MORE NEWS, 9-17 : WIND FIGHTS BACK WITH TRUTH; ARNOLD ACTS ON NEW ENERGY; GLOBAL SOLAR MAKES BETTER THIN FILM; M.I.T.’S CUTTING EDGE EV

WIND FIGHTS BACK WITH TRUTH
The Truth about Wind Power in Denmark
Michael Goggin, 15 September 2009 (Into The Wind)

"On September 14, the Institute for Energy Research (IER), a fossil-fuel industry funded group, began distributing a collection of misleading and outright false claims about wind power in Denmark…presented in a…misleading and false manner.

"President Obama is correct that Denmark does produce 20% of its electricity from wind… [P]age 9 of IER’s very own study…[says Denmark met 19% of its demand by wind, 26% in West Denmark, in 2007]…How does IER twist these numbers to claim that Denmark only produces 5% of its electricity from wind? By not counting any electricity that ever flows across the country’s borders…Given that Denmark is a small country integrated into the massive European power grid, the equivalent for the U.S. would be to claim that electricity produced at a power plant in Rhode Island wasn’t actually “produced” if it crossed the border into Massachusetts or Connecticut."

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"The laws of physics (as well as the principles of economics) dictate that electricity will flow from where it is produced to where it is needed…[D]uring the winter, electricity flows from California to the Pacific Northwest to heat homes there, while power flows in the opposite direction to run California’s air conditioners during the summer…It should come as no surprise that wind power is exchanged on the grid in the same way that any other type of electricity, or for that matter any resource, would be exchanged in a market…Given that the U.S.’s electric grid network is about 100 times larger than Denmark’s and is only weakly tied to the grids of our neighbors, almost all wind power electrons produced in the U.S. will be consumed in the U.S. before they have a chance to cross into Canada or Mexico…

"IER’s claim that wind power flowing from Denmark to Scandinavia does not reduce carbon emissions is false. Market forces dictate that wind power added to the electric grid will displace the most expensive sources of electricity first, which will be carbon-emitting gas, coal, and oil-fired power plants…[E]ven if this were an issue in Denmark, it would not be a problem in the U.S. …[W]ind power in the U.S. will almost always directly offset fuel use and emissions at a fossil fuel power plant…In addition, because the U.S.’s land area is 200 times larger than that of Denmark and our wind resources are more diverse, U.S. wind resources will demonstrate much less variability than those in Denmark, making them even easier to integrate into the electric grid."

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"IER’s claim that Denmark has better wind resources than the U.S. is even debunked by their own map. A quick glance at the [wind maps]…is all that is needed to debunk this false claim…[L]arge regions of the U.S. have wind resources rated in excess of 500 Watts/sq-m, with many resource areas exceeding 1000 Watts/sq-m, while only very narrow strips of Denmark have resources that reach 500 Watts/sq-m. …[A] 2008 analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy found that there are over 13,000 GW of viable wind resources in the U.S., around 20 times more than the peak electrical demand of the U.S.

"Denmark’s relatively high electricity costs were not caused by renewables; even IER’s own study says so…[and] a closer look at historical electricity prices in Denmark clearly shows that, adjusting for inflation, the price of electricity increased drastically in the early 1980's and has fairly consistently remained at that level ever since. Because wind energy did not become a significant part of Denmark's generation mix until the late 1990's, it would be difficult to blame wind energy for Denmark's high electricity prices."


ARNOLD ACTS ON NEW ENERGY
Schwarzenegger orders more renewable energy -- his way; The governor says California electric utilities must get 33% of their power from renewable sources by 2020, but he plans to veto Democratic bills that push to produce it in state.

"The state's electric utilities will be required to get at least a third of their power from wind, solar and other renewable resources by 2020, under an executive order signed… by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger…

"But his call for California to set the nation's toughest renewable energy standard didn't generate much enthusiasm from Democratic lawmakers and environmentalist activists, who have labored for the last nine months to pass a pair of bills that they contended would boost the development of new "green" industries in the Golden State…Schwarzenegger [will] veto the Democratic bills [SB14 and AB64], which were backed by some but not all of the state's utilities."

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"The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Sempra Energy supported the bills, while Southern California Edison Co. and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District asked the governor for vetoes. The bills also drew support from labor unions and consumer advocates and opposition from manufacturers and independent energy-generating companies.

"The two sides did not disagree about the need or the practicality of setting an ambitious 33% renewable energy target…[and that it will] improve air quality, combat global warming and lessen dependence on foreign oil…[The] conflict was over what California should do to reach the goal and the cost of making it happen…[The Governor and other opponents say the bills will] unfairly discriminate against alternative power produced in other Western states…[make it difficult] for electric utilities to get all the renewable power they need, when they want it…[and] make electricity too expensive for residential, commercial and industrial ratepayers."

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"The governor…[objects to limiting] utilities from using credits purchased from out-of-state wind and solar projects to cover more than 30% of their renewable obligations…The proposed limit, labor unions and ratepayer advocates insist, is needed to ensure that the bulk of renewable projects are built and operated in California, providing high-paying jobs…[A]t a Sacramento solar power facility…[Governor Schwarzenegger issued] an executive order…[for] state pollution regulators to begin the complex process of drafting rules to more than triple the state's reliance on alternative power over the next decade…Executives from non-utility energy companies surrounded the governor…Environmental advocates [stayed away]…

"The proposed regulations [which could be ready by the middle of next summer] are legally authorized under AB 32, California's landmark 2006 global warming law, said Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board…Democrats have raised questions about whether the rules would have the same binding legal effect as a law approved by the Legislature…Current law requires investor-owned utilities such as Edison to produce 20% of their power from wind, solar and geothermal energy by 2010, a target they are expected to miss…Environmentalists…pledged to work with the governor to make sure the goal of 33% renewable energy is reached…"


GLOBAL SOLAR MAKES BETTER THIN FILM
Global Solar: BIPV Market or Bust; The thin-film solar cell maker says its products have a top efficiency of 15.45 percent, and it is branching out of the “dinosaur glass module” market to get a slice of the building materials market.
Ucilia Wang, September 16, 2009 (Greentech Media)

"Global Solar Energy wants you to know two things today: Its copper-indium-gallium-diselenide (CIGS) cells could covert as much as 15.45 percent of the sunlight that falls on them into electricity; and, it's pursuing sales in the so-called building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) market, where solar cells are embedded into building components instead of encased in glass panels and parked on a rooftop.

"… Global Solar expects to see commercial products with its thin films launched for the BIPV market next year…BIPV is a new market with lots of promises. Plenty of other companies – including CIGS thin-film maker Ascent Solar Technologies in Littleton, Colo. – are looking at turning their solar technologies into roofing products or windows…There aren't many truly integrated solar building materials on the market, and they are expensive. But exploring the BIPV market aggressively could be wise…[because] silicon solar cells [are] getting incredibly cheap and [dominating] the global solar market."

The cadmium-indium-gallium-selenium (CIGS) thin film installation at the Global Solar Energy plant. (click to enlarge)

"Global Solar is one of the earlier developers of CIGS thin films…CIGS materials [are deposited] on a roll of flexible stainless steel to make the solar cells.. [strips of 18 cells, called strings, are sold] to companies that assemble them into panels. This model eliminates the need for the company to invest in factories to make the final products, and strings are lighter and cheaper to ship than [glass-encased] panels…Solon, a Germany-based solar panel maker, owns 19 percent of Global Solar…Solon made the panels used for a 750-kilowatt system installed on the grounds of Global Solar's factory in Tucson…[in] December… the first commercial-scale deployment of its products.

"…[Global Solar] has a 40-megawatt factory in Tucson and a 35-megawatt factory in Germany. …[scratched a planned additional] 100 megawatts of production capacity…when the recession hit…[and] is running its factories at 50 percent capacity…"

Thin-film CIGS material being manufactured at Global Solar. (click to enlarge)

"Last year, Global Solar said its cells could achieve 10 percent efficiency. The company has since made cells from its production line that could achieve 15.45 percent efficiency, a figure verified by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory…Global Solar is making strings that could get as high as 11.7 percent…[averaging] between 10 percent and 11 percent…When assembled into a panel, the efficiencies are likely to drop further since not all cells coming off a production line have exactly the same efficiency.

"Raising efficiencies is crucial for the company to offer more attractive products and reduce manufacturing costs…Other CIGS thin-film makers have been reporting higher efficiencies lately. Germany-based Solibro… is producing panels at 12 percent efficiency…[Nanosolar’s] CIGS cells could achieve 16.4 percent. But the medium efficiency of the cells rolling off its production lines falls between 11 percent and 12 percent…NuvoSun, a newer entrant…produced a test cell that could reach 11.8 percent. Mass-producing cells is more complex than making a test cell, so the efficiency of market-ready cells would be lower."


M.I.T.’S CUTTING EDGE EV
Goal of M.I.T. Electric Car Is 10-Minute Charge Time
Jim Motavalli, September 14, 2009 (NY Times)

"A team of six undergraduates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has converted a 2010 Mercury Milan hybrid into a pure battery electric car. It’s part of a larger program with the goal of building an electric car that can travel 200 miles between charges and have a charging time of 10 minutes. By comparison, Tesla Motors says that its $3,000 Home Connector unit can fully charge its Roadster in less than four hours.

"The team plans to unveil its electric Milan — a former test mule with 8,000 miles on the clock, donated by Ford — at a press briefing…[Beginning] earlier this summer, the students (at least some of whom were working on $4,500 M.I.T. summer grants) put in 100-hour weeks, first to strip out the drivetrain, hybrid system, transmission and fuel lines, and then to install an A123 battery pack and a 187-kilowatt, 250-horsepower Satcon Technology electric motor designed to power a bus…"

From radude131 via YouTube

"…[T]he first iteration of the electric Milan [has an estimated] 65-mile range battery pack…[and] could accelerate from zero to 60 miles an hour in six to seven seconds. The 200-mile range version will weigh more and have a zero to 60 time in the eight second range.

"What the car can’t do, at least yet, is travel 200 miles on a charge — the larger A123 battery pack is not yet installed — or recharge in 10 minutes…[Its estimated] range with the 20-kilowatt-hour pack that now fills the trunk at 65 miles…[The students] are seeking lab space and support [to continue the project]..."

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"In a two-year project completed in 2008, a team of M.I.T. students had electrified a 1976 Porsche 914, modifying an existing conversion kit for that car. In August, the Porsche achieved what organizers said was the equivalent of 164 miles a gallon, effectively winning the Massachusetts-based One Gallon Challenge (against competition that included diesels and a wood burner).

"The students on the Milan project, who call their team elEVen after the less-than-11-minute recharge goal, want to have both the custom-built 10-minute charger and the 200-mile lithium-ion-phosphate battery pack (with 7,905 cells of the type used in power tools) installed by the end of next summer — after a lot of 100-hour weeks."