QUICK NEWS, October 17: RECORD Q3 FOR SUN AND WIND; U.S. NEEDS OCEAN WIND ICON; BOOM IN SUN FOR SCHOOLS

RECORD Q3 FOR SUN AND WIND
Wind, solar farm finance at record in Q3, report says
Nina Chestney, October 12, 2011 (Reuters)

"Wind farm and solar park financing surged to a record $41.8 billion in the third quarter, even though clean energy share prices and the European economy slumped, [according to] a report by research firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance…[Overall new investment in clean energy -- including asset finance, equity raisings on public markets and venture capital and private equity -- was $45.5 billion in the third quarter, up 16 percent on Q3 2010]…

"The increase in financing was mainly driven by offshore wind investment. Three large offshore wind farms in the North Sea totaled more than 1 gigawatt in capacity and $6.3 billion in investment."

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"There were also large financings for photovoltaic (PV), solar thermal and biofuel projects in the United States, a geothermal plant in Indonesia and onshore wind projects in Brazil and China…

"The average price of PV modules has fallen by a third since autumn 2010 and by 70 percent since mid-2008, while wind turbine prices have fallen by 20 percent since 2009, the report showed…This has made renewable energy technologies more cost-competitive with fossil fuel power sources but have been painful for supply chains…"


U.S. NEEDS OCEAN WIND ICON
Offshore Wind ‘Moon Landing’ May Kick-Start Development in U.S.
Ehren Goossens, October 12, 2011 (Bloomberg News)

"The U.S. needs its own version of Alpha Ventus, Germany’s first offshore wind farm, to drive the industry on this side of the Atlantic, wind developers and officials said.

"There are almost a dozen wind farms planned off U.S. shores and none are under construction. One, Cape Wind in Massachusetts, has been in the works for a decade and it’s still not clear when the first turbines will be installed…Completing a project in U.S. waters would show that developers can complete the permitting and financing processes and may provide a needed spark to the industry…"

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"E.ON AG, Vattenfall Europe AG and the German utility EWE AG invested 250 million euros ($333 million) to install Alpha Ventus’s 12 turbines about 45 kilometers (28 miles) off the German coast. They went into operation in April 2010, giving the country’s developers confidence to plan additional projects in the North Sea…

"More than 1,200 megawatts of offshore wind capacity was installed worldwide last year, and total capacity is expected to reach 20 gigawatts in 2015…Of that, 658 megawatts will be in the U.S…Energy Secretary Steven Chu set in February a goal of 10 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity in the U.S. by 2020 and 54 gigawatts by 2030…"


BOOM IN SUN FOR SCHOOLS
Schooled In Solar: On-Campus PV Projects Increase By 450%
11 October 2011 (Solar Industry)

"A new database of hundreds of on-campus solar photovoltaic installations created by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) reveals that installed solar capacity has grown 450% over the last three years in the higher-education sector.

"…[O]ther important solar trends in the higher education sector…[include] a 40% drop in the installed cost of solar over the last four years and new financing mechanisms [that] have led institutions to invest in solar as a way to hedge against rising electricity prices while reducing their greenhouse gas emissions."

Solar system on an Ohio high school (click to enlarge)

"…[T]he 137 MW of solar capacity installed on higher-education campuses to date is equivalent to the power used by 40,000 U.S. homes, and the market in 2010 for on-campus solar installations was over $300 million in the U.S…In addition, higher education solar installations in 2010 made up 5.4% of the total 956 MW installed that year in the U.S. Only five states installed more solar in 2010 than the 52 MW installed on U.S. campuses in 2010.

"The report also found average project sizes have grown substantially in recent years. In 2005, the average project size was below 20 kW; so far in 2011, it is approaching 200 kW…"