SOLAR EDITIONFEBRUARY 2013

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

CATCHINGRAYSBETWEEN BREAKTHROUGHS AND STRUGGLING MARKETS, THE SUN STILL SHINES ON SOLAR ENERGY

Future PowerTechnology

Why driving down costs through incremental innovation could be the only way forward for

the struggling solar CVP sector

INNOVATION: KEY TO GROWTH

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

FEBRUARY 2013

INNOVATION VS MASS-MANUFACTUREDespite recent breakthroughs, the CVP sector must innovate to keep growing

CATCHING RAYS AT SEAFloating concepts show how we can tap into the solar potential of the seas

ALL-CARBON REVOLUTIONHow does the first solar cell made entire of carbon compare to other materials?

SUPERCHARGING THE SOLAR HIGHWAYWe explore recent progress in solar- powered chargers for electric vehicles

POWER TO THE PEOPLE Tiny island nation Tokelau is the first to become self-sufficient on solar energy

PROJECT: AGUA CALIENTEThe 290MW solar PV plant in the US state of Arizona will go online in 2014

PROJECT: CRESCENT DUNESThe plant in Nevada will be the worlds largest solar power facility with storage

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vsINNOVATION

MASSMANUFACTURE

RECORDS ARE BEING BROKEN IN THE CONCENTRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC (CPV) SOLAR

POWER MARKET, BUT BIG PLAYERS ARE STRUGGLING TO COMPETE WITH CHEAPER

CHINESE COUNTERPARTS. ELLY EARLS FINDS OUT IF REDUCING COSTS THROUGH

INNOVATION IS THE ANSWER

IN OCTOBER 2012, Amonix, one of the main players in the CPV solar power system market, recorded an outdoor operating efficiency rating of 33.5% for a photovoltaic module, breaking the previous world record of 30.3%, also held by the US-based company.

In the same month, Silicon Valley-based solar energy company Solar Junction, which develops high efficiency multijunction cells for the CPV market, achieved 44% cell efficiency, again breaking its own world record.

Efficiency is clearly on the up, and this has led several research companies, including Lux Research and IMS Research, to predict significant growth for the CPV market in the future.

While Lux Research believes the market will be worth $1.6bn and will have reached installed capacity of just less than 700MW by 2017, thanks to a 31% compound annual growth rate, IMS Research expects even greater growth.

By 2016, according to the company's latest report, CPV installations will be at almost 1.2GW. What is the appeal of CPV over its established counterpart photovoltaics (PV)?

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SEAWATER-BASED SOLAR ENERGY

CONCEPTS SUCH AS SUNDY AND HYDRLIO DEMONSTRATE

HOW THIRD GENERATION SOLAR PANELS CAN TAP INTO THE SOLAR

POTENTIAL OF THE WORLD'S SEAS. HEIDI VELLA INVESTIGATES

IT'S FAIR TO say the solar power industry has kicked off 2013 on a positive note. Solar and SunTech, two of the biggest manufacturers of solar panels, are showing recovering shares up from a recent five-year low, and, significantly, MidAmerican Energy Holdings has just committed $2.5bn to the industry.

Earlier this year MidAmerican also purchased Sun Power and its 579MW Antelope Valley solar project, which is being touted as the world's largest photovoltaic power development. This purchase suggests the company and its owner, Warren Buffett, are prepared to invest in solar for the long run and believe in its future value.

With such an auspicious start, could this be the year the solar energy industry finally catches up to its potential? Ready to jump on the solar bandwagon are Norwegian company DNV and French company Ciel et Terre, respective makers of SUNDy and Hydrlio, two of the first solar devices created specifically to sit on water.

Designed for the open sea, SUNDy combinesup to 4,200 thin-film 560W solar panels to create an industrial-sized 'solar island'

Hydrlio is a smaller-scale floating solar system that can be deployed to quarry lakes, dams and irrigation reservoirs

SUNDy solar island

Hydrlio floating systemWATCH THE VIDEO ONLINE

WATCH THE VIDEO ONLINE

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/c9a688f9#/c9a688f9/8

THE FIRST GLOBAL treaty on mercury has put the metal firmly on the emissions monitoring agenda in 2013.

The Minamata Convention which binds governments in over 140 countries to actively prevent mercury emissions and releases was signed in January 2013. Mercury has long since been recognised as a chemical of global concern due to both its ability to travel long distances in the atmosphere and accumulate in ecosystems, including fish.

The treaty has obvious implications for the monitoring of mercury from stack emissions, especially for the coal-fired power plant industry. Environmental monitoring equipment specialist, Enviro Technology Services has already seen a surge in interest from the sector, proactively researching best practice in mercury monitoring.

The recent treaty signing, coupled with both the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) and the interest in mercury monitoring from organisations such as WHO: these are all indicators that mean industrial customers are looking to ensure best practice in their mercury monitoring, says ETs Sales Manager for CEMs, Jim Budd.

Traditionally, extractive CEMs have struggled to provide accurate total gaseous mercury measurements due to issue surrounding chemical reactions and contamination in the sampling system.

ET is now supplying the MCERTS-certified Opsis DOAS Total Gaseous Mercury system, a non-contact monitoring solution that measures mercury vapour using an optical path. The system, which recently received TV approval for measuring total gaseous mercury, can also measure all gases listed in the new IED.

The mercury monitor is a new addition to the Opsis DOAS range that ET has been supplying in the UK since 1996. With more than 100 CEM systems sold in the UK, and thousands more worldwide, the non-extractive cross-duct system is highly accurate and low maintenance.

The industry leaders were talking to are increasingly aware of the need to future-proof their monitoring equipment and consider its lifetime value in light of future legislation. We believe this system from Opsis is the best mercury monitor on the market, Jim concluded.

MERCURY RISING ENVIRO TECHNOLOGY AND MERCURY MONITORING

ADVERTORIAL

Further information about ET and the mercury monitor from OPSIS isavailable at www.et.co.uk or contact Jim Budd on 01453 733 200

http://www.et.co.uk/

STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCIENTISTS HAVE DEVELOPED THE FIRST SOLAR CELL MADE ENTIRELY OF CARBON. DR NICOLA DAVIES WEIGHS UP THIS NEW SOLAR CELLS PROPERTIES AGAINST OTHER PHOTOVOLTAIC MATERIALS TO FIND OUT WHICH IS BEST

GIVEN THE RAPID pace of human consumption of various energy sources, the need to develop alternative and renewable sources of energy is becoming a scientific priority. Hydro, biochemical, and solar energy are all potent sources of renewable energy, although the ability to harness these sources has yet to scale down to something affordable or mass produced. One of the critical reasons why solar energy is not readily available is because its component materials are not in abundant supply.

One of the most basic components of solar devices are solar cells, also known as photovoltaic cells. These cells, which convert light into electrical energy, can generate a sustainable source of energy without the need for attachment to external voltage sources. Stanford University scientists have developed the first solar cell made entirely of carbon, offering a promising alternative to the expensive materials used in photovoltaic devices today.

Future Power Technology assesses the properties of this new solar cell against other common photovoltaic materials to find out who comes out on top.

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All-CarbonREVOLUTION

SUPERCHARGINGTHE SOLAR HIGHWAY TESLA'S SOLAR-POWERED CHARGERS FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES AIM TO .PROVE RENEWABLES CAN RULE THE ROAD. BUT, AS CHRIS LO DISCOVERS, .THERE ARE OBSTACLES TO OVERCOME BEFORE ECO-FRIENDLY ROAD .TRANSPORT CAN GO MAINSTREAM

IN SEPTEMBER 2012, US electric car manufacturer Tesla rose a few places on the list of things keeping Big Oil executives up at night when it unveiled the first stage of its planned high-speed Supercharger network for topping up the battery of its Model S electric car.

The company launched its system of entirely solar-powered charging points for electric vehicles (EVs) at six locations in California, with long-term plans to expand the network to other high-traffic US locations, enabling, according to Tesla: "Fast, purely electric travel from Vancouver

to San Diego, Miami to Montreal and Los Angeles to New York".

The manufacturer, which built the California Supercharger stations in secret, has also revealed plans to bring the Supercharger to Europe and Asia in the second half of 2013.

The Supercharger provides electricity from a solar carport system developed by SolarCity, which means almost no marginal energy costs after installation, according to Tesla.

TO THEPEOPLE

POWERTOKELAU, AN ISLAND NATION IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC, COMPLETELY SUPPORTS ITSELF WITH SOLAR ENERGY. ELLY EARLS ASKS JOSEPH MAYHEW OF THE NEW ZEALAND AID PROGRAMME HOW THIS TINY COLLECTION OF ATOLLS HAS BECOME SELF-SUFFICIENT

AS THE GLOBAL powers were dotting the is on the new Doha climate gateway deal to cut greenhouse gas emissions from 2020, a tiny island nation between New Zealand and Hawaii was putting them all in the shade.

By the time the final climate deal was agreed upon by the members of the UN, Tokelau, a remote collection of Pacific atolls had already installed three solar energy systems that have almost entirely eliminated its reliance on fossil fuels.

Tokelau is made up of three small atolls, Atafu, Nukunonu and Fakaofo. It has an area of around 10km and is populated by 1,411 New Zealand citizens, all of whom now have their energy needs met by solar electricity systems.

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INDUSTRY PROJECT

Agua Caliente solar farm is a 290MW photovoltaic (PV) power project being built in the east Yuma County of Arizona, US. It is owned by NRG Energy and MidAmerican Energy Holdings.

The $1.8bn solar project will generate enough electricity to serve around 225,000 average homes and will reduce 5.5 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

The solar farm Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) Company will purchase the entire power generated by the plant under a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

In August 2011, NRG Energy acquired the project from First Solar and MidAmerican purchased a 49% stake in the project in January 2012. Agua Caliente was also named Project of the Year by the Excellence in Renewable Energy awards in February 2012.

IMAGES COURTESY OF FIRST SOLAR

KEY DATA

PROJECT TYPESolar farm

LOCATIONYuma County, Arizona, US

INSTALLED CAPACITY290MW

OUTPUT626.2GWh per annum

START OF CONSTRUCTION 2010

ESTIMATED COMPLETION2014

ESTIMATED INVESTMENT$1.8bn

AGUA CALIENTE SOLAR PROJECTArizona, US

IMAGE COURTESY OF STURM

INDUSTRY PROJECT

The Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project is a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant being developed near Tonopah in Nye County, Nevada, US. The 110MW plant will be the first commercial-grade solar power plant in the US to be fully integrated with energy storage technology. It will also be the worlds largest solar power facility with storage. The estimated cost of the project is $1bn.

Upon commissioning in January 2014, the Tonopah solar plant will generate about half a million megawatt hours annually of emission-free electricity, which is enough to meet the needs of 75,000 households. It will eliminate 290,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions annually.

American power production company, SolarReserve is executing the project through its affiliate company, Tonopah Solar Energy. It is expected to create 45 permanent jobs and 600 temporary jobs during construction.

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PROJECT TYPEConcentrating solar power plant

LOCATIONTonopah, Nye County, Nevada, US

INSTALLED CAPACITY110MW

START OF CONSTRUCTIONAugust 2011

START OF OPERATION January 2014

ESTIMATED INVESTMENT$1bn

CRESCENT DUNES SOLAR ENERGY PROJECTNevada, US

Site manager Brian Painter reviews the construction of the central tower, which was finished in early 2012, and explains further steps

CONSTRUCTIONWatch the video online:

This animated illustration explains the concentrated solar power generation and molten salt storage technology used in the project

HOW IT WORKSWatch the video online:

http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/c9a688f9#/c9a688f9/19

UNDER CONSTRUCTIONA utility in China has started to build the first new nuclear plant since Beijing lifted a construction ban following the Fukushima disaster. We investigate how China plans to improve the process of construction to ensure the safety of new systems and equipment. We also explore Indias nuclear new-build programme and the role of indigenous technology as well as technical cooperation with foreign vendors.

We also look at Ethiopias plans to invest $12bn by 2035 to build an array of hydro-

power projects, including Africas largest dam currently being built on the river Nile, and ask how construction is progressing.

Moreover, we check in on other renewable energy projects currently being built, including the UKs West of Duddon Sands offshore wind farm and the Rio Mesa solar power plant in the US, and find out why concrete gravity bases have the potential to become the next generation of offshore wind turbine foundation.

Next Issue:

EditorialHead of Editorial and Production | Duncan West Editor / Production Manager | Susanne Hauner

Deputy Editors | Laura Husband, Stephanie PhillipsCommissioning Editor | Daniel GarrunWriters | Dr Nicola Davies, Elly Earls,

Chris Lo, Heidi VellaLead Graphic and Flash Designer | John Hammond

Graphic and Flash Designers | Daniel Poole, Kristina Kiselyte

SalesSales Manager | Hannah Clare

+44 (0)207 936 6585

MarketingProduct Coordinator | Lucy Acfield

Future PowerTechnology

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