QUICK NEWS, November 21: SMALL TOWN, BIG SUN; BATTERY-POWERED CARS ARE SAFER; WIND USES FED MONEY WELL

SMALL TOWN, BIG SUN
Solar PV Leads Small Town into Solar Big Leagues; Gainesville Expects 7 MW Solar PV by Year End Florida Town Rivals California in Per Capita Solar
Paul Gipe, November 19, 2011 (Wind-Works)

"After only three years of development, a small town in Florida has moved into the ranks of the solar big leagues worldwide…The municipal utility serving Gainesville, Florida expects that by year end 2011 the town will have installed 7.3 MW of solar photovoltaic (solar PV) systems.

(from Paul Gipe, Wind-Works.org - click to enlarge)

"The university town was one of the first in the US to implement a feed-in tariff for solar PV after a previous program using grants, tax credits, and net metering had failed to install any significant number of systems…Gainesville Regional Utilities [GRU] serves a population of 200,000 people…so [its] feed-in tariff program has resulted in the installation of 0.036 kW per person. This is equivalent to that in California which has had various programs for solar PV in place since the early 2000s."

"However, Gainesville will have to increase its installation rate 20 times to catch up with the German state of Bavaria, which is the region with the world's highest concentration of solar PV of 0.60 kW per person. Puglia Italy is not far behind Bavaria with 0.49 kW per person.

"…In 2011, [GRU] estimates solar PV will have generated nearly 10 million kWh…The Gainesville feed-in tariff program has been modified annually since its introduction to reflect the falling costs of solar PV and to more equitably distribute installations across all ratepayer classes…More than one-third of the installed capacity has been installed on rooftops in projects less than 100 kW…"


BATTERY-POWERED CARS ARE SAFER
Hybrid models have lower injury odds than their conventional counterparts
November 17, 2011 (Highway Loss Data Institute)

"Hybrids have a safety edge over their conventional twins when it comes to shielding their occupants from injuries in crashes, new research by the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, shows. On average, the odds of being injured in a crash are 25 percent lower for people in hybrids than people traveling in nonhybrid models…

"…Weight is [the biggest factor]…Hybrids on average are 10 percent heavier [because of the added heft of battery packs and other components]…[O]ther factors, such as how, when, and by whom hybrids are driven, also may contribute. Researchers included controls to reduce the impact these differences may have had on the results."

(from the Highway Loss Data Institute report - click to enlarge)

"The new finding is more good news for green-minded drivers who don't want to trade safety for fuel economy. Not so long ago, car buyers had to choose between the two because fuel-efficient cars tended to be smaller and lighter. Now, consumers have more options than ever when it comes to picking an environmentally friendly — and crashworthy — vehicle…

"In the study, HLDI estimated the odds that a crash would result in injuries if people were riding in a hybrid versus the conventional version of the same vehicle. The analysis included more than 25 hybrid-conventional vehicle pairs, all 2003-11 models, with at least 1 collision claim and at least 1 related injury claim filed under personal injury protection or medical payment coverage in 2002-10…Hybrids' injury odds were [25-to-27] percent lower than their standard counterparts…"


WIND USES FED MONEY WELL
Lessons Learned From The Treasury's Wind Project Cash-Grant Audits
David Burton, 15 November 2011 (North American Windpower)

"The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released its audit reports of selected recipients of cash grants awarded under Section 1603 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009…[including] reports for three wind farms with cumulative costs of $946.3 million eligible for the 30% Treasury grant and a total nameplate capacity of 546.5 MW…[T]he amounts challenged by the OIG thus far were relatively small.

"For the three wind farms, the OIG recommended seeking reimbursement from the project owners of less than $40,000. The Treasury is seeking tax accounting guidance, presumably from the Internal Revenue Service, with respect to approximately $2 million more of potential reimbursement. The low level of these amounts reflects well on the renewable energy industry…[and] offer some valuable insight into what project expenses are eligible under the cash-grant program."

click to enlarge

"…[T]he reports were generally supportive of grant eligibility for spare parts - provided that, at the time the grant application is filed, title and risk of loss to the spare parts have passed to the applicant. However, no clear standard for spare parts was articulated…[I]t would appear that, in order to qualify for the grant, spare parts need to be reasonably necessary to operate the project…

"…[T]ools - such as those needed to service the wind turbine - appear to be grant-eligible under certain circumstances…[I]n order to qualify, tools must be necessary to operate the project…Applicants should expect continued scrutiny of grant applications…"