QUICK NEWS, December 22: WHY A NEW ENERGY ECONOMY; ROOFTOP SOLAR AND REAL ESTATE VALUES; WIND, BIRDS AND SOLUTIONS

WHY A NEW ENERGY ECONOMY
The 4 E’s of a New Energy Economy
Governor Bill Ritter, Jr., December 19, 2011 (Clean Edge)

"…[Colorado is] the American manufacturing home to the world’s largest wind turbine company, Vestas Wind Systems…[and] to some of the world’s leading renewable energy companies…[and] smart grid companies…[O]ur primary utility, Xcel Energy, is the country’s leader in wind energy…[E]ach state has the opportunity to achieve their own New Energy Economy…[and] advance what I call the “Four Es”: Energy Security, Economic Security, Environmental Security, and Equity.

"…[E]nergy efficiency as well as clean, domestic, secure, and renewable energy sources can reduce our heavy dependence on foreign oil, and on aging, high-emitting coal plants – and perhaps one day eliminate them entirely…[O]ur troops in the field risk their lives to transport diesel fuel to power remote generators in dangerous parts of the world. We owe them an alternative…"

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"…[A New Energy] economy creates jobs and economic prosperity…[D]uring the Great Recession [Colorado] actually saw growth in one industry: the clean-tech/clean-energy industry…[Perhaps] no industry in the world…faces a more significant opportunity to modernize and change than the energy industry. ..America should be at the forefront of that effort…

"There is perhaps no greater challenge facing the next generation than reducing harmful emissions associated with energy generation and consumption. We continue to see the staggering impacts of climate change throughout the globe…We have an obligation to future generations…Inaction at the federal level means states need to lead…[And] we need to ensure that our move to clean energy is not achieved on the backs of our poorest citizens…[But to naysayers who] say that we can’t afford clean energy…I would argue we can’t afford not to pursue a new energy agenda. It is up to our generation to recognize and address the challenges of the 21st century with 21st century technologies…"


ROOFTOP SOLAR AND REAL ESTATE VALUES
Fixing The Value Problem: New Tool Assesses The Worth Of PV Installations
Jessica Lillian, 20 December 2011 (Solar Industry)

"How much is that PV installation on the roof worth? An April study from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory confirmed that homes with PV enjoy a sales-price boost of approximately $3.90/W to $6.40/W when the properties are sold.

"…[M]ore and more homes and businesses are outfitted with PV…[but] real estate appraisers and finance professionals have struggled to find a consistent method that allows them to properly add a solar installation's value to the property and associated mortgage…[Often] PV installations have received little or no value in real estate transactions…[Researchers] at Sandia National Laboratories…[recently]
unveiled a new tool…to [value the PV system in the real estate transaction]…"

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"Sandia's tool relies on…income capitalization…which can be used when comparables are limited or nonexistent…[T]he appraiser or homeowner determines the capitalized value of the net income that the solar installation can generate…[T]he user enters several values [in a prepared Microsoft Xcel spreadsheet], including the local electricity rate, the local utility's escalation rate, and operations and maintenance expenses over the remaining useful lifetime of the array.

"The PV system's energy production is determined using solar resource calculations tied to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's PV Watts model, which accounts for factors such as resistance and shading. The user also inputs the age of the modules and inverters, the system's location, and its slope and azimuth…Ultimately, the model provides a range of appraisal values - a low figure, medium figure and high figure - for the present value of all energy remaining in the system…As more PV systems are installed, more data will become available - thus allowing the tool to undergo steady accuracy improvements…"


WIND, BIRDS AND SOLUTIONS
On radar: Solutions to sidestep avian mortality; A clutch of vendors are touting radar as a way of cutting the worrying cull that wind farms inflict upon bird and bat species. Will this expensive remedy work, though?
Jason Deign, December 15, 2011 (Wind Energy Update)

"…DeTect has installed its Merlin avian radar system at 40 wind farms worldwide. And Robin Radar of the Netherlands now offers a similar system…A radar tracks any sizeable flying object and when it gets close to a wind farm the operator has the option of switching off nearby turbines or issuing a deterrent such as an alarm call.

"The systems are even capable in some cases of distinguishing different types of birds based on characteristics such as wind beat frequency. DeTect has a product called Vesper to detect bats and the insects they feed on…The radar companies point to the success of their technology in reducing bird strikes in the aerospace industry and elsewhere."

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Even the companies behind them admit it is still a little too early to tell…[O]nly a quarter of the Merlin systems currently deployed are actually used in combination with a wind farm supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for mitigation purposes. The rest are only used for monitoring, often as part of site evaluations…[and] DeTect’s smallest system sells for $500,000 and Robin Radar’s systems cost…quite a few hundred thousand euros…[so] wind farm owners will likely want to know what alternatives are available…

"…DTBird camera-based visual bird tracking system sold by Liquen of Spain…comes with an automated acoustic alarm or turbine-shutdown feature and works on a turbine-by-turbine basis…This can be configured to respond only to particular types of birds, such as endangered raptors, and costs less than 1% of a turbine’s value to install and less than 1% of its annual operating profits to maintain…A visual system has the advantage that its effectiveness, or otherwise, is captured on film…[L]ess than 5% of birds stray into the rotor path after the alarm has sounded…However, DTBird does not work at night (although a more expensive night-vision model is under development) and, as with radar systems, there is no peer-reviewed data to support its efficiency; only a few turbines in Spain and Italy are currently equipped with it…"