Solar Power 2006 Rallies Vendors, Enthusiasts to Address Industry Challenges (Energy Priorities)

The photovoltaics industry's biggest U.S. conference is happening this week in San Jose, CA. Having reached a modest level of maturity, the sector is facing a new array of challenges. What issues stand in the way of widespread success, and what are industry leaders doing about them?

Denis Du Bois
October 19, 2006

The biggest challenge facing the solar industry is accelerating adoption, say industry executives present at this week's Solar Power 2006 conference and expo in San Jose, California. Market education and financial incentives are two key ingredients in meeting this challenge. Industry leaders are taking innovative approaches to them. Here are their recommendations.

Lower the technical barriers with market education

"There are several things that have to happen. First, the general population needs to be educated, and we need to educate them," says Tom Dyer, marketing vice president for Kyocera Solar. The average consumer doesn't know as much about solar as do people inside the industry, he says. Unfamiliarity is hindering adoption.

Sharp Solar is applying its knowledge of consumer electronics marketing to make consumers more comfortable with solar. The company plans to define solar power products that overcome the technology barrier.

"Sharp understands the mind of the end-use electronics customer," says Ron Kenedi, vice president of Sharp Solar's Energy Solutions Group. "We're developing programs, products, and systems for the customer, to make it easier for them to adopt solar and make solar part of their life."

Support solar through public policy

Subsidies and other incentives are important to the solar industry. Without them, adoption of solar in the U.S. is likely to remain low until costs come down, supporters say. Germany and Japan, two of the world's most successful markets for solar, have encouraged adoption through various subsidies.

"In Germany and Japan we've already seen the market acceptance of solar," says Jessi Zhang of PV manufacturer Ying Li Solar. "We would like to see more subsidies in the U.S. and in China. We want to spread our brand globally, and help the Chinese economy." Zhang's company is based in China and sells its products globally.

"We have new legislation in California, SB 1, which is a long-term program" says Julia Judd, Co-Chair of Solar Power 2006. "It's what the industry has been advocating for a long time, we need long-term stable policies. Other states and local governments are looking to California's recent initiatives, to see how they can follow that lead."

"In our government we need a champion," says Kyocera's Dyer, "someone to champion the goal and take solar from today's small scale to a national agenda."

Like John Kennedy's famous goal of putting a man on the moon, Dyer says the success of solar will depend on national leadership. "People are dedicated at the local and industrial level. We need to make it a national priority."

FACTOID
Resource Shortages Silicon is an important raw material in conventional crystalline PV modules, but it has been in short supply for a few years now. New technologies, such as thin film PV, will allow vendors to manufacture modules using a fraction of the silicon. Meanwhile, short supply translates to higher prices and frequent stock-outs. "The silicon shortage is on everyone's mind right now," says Richard Swanson, president of SunPower Corporation. "It's consuming a tremendous amount of senior management time to secure the needed sources of silicon for our solar panels." Manufacturers are encouraging new entrants to the silicon industry, while at the same time significantly reducing the silicon intensity of solar modules, he says.

Simplify investment with new business models

Even with subsidies, the up-front investment stops many businesses and homeowners from embracing solar energy. New business models are emerging to get around that barrier.

Systems integrator Solar Technologies has launched an innovative business model that capitalizes on subsidies, using a power purchase agreement.

"We're introducing a different way of paying for solar systems, where investors lease your roof space, install and maintain a system, and sell the power back to you at a rate lower than the utility," says Roger Denault, the company's president.

Investors may later make the systems available for sale to the building owners, after first capitalizing on the financial incentives -- the tax breaks, subsidies, and renewable energy credits -- but some investors may prefer to continue selling power to the occupants at predictable rates. Denault expects the model to be popular with schools and other tax-exempt entities that can't take advantage of tax breaks.

Solar Power 2006

The Solar Power Conference and Expo is the largest business-to-business solar event held in the United States. Organized by the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the event is in its third year. About 4,000 people are expected to attend Solar Power 2006, and at least 150 companies are exhibiting.

Vinod Khosla gave his first keynote on solar power at this year's event. The former Sun executive is president of Khosla Ventures, and a frequent speaker on climate change and alternatives to petroleum.

The speakers quoted here made their remarks in speeches and interviews on the show floor, including webcasts produced for Solar Power 2006 by TV Worldwide.

Comments

I have emailed this to KRON 4, PG&E and you thanks, I am in the process of writing a detailed letter to PG&E and will email a copy of this to them about the numerous problems and cost we have had with using solar energy. We had solar panels installed about 5 or 6 years ago. There are many things a person needs to check into prior to doing this. First, it is very costly and takes forever to get your refund. The second is there is a lot of paperwork that goes with that to get PG&E to give you the refund. Next the billing changes, you have a bill that comes each month (that initially you think oh man I am saving so much money! look closer there is an unbilled section), and one at the end of the year called a true-up bill will come. This is when you realize you have not saved as much as you thought. The true-up bill has ran $2200.00 + each year; with the monthly bill running about 50 +. Add this up and you get around a yearly bill for $2800.00 per year divided by the 12 months runs you 233+ a month (usually much higher too). You may find this as an average; (although I have asked others and compared where they are paying less for regular PG&E), in addition, we have not used the heater, air conditioner, (the furnace is off) or the dryer all year! We have the energy saving windows and turn off the lights we do not use too.

I have questioned the ability of the people that come to read the meter, perhaps they need training and have read it incorrectly, because the range they say we use stays the same, just how could this be when the last year is when the central heating and air went out? The other issue is the dryer had broke and when we replaced it we continued to just hang dry all the close to save money. Please tell me what other ways we can do to cut the PG&E bill? We rarely use the oven too; we have sandwiches, salads, and microwave food or eat out? We run the pool once in a great while and I tried to do a comparison of running things on one month to see the difference and could not see anything.

There are more issues, you may ask more? Yes, you see when you call PG&E, you have to speak with different departments regarding the regular PG&E bill and the True-up bill and get tossed around a bit and each other needs approval from the other to set up a payment plan if you cannot pay that 2200 +; here is the real issue, they are not responsible for your solar paneling and so they blame any and all high cost to it and say perhaps it is not working? You must go back to those that you bought your solar paneling from and those that installed it regarding any of those issues. Guess what they went out of business; go figure. More, well, if it is not installed properly it can caused problems with your water heater, and you get cold water and they can cause problems on your roof and leaks can occur slowly where you do not notice until late in the game.

So, my suggestion, please inform the public to do great research before they ever invest in this; my father thought he had and wanted to help contribute to helping California saving energy and do his part, in addition to help savings for them. I just wonder how this can be and what more can a person do. One more thing I called PG&E a few times and asked for a PG&E representative to come out and check things and no one ever showed up? So, you can see, when I see the commercials from PG&E I am not very impressed.

Thanks for reading this and informing the public!

Posted by: Flores | October 22, 2006 09:36 AM

One significant piece of news since SP2006 is the announcement by Infinia of a launch date for their 24% efficient Stirling engine system. Detailed article at http://www.solarevents.com/articles/solar-energy/solar-energy-stirling-engine/

Posted by: solarevents | October 26, 2006 08:46 AM