Solar Shows Strong Growth in 2009 Despite the Great Recession

U.S. solar electric generation capacity increased by 37 percent in 2009, showing strong growth despite the Great Recession. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the growth was the result of increased investment in both photovoltaic and concentrating solar power. It was driven primarily by strong demand in the residential and utility-scale markets.

Solar water heating and pool heating also grew in 2009, by about 10%. Not too bad given the overall state of the economy.

SEIA attributes the good news to a combination of government policies, new business models, and declining prices. Give the continued availability of tax credits and stimulus funds this year and next, SEIA expects continued growth in solar electricity generation in 2010.

The solar industry added 17,000 new jobs in 2009 and now employs a total of 46,000 workers in the USA. Solar manufacturing showed a 7 percent increase in PV module production from 2008.

California led the country in new solar electric generation capacity with 220 MW. Other states that continued to see growth in their installed base of solar electric generation were New Jersey (57 MW), Florida (36 MW), Arizona (23 MW), Colorado (23 MW), Hawaii (14 MW), New York (12 MW), Massachusetts (10 MW), Connecticut (9 MW), and North Carolina (8 MW).

There is still room for tremendous growth in this sector. The USA currently ranks fourth in the world in new solar generation capacity with 481 MW. Increasing advances in technologies such as thin film solar, lower prices, and government policies requiring fossil fuel prices to include the costs of pollution, solar electric generation should help solar capacity to reach into the gigawatts in the near future.

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Dow Corning CEO Urges Congress on Green Energy Incentives

Dr. Stephanie A. Burns, Dow Corning's chairman, president and CEO, testified today before the House Ways & Means Committee at a hearing on energy tax incentives and the green job economy. The central message of her testimony was: "America’s energy transformation is inexorably linked to our nation’s economic and manufacturing future."

Dr. Burns noted that Dow Corning has announced more than $5 billion in investments in solar technology. Most of that is in capital for advanced manufacturing operations for polycrystalline silicon. It also includes other operations like research & development and materials that improve the performance and cost efficiency of solar cells and modules. Dr. Burns pointed out that these recent initiatives build on a 70-year history at Dow Corning of producing products focused on energy efficiency and sustainability.

Companies such as Dow Corning and its joint venture partners are manufacturing solar and other renewable energy-related materials here in America. This creates thousands of jobs in construction, engineering, science and skilled trades, according to Dr. Burns.

The problem is that many countries are now competing for these good jobs with tax credits and other incentives to attract green and sustainable investments. "Other nations have enacted aggressive policies to support the growth of the renewable energy industry," she said. "Companies that hope to manufacture in the United States are faced with a tax structure that encourages them to do otherwise. It is time for America to enact policies that will essentially assure this industry grows here."

Dr. Burns pointed out that recent initiatives such as the Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have had a very positive impact by leveraging investments from the private sector. She urged Congress to do even more to stay competitive in the global clean technology race. The tax credit was capped at $2.3 billion, and was significantly oversubscribed. According to the Department of Energy, there were many viable projects that were not funded. With that in mind, Dr. Burns asked Congress to make the tax credit permanent in any energy, climate, or jobs bill now under development. "This will help propel America into an era of sustained, renewable energy use and help put Americans back to work," she said.

Dr. Burn's complete testimony before Congress is available by clicking here.

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Inventor Seeks Licensee for Gulf Stream Turbine Patents

Gulf Stream Turbines LLC is seeking a suitable company or group of investors that will license an invention that can produce continuous low-cost electricity from the constantly flowing Gulf Stream.

Unlike the intermittent energy that is in the winds, tides, and waves, the Gulf Stream's kinetic energy is relatively steady because it is produced by a Coriolis force that results from the earth's eastward rotation. It is because of the Gulf Stream's greater steadiness that the Gulf Stream Turbines can continuously generate power at near their theoretical capacities, making it possible for them to produce from two to six times the electricity that can be produced by the wind turbines and at one-half to one-sixth the cost.

"Because these submersible power plants will be in the ocean, they must be able to operate for long periods without requiring servicing," said John Robson, the inventor. "This is made possible by relying on the unchanging laws of physics – rather than on mechanical systems that can fail."

Robson said, "A free-floating submerged object will always float with its center of gravity directly under its center of buoyancy. This fact not only can provide great inherent stability but also permit a machine's depth to be easily changed by transferring ballast water between the front and rear compartments of the buoyancy tank to adjust the hydrofoils' lifting forces. It also can make the machines much easier to install and recover."

Companies that generate electricity from renewable energy are eligible for a government production tax credit of 2.1 cents per kilowatt-hour for the first ten years of a renewable-energy facilities' operation. The Gulf Stream's more consistent kinetic energy not only will produce from two to six times the revenues from the sale of the electricity, but also from that subsidy.

The Gulf Stream Turbines will also produce proportionally larger reductions in the emissions of greenhouse gases. A single Gulf Stream Turbine that is equipped with two 600-kW generators will theoretically generate 8,941,300 kilowatt-hours per year, operating at 85% of its theoretical capacity. If that electricity were to replace the electricity produced by a coal plant, the CO2 emissions would be reduced by about 13,000 tons. If that electricity were to replace the electricity produced by burning natural gas, the emissions would be reduced by 5,900 tons and gas consumption by 52.85 billion Btu.

Because the earnings produced by the Gulf Stream Turbines will substantially exceed those of the other renewable energy generating systems, thousands of these machines could soon be generating electricity from that current is just off the coast of South Florida.

Gulf Stream Turbines LLC was formed in 2009 for the purpose of getting the invention into production.

For additional information, visit www.gulfstreamturbine.com.

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