market analysis and sustainability through an innovativeagreement with CUNY Ventures, a City University of New York (CUNY) Economic Development Corporation entity. 

The goal of this effort is to nourish solar adoption by developing the capability to analyze and understand key solar market indicators that can make solar system development more cost competitive.  Using IBM’s Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) for Smarter Cities as the backbone, this analytics-based approach will help New York City monitor and analyze solar production and capacity through a virtual control room that will provide a dashboard view of key indicators.   

The collaboration is part of ‘Solar Market Analytics, Roadmapping, and Tracking NY’ (SMART NY), a groundbreaking project supported in part by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ‘Rooftop Solar Challenge’, part of the DOE SunShot Initiative which is striving to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade.  

With IBM's IOC software, CUNY Ventures will access and analyze data from the NYC Solar Portal, an inter-agency permitting and tracking solution developed by Procemx; data systems in solar empowerment zones; and the NYC Solar Map, putting in place a long-term solution designed to drive down the costs of solar deployment.  Initially, five state and city entities will utilize the solar market analytics: the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the NYC Mayor’s Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, Consolidated Edison, the NYC Department of Buildings and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. 

With IBM's help; CUNY Ventures plans to develop NYC into a solar energy hub that offers analysis of key solar market performance indicators, providing a model to other cities across New York State, North America and the world.  CUNY Ventures aims to create a sustainable model that can incorporate additional data and provide analytics to help city leaders and utility planners integrate other forms of renewable energy and better manage city operations, leading to efficiencies in areas such as water, transportation and emergency response. 

IDC Government Insights estimates that the growing availability of intelligent technology solutions will accelerate global investment in smart city technologies to $40.9 Billion in 2012.  IBM and CUNY Ventures have joined forces to help NYC compete for this growing market opportunity.  

"As people migrate to urban centers in greater numbers, demand increases on city infrastructures and resources," said Craig Hayman, general manager, IBM Industry Solutions.  "Intelligent automation of key services such as energy, water, transportation and public safety is the solution to help meet these challenges. Developing leadership in sustainable resources, as New York is doing with solar energy, serves as a model for meeting citizens' needs while achieving the operational goals of the city." 

“CUNY faculty helped develop the NYC Solar Map that displays the solar potential of every building in the city,” said City University of New York Chancellor Matthew Goldstein. “Now our CUNY team is working with our partners on groundbreaking solutions that can help New York accelerate the adoption of this clean renewable energy.” 

The new system will use analytics to deliver real time data from a variety of sources including the NYC Solar Map (link), providing a searchable dashboard of key performance indicators and trends. Using this technology, CUNY Ventures will be able to fine-tune current resource usage and quickly identify barriers. Upon successful completion in year one, plans are in place to expand this effort to other major jurisdictions in New York State with a goal of creating standards and streamlining the permits process.

New York City, a U.S DOE Solar America City, has realized an eight-fold increase in solar production since 2007 under the leadership of the NYC Solar America City Partnership. The Partnership is led by Sustainable CUNY and is comprised of CUNY, the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Mayor's Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability, with the support of multiple other stakeholders through the NYC Solar America City Advisory Board. The NYC Department of Buildings has worked closely with CUNY since the inception of the NYC Solar America City Initiative and has implemented new initiatives to streamline the approval and installation process, including the creation of the NYC Development Hub, a state-of-the-art plan review center in Lower Manhattan.

The Solar America City Partnership has already launched several major projects including the NYC Solar Map; an online, interactive tool that estimates the solar power potential for the one million rooftops in the five boroughs. The 15 billion points of data that back up the map also provides analysis that enough solar power can be generated on the City's rooftops to offset costly upgrades to the grid or the use of dirty generators during the City's peak usage periods. The Solar Map makes it clear that financially, technically and environmentally, solar is a real, viable option for NYC. Included in the individual calculations for every building is how much solar can be installed, how much power that will generate, how much can be saved on an annual electricity bill, how many pounds of carbon emissions can be reduced each year, and what the equivalent would be in planting trees. A built-in financial calculator provides a cost break down and payback time- a surprising 5-7 years for most installations with the current incentives in place. The New York City Solar Map also displays existing solar installations and provides practical information and steps for installing solar.

The IBM Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities can be extended to help support a wide range of integration projects across the city or within agencies and departments. City leaders can adopt service solutions from IBM or IBM Partners that integrate city management of services such as public safety, transportation, water, building and energy management with the Intelligent Operation Center. Examples of city-wide uses supported by the Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities include the management of public safety, transportation and water.

For more information about IBM Smarter Cities, please visit www.ibm.com/smartercities.

Honeywell Launches Third-Generation Film To Protect Solar Panels

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5/16/2012

Honeywell Launches Third-Generation Film To Protect Solar Panels

PowerShield® 3W is more durable than competitive films, allowing solar panels to reliably supply power even in the harshest environments MORRIS TOWNSHIP, N.J., May 16, 2012 – Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today that it has introduced its third-generation laminate film designed to protect solar power panels from harsh environments while helping them maintain power output over their 25-year lifespans. The product, PowerShield® 3W, is a cost-effective backsheet for photovoltaic panels that helps protect the electrical circuits in solar panel modules, preventing moisture from entering the module and keeping electrical charges within the module. These features help the module retain maximum power output while maintaining electrical safety. PowerShield 3W is a laminate that is bound by a proprietary adhesive specifically designed for photovoltaic applications. The adhesive helps make the laminate the most durable backsheet available from Honeywell to date. “We are committed to developing solutions that increase the performance and overall lifetime of solar panels. Honeywell’s latest innovative backsheet, PowerShield 3W, provides solar panel manufacturers with cost-effective and reliable protection for their modules,” said Jerry Buchanan, global business manager for Honeywell’s photovoltaic backing systems business. “This backsheet has been proven to perform in some of the most rigorous conditions.” PowerShield 3W is available now, and leading module manufacturers are already including it in module designs. Independent photovoltaic-industry laboratory tests show that PowerShield 3W can withstand more than 3,000 hours of accelerating aging exposure at 85°C (185°F) and 85 percent relative humidity without losing structural integrity. The backsheet’s superior adhesive offers excellent resistance to discoloration due to aging, which helps solar modules retain their appearance and reflectivity. Like all PowerShield backsheets, PowerShield 3W offers high resistance to environmental degradation from sunlight, heat, cold and humidity; strong resistance to acids, bases, solvents, salts and other chemicals; and resistance to excessive moisture infiltration within a module. The technology behind PowerShield 3W is based on Honeywell’s more than 30 years of experience as the world’s leading manufacturer of high-barrier films for food packaging, industrial and healthcare applications, including packaging that protects drugs sold by the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. Honeywell has an active and global research and development program for photovoltaic backsheets, with laboratories in Morris Township, New Jersey, and Shanghai, China. The Honeywell PowerShield supply chain provides module makers with a single point of contact for every component of their backsheet, helping ensure a reliable supply and quality.   Honeywell also offers printable dopants and chemicals for the manufacture of solar cells, the SOLARC™ anti-reflective coating for solar panels, and solar panel installation sales and services. For more information on Honeywell’s PowerShield backing systems, visitwww.honeywellpowershield.com. Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies is a global leader in developing and manufacturing advanced materials and process technologies. These materials and technologies are used by people every day in a wide range of industries and applications, from petroleum refining to environmentally friendlier refrigerants to bullet-resistant vests. Our advanced materials are critical in the manufacture of products ranging from nylon to computer chips to pharmaceutical packaging. Process technologies developed by our UOP business form the foundation for most of the world’s refiners, efficiently producing gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and petrochemicals. UOP is now pioneering technology to produce real fuels from renewable energy sources. Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 diversified technology and manufacturing leader, serving customers worldwide with aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes and industry; turbochargers; and specialty materials. Based in Morris Township, N.J., Honeywell’s shares are traded on the New York, London, and Chicago Stock Exchanges.  For more news and information on Honeywell, please visitwww.honeywellnow.com.

U.S. EPA, Dept. of Energy Launch Innovative New Tools to Determine Solar, Wind Energy Potential on Contaminated Lands

For Immediate Release: April 25, 2012
Media Contact:  Mary Simms, simms.mary@epa.gov, (415) 947-4270

U.S. EPA, Dept. of Energy Launch Innovative New Tools to Determine Solar, Wind Energy Potential on Contaminated Lands
City of Richmond, Calif. is serving as a pilot community for development of the tools

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed and launched new tools designed to test underutilized sites and contaminated land for solar and wind energy potential. The tools give local communities and landowners ways to evaluate sites for renewable energy potential without the need for technical expertise.

 The alternative energy ‘decision trees,’ leverage NREL’s knowledge of renewable energy technologies and EPA’s experience in returning contaminated lands to productive use.

 The EPA estimates that nationwide there are approximately 490,000 sites and almost 15 million acres of potentially contaminated properties.

 “Opportunities to install renewable energy systems on vacant properties can be found in every community," said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “Tapping sun and wind power at brownfield sites, rooftops, parking lots, and abandoned land could provide untapped gigawatts of clean energy.”

The City of Richmond, Calif. is serving as a pilot community for development of the tools.

“Developing more local renewables is among my top priorities,” said Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin. “We are extremely excited that the green, innovative City of Richmond, California is partnering with the EPA to help communities throughout the United States fully leverage technology to improve the environment, create local jobs and attract green companies.”

Positioning renewable energy on sites can increase economic value of the properties, provide a sustainable land reuse option, create local green jobs and provide clean energy for use on-site or for the utility grid. Using the decision trees, state and local governments, site owners and community members can help identify the most desirable sites for solar or wind installations from both a logistical and economic standpoint.
In addition to opportunities in cities, thousands of potentially contaminated acres in less populated areas across the country could be put to beneficial reuse with renewable energy.

The tools can be used to evaluate individual or multiple sites, such as brownfields, Superfund and other hazardous waste sites, abandoned parcels, landfills, parking lots, and commercial or industrial roofs, depending on the technology.

 The tools and a podcast by the Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response on the solar and wind decision trees are now available on EPA’s website at:

http://www.epa.gov/renewableenergyland

# # #

Energy Department Announces Funding to Develop “Plug-and-Play” Solar Energy Systems for Homeowners

Energy Department Announces Funding to Develop “Plug-and-Play” Solar Energy Systems for Homeowners

April 24, 2012 

Washington, D.C. – As part of the Energy Department’s SunShot Initiative, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced up to $5 million available this year to develop “plug-and-play” photovoltaic (PV) systems that can be purchased, installed and operational in one day. This effort is part of the Department’s broader strategy to spur solar power deployment by reducing non-hardware, or “soft” costs, such as installation, permitting, and interconnection, which currently amount to more than half of the total cost of residential systems. The funding will help drive innovations to fundamentally change the design and installation of residential PV systems, reducing costs for homeowners and simplifying installations and grid connectivity.
"Providing families and businesses with new choices to use American energy resources that can save them money is an important part of President Obama's all-of-the above energy strategy,” said Secretary Chu “The Department's announcement today supporting plug-and-play solar energy technologies will help make it easier and cheaper for consumers to adopt clean, affordable solar energy, while supporting U.S. manufacturing leadership in the next generation of clean energy technologies and diversifying America's energy portfolio."

As the costs of solar PV modules continue to come down, "soft" costs and other non-module hardware costs, such as electronics and mounting hardware, now account for a majority of the total costs of systems. This offers significant opportunities to bring down costs through more efficient installation and permitting processes or new ways to affordably and effectively connect solar panels to the grid.

Plug-and-play solar energy systems will make the process of buying, installing, and connecting solar energy systems faster, easier, and less expensive, potentially unlocking major cost reductions in this area. Plug-and-play PV systems could be installed without special training or tools, and simply plugged into a PV-ready circuit, through which an automatic detection system would initiate communication between the solar energy system and the utility. Plug-and-play systems are already in wide use in the computer and automotive industries. The Energy Department believes that similar innovations can be made in the solar energy industry to reduce costs and simplify installations.

As part of a planned five-year program, the Energy Department will invest an initial $5 million this year for two projects that will develop innovative plug-and-play prototypes through partnerships with universities, industry, utilities, and other stakeholders. The Department plans to make an additional request of $20 million to Congress over the next four years to support these efforts.  For more information, see the full solicitation.
The SunShot Initiative is a collaborative national effort to make solar energy cost competitive with other forms of energy by the end of the decade. Inspired by President Kennedy’s “Moon Shot” program that put the first man on the moon, the SunShot Initiative has created new momentum for the solar industry by highlighting the need for American competitiveness in the clean energy race.

DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy accelerates development and facilitates deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies and market-based solutions that strengthen U.S. energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality.

Scarcity Solutions: Apple's Solar Solution

CNBC's Jane Wells reports Apple's plan to "green" its image by building a powerful data center that could potentially draw 10-15 per cent of its power from solar energy.  To see the video, click the link below:

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000081552

Deputy Under Secretary Cheryl Cook Announces Obama Administration Accomplishments Supporting Renewable Energy

Posted by Dawn Knepp, USDA Pennsylvania Public Information Officer, on March 22, 2012 at 10:00 AM

David Fink, owner of Heidel Hollow Farm, described the farm’s energy savings from the 896 panel solar array funded by USDA Rural Development to USDA officials and others gathered at his farm.

The sun shone brightly on the 896 panel solar array at Heidel Hollow Farm in Germansville, Penn., as USDA Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Cheryl L. Cook, other USDA officials and guests celebrated the farm’s successful renewable energy project and the announcement of a new USDA Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Report. Heidel Hollow Farm, a family-owned, 1,600 acre hay farm, was awarded two USDA  Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) grants in 2010. The grants were used toward a solar energy project that provides approximately 252,800 KW of electricity used in the hay compressing operation of the farm and an energy efficiency project that replaced one diesel engine with five electric motors, saving over 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year.  The compactor increases the density of baled hay by 2 1/2 times for more efficient shipping to overseas customers.

According to Deputy Under Secretary Cook, “Rural Development’s REAP grants to Heidel Hollow Farm are excellent examples of funding that contributes to making farm operations more energy efficient and economical. This funding for renewable energy projects helps rebuild and revitalize rural America.”   The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency report, released by Secretary Vilsack, highlights the ways in which USDA’s REAP program contributes to U.S. energy independence. Heidel Hollow Farm is one of 79 renewable energy projects funded in Pennsylvania since 2009. In total, Rural Development invested over $5.6 million in Pennsylvania energy projects.  Click here to find out how REAP is making a difference and saving energy in Pennsylvania.

USDA Rural Development Deputy Under Secretary Cheryl L. Cook, Esq. lifts one of the 35 lb. compressed hay bales currently being produced at Heidel Hollow Farm in Germansville for overseas shipment. Energy used to compress the bales comes from solar power.

The deadline for some 2012 Energy applications is approaching. To find out more, contact your local USDA Rural Development office or click here.

DuPont Hosts a Global Collaboratory on Energy

DuPont News, March 22, 2012

DuPont Hosts a Global Collaboratory on Energy

(left to right) Adam Shaw, Eduardo Wanick, Felipe Faria, José Goldemberg and Marcos Jank.

By 2035, global demand for energy will increase by almost 40%, and already more than 1.5 billion people worldwide are without access to electricity.  Defining a future energy path was the focus of a recent debate in Sao Paulo with DuPont and key global partners, moderated by BBC World News host Adam Shaw.

In 2010, almost 45% of Brazil’s energy needs were supplied from renewable sources, which is considerably higher than the 13% globally.  In the next decade, demand for energy is expected to increase by about 60% in Brazil. 

“I cannot think of a better place to discuss and debate the global challenge of securing our energy future,” said Tom Connelly, executive vice president and chief innovation officer for DuPont.  “We have to work right now to gain grid parity for solar and wind power, and to make biofuels fully competitive with oil-based fuels globally, as is already the case in Brazil.  We must transform these energy sources from the margins to the mainstream.”

DuPont set the stage in Sao Paulo, bringing together a panel of distinguished experts – all of whom believe that working together, we can address one of the most important challenges our generation faces – a world that can adequately meet its energy needs now and in the future.  Panelists included:

• Eduardo Wanick, president for DuPont Latin America
• Marcos Jank, CEO for the Brazilian Sugarcane Association
• José Goldemberg, professor emeritus of the Sao Paulo University and former secretary of the environment
• Felipe Faria, Governmental & Institutional Relations, Green Building Council Brazil

“The tremendous opportunities around biofuels, photovoltaic and wind energy in Brazil motivate us to collaborate with customers and partners to develop innovative and sustainable market-driven solutions that will address important challenges of the present and the future,” said Eduardo Wanick, president for DuPont Latin America.

DuPont also marked its sponsorship of the upcoming second series of the BBC World News program Horizons, presented by award-winning BBC business journalist and tonight’s host, Adam Shaw.  This series of Horizons continues the journey across the globe in search of the ideas and businesses that may succeed over the next decade in tackling the planet’s biggest challenges.  The new season of Horizons will air on BBC World News, in more than 200 countries and territories around the world beginning on April 7.

For information on the program, visit http://www.horizonsbusiness.com, Facebook.com/horizonsTVseries and on Twitter at @horizonsbiz and @adamshaw_biz