Spotlight On California Solar Energy Storage

Posted on July 16, 2014 by QuestPoint

Clean Edge, a leading clean-tech research firm, today released its 2014 U.S. Clean Tech Leadership Index. The Index, which tracks the clean-tech activities of all 50 states and the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S. – from EV and renewables adoption to patent and investment activity – is available to partners and subscribers. A 49-page public report, with supporting tables and charts, can be downloaded for free at www.cleanedge.com.

Clean energy is becoming a popular energy choice for mainstream America. Eleven states now generate more than 10 percent of their electricity from non-hydro renewable energy sources, with two – Iowa and South Dakota – exceeding 25 percent. Solar installations climbed more than 40 percent year-over-year in the U.S., while registrations of all-electric vehicles doubled between the 2013 and 2014 indexes, to approximately 200,000 nationwide.

“Climate disruption and the growing availability of market-competitive clean-energy technologies are driving many states and cities to tackle climate issues head-on,” says Clean Edge founder and managing director Ron Pernick. “More than ever, this year’s Leadership Index highlights how some top regions are taking climate action seriously, with double-digit clean-energy adoption rates, new policies like California’s energy-storage mandate, and the deployment of clean-energy investment vehicles such as New York’s green bank.”

Intersolar Returning to San Francisco: Strengthens Partnership with CALSEIA

Posted on July 2, 2014 by QuestPoint

SAN FRANCISCO, June 09, 2014 – Intersolar North America, the most well attended industry exhibition and conference in North America for solar professionals to exchange information and develop business opportunities, announced today it has formed a new, long-term agreement with valued partner California Solar Energy Industries Association (CALSEIA). Together, the partners will work to strengthen supportive solar policies in California, and further the state’s solar market through joint campaigns and programs.

Intersolar North America is celebrating its seventh year as the premier venue for the solar business in California and the entire United States. The success of the exhibition and conference can be attributed, in part, to the high quality programs developed by Intersolar and its industry partners. CALSEIA’s expertise, as one of the nation’s oldest solar energy associations located in the heart of the largest solar U.S. market, has played a critical role. With more than 4.1 GW, California ranks first in the country in installed solar capacity, and is home to more than 1,670 solar companies, employing 43,700 solar professionals. “Intersolar North America is California’s premier solar conference and trade show,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, executive director of CALSEIA, “it is an excellent opportunity to stay abreast of market developments and trends while making important business connections and networking. From the workshops to the networking events, Intersolar North America is the place to be for the U.S. solar industry.”

“Intersolar supports the North American solar industry yesterday, today and tomorrow,” said Markus Elsässer, CEO of Solar Promotion International GmbH, an organizer of Intersolar North America. “We began our event in California with the primary goal of providing the U.S. solar industry with an exhibition platform that would further the market by bringing together key national and international players, and showcase the latest products and technology innovations. We developed educational workshops, conference sessions and networking events to connect industry advocates. Our commitment to hosting Intersolar North America in the U.S.’s largest solar market, and our continued collaboration with CALSEIA and co-organizer SEMI speaks to that mission.”

Intersolar and CALSEIA have historically collaborated on portions of the Intersolar North America conference agenda, special exhibition programs and networking events, including the popular Solar Summerfest. Solar Summerfest, hosted by CALSEIA and Intersolar, is the premiere networking event for approximately 2,000 attendees that include Intersolar North America exhibitors, visitors and conference attendees. Intersolar proudly supports the Solar Summerfest, a 100 percent fundraiser benefiting CALSEIA’s activities to strengthen the Californian solar industry. Tickets for the Solar Summerfest are available for purchase online. Intersolar runs July 8-10 in San Francisco.

Yingli Solar Leaving Sunny Legacy for World Cup in Brazil

Posted on June 29, 2014 by QuestPoint

Yingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited (NYSE: YGE) (“Yingli Green Energy” or the “Company”), the largest vertically integrated photovoltaic (“PV”) module manufacturer in the world, known as “Yingli Solar,” today hosted a press conference inRio de Janeiro to announce the Company’s plans to leave a sustainable legacy in Brazil. These plans include becoming the first ever carbon neutral sponsor of the FIFA World Cup, and supplying 400 to 600 kW for a solar legacy project in Brazil that is expected to be among the largest solar energy systems in the country.

Judy Lee, Yingli’s Vice President of Global Marketing; Markus Vlasits, Country Manager of Yingli Green Energy Brazil; Thierry Weil, FIFA Director of Marketing; and Federico Addiechi, Head of FIFA Corporate Social Responsibility addressed the media and explained these initiatives at today’s conference.

Yingli has been working with FIFA in order to leave solar legacies in the host countries of the FIFA World Cup competition since 2010, when the Company became the first renewable energy sponsor and the first Chinese sponsor. The Company provided customized solar solutions to 20 “Football for Hope” centers all over Africa through the “Football for Hope, Energy for Hope” program, focused on improving the social environment for disadvantaged children in Africa even post FIFA World Cup.

This year, Yingli plans to continue its tradition of leaving a sunny legacy by becoming the first carbon neutral sponsor in FIFA World Cup history, and by developing one of the largest solar energy installations in Brazil, a project chosen jointly by FIFA and Yingli as an official CSR project of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

To become carbon neutral, Yingli is offsetting all carbon emissions generated through its onsite sponsorship activations in Brazil for the tournament’s duration. The Company has invested in carbon emissions reductions certificates generated by two factories operating via biomass in the Caatinga region of Alagoas in Brazil, thereby helping prevent deforestation and protect Brazil’s valuable biodiversity.

“Sustainability is one of the key tenants in our vision for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Environmental initiatives such as the one presented by our sponsor Yingli today are contributing to increasing the positive impact of the FIFA World Cup on society and the environment. We are grateful to Yingli and their local partners for helping us leave a lasting legacy in Brazil,” commented Mr. Addiechi from FIFA.

“Our solar legacy project will not only be an important legacy of the FIFA World Cup, but it will also be a boon to the country’s emerging solar energy industry,” commented Mr. Vlasits from Yingli. “We are pleased to deliver a high-quality reference project that we hope will drive demand for similar projects across the country.”

“As the world’s largest solar panel provider and renewable energy partner to FIFA, we are proud to utilize our expertise to leave a positive legacy in the host countries of Africa and Brazil,” noted Ms. Lee from Yingli. “We are excited that our joint project with FIFA will continue to serve the community and the environment here in Brazilwell after the competition finishes.”

Climate Change Inaction Risky Business

Posted on June 24, 2014 by QuestPoint

New York, June 24 – The American economy could face significant and widespread disruptions from climate change unless U.S. businesses and policymakers take immediate action to reduce climate risk, according to a new report released today. The report, “Risky Business: The Economic Risks of Climate Change in the United States,” summarizes findings of an independent assessment of the impact of climate change at the county, state, and regional level, and shows that communities, industries, and properties across the U.S. face profound risks from climate change. The findings also show that the most severe risks can still be avoided through early investments in resilience, and through immediate action to reduce the pollution that causes global warming.

Risky Committee Member Henry Cisneros

The Risky Business report shows that two of the primary impacts of climate change—extreme heat and sea level rise—will disproportionately affect certain regions of the U.S., and pose highly variable risks across the nation. In the U.S. Gulf Coast, Northeast, and Southeast, for example, sea level rise and increased damage from storm surge are likely to lead to an additional $2 to $3.5 billion in property losses each year by 2030, with escalating costs in future decades. In interior states in the Midwest and Southwest, extreme heat will threaten human health, reduce labor productivity and strain electricity grids.

Conversely, in northern latitudes such as North Dakota and Montana, winter temperatures will likely rise, reducing frost events and cold-related deaths, and lengthening the growing season for some crops.

The report is a product of The Risky Business Project, a joint, non-partisan initiative of former Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Mayor of New York City from 2002-2013 Michael R. Bloomberg, and Thomas P. Steyer, former Senior Managing Member of Farallon Capital Management. They were joined by members of a high-level “Risk Committee” who helped scope the research and reviewed the research findings.

All Our Patents Belong To You – By Elon Musk, CEO

Posted on June 23, 2014 by QuestPoint

Recently, there was a wall of Tesla patents in the lobby of our Palo Alto headquarters. That is no longer the case. They have been removed, in the spirit of the open source movement, for the advancement of electric vehicle technology.

Tesla Motors was created to accelerate the advent of sustainable transport. If we clear a path to the creation of compelling electric vehicles, but then lay intellectual property landmines behind us to inhibit others, we are acting in a manner contrary to that goal. Tesla will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.

When I started out with my first company, Zip2, I thought patents were a good thing and worked hard to obtain them. And maybe they were good long ago, but too often these days they serve merely to stifle progress, entrench the positions of giant corporations and enrich those in the legal profession, rather than the actual inventors. After Zip2, when I realized that receiving a patent really just meant that you bought a lottery ticket to a lawsuit, I avoided them whenever possible.

At Tesla, however, we felt compelled to create patents out of concern that the big car companies would copy our technology and then use their massive manufacturing, sales and marketing power to overwhelm Tesla. We couldn’t have been more wrong. The unfortunate reality is the opposite: electric car programs (or programs for any vehicle that doesn’t burn hydrocarbons) at the major manufacturers are small to non-existent, constituting an average of far less than 1% of their total vehicle sales.

At best, the large automakers are producing electric cars with limited range in limited volume. Some produce no zero emission cars at all.

Given that annual new vehicle production is approaching 100 million per year and the global fleet is approximately 2 billion cars, it is impossible for Tesla to build electric cars fast enough to address the carbon crisis. By the same token, it means the market is enormous. Our true competition is not the small trickle of non-Tesla electric cars being produced, but rather the enormous flood of gasoline cars pouring out of the world’s factories every day.

We believe that Tesla, other companies making electric cars, and the world would all benefit from a common, rapidly-evolving technology platform.

Technology leadership is not defined by patents, which history has repeatedly shown to be small protection indeed against a determined competitor, but rather by the ability of a company to attract and motivate the world’s most talented engineers. We believe that applying the open source philosophy to our patents will strengthen rather than diminish Tesla’s position in this regard.

Solarthon Brings Solar Power to the People

Posted on September 20, 2013 by QuestPoint

MCE (Marin Clean Energy), a program offering cleaner energy choices for electric customers in Marin County and the City of Richmond, sponsored GRID Alternatives’ largest installation event earlier this of the year at the May 8^th annual Bay Area Solarthon.On September 7, 2013 solar panels were installed on the roofs of more than 8 low income homes in Richmond’s Iron Triangle. The Solarthon community installation event is, a fundraiser and solar block party that brings together hundreds of people including individual fundraisers, corporate sponsors, job trainees, community leaders and the homeowners themselves to install multiple solar systems in one neighborhood in a single day.

The funds raised at the Solarthon event are used to further support GRID Alternatives’ work to bring clean, affordable energy and hands-on solar installation experience to families and workers that need it most. Participants get hands-on experience installing solar with and for local families.

MCE offers its customers 50 percent renewable energy, more than twice that offered by PG&E, at affordable rates and also has one of the best Net Energy Metering programs in California. “The Solarthon event aligns with our mission and goals to provide local clean energy alternatives and demonstrates our commitment to environmental and community sustainability,” said Dawn Weisz, Executive Officer of the Marin Energy Authority, which administers MCE. “We’re pleased to support this event and GRID Alternatives as another way to foster community control, workforce development and renewable energy in Richmond.”