QUICK NEWS, February 19: UNCHANGING SOLAR PV TECHNOLOGY; A NEW COMMITMENT TO BUILD OCEAN WIND; BIG SOLAR GETS PRICE COMPETITIVE

UNCHANGING SOLAR PV TECHNOLOGY Can PV Technology Change before 2015?

Finlay Colville, February 6, 2014 (SolarBuzz)

“…[B]y analysing the exact split of production across all the different c-Si process flow types, substrate types for every c-Si manufacturer, and similarly for all the thin-film options…[for] 3 years back…it is relatively easy to see which technologies dominate, and how each has changed market-share…[The] two dominant [c-Si] categories include almost all the Chinese cell makers…most of the Korean output, [and] all of the Indian output…[They] had identical market share in 2010 and 2013, approximately 82%...[I]n 2013, almost two out of every three solar panels installed were using a PV technology that has basically been used in production for about 15 years…[T]here is a host of ways to segment out the remaining 18% of market supply…[but] the prospects for any major change in PV technologies, used to supply end-market demands for the rest of [2014], are minimal. None of the disruptive technologies is ready to move in large volume…” click here for more

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A NEW COMMITMENT TO BUILD OCEAN WIND Deepwater Wind Takes 'Leap Forward,' Taps Alstom To Supply Rhode Island Offshore Demo

February 11, 2014 (North American Windpower)

"Deepwater Wind has signed an agreement for Alstom to supply the Block Island Wind Farm with five Haliade 150-6 MW offshore wind turbines. Deepwater says the deal represents a pivotal point in the development of the 30 MW demonstration project, located off the coast of Block Island, R.I…Jeff Grybowski, Deepwater's CEO, notes it was important that the developer signed with a provider of direct-drive turbine technology…Deepwater Wind says it made an initial multi-million-dollar payment in December 2013 that allowed Alstom to begin the manufacturing process…The [589 foot tall] Haliade 150-6 MW turbine features Alstom's Pure Torque design and a 150-meter-diameter rotor…Deepwater says its partnership with Alstom will create…operations and management positions…[and] Alstom intends to base its long-term service operations in the state and to perform pre-installation work in a local harbor…The Block Island project could help Deepwater realize plans for a [1 gigawatt] offshore wind farm…” click here for more

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BIG SOLAR GETS PRICE COMPETITIVE U.S. Utility-Scale Solar Is Getting Closer To Cost-Competitiveness

February 12, 2014 (Up Front via Solar Industry)

“The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced that the U.S. solar industry is more than 60% of the way to achieving cost-competitive utility-scale solar photovoltaic electricity…three years into the department's decade-long SunShot Initiative, which aims to make solar energy fully cost-competitive with traditional sources of energy by 2020…[T]he initiative's target for the utility-scale photovoltaic industry is $0.06/kWh…The DOE says that the average price for a utility-scale photovoltaic project has dropped from about $0.21/kWh in 2010 to $0.11/kWh at the end of last year…[T]he average U.S. electricity price is about $0.12/kWh…” click here for more

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