Solar Engineering Seeks To Catch Up To Wind In Project Development Pipeline

Consulting firms specializing in the front-end tasks such as environmental analysis and permitting are increasingly finding assignments for utility-scale PV projects, but larger en¬gineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firms are still waiting for end-to-end project opportunities to emerge in solid numbers. There’s consider¬able optimism that those opportunities will be arriving soon, however. Fi¬nancing is by all accounts the biggest chal¬lenge right, both in solar thermal power and and utility-scale PV, but the renewal of the federal tax incentives, and in particular the option to convert the investment tax credit (ITC) for into an outright grant, will be a huge shot in the arm. And financing sources are still more interested in solar and other renewables than, say, large office buildings.


PPAs Have Edge Over Internal Generation When Electric Utilities Go Solar

In the decision to own and operate solar facilities versus purchasing the power from third parties, buying power has the edge over internal ownership. Some utilities, however, are looking to “prime the pump” for the larger rooftop PV installations or other forms of utility-scale or near-utility-scale PV generation by pursuing a mix of internally and externally owned capacity development. Southern Cali¬fornia Edison, which claims to purchase more renewable power than any other utility in the nation, also generates 30% of its total power delivery from internally owned and operated facilities.


Concentrating Photovoltaic Systems Aiming for a Piece of the Solar Power Market

Dozens of companies backed by more than $300 million in venture capital and government funds are pursuing the quest to adapt high-efficiency concentrating photovol¬taic (CPV) technology for commercial applications beyond the small market for powering satellites. CPV uses lenses and mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto high-efficiency multijunction solar cells, thus delivering more power with less solar cell material and in less space than conventional PV modules. Depending on solar intensity and a number of other fac¬tors, solar PV power plant developers can choose from conventional photovoltaic arrays, cheaper and less efficient thin-film or CPV. Only a handful of CPV firms have developed manufacturing facilities with annual capacities of 10 MW or more, according to PV trade publication Photon International. The short list includes the German firm Concentrix Solar, Span¬ish firms Sol3g, Guascor and Isofoton, and U.S. firms Amonix, Prism Solar and SolFocus.

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