QUICK NEWS, April 5: TOP TEN SMART GRID TRENDS; GE BUYS INTO OKLAHOMA WIND; WATCHING A SOLAR POWER PLANT FROM ANYWHERE

TOP TEN SMART GRID TRENDS
Top 10 Smart Grid Market Trends To Watch This Year
18 March 2012 (Renew Grid)

"…[U]tilities have been focused on getting smart meters into the field. Federal stimulus money has largely fueled this effort in the U.S., but that money is drying up…Approximately 200 million smart meters have been deployed worldwide, and 40 million of those are now installed at locations in North America, according to Pike Research…

"…1. Smart meters will shift from deployment to applications…2. Dynamic-pricing debates will escalate…3. "Architecture" will be the new buzzword……4. Cybersecurity failure risks will be nearly inevitable…5. Consumer backlash will not go away…"

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"6. Distribution automation and AMI will intersect…7. Microgrids will move from curiosity to a reality…8. The freeze on HANs will thaw…9. Asia Pacific smart grid adoption will accelerate even more…10. Stimulus investments will bear mixed fruit…

"A total of $4.5 billion was invested into the broad umbrella of the smart grid under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)…[S]timulus funds deployed on behalf of the smart grid have, in some cases, been frittered away on poorly designed rollouts of smart meters and AMI…[T]he Obama administration's stimulus spending on smart grid upgrades raised expectations to unrealistic heights...[and] utilities focused too much on the benefits meter data might bring to their own operations - and forgot to connect the dots with consumers…Rushed smart meter deployments - realized perhaps ahead of the standards maturity curve - are likely to be questioned for a long time."


GE BUYS INTO OKLAHOMA WIND
GE Buys Stake In Large Oklahoma Wind Farm
3 April 2012 (North American Windpower)

'GE Energy Financial Services has partnered with Enel Green Power North America Inc. by committing common equity for a 51% ownership stake in the Chisholm View wind project.

"The 235 MW wind farm is currently under construction near Hunter, Okla., and is expected to cost approximately $375 million. Enel Green Power North America owns the remaining 49% of the project and serves as the project manager. Enel Green Power and GE Energy Financial Services will raise tax equity for the wind farm at a later time."

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"The project will be completed by the end of this year in order to qualify for the federal production tax credit. It will use 140 of GE’s 1.6 MW wind turbines and supply power to Alabama Power Co., a Southern Company subsidiary, under a 20-year agreement.

"The wind farm’s developer, TradeWind Energy - a strategic development partner of Enel Green Power North America - estimated that the Chisholm View wind project will contribute up to $5 million annually to the local economy via property taxes and rent payments to landowners…"


WATCHING A SOLAR POWER PLANT FROM ANYWHERE
GreenVolts Announces ISIS™ Mobile for Solar Energy Management
April 2, 2012 (GreenVolts, Inc.)

"GreenVolts, Inc...[has introduced] its solar energy management software for iPad® and iPhone® mobile digital devices. The new ISIS™ Mobile is a natural extension of [the company’s] Internet-based ISIS energy management software and enables…management capabilities for utility scale solar power plants…

"[GreenVolts said] ISIS is the first true solar information network, where every module, motor, tracker, and inverter is part of a comprehensive network architecture that includes GPS and Wi-Fi…[A] secure, cloud-based application, ISIS eliminates the need for users to maintain servers, back-up, disaster recovery, or software updates. Scalability is virtually infinite, software and data maintenance reduced to zero, and access is ubiquitous…"

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"With ISIS Mobile, automated alerts, monitoring, diagnostics and control are now available on small, light, easy-to-use, and inexpensive mobile devices. Managers and operators that are on the go have quicker response time and greater productivity than ever before…

"Key features…[include] Integrated design…[ISIS provides] in-depth, and high resolution monitoring, reporting, and management capabilities that are fully mapped across the entire system architecture…Integrated intelligence and control for every 4 kW of the system provides precision and inspection that is not possible with centralized designs…The performance history of each active component and its original factory test data are archived together and can be cross-referenced to analyze trends over time...[and] ISIS supplies live video of each site, weather and solar monitoring, asset management, and detailed maintenance logs…The graphical interface is quick to learn and easy to use…[and] secure…"