Part II: 10th Annual NC Sustainable Energy Conference

April 22nd, 2013


After an informative and entertaining session on sustainable agriculture, I ventured out into the expo hall and car show to do a little exploring. Just outside Mckimmon in the front parking lot, the green car show was taking place, showing off the latest on-the-road alternative fuel cars and unique designs. Here are a few vehicles that you might see on the road locally or elsewhere in North Carolina.

A hybrid diesel-electric school bus from Thomas Built Buses. Increasing fuel efficiency in public transport is a high priority among several towns and cities across the state.

Dodge Ram pickup fitted to run off of natural gas, from Piedmont Natural Gas. With natural gas prices at historic lows, alternative fuel vehicles such as this one may help reduce the cost of fueling your car.

A fully electric Mitsubishi from CBS Mitsubishi Motors in Durham, NC.  This vehicle has a 62 mile range per charge (112mpg equivalency) and options for installations for home electric charging stations. (mitsubishi.com)

This unique assisted bike-vehicle is called the ELF from Organic Transit, built here in the Triangle. There is a Li-ion battery pack aboard, charged by 30W rooftop solar panels that assists the driver, or you can choose manual cycling operation. (organictransit.com)

A late model Mercedes-Benz retrofitted to run off of biodiesel. This is not a new vehicle, and has been very popular among enviro-friendly crowds in years past. Not to mention you still receive the luxury driving quality of a Mercedes-Benz automobile. :)

The expo hall featured several major companies, including CREE, ABB, and Advanced Energy, as well as public and non-profit organizations like the North Carolina Solar Center, NC Sustainable Energy Association, and NC A&T University Ph.D. Program in Energy and Environmental Systems. In between breakout session talks, the expo hall offered free refreshments and made for an ideal place to meet and network with people in the solar industry. I had the opportunity of meeting a few students currently in the Certificate in Renewable Energy Management course I attended last summer and was able give them a few pieces of friendly advice.

Several vendors were present in the Expo Hall to present products and ideas to customers throughout the conference

The 2nd day conference talks I attended dove much deeper into the specifics of renewable energy in North Carolina, particularly in the game of politics and finance. Currently there has been a strong push in the state congress to repeal the Renewable Energy Standard Portfolio, which requires our state to generate 12.5% of its power from renewable sources, including a 0.2% carve out specifically for solar electricity. In addition, the 35% state renewable energy tax credit is also in jeopardy, threatening the future of our industry. As for this moment, deals are continuing to be done at all scales of production, but few panelists could make confident predictions for the state of the industry at this time next year. Please contact your local congressman and let them know you support solar in North Carolina!

Panel Discussion on Large Scale Solar Farms in North Carolina. From Left to Right: Bob Leker, N.C. Energy Office, Kenny Habul, SunEnergy1, Joel Olsen, O2 Energies, and Markus Wilhelm, Strata Solar.

The final day of the conference features two great keynote speakers, Ty Mitchell, Executive Vice President and General Manager for CREE Inc., who spoke about the advantages of using LED lighting technology. Cities that have switched their street lighting over to LED has saved hundreds of millions of dollars in energy and labor costs in doing so, thanks to the low wattage use of LED's and their long-lasting life cycle. In fact, 1 LED light bulb will last approximately the same length of time as 25 regular incandescent bulbs. The lunch speaker, and my favorite of the conference, was Cheri Chastain, the Sustainability Manager for Sierra Nevada Brewing Company. She was quick to mention she did not have any free samples for the audience, which brought some laughs and good vibes. She then went into discussing the hard work that has been done to follow owner Ken Grossman's vision of his company to be green and energy independant, including installing 2MW fuel cells at their California plant, over 1000 solar panels on nearly every roof space available at their entire facility, and a move to open a brewing facility in North Carolina, where they fully intend on enacting a similar green policy approach to their brewery.

Ty Mitchell, Excecutive Vice President of CREE, Inc., Located in RTP, speaks on the advantages of LED technology in the morning keynote session

Cheri Chastain, Sustainability Manager of Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, speaks on the renewable energy policies driving the brewery into the green future

Solar panels cover nearly every inch of roof space on Sierra Nevada Brewing Company's California Facility Plant.

It was a big week for all of us, I hope you enjoyed this article and feel inspired to attend the 11th Annual Sustainable Energy Conference in 2014! Have a Sunny week!

Discussing Renewables at the 10th Annual North Carolina Sustainable Energy Conference, Part 1

April 18th, 2013


The 10th Annual North Carolina Sustainable Energy Conference (April 15th-17th, Mckimmon Center, Raleigh, NC) recently concluded, boasting one of its largest attendances in the history of the conference, with a record number of keynote speakers and breakout session talks. I had the pleasure of attending all three days, and left feeling both excited and a little concerned about the future of renewable energy in North Carolina.

Tuesday Opening Keynote Session with Marilyn Brown, Professor, School of Public Policy, Georgia Tech

The Monday session of the conference started in the afternoon and presented to a smaller crowd as an introduction to the week's sessions. Eric Lightner, Director of the Federal Smart Grid Task Force with the U.S. Department of Energy, gave the opening lecture "Ongoing Smartgrid Activities at the U.S. DOE" where he provided insightful updates and global energy statistics. The microgrid panel discussion then moved on to speak about U.S. microgrid studies, including a small presentation on solar in affordable housing communities, as well as the grid effect in New Jersey from Hurricane Sandy last year, where an estimated $11.7 billion was lost in that state alone (Rutgers Univ. Study).  The breakout sessions, expo hall, and hybrid car show did not begin until the following morning. A reception was held each day of the conference to conclude the day's activities.

Tuesday was the beginning of the 'bulk' of the conference program, where following a keynote morning lecture on U.S. energy policy from Professor Marilyn Brown at the School of Public Policy at Georgia Tech University, attendees divided up into the smaller lecture rooms at McKimmon Center for the breakout session talks. There were several choices of sessions to attend, from Industrial Energy Systems, Policy and Finance, Sustainable Agrictulture, Utility Initiatives, and several other bonus sessions. After perusing a few of the first morning breakout session choices, I opted to attend the sustainable agriculture lecture, which was moderated by Jeff Thompson, Orange County Assessment Manager.

Tuesday Morning Breakout Session: Sustainable Agrictulture

Each breakout session would consist of 3 or 4 panelists that present their thoughts and ongoing projects related to the lecture. In the sustainable agriculture lecture, the highlighted motif of each talk was the need for more reliance on local produce, farmers markets, and renewable energy to help sustain long term food availability. The importance of not becoming reliable on foods shipped in from great distances will greatly diminish future costs such as transportation, fuel costs, and transactions of service. In case you haven't been before, the Raleigh Farmers Market is open every Saturday on Centennial Way near downtown Raleigh. If you get a chance, please come visit and check out all the goods and local produce grown right here in our state! The importance of savings using local produce, educating children, avoiding fast food, and finding committed vendors for farmers markets was stressed by speaker Kelly Blanford from Sustainable Sandhills. Larry Kent from the NC Cooperative Extension spoke about the solar panels recently installed at the farmers market coop. Matthew Royball discussed his work at the Piedmont Food and Agriculture Processing Center, a large shared kitchen facility that houses several local businesses from farmers to bakers to caterers.

 The final speaker was Chad Ray of Ray Family Farms, who presented on his efforts in sustainable agriculture, which included raising sheep used for grass maintenance in large scale solar farms. He has partnered with O2 Energies to supply sheep on solar farms and help keep grass from overgrowing and requirement mowing and trimming, which can be an expensive and laborious task. Once the sheep have matured, he then sells them to Whole Foods Market. This creative synergy with O2 Energies, Ray Farms, and Whole Foods provides a three-fold solution that benefits each business. He plans to provide sheep for 14 solar farms over the next 6 months. In addition, he also mentioned he received grants from the USDA and the Tobacco Leaf Fund to place 42 solar panels on his farm that produced $1,762 in energy savings last year.

Chad Ray, Ray Family Farms, discussing renewables and local produce at his farm near Hillsborough, NC

Chad Ray showing off his sheep used for grass control on large scale solar farms. This creative idea prevents the need for mowing and helps reduce the overall maintenance cost of the solar farm.

Part II of my article will discuss the hybrid car displays and lectures from the late Tuesday and Wednesday sessions. Have a sunny weekend!

Solar Across the Pond Part 2: Austria and Germany!

April 4th, 2013


After having an amazing journey in beautiful Scotland, I boarded a London flight to make the second half of my adventure in central Europe, a trip to Austria and Germany to meet old friends and see the state of solar in what many have titled the solar capital of the world. Germany outranks all other countries when it comes to solar production, largely due to very generous feed-in tariffs and other government backed solar incentives.

In Austria, renewable energy sources make up the majority of the small nation's power, but this is almost entirely from hydroelectricity, which provides about 55% of Austria's power generation. A smaller portion from wind and biomass make up the next biggest tiers of renewable power sources. Just another great reason out of many to visit this small yet gorgeous country.

Stunning views and cultural history of the beautiful city of Salzburg bring millions of tourists each year

A Wind Farm North of Salzburg, Austria, provides power to the local region

Hydroelectric power provides over 55% of Austria's electricity

Just a few minutes drive to the north will lead you into Germany, and the renewable landscape changes dramatically. We spent a sunny Sunday afternoon in Schoaramer visiting the local beer hall and having lunch.

Braustuberl Shoenraum in Bavaria Germany. The Beer Hall has been in operation for over 500 years

A classic German meal, Wienerschnitzel, and a locally brewed wheat beer.

But outside, everywhere you look there were solar rooftops in place. This is extremely common, especially in more rural towns and villages. I was impressed, inspired, and hopeful for the US all at the same time. If we were as progressive as Germany in using solar electricity, we would be way ahead of the game. It's time to step it up America!

 I've put a few pictures up just to show you some of the homes and buildings we saw driving along the road. Every direction you looked, there was a home or building with solar panels. It's quite a sight to see!

It was quite common to see solar on several rooftops in a small village like this one.

Making FULL use of your rooftop!

Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, as did my solar tour of Europe. I had a wonderful time, and thank all of my friends who helped me along my journey and made it such a wonderful time that I will never forget. I hope to be back again soon, and until then I hope to see these kind of inspiring images on rooftops in America! I'll leave you with one last fun image of a great example of what southern Germany and Austria is like. Thanks!

This is how they drink in Germany :)

Solar across the Pond Part 1: Scotland!

March 27th, 2013


I finally returned after a nearly month-long expedition across Europe to find the tastiest foods, most delicious beers, and of course, see how solar and other renewable energies have developed in other countries It's been an amazing trip and although I miss it a ton, I'm glad to be back and happy to share my adventures with you all.  I will start by saying not only was everyone I spoke with very nice and helpful with me, the desire to bring more renewable energy to their homes and use more green technology is just as strong as ours. Perhaps knowing that even globally when we all have similar goals we can work together to achieve great things.

Fish and Chips....and a Pint, please :)

I was very surprised to see so many homes in England were outfitted with solar arrays. It is much more common there, even on the older homes, to have some solar panels set up, either solar thermal or photovoltaics. Even in Scotland, where the Sun shines less during the day than what we see in North Carolina, there was still a surprisingly large abundance of solar electricity supplying residential areas. It was a great example showing the world that you don't necessarily need to live in Arizona or Florida to take advantage of the Sun.

A rooftop solar array on a residential home in Anstruther, Fife, Scotland

One major reason why I did see so many solar homes was favorable government policy. They offered rebates, credits, and feed-in tariffs that would allow homeowners to collect income from their rooftops. A feed-in tariff is a guaranteed payment made to the customer per kilowatt of electricity generated. In the United Kingdom, this payment is nearly 20 cents per kWh produced! Because of these generation incentives and utility production payments, the payback period is quite short, and in some cases only 4-5 years to see a positive return on investment on your solar purchase. That allows British solar energy companies like Big Green Company (www.biggreencompany.co.uk) to work with homeowners on developing and managing residential solar arrays. Big Green has been in business since 2007 and has expanded to be one of Britain's largest residential solar developers, thanks to the government incentives that can guarantee payments of up to 1200GBP (~$1700) per year for 20 years. I can only imagine the number of residential solar systems in use if the US offered similar rates.

Visit www.biggreencompany.co.uk to see more on solar incentives offered in the United Kingdom

After seeing all the rooftop solar arrays and hearing about the great government incentives, I was completely overwhelmed and had to stop and have a nice cool refreshment. Nothing better than a Pint in Scotland!

Enjoying the day in Kilconquahar, Fife, Scotland

The beauty of England and Scotland was so nice, I just have to share a few photos with you. I hope you enjoy them!

Anstruther, along the eastern coast of Scotland near St. Andrews Golf Course

The Scottish Highlands, quite breathtaking views

Searching for 'Nessie :)

A hidden treasure! Solar Thermal panels in far north Loch Ness, Scotland!

Thanks for reading everyone, I'm glad I could share a bit of my adventures with you. My next article will be on my trips in Austria and Germany!

Have a Sunny Day!

Off to Europe! Solar Advances in England, Germany, Austria

February 26th, 2013


I hope everyone is staying warm during this harsh winter month. Spring is right around the corner, and will bring lots of sun for our homes, smiling faces, and roof-mounted PV panels!  I am about to embark on a wonderful three week journey to europe with my family, where I will use my time wisely to scout the solar communities there and see how popular they are compared to what we see in the good ole' USA.

I will post when I able to during the trip, and try to include as many photos as I can for your enjoyment. Take care and I will see all of you in three weeks!

The Big Push: What Drives Solar Markets?

February 11th, 2013

Let's start the day off with a brief educational lesson, shall we? The image shown below is a global insolation map.  What it describes is the total average amount of 'peak solar activity' that strikes any region of the world during a typical day. The lighter regions towards the earth's poles receive less sun per day, while the darker red regions near the equator receive on average the most amount of sun per day.  In other words, It gets really sunny around the middle, Africa, the Middle East, and Central America. Have you ever wondered why there isn't more solar electricity production in regions with the most sun? It would make sense, right? The reason why this is not the case goes beyond just a simple matter of placing panels where it's sunny. I'll explain below. :) 

World Insolation Map. (Source: www.oynot.com)

Do you know which country has the highest solar capacity in the world? The answer is Germany. They are the world's leader in newly installed solar panels, and have the highest amount of their nation's electrical needs come from solar electricity, among world solar leading countries. The United States, despite our enormous push over the last few years to build renewable resources, ranked only 5th in new installations by the end of 2011.  And the reason for this has nothing to do with how much sun is shining on Germany. In fact, our beer drinking buddies receive about the same amount of sun per year as typically seen in the pacific northwest states of Washington or Oregon. Germany's success in renewable solar electricity is a result of an aggressive and popular government policy.

Source: World Energy Outlook 2012

In the 1990's, there was a strong push in the German government to go green and produce more electricity from renewable sources. Laws were changed to make it easier for citizens and businesses to build solar on their rooftops, and feed-in tariffs were enacted so individuals could sell their electricity back to the utility at a set price for several years. The resulting effects from the law changes made it financially advantageous for people to use solar power. Other big moves like providing money for renewable energy research, and setting goals to eliminate nuclear power have driven up the solar market and dramatically reduced solar panel and installation prices within the country. Despite our recent successes in solar in the U.S., we are still in an infancy stage of growth, and therefore much more progress must be made to bring us to the next level of renewable energy capacity. New policies that favor growth in the renewable sector must be pushed forward, and soft costs like permitting restrictions, interconnection requirements, and legal paperwork must be made cheaper, streamlined, and more available to the public. These will all eventually happen, but the sooner they are put in place, the better it will be for the public.

Finally, there has been a great deal of skepticism as to the cost of solar, the feasibility, energy storage, and overall plausibility that it could be a major source of electrical power generation. Also that the role of government in driving solar should be limited, relying on free market policies to do the majority of the work. I believe the biggest evidence of proof that government can play a positive role in solar energy is the drop in price over the past few years. Since 2006 the cost of solar has dropped more than 50%. And experts suggest there is still much more room to lower costs in the future. The same certainly cannot be said about the price of gas, which has more than doubled in the last 4 years.  As for limited government roles in energy policy, the federal government is currently subsidizing an estimated $10-52 billion dollars annually for fossil fuels, an amount that far exceeds what is currently provided for solar and renewables. At current price trends, if solar were to be placed on a level playing field as fossil fuels, it would be cheaper for everyone to switch to solar electricity.

Tax Subsidies for Fossil Fuels far outweigh current Federal Solar Funding (Source: peswiki.com)

Thanks for visiting, I hope you enjoy the reads and continue to support our push for solar energy as a major player in global electricity production. For further news links and information, please visit www.risingphoenixsolar.com. Have a sunny weekend!