BENTONVILLE, AR.—(eSolarEnergyNews)—Walmart today announced the company will install up to 400 new solar projects at facilities across the nation over the next four years. This advances the company’s global commitment to drive the production or procurement of seven billion kWh of renewable energy by the end of 2020 and its goal to be supplied by 100 percent renewable energy. To facilitate these installations, Walmart selected proposals from two preferred solar energy providers, SolarCity and SunEdison, following an RFP process.

“We are pleased to announce this expansion on the heels of the Solar Energy Industries Association’s commercial solar report, which recognizes Walmart as having the most installed solar capacity in the U.S.,” said Pam Kohn, executive vice president at Walmart and president of Walmart Realty.

Working with numerous solar providers, Walmart has installed approximately 260 solar projects to date in the United States. Walmart’s commercial solar deployment is now 105 MW, more than double the capacity of the next largest business. This has saved more than $5 million in energy expenses, demonstrating that Walmart can keep costs low for customers while reducing environmental impact.

“This is the beginning of the next wave in renewable energy for Walmart, an effort we announced in May when we welcomed President Obama to our Mountain View California store,” said Kim Saylors-Laster, vice president of energy at Walmart. “These projects bring us closer to fulfilling our commitment to double the number of on-site solar energy projects in U.S. stores, Sam’s Clubs and distribution centers—thereby reducing our energy expenses and generating clean energy in local communities.”

The installations will vary in size, commensurate with the respective store or facility. It is expected that smaller systems will provide 10 to 20 percent of the facility’s electricity requirements and larger systems will provide 20 to 30 percent of the power needed by the facility.

“SunEdison is one of Walmart’s earliest solar providers with projects dating back to 2007,” said Katherine Jennrich, senior manager of energy services at Walmart. “And, SolarCity has been Walmart’s largest solar provider, installing more than 200 projects together since 2010. We are excited to expand our work with both providers.”

We’ve seen particularly strong interest from major employers who want to take sustainability beyond the boardroom and into their broader communities. Participating companies get to offer a great employee benefit (solar), the employees get to navigate the process of going solar together (making it easier and more affordable), and the solar industry gets to serve a group of customers at once, reducing those nefarious customer acquisition soft costs. It builds solar awareness and lowers solar’s price tag in one fell swoop.

It’s more than a bright idea — we’ve seen strong real-world results. In 2013, we administered programs in Northern California and Colorado. These programs helped more than 2,000 people evaluate whether powering their homes with sunshine could be a good fit. In our view, this educational component is one of the most exciting outcomes of a GroupEnergy project. Whether or not they end up going solar now, program participants come away armed with the information they need become solar educators and advocates in their own right. All told, the two programs resulted in nearly a megawatt of new residential solar capacity in just a couple months. And by going solar together in bulk, participants were able to secure solar pricing that was 20 percent less than local average residential installation costs at the time. 

The Northern California SF SunShares partnership proved so successful that the City and other partners are now back for more. The 2014 participating employer organizations include some of the city’s largest workforces including the City and County of San Francisco, Arup, Genentech, Salesforce, the San Francisco Unified School District, the University of California at San Francisco, United Airlines and Virgin America.

«The SunShares program makes solar more affordable and accessible for San Francisco’s employees and retirees,» said Debbie Raphael, Director of the San Francisco Department of the Environment. «The group purchasing aspect empowers employees to be part of a greater effort to protect the planet.»

«Installing solar on my rooftop through SunShares was a no-brainer for my family,» said William Lee, the first participant to install a system through the program in 2013. «While we had been considering installing solar energy for a while, the cost incentives and convenience of the program encouraged us to jump on this opportunity.»

«The San Francisco SunShares program is a prime example of how San Francisco companies are working together to create local solutions to climate change,» said Michael Parks, Director of the Business Council on Climate Change. «The program is especially innovative because it helps employees power their own homes and lives with clean energy, creating an impact that extends beyond the workplace.»

Vote Solar administers the program, providing due diligence on vendors, maintaining the program’s website, conducting educational workshops, and providing technical advice to help make the process of going solar easier for San Francisco SunShares participants. Since we value our impartial relationship with the solar industry itself, it’s worth noting that, Vote Solar does not play a role in the selection of the winning solar vendor. That selection is made through a competitive process by a committee of volunteers from the participating organizations themselves. 

In the case of SF SunShares’ 2014 program, the selection committee chose locally-headquartered Sunrun as the vendor. «Home solar installations in the U.S. continue to grow rapidly, more than doubling in the last two years alone as Americans demand cleaner and more affordable energy,» said Lynn Jurich, chief executive officer of Sunrun. «We are pleased to partner with the San Francisco SunShares program — it is increasing access to renewable energy in the Bay Area by making the process of going solar even easier and more affordable for consumers.»

The San Francisco SunShares program is also contributing to regional solar market development and State distributed generation goals, including Governor Brown’s goal of 12,000 megawatts of distributed renewable energy generation by the year 2020.

More information and registration information on the program can be found here.

Lead image: Office interior via Shutterstock

SAN JOSE, CA —(eSolarEnergyNews)— The Sierra Club is joining Ford Motor Company and SunPower’s  Drive Green for Life program to help more Americans move toward emissions-free driving.

Drive Green for Life offers Ford customers who own electrified plug-in vehicles, including Focus Electric, C-MAX Energi Plug-In Hybrid and Fusion Energi Plug-In Hybrid, a $750 rebate on a SunPower residential solar system to generate clean, solar energy for the home and for electric vehicle charging. Also eligible are the C-MAX Hybrid and Fusion Hybrid. As Drive Green for Life’s newest partner, the Sierra Club will receive a $500 donation from SunPower for each rooftop solar system installed through the program.

«As an electric vehicle owner with solar panels on my home, I can personally attest to the incredible freedom and financial savings that come from being able to power our family’s car while lessening our carbon footprint,» said Jesse Simons, Sierra Club Chief of Staff. «At the Sierra Club, we want to bring clean energy prosperity to all Americans, and our new collaboration with Ford and SunPower on Drive Green for Life will help many more individuals benefit from a switch to clean, healthy solutions.»

In 2011, the Sierra Club launched its electric vehicle initiative advocating ways to reduce oil use and greenhouse gas emissions. The Sierra Club also conducts public education to promote electric vehicles, including through the annual National Drive Electric Week and its interactive online EV Guide. Through the Drive Green for Life program, electric vehicles that are charged with SunPower systems become forms of mobility with reduced emissions. Participation in the program will help accomplish the Sierra Club’s goal of rapid, wide-scale deployment of renewable energy technologies in lieu of fossil fuel-powered electricity. Donations from Drive Green for Life will help support the Sierra Club’s programs, such as its advocacy for clean energy solutions, including federal and state programs and policies to get more drivers into plug-in electric vehicles.

New owners or lessees of Ford electrified vehicles will be given information about the Drive Green for Life program by Ford dealers. A SunPower dealer will work with interested customers to design a solar power system for their home and discuss flexible financing options. Each Drive Green for Life customer will receive their rebate and a donation will be made to the Sierra Club once the solar system is installed.

«SunPower is pleased to welcome the Sierra Club, with its rich history of environmental advocacy and conservation successes, to the Drive Green for Life program,» said Erin Nelson, SunPower executive vice president and chief marketing officer. «Drive Green for Life continues to help Ford electric vehicle customers generate reliable solar energy from their rooftop with SunPower systems, for use at home and on the road.»

SunPower and Ford launched the Drive Green for Life program in 2011 and it is currently open to homeowners in all 50 states. Ford plug-in electric vehicles are available at certified dealerships across the country, and SunPower solar panels can be installed by more than 400 solar installers nationwide.

«Our plug-in customers have taken a big step towards sustainability by driving on electricity and now we are offering them the ability to go further by powering their homes and vehicles with clean, renewable energy,» said Mike Tinskey, global director, Vehicle Electrification and Infrastructure for Ford. «We are thrilled to be working with SunPower and the Sierra Club on this forward-thinking program.»

CHANGZHOU, CHINA—(eSolarEnergyNews)—  Trina Solar today announced that it has entered into an agreement for the design, build and operation and maintenance of the 10 MW Shamsuna Solar Project in Aqaba, Jordan with Shamsuna Power Company («Shamsuna Power»).

Foursan Capital Partners will hold a 85% stake and Shamasuna Power will hold a 15% stake in the project, respectively. The project is being financed by International Finance Corporation («IFC») and a small syndicate of lenders. Construction of the project is scheduled to commence in December 2014 with completion and grid connection expected in the second quarter of 2015. Once the plant is completed, Trina Solar will provide Operation and Maintenance services on the project based on a 5 year service agreement with a possible 5 year extension upon mutual agreement.

The solar farm, located in the Aqaba Special Economic Zone, southeast of Aqaba, Jordan, will utilize 40,320 of Trina Solar’s 250Wp TSM- PC05A modules. Once operational, it will be the largest solar farm in Aqaba, Jordan. All output generated by the project will be sold to Jordan’s National Electric Power Company («NEPCO») under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement («PPA») backed by a full sovereign guarantee from the Government of Jordan. The project will generate over 19 GWh of power annually helping to meet the growing demand for electricity in Jordan and reducing carbon emissions by approximately 11,500 tons per year.

«We are delighted to work with Trina Solar to build the largest solar farm in Aqaba, Jordan,» said Shadi Haddadin, The Solar Plant manager of Shamsuna. «Trina Solar’s global leadership, durable quality modules, as well as its proven track record distinguishes it as the best partner for us to work with. We regard this partnership as a win-win endeavor, and we look forward to continuing our success by working with Trina Solar again in the future.»

«We are excited to be part of this groundbreaking project and are proud to have been accepted by IFC as the Engineering, Procurement and Construction («EPC») provider for this project,» said Qi Lin, President of PV Systems Business Unit of Trina Solar. «The project provides us with valuable first-hand experience in operating a solar system in a desert environment, as well as substantial knowledge of local grid companies that will help Trina Solar accelerate its pace of project development in the Middle East. The Jordanian government has introduced new incentives to encourage the development of solar projects throughout the country with the aim of increasing renewable energy contributions to 10% of the country’s generation mix by 2020. We look forward to playing a meaningful role in Jordan’s efforts to develop its solar sector and to leveraging Trina Solar’s global brand, proven track record and technological expertise to rapidly penetrate the broader Middle East market.»

Itaipu Binacional, the federal operating company of the generating unit, is proposing to begin with silica refining and then foster the establishment of all the follow-on manufacturing stages to yield solar panels at a scale of close to 700 MW per year. The monumental undertaking, projected in Brazilian reports to cost between 700 million and 1 billion Euros, is being called Silício Verde, or the Green Silicon project.

In early November, Itaipu — along with the Sistema Federação das Indústrias do Estado do Paraná (FIEP) (the Parana state industry federation) and the Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial (Senai) (the national industrial training service) — contracted with the southwestern German industry association Solar Cluster and three research institutes in Baden-Württemberg state to perform an in-depth feasibility study of the project.

The study will also include recommendations for the formation of a public-private-partnership that can bring private equity into the financing of Green Silicon. Reinaldo Tockus, the executive coordinator of the project, said the study should be completed within six months.

Previously, Centrotherm, based in Blaubeuren, Baden-Württemberg, consulted with Itaipu on solar processing technology and equipment. Itaipu is said to have been developing the solar project for several years.

“So yes, we will be able to say that Brazil will become a part of the global geopolitics of photovoltaic solar energy,” said Cícero Bley, the superintendent of renewable energy at Itaipu Binacional. Brazil recently held the first federal auctions for solar energy plants, awarding 890 MW with a deadline for energy delivery in October 2017.

Solar Cluster member organizations Fraunhofer IPA, Fraunhofer ISE and the Zentrum für Sonnenenergie- und Wasserstoff-Forschung Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) — the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research — also will be involved in the study, which is expected in mid-2015. ZSW is investigating the potential of the Brazilian and global markets and how the development of a local photovoltaic infrastructure would affect employment and value creation in the region. Fraunhofer ISE is responsible for silicon photovoltaics, the solar cell manufacturing process and advanced training. Fraunhofer IPA, a research institute for production engineering and automation, is analyzing the supply chain infrastructure, economic feasibility and environmental sustainability of the proposed project.

Itaipu Binacional, which cost $27 billion to build, is located on the Parana River between the banks of Paraguay and Brazil, in the state of Parana. The facility has 14,000 MW of installed generation capacity, which supplies 17 percent of the energy consumed in Brazil and 75 percent of the Paraguayan demand. Last year Itaipu generated 98.6 TWh, setting a new world record for energy production.

The first stage in the planned Green Silicon complex would be a silica refinery that could process up to 18,000 metric tons of silica, sufficient to yield 636 MW of solar panels per year, Itaipu officials interviewed in local press indicated. Brazil is one of the world’s largest exporters of silica. Itaipu would provide the energy for the refinery and provide the use of buildings at the site that were erected during its construction almost 40 years ago.

HILLSBORO, OR PETALUMA, CA.—(eSolarEnergyNews)—SolarWorld and Enphase Energy announced today that they have signed a global strategic partnership agreement. Enphase is the world’s largest provider of microinverters, devices that convert direct electrical current to alternating current to enable most applications of solar electric power.

SolarWorld, the largest U.S. solar producer for nearly 40 years, has formalized Enphase as its supplier of microinverter systems for SolarWorld’s custom-engineered system solutions in the U.S. market as well as expanded this partnership across both companies’ worldwide distribution networks. The two companies also have agreed to engage in close collaboration in developing new solar technologies and products.

“The global partnership between SolarWorld and Enphase – two companies renowned for quality, reliability and technological advancement – is more than a supply agreement,” said Mukesh Dulani, U.S. president of SolarWorld. “It is a true collaboration between industry leaders that will expand global solar markets and spur development of new solar technologies.”

“Enphase has worked closely with SolarWorld for several years, and the companies have built a strong, growing business together in collaboration with SolarWorld’s extensive U.S. channels,” said Jeff Loebbaka, Enphase’s senior vice president of global sales, marketing and support. “This new agreement promises to open new regional market and product opportunities around the world for both companies.”

SolarWorld REAL VALUE: SolarWorld manufactures and sells solar power solutions and in doing so contributes to a cleaner energy supply worldwide. As the largest solar producer in the United States and Europe, SolarWorld employs about 3,400 people and carries out production in Hillsboro, Ore., and Freiberg and Arnstadt, Germany. From the raw material silicon to solar wafers, cells and panels, SolarWorld manages all stages of production ‒ including its own research and development. The company maintains high social standards at all locations across the globe and is committed to resource- and energy-efficient production. Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, SolarWorld was founded in 1998 and its stock has been publicly traded since 1999. Connect with SolarWorld on Facebook, Twitter and www.enphase.comwww.solarworld-usa.com.

About Enphase Energy, Inc.: Enphase Energy (NASDAQ: ENPH) delivers microinverter technology for the solar industry that increases energy production, simplifies design and installation, improves system uptime and reliability, reduces fire safety risk and provides a platform for intelligent energy management. Its semiconductor-based microinverter system converts energy at the individual solar module level and brings a systems-based, high-technology approach to solar energy generation. Connect with Enphase on Facebook, Twitter and www.enphase.com

Richard Kauffman is supervising New York’s entire energy portfolio, including the New York State Department of Public Service, the New York Power Authority, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and the Long Island Power Authority. Under his leadership, New York has launched the Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), a far-reaching restructuring of regulations for the energy industry, and committed US-$ 5 billion through 2023 to support local renewable energy and efficiency markets. Not least, he has overlooked the establishment of the New York Green Bank and a $1 billion investment in the NY-Sun solar initiative.

SWE: Governor Cuomo introduced you as New York’s energy czar in January 2013 and since then you seem to be on a mission to fundamentally reform New York State’s energy sector. Originally active in the private sector in finance, what made you switch from Washington overlooking federal energy policies now to the state level?

Richard Kauffman: In New York state we are not on a sustainable path either economically or from a mission standpoint with our energy policies. When we talk about economically, it’s not just about the cause, it’s also about the economic development opportunities that could occur from a transition to a different kind of energy system.

When the governor convinced me to come to New York state, he had created a portfolio that included all the relevant authorities that affect this new energy policy, including the New York Public Service Commission and New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which collects about a Billion Dollars annually from customers’ electric bill in the form of surcharges. Those funds are used to support renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in the state.

There is also the New York Power Authority, which produces about 20% of the power in New York State, via hydro power and load transmission. Additionally, the power costs are high on Long Island where the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) operates and which is one of the largest government-owned utilities in the country Long Island has grid constraints. Since LIPA is owned by the state and since power costs are high this is an opportunity for us to really start using that as a place to create the next generation utility – a new energy system. The current grid is largely central station transmission, but what we want to see in the future are fewer central stations and more distributed solutions.

Now the question is, what is the bridge from where we are today to the future? I think our perspective is to try to stimulate markets and to create the right kind of regulatory incentives that are market based as opposed to mandates to change from government. . And so, everything that we’re trying to do is really designed to try to encourage markets.

One example is the telecommunication sector, which was completely rebuilt within 20 years by a change in rules and greater participation and innovations from the private sector. That same scale and speed of change could happen in the electricity sector if we change the rules and create better functioning markets.

“Utilities are compensated for the quantum of capital that they deploy, not for the efficiency of the capital that they deploy”

SWE: You estimated New York State needs 30 Billion Dollars to repair its energy grid in the next decade.

Kauffman: The electricity system and many of the regulations we have today were developed 100 years ago and it is the system which is built around [electricity] generation and pushed out to the customers. Whereas in other businesses the customer is first and then businesses are developed and built around what the customers want.

We are kind of going back to the time of Edison and others who helped develop the electricity grid. They thought that the electricity system was going to only be about a lighting system. But obviously, electricity has turned out to be a lot more than just lighting. We think that the new energy system today gives customers a lot more potential value out of the system. Nobody says they want to consume more electricity. They want to consume what the electricity system can offer to them in terms of value. That could relate to health benefits, convenience, independence, comfort, or entertainment. To give you one example in the health area there are companies that are thinking about having an at-home healthcare monitoring system for older people. That would require sensors in the home. It would require more resilient and reliable power and that would create the potential for a more efficient home automation system. The customer’s motivation is the health benefit — not energy efficiency or even environmental benefits, but it could create the opportunity for more energy efficient homes.

Another thing what we focused on in our reforms of the energy system are the regulatory incentives for utilities which have not really changed for the utilities since the time of Edison. What that means is the utilities get paid, they recover their cost of service, and they get a return on their capital that they deploy. And so, the profit for utility comes from a return on its capital. They don’t get any profit on their human capital, only the physical capital. That is one of the reasons, why the system has only a 55% capacity utilization and half the system is idle most of the time. The reason for that is it was built for the hottest hours of the year. Some of that is a requirement for reserve capacity needed for reliability. But a large portion of that excess capital is because utilities are compensated for the quantum of capital that they deploy, not for the efficiency of the capital that they deploy. What we’re trying to do now is to think about utilities as a kind of platform that has an economic incentive to improve their efficiency. And we also want the utilities to provide the opportunity for third parties or competitive providers to allow customers to develop the applications. The utilities will get paid for putting these kinds of applications the customer value on the utility platform. And again, that’s not something right now that utilities get compensated for. So there is a lot of resistance for example amongst the utility industry in the deployment of solar. A utility doesn’t get any incentive for putting solar on to their platform.

SWE: So how will that change?

Kauffman: A utility will get paid for that improvement in system efficiency and it will save the rate payers money. The assets will be owned by a combination of that utility and third party providers. Brooklyn for instance, is growing pretty rapidly in terms of the demand for electricity. So, for ConEd, the utility company, the business as usual would have been to build a substation in Brooklyn, which would cost 1 — 2 Billion Dollars. And it would mean, doing things the old way: 55% capacity utilization on average throughout the system, and a lot of idle time. But, because of the coming changes in rules and regulations, what ConEd has proposed instead is a greater use of distributed resources such as solar, combined heat and power and energy efficiency. That will cost customers less money than a substation and will thereby increase the system’s efficiency.

NY Green Bank is about availability of financing, not cost of financing

SWE: You also announced 1 Billion Dollar funding for the NY Green Bank, a state-owned financing for clean energy technologies in the green power sector at the beginning of this year. How are the responses so far?

Kauffman: The Green Brank is an effort to try to encourage markets or stimulate markets. It’s not a subsidy or direct investment. It provides financing in areas where there are financing market gaps in the private sector. Or in general, small projects have difficulties attracting bank debt because it is expensive for banks to lend to small projects. So, we can function as an aggregation entity where there are a number of proposals that we would receive where banks would be interested but the projects are not big enough. A financial institution would come to us and say: ‘Well, look, in exchange for some participation, we’d be willing to lend more if you would take a subordinating debt position or if you would provide a credit enhancement.’ So, by providing a 50-million dollar facility to that industry, we may help unlock the financing markets.

In other words, we’re not dictating to the market what financing products we are going to offer. We’re looking for places in the market where there are companies who are succeeding in the market with customers, but their growth is limited by the lack of availability of financing. That’s the part of the market we want to play in. It’s about availability of financing, not cost of financing.

SWE: To move solar and other renewables forward, companies in the U.S. have to accept very high «soft» costs – more than 50 % — when installing a solar system.

Kauffman: That is another point when it comes to efficiency. Even a state as big as New York can’t really influence hardware costs, but we can have an influence on “soft” costs of renewable energy or energy efficiency projects. The “soft” costs of solar in the U.S. relative to Germany are substantially different. And that really relates to a number of things, such as scale — Germany has much greater scale — and ease in which a customer can hook up to the grid, and the paperwork that’s required. Financing is also easier to do. So, there are a number of things that we can do at the state level that can reduce “soft” costs, such as the cost of customer acquisition and financing costs in the sense of having financing be more readily available.

SWE: When you look at the residential and the utilities market: How do you imagine how these markets are going to grow in New York state?

Kauffman: Well, again, that is going to be a function of markets. Utilities in New York State do not own [electricity] generation. They just own the wires and the distribution system. And they’re indifferent. If I use more electricity, they don’t get paid any more money. So, that’s decoupling and that’s generally considered a progressive policy regime, but they don’t have a positive incentive to encourage energy efficiency.

In New York, we have two-thirds of the energy generation located upstate (in the northern and western areas of the state), and only one-third of the demand is where the generation is. Here is the problem: We have a system which has already in a sense excess capacity with 55% capacity utilization. And in addition to that, we impose on customers a surcharge to support renewable energy. And we don’t have an economic incentive for the utilities for improving their capital efficiency nor are utilities incentivized to help customers conserve energy.

So, you could see that if we change the regulatory incentives in the price signals, we will wind up with more distributed generation, more distributed energy resources, which will include solar, batteries, and combined heat and power, fuel cells, and all of that not because we are creating a mandate, but because it will be ultimately cheaper for customers.

“In the United States, there are now more people in the solar industry than workers in the steel or auto industry.”

SWE: Germany with its mandate, the Renewable Energy Law, basically helped to build the Chinese monopoly for solar. How would you help the local industry to profit from this development?

Kauffman: I used to be on the board at QCells, so I know a lot about the German solar industry. We’re very respectful of what Germany has done and Germany is a model to show that quite a lot of renewable energy can be brought online at a very short period of time, if a country is committed to an objective. We are trying to learn from Germany and trying to learn from what other places have done.

So back to the point about markets, we are more about creating end markets for energy efficiency and renewable energy. It may not be that there are energy products per se, but there might be energy by-products of some other service that’s being offered to customers. We are not a government trying to build manufacturing from the top down; this is a strategy to build a reliable and affordable energy system in New York so manufacturers will want to be here and create jobs.

We just think that the state has some advantages that will attract manufacturers in the clean energy space. We have cheap hydropower that’s available. We have water which is going to be valuable to manufacturers of all sorts. We have lots of skilled workers that are here. In the United States, there are now more people in the solar industry than workers in the steel or auto industry. And very few of those jobs in those industries are manufacturing jobs.

If we develop markets, then we know there will be other value to manufacturers to be close to where the market is. We have excellent universities in the state and a growing semiconductor industry; some of those capabilities are very valuable to the solar industry. But fundamentally, we are going to let the market figure out what kind of jobs are going to be here.

The interview was conducted by Anja Limperis.

The three-year development work of the joint project «Silicon High-Efficiency Cells and Modules,» called SONNE for short, has been successfully completed according to the parties involved. A solar module that was newly developed during the project is reportedly more efficient and has a longer service life than any module previously available, thereby reducing the production cost of PV electricity in the long term.