BIG MONEY TO SOLAR POWER PLANT PIONEER

Luz II was recognized on the occasion of Israel’s 60th birthday as one of 60 pioneering Israeli firms.

Arnold Goldman, founder, BrightSource/ founder & CEO, Israeli subsidiary Luz II: "Our technology will change the way utilities generate electricity…"

Solar power plant output is expected to grow to 6 gigawatts by 2020. With the insolation of the U.S. southwest, solar power plants could potentially supply electricity to the entire country. Under the same intense sun, North Africa and the Middle East could supply Europe.

The technical challenges of storage and transmission make such ambitious plans impractical at present. But venture capital is flowing to Goldman ($155 million to Luz II in the current round) and to others in the field of solar power plant design. The technical challenges will be resolved. Experts expect the second decade of this century to be “the solar decade.”

There is one challenge out of the hands of solar energy developers, the policy decisions made by the U.S. Congress. Most New Energy producers see the current Congressional withholding of New Energy incentives as seriously obstructive to New Energy growth, growth the nation urgently needs and overwhelmingly wants.

John Woolard, CEO, BrightSource Energy: "The industry really doesn't move forward without [the New Energy incentives]…No plants get built or show up without this."

Sign the petition telling Congress to act on the New Energy incentives at Support Renewable Energy Tax Credits

Schematic of the Luz II/BrightSource power tower concept. (click to enlarge)

Money Shines on Israeli Solar Startup; Luz II has raised $115 million from the likes of Google and BP to speed the delivery of electricity generated by solar-thermal plants
Jennifer L. Schenker, May 14, 2008 (BusinessWeek)
and
BrightSource Energy raises $155 million in VC funding
Matt Nauman, May 15, 2008 (San Jose Mercury News)

WHO
BrightSource Energy (Arnold Goldman, founder & John Woolard, CEO) and Israeli subsidiary Luz II (Arnold Goldman, founder/CEO)

A real life power tower. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
Luz II has recently raised $155 million in venture capital funding for its Israeli and California solar power plant projects.

WHEN
- BrightSource Energy signed a deal in March with utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) to build up to 900 megawatts of solar power plant installations in California’s San Luis Obispo County.
- The first BrightSource/PG&E plant is scheduled to go online in 2009.
- The Luz II technology currently being built at a pilot plant in Israel's Negev Desert at Dimona will start generating June 12.

Plenty of sun in the California deserts. (click to enlarge)

WHERE
- Luz II is based in Jerusalem.
- Luz, its original incarnation, built the first solar power plants in California’s Mojave Desert.
- BrightSource Energy is based in Oakland, CA.
- Israeli solar power plant builder Solel (parabolic mirror technology) will build a 553 megawatt facility for PG&E in the Mojave Desert.
- Israeli solar pioneer Zenith Solar is based in Nes Ziona, near Tel Aviv.

WHY
- Luz earliest solar power plant designs used parabolic mirror designs. Luz II uses solar power tower and heliostat technology. Goldman claims the heliostats, which open to collect and focus the sun, cut kilowatt-hour cost 50%, making solar energy cost competitive with natural gas.
- Luz II investors include the Google Foundation, agropower Cargill’s Black River Asset Management, oil companies BP Alternative Energy and StatoilHydro Venture, Chevron Technology Ventures, Silicon Valley venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Morgan Stanley, and former JP Morgan unit DBL Investors.
- Each Luz II heliostat generates enough electricity for a household. Each power tower/ heliostats unit generates 20 megawatts.
- Luz II has leased 40,000 U.S. acres where it can install 5,000 megawatts of power tower/ heliostats units.
- The Google Foundation is also funding ($10 million) solar power plant (solar power tower technology) development by eSolar.
- Mega-venture capitalists Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers (who work with Al Gore) are funding ($40 million) Ausra’s solar power plant (parabolic mirror technology) development.
Zenith Solar does rooftop-mounted solar dishes for distributed generation.
- The Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) project is a network of scientists and politicians working out a plan (Desertec) for delivering solar energy to Europe from North Africa and the Middle East.

Solel continues to develop the parabolic trough technology. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Arnold Goldman, founder, BrightSource/ founder/CEO, Israeli subsidiary Luz II: "We hope to make a major contribution to large-scale utilization of solar energy in the United States."
- John Woolard, CEO, BrightSource Energy: "[The BrightSource venture capitalist investors] have a global presence and the ability to work to develop markets internationally…"
- Dan Reicher, director of climate change & energy initiatives, Google Foundation: "We're enthusiastic about the potential of solar-thermal technology to deliver utility-scale electricity cheaper than coal…We think BrightSource has a very promising technology and team."