Smart Solar Ensures Services at Remote Communities across the World

Published at RenewableEnergyWorld.com --- The Internet of Things (IoT) has emerged as one of the hottest topics, covering home security systems to refrigerators that tell you when to buy milk. The technology, which extends connectivity and computing capability to devices that are not normally considered computers and allows these devices to generate and exchange data with minimal human intervention, is now integrated into off-grid solar, creating “smart” solar.

Credit: BBOXX

BBOXX, a solar solutions company, and Aeris, an IoT provider, teamed up to deliver solar energy to people living in off-grid communities in the developing world. The IoT connectivity enables BBOXX’s devices to be deployed in areas such as East and Central Africa, remotely monitored, with expedited deployment time.

People living in a rural off-grid area normally spend 6-8 percent of their incomes on energy costs, purchasing kerosene and batteries and charging their phones. For those people, BBOXX provides a range of solar powered battery boxes for an individual’s home to power up small electric appliances such as lights, mobile phones, and computers. The cost of a solar system is spread over time to make it more affordable.

“For BBOXX, and the solar industry in general, real-time access to data usage, alert management and device-connectivity management is critically important to monitor solar panel connections and improve service up time, ensuring maximum service quality,” Evan Whitelock, senior product marketing manager of Aeris, said. “Additionally, these real-time capabilities allow the service provider, such as BBOXX, to manage service delivery and reduce costs.”... Read More Here

The Asia Super Grid – Four Countries Join Together to Maximize Renewable Energy

Published at RenewableEnergyWorld.com --- The triple-disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown that hit the northeast of Japan in March 2011 was a wake-up call for many people. This was true for Masayoshi Son, a founder, chairman, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Softbank Group, a Japanese multinational telecommunications and internet corporation. Having experienced the danger of nuclear power plants in Fukushima, he felt the need to replace nuclear power with safer and cleaner renewable energy for a better future.

To accelerate the deployment of clean, safe, and affordable renewable energy, he founded the Renewable Energy Institute (REI), and in September 2011, the “Asia Super Grid (ASG)” was conceptualized. ASG goes beyond Japan and includes other Asia countries to further maximize the usage of renewable energy by taking advantage of diversity in loads and resources.

At an International Symposium this September to celebrate REI’s five-year Anniversary, Son happily announced that his “Vision of the ASG” was one step closer to materialization.

“When I announced my idea five years ago, many people said it is a crazy idea, and they also said that it is neither economically or politically feasible,” recalled Son. Despite these nay-sayers, he has been making steady progress.

The first step was to develop electricity generation plants domestically by creating SB Energy Corp. as part of the SoftBank Group in 2011. The company is now established and operating 33 utility-scaled renewable power plants nationwide, including a 48-MW wind farm in Shimane prefecture and a 111-MW solar PV farm in Hokkaido prefecture.

The company also looked outside Japan for more abundant renewable energy sources. Mongolia has vast wind resources, and to harness the potential, the company formed Clean Energy Asia LLC with Newcom LLC, a Mongolian conglomerate. The joint company has secured a land-leasing right in the Gobi Desert for the next 100 years to develop and operate 7 GW worth of wind farms. The company also formed a joint venture company called SBG Cleantech Ltd in India, with India’s Bharti Enterprises Pvt. and Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group, to develop a 350 MW solar PV farm in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

MOU Signed by Japan, China, South Korea, and Russia

Plenty of renewable energy generation has been secured and is under development. Now the question is how to move the renewable energy to Japan and throughout Asia....Read More Here

Representatives from Japan, South Korea, China, and Russia sign MOU in Beijing.
Image credit: SoftBank Group

Japan’s First Floating Solar System with Microinverters Installed on an Irrigation Reservoir

Published at RenewableEnergyWorld.com --- On a farming reservoir in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka prefecture, 1,200 photovoltaic (PV) modules cover the water surface to generate electricity and additional revenues for the city. Many floating solar systems have been developed in Japan, but this 300-kW system, which became operational this July, is a bit different. This is the nation’s first floating solar system equipped with micro inverters.

Due to the steep topography, rivers are short in Japan; water flows out rather quickly to the sea. For this reason, a great number of reservoirs have been created for farming irrigation, specifically for rice paddies. It is estimated that there are over 190,000 reservoirs throughout Japan. Fukuoka city is not an exception. The city located on the island of Kyushu, the most southwesterly of Japan’s four main islands, has over 300 irrigation reservoirs.

Local governments maintain and operate these reservoirs, and they have been finding a way to reduce the cost of managing reservoirs. Floating solar systems can provide a viable solution: local governments can generate extra revenue by leasing the surface of reservoirs.

According to a city official at the Fukuoka City’s Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, last July the city issued a proposal for reuse options and a lease for a city-owned reservoir as part of a plan for effective utilization of the city’s assets....Read More Here

Japan’s first floating solar system with microinverters on Irrigation Reservoir
Credit: NEP Microinverter, Inc.

Japan at the Electricity Crossroads: Nuclear Power to Lower Electricity Bills or Solar Power to Create Resiliency?

Published at Renewable Energy World --- March 11, 2016 marks the five-year anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, which caused catastrophic meltdowns at three reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex in Fukushima Prefecture. This devastating event resulted in a major change to the nation’s electricity supply market. It led to the introduction of the national feed-in tariff (FIT) program in July 2012 and historical liberalization of the retail electricity market, which will commence in April.

PV plus Storage Installed at a School, Credit: Minamisyna City

In regards to the upcoming deregulated electricity market, 210 companies have currently registered as retail electricity providers to compete against the 10 incumbent utilities, which had enjoyed the regional monopolies for several decades.

As fierce competition is anticipated, the incumbent utilities have restarted or plan to restart nuclear reactors to be cost-competitive. In fact, last year Kyushu Power Electric Company, located in the Kyushu region, restarted two nuclear reactors in Kagoshima Prefecture and, last month, Kansai Electric Power Corporation, the nation’s second largest electric provider, has restarted two reactors at Takahama Nuclear Plant in Fukui Prefecture to provide “lower rates” than those offered by new competitors.

Turning Nuclear Contaminated Town into Denuclearized Town with Renewable Energy

“I am very furious,” commented Katsunobu Sakurai, the mayor of Minamisoma City, at a press conference for the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. He is angry and frustrated that the utilities have restarted nuclear reactors since Minamisoma City, located less than 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, has not yet fully recovered. The city was heavily affected by the disasters which displaced 14,000 residents after the accident. It has been five years since the nuclear meltdown, however, residents of certain areas of the city have not been allowed to return since the national government has not yet lifted evacuation orders....Read More Here

The 2016 Global PV Outlook: US, Asian Markets Strengthened by Policies to Reduce CO2

Published at RenewableEnergyWorld.com --- Global solar installations will reach 64.7 GW in 2016 according to Mercom Capital Group, a clean energy communications and research firm based in Texas. “The top 3 countries will be China, U.S., and Japan and they will account for about two thirds of the global market,” said Raj Prabhu, CEO and co-founder of Mercom.

Although China is expected to continue leading the global PV market, the U.S. will show the most robust growth in 2016, due to the anticipation of the federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) expiration, which developers and EPC had already factored into their business plans for 2016, prior to the five-year extension received at the end of 2015.

In 2016, the U.S. is set to overtake Japan as the second largest solar market, exceeding the much-anticipated 10-GW mark. Another notable shift will see India move up to the No. 4 position, pushing down the former European leaders, U.K. and Germany.

China: Remains No. 1 Market with Some Trouble Ahead

China is expected to install approximately 19.5 GW in 2016, a rise of 14.7 percent over 2015, Mercom predicts. “The country is strongly committed [to solar] because of the pollution problems. Air pollution continues to drive China’s environmental policies, of which clean power generation is a big part,” said Prabhu.

Officials from China’s National Energy Administration (NEA) are considering raising the 2020 target from 100 GW to 150 GW, which will bring about 21 GW of annual installation between 2016 through 2020. China also has pledged to reach an ‘emissions peak’ around 2030 with non-fossil fuels making up 20 percent of the nation’s energy generation mix. “All of these factors have made renewable forms of energy a vital component of the Chinese economy for years to come,” stated Prabhu.

The rapid PV deployment, however, has caused growing grid congestion problems. In addition, the nation’s economic conditions also deteriorated in 2015. “Production curtailment and subsidies continue to be the biggest challenges facing the Chinese solar industry.  Subsidy payment delays up to 18 months have been reported by solar project developers causing cash flow problems.  Some companies have reported selling out projects and stopping further project development activities as they are unable to sustain without timely subsidy payments,” said Prabhu....Read More Here

Popular Hot Springs in Japan Co-exist with Binary Geothermal Power Plants

Published at Renewable Energy World --- Japanese people love Onsen, or hot springs, to relax and feel rejuvenated in naturally heated, spring water, which is rich in minerals. Hot springs are located in mountains, next to rivers, near oceans, and basically everywhere due to the abundance of active volcanoes present in Japan. In fact, there are 27,405 identified hot spring wells and over 21,000 combined hot spring spas and inns, according to 2014 data published by the nation’s Ministry of Environment.

Over 126 million people visit Onsens annually, spending considerable amount of money at spas, hotels, restaurants, and shops at hot springs. Because of the significant economic activities related to tourism, local communities didn’t think that Onsen business and geothermal power plants could co-exist.

They were concerned that deployment of geothermal power plants would change the quality and compositions of spring water, which contains a lot of organic matter that is known to provide health and beauty benefits. Most importantly, the community feared that geothermal power plants would dry up their precious spring water wells.

Their concerns were eliminated when binary geothermal power plants were introduced.

Nation’s First Binary System Installed at an Evacuation Site

Yumura Onsen in Shinonsen town, Hyogo prefecture, installed two 20 kW (a total of 40 kW) binary geothermal power plants at Yakushiyu, a day spa, which also is a state designated evacuation site where people in the community can assemble in the case of emergencies or disasters.

“Onsen” Binary Geothermal Systems (2 x 20 kW), Credit: The Town of Shinonsen

Binary geothermal power plants, or “Onsen” Binary plants, use chemical fluids known as a second liquid (e.g., Isobutene and n-Pentane) that boils at a lower temperature than water. Hot spring water passes through a heat exchanger and heats up the second liquid in a closed loop. Heat from the geothermal water causes the secondary fluid to flash to vapor, which then drives the turbines, and subsequently the generators. The vapor is condensed back to liquid and begins the cycle again. Because this is a closed-loop system, virtually nothing is emitted to the atmosphere....Read More Here

Japan’s Local Energy Providers Turn to Distributed Generation

Published at Renewable Energy World --- Let the games begin! By fully deregulating its electricity sector by next April, Japan plans to break up the 60-years of regional monopolies controlled by 10 vertically-integrated, investor-owned utilities (IOUs). Just at the end of October, 778 companies registered as power producers and suppliers (PPS) in order to sell electricity for commercial consumers who have a demand over 50 kW. In addition, 48 companies have registered and been approved as retail electricity providers to sell electricity to residential and small business customers.

The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster of March 2011 marked a pivotal turning point in the conception of the nation’s electricity infrastructure. Specifically, safety and reliable supply. Due to the temporary shut-down of the country’s nuclear power reactors, some areas of Japan experienced rolling blackouts as well as large electricity rate hikes due to the resulting supply constraint.

The deregulation in process is expected to stimulate competition as well as lower the cost of electricity. According to a national survey taken by Mizuho Information & Research Institute, Inc., 83 percent of respondents said that they would switch providers if prices decrease.

Regarding energy mixes, 36 percent of respondents said that they would switch to renewable electricity providers as long as prices remain similar to what they are now, while and 5 percent said that they would use renewable energy only if prices decreased. Separately, 32 percent of respondents said that they do not want to use electricity generated by nuclear power plants.

Solar PV Installed on a Distribution Warehouse, Credit: Seikatsu Club Energy

Return of Nuclear Power for Deregulation?

Although the nation is still working to clean up after the 2011 Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power incident, the Federal of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC) claims that nuclear power is important for the nation’s energy independency and energy affordability. In fact, the incumbent utilities have gradually restarted some of the nuclear power plants, which were taken offline after the Fukushima disaster....Read More Here

Japan: Goto City Aims to Become ‘Islands of Energy’ by Harnessing Offshore Wind

Published at Renewable Energy World --- Off the coast of Kagoshima island, a part of Goto City in Kagoshima prefecture, Japan’s first on-gird 2 MW floating offshore wind turbine (FOWT) is about to complete its mission as a demonstration project.

Goto City is now planning to take the demonstration FOWT project to the next level by deploying over 500 MW worth of offshore wind power.

Goto City is located in the westernmost Kyushu region, which is the south-westernmost part of Japan’s main islands. The city consists of 11 inhabited islands and 52 uninhabited islands across the East China Sea, with a total population of about 40,000. The city is blessed with natural resources and has an oceanic climate, featuring warm summers and cool winters.

The city has developed an extensive renewable energy plan, with a mission of “Islands of Energy – Energizing the town by producing energy.” By maximizing its natural resources, it is planning to cover 132.4 percent of its total energy needs (oil, gas and electricity) with renewable energy by 2030.

“With the population decline and aging, we fear to become a disappearing community,” Kazuyuki Kitagawa, a spokesperson for the Goto City Renewable Energy Promotion Department, said.
“Exceeding our energy self-sufficiency level is not our ultimate goal. It is one of the solutions to stimulate our local economy by creating local employment and industry for years to come. We are aiming at locally producing and exporting renewable energy.”

In 2012, renewable energy provided 4.4 percent of the city’s total energy consumption, producing 97,189 gigajoules (Gj) per year, the equivalent of 27 GWh per year. Of 27 GWh, 88.5 percent was provided mostly by onshore wind power... Read More Here

Japan Electricity Deregulation: Birth of Municipally Owned Electric Utilities

Published at Renewable Energy World --- The upcoming retail electricity deregulation in Japan next April will create a way for Japanese municipal governments to produce and supply locally generated renewable electricity. The Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 was a harsh wake-up call that quickly became a strong source of motivation for many local governments to take energy matters into their own hands in order to provide safe and clean electricity to their own citizens.

Nakanojo, a town in Gunma prefecture, established the nation’s first locally owned utility with the motto of “Locally Produced, Locally Consumed Renewable Energy.” The town is geotropically located in the middle of Japan and is famous for flowers and hot springs surrounded by deep-green mountains.

“When a former mayor of Nakanojo visited the tsunami disaster areas in northeastern Japan, he decided to make his town nuclear-power-free, and upon his return, he created a new department to develop renewable energy plants,” Masao Yamamoto, Naknojo renewable energy department, said. Yamamoto was transferred from the wastewater division to head the newly created department.

Back then, everyone in the town had little choice but to purchase electricity from Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which is the nation’s largest investor-owned electric utility (IOU) and is an owner of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and 16 other nuclear reactors.

2-MW PV System operated by Nakanojo town, Credit: Nakanojo town

By utilizing the nation’s feed-in tariff (FIT) program, which was launched in July 2012, the town funded and developed two 2-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) systems with the FIT rate of ¥40/kWh per 20 years. The town also leased town-owned land to a private company in order to build a 1 MW PV project. By the end of 2013, a town with a population of only 18,000 had 3 large-scaled PV plants, producing 7,000 MWh of electricity annually.... Read More Here

100 Percent Renewable Energy Charged EV Stations Allow Driving on Sunshine

Published at Renewable Energy World --- According to the Global EV Outlook 2015 published by the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI), there were over 665,000 EVs on the road at the end of 2014. The U.S. represented the largest EV market (39 percent), followed by Japan (16 percent) and China (12 percent).  Furthermore, global EV sales jumped up by 53 percent in 2014 and are expected to continue to grow at a healthy pace.

EVs are a pathway to achieving a sustainable transportation industry by reducing emissions of greenhouse gases while increasing energy security. However, if an accelerated demand of EVs triggers more usage of fossil fuel burned electricity, do EVs still provide a sustainable solution to the society?

In the U.S., Envision Solar, headquarted in San Diego, California, has developed the unique EV ARC (Electric Vehicle Autonomous Renewable Charger), which is the world’s first fully autonomous, mobile, and 100 percent solar charged EV station. While in the U.S., the average, grid-tied EV charging system supplies electricity, which mostly comes from fossil fueled power plants, the EV ARC provides 100 percent clean, renewable electricity for EVs in public areas.

Furthermore, being an off-grid system, the EV ARC does not require any foundations, trenching, electrical upgrades or even a building permit, which are required for regular, grid-tied stationary EV stations.

“We are changing the paradigm in EV charging. We are making it possible to drive in nothing but sunshine and to deploy EV chargers in minutes, not months,” said Desmond Weatley, CEO at Envision Solar.Read More Here

World Moves Toward 100 Percent Renewable Energy – First Electricity, Then Heating/Cooling, and Finally Transportation

Published at Renewable Energy World --- The exclusive use of energy from renewable resources in at least one sector has now become a feasible goal for 8 countries. Diane Moss, Founding Director of Renewables 100 Policy Institute, discussed this remarkable development at one of the conference sessions at Intersolar North America 2015.

Denmark, Scotland, and Aruba are among the nations with 100 percent renewable energy targets.  Besides the 8 nations, the Institute has so far mapped 55 cities, 60 regions and 9 utilities across the world that have officially established 100 percent RE goals, and Moss points out that there may be more and that those numbers are steadily increasing.

RE100 percent Around the World, Credit: Renewables 100 Policy Institute

Recent advancements in renewable technologies and rapid cost reductions have accelerated deployment of renewable energy, such as wind and solar photovoltaics (PV).  Renewables have started becoming a mainstream energy source in many parts of the world.

According to the Global Status Report published by REN21, a Paris-based nonprofit group, the growth of renewable energy outpaced that of fossil fuels in the electricity sector in 2014, with a record 135 gigawatts (GW) of capacity added from wind, solar, hydropower, and other natural sources.

Renewable energy developments have been driven largely by government policies, which include the RE targets of cities, states, regions, and countries. Some governments or communities are driven to deploy more renewables to reduce dependency on imported fossil fuels (energy security), tackle climate change (environment), and/or stimulate local jobs (economy)....Read More Here

Japan's Long-term Energy Plan Shoots for Ultimate Balance in Economics, Environment and Safety

Published at Renewable Energy World --- What is 3E + S? It is neither a mathematics problem nor chemical equation. It is Japan’s latest long-term energy plan, which was released by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on June 1stf for review. The draft plan aims to establish an optimum energy mix by the year 2030.

The three Es stand for the first letters in Energy Security, Economic Efficiency and Environment and the letter S stands for Safety. Safety is crucial to the energy plan in the wake of the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl when the devastating tsunami and earthquake hit northeast Japan in 2011. Since the disasters, Japan’s electricity generation mix has drastically changed.
The fear of nuclear power plants led to the shutting down of 54 of the nation’s nuclear reactors, which used to provide about 30 percent of the nation electricity. To make up for the loss of electricity supplied by nuclear means, Japan turned its heads toward coal and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The nation’s sharp increase in fossil fuel demand caused the price of LNG, linked to crude oil import price, to soar.

The transition from nuclear to fossil fuels caused the nation’s energy self-sufficiency percentage to plummet to a mere 6 percent and Japan’s greenhouse gasses to hit an alarming record high in 2013. The increase cost of fossil fuel imports and the nationwide feed-in tariff (FIT) program has also increased electricity prices by 30 percent for industry users and 20 percent for residential consumers.
New Plan to Reverse the Effect of Fossil Fuels
The 3E + S plan aims to reverse the effects brought by the increased consumption of fossil fuels. Japan specifically wants to improve its self-sufficiency to 25 percent above the pre-disaster level. It also hopes to control and reduce electricity cost for the nation’s industry to gain back a competitive advantage while reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the same level as the Western nations.Read More Here

Tokyo’s Renewable Energy Transformation To Be Showcased in the 2020 Olympics

Published at Renewable Energy World --- Last July, the Tokyo government launched a Tokyo Metropolis Renewable Energy Expansion Taskforce with a 10-year goal to raise renewable energy sources to 20 percent of the metropolis’ electricity consumption by the Summer Olympics in 2020.

Rendered image of the Tokyo Main Olympic Stadium (under construction), equipped with solar and other renewable energy technology. Credit: Zaha Hadid Architects

Tokyo, known as the world’s most populous metropolis, is the largest energy consumer in Japan, consuming 10 percent of the nation’s entire electricity supply.

Homes and businesses in Tokyo consumed about 80,000 GWh of electricity in 2012. According to Mizuho Bank, of the total electricity consumption only 6 percent was supplied by renewable energy. Furthermore, most of the renewable energy was supplied via hydropower plants located outside of Tokyo owned by Tokyo Power Electric Company (TEPCO), a regional investor-owned utility. This means that only 480 GWh of renewable energy was actually generated within Tokyo.

Because Tokyo doesn’t have much land space to deploy utility-scale solar and wind farms like other parts of Japan, its efforts are focused on distributed generation systems.

To increase renewable energy sources to 20 percent from 6 percent in 10 years, Tokyo has the following goals:

• Install a cumulative capacity of 1 GW of on-site solar photovoltaic (PV)  systems by 2024.
• Install 22 MW of PV on metropolis-owned buildings and facilities by 2020.
• Install 600 MW of commercial-scale co-generation system capacity by 2024.

Tokyo Solar Roof Register to Support Rooftop Expansion

According to data released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), Tokyo has approximately 137 MW of the reserved capacity for residential PV systems under the nation’s FIT program. This is equivalent to 4 percent of the nation’s total reserved capacity and makes Tokyo the No. 9 residential solar state in the nation.Read More Here

Born from Disaster: Japan Establishes First Microgrid Community

Published at Renewable Energy World --- Following the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan, one city decided to transition to a clean, renewable future and became Japan's first microgrid community.

Although Japan's Fukushima prefecture is most commonly associated with the 2011 disaster due to the nuclear power melt-down, Miyazaki prefecture, located north of Fukushima, suffered the largest death toll, close to 10,000, and the largest flood damage in the nation.

Located on the coast, Higashimatsushima city was no exception. It had a catastrophic tsunami-caused flood, which put 65 percent of the city under water, with over 1,100 lives lost. Approximately 10,000 residents lost their homes and were forced to evacuate.

“After the disaster, some parts of the town didn’t get electricity for up to three months,” said Tohoru Ishigaki at the office of Future City Initiative under the city’s Department of Disaster Recovery Policy. “We strongly felt [after the disaster] that our responsibility was to provide reliable energy.”
Turn Local Tragedy Into a New and Vibrant Vision

To create a safe, resilient and sustainable society for the remaining population of 40,000, the city decided to deploy distributed, clean renewable energy sources. Under post-disaster recovery and reconstruction plans, the city set a bold goal to become a Net Zero Energy City by 2022, supplying the entire city with locally produced energy.

As a first step, the city turned a flood-affected former city park into a 2-MW solar photovoltaic (PV) project. This project symbolizes the city’s commitment to energy self-sufficiency. Mitsui & Co., Ltd, one of the largest trading company in Japan, completed this system in the summer 2013. The company also built PV carport systems with a total capacity of 270 kW at three locations on high ground, away from the vulnerable coastline. These sites are designated for evacuations and solar power will provide emergency power....Read More Here

California’s First Zero Net Energy Community Opens on Earth Day to Support Bold State Goals

Published at Renewable Energy World --- Say hello to your dream home and goodbye to rising electric bills. Meritage Homes, headquarted in Scottsdale Arizona, will reveal California’s first and only Net Zero Community on this year’s Earth Day, April 22. The homebuilder has partnered with leading energy companies to develop a community called Sierra Crest with 20 zero net energy (ZNE) homes in North Fontana area.

Zero Net Energy Homes at Fontana, California. Credit: Meritage Homes.

Currently the energy used in homes and buildings is the second largest contributor to California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. ZNE homes and buildings can help reduce the state’s energy demand and environmental impacts associated with homes and buildings, providing more resilience to climate impacts.

“There are several ZNE homes throughout California, but none clustered at one community,” commented CR Herro, Vice President of Environmental Affairs at Meritage Homes. “This community not only allows the value of operation cost reduction to the homeowners, but provides much needed data to the utilities about kW production and demand at each home, and cumulatively at the transformer level to provide needed data to design service for community level Zero Energy as California building code progresses toward this standard.”

Meritage Homes along with BIRAenergy, Itron and Southern California Edison (SCE) will work with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to evaluate the energy use and grid integration of this new community and investigate economic feasibility to support California’s “big bold goal.”

In 2008, California set bold energy-use reduction goals — all new residential construction will be zero net energy by 2020 and commercial buildings by 2030. New homes and buildings will achieve ZNE first through high levels of energy efficiency, and then through the addition of clean, on-site renewable power generation, typically solar PV to meet 100 percent of their annual energy need.... Read More Here

Japan Solar Boom Spurred by Low-Interest Loans from Local Banks, Credit Unions, Utilities

Published at Renewable Energy World --- San Diego, Calif. — The U.S. residential solar photovoltaic (PV) market is on the rise. According to SEIA/GTM Research, in 2014 the residential market surpassed the non-residential market for the first time. "The past three years have now seen the residential market grow by at least 50 percent on an annual basis, buoyed by major strides to lower soft costs, in tandem with increased penetration of third party financing solutions,” commented Cory Honeyman, Solar Analyst at GTM Research.

While the third-party ownership (TPO) financing option has been the strong driver for the last several years, solar loans, which provide ownerships to homeowners, are now moving into the mainstream.

Japan, which installed almost twice as many residential PV installations as the U.S. in 2014, is one of the world's largest residential PV markets in terms of cumulative installations. The country’s residential PV market has achieved this with only two PV financing options: cash and loans. It has not offered leasing or power purchase agreements, which are common in the U.S.

“About forty percent of our customers buy PV systems with cash and the remaining 60 percent of our customers use solar loans,” said a manager of one of the largest residential PV installers in Japan.

According to the manager, the average purchase cost of a system (3-4 kW-DC) the company sells is approximately ¥1.5 million ($12,600), and for those who don’t have bundles of cash stashed away in the home, the company offers solar loans through three consumer credit financing companies.  All three of them offer 10- or 15-year unsecured loans with low, fixed interest rates....Read More Here

Post-FIT Japan: Manufacturers Promote PV Systems with Inverter-Integrated Energy Storage Systems

Published at Renewable Energy World --- The Japanese government has announced the new feed-in tariff (FIT) rate for the fiscal year 2015, effective April 1st. The new FIT rate for residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems will be ¥33/kWh, down from ¥37/kWh the previous fiscal year.

“In a few years, the Japanese PV market will be shifted to the self-consumption mode, in which excess generated electricity (via PV) will be stored (instead of being sold) due to declining FIT incentive rates and raising electricity prices, and pushed by upcoming events such as the retail electricity deregulation in 2016 and utility restructuring of unbundling generation, transmission, and distribution in 2020,” said a manager from Sharp, a leading PV system maker in Japan. 

The fiscal year 2015 represents the end of “premium” FIT rates that the national government promised to provide during the first three years (2012-2015) of the FIT program. PV homeowners and PV industry participants are uncertain about how much a new buy-out rate will be after this fiscal year.  “People who are familiar with the electricity industry are projecting much lower rates — between ¥9 and ¥12/kWh,” commented a Japanese PV integrator about the post-FIT buy-out rate.... Read More Here

Fukushima, Japan Accelerating Deployment of Solar to Create Self-Reliant Communities

Published at Renewable Energy World --- This March will mark the four-year anniversary of when the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl hit the northeast of Japan. Communities severely affected by the triple-disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown have made a strong commitment to become energy self-reliant by producing safe, clean energy locally for local consumption.

The entire village of litate, located at 39 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, was forced to evacuate in order to avoid radiation exposure. To build a self-reliant community, a few of the villagers from litate got together to establish the litate Electric Power Company.

litate is building a 50-kW solar system, and upon completion of the system in February, it will sell the power output to local utility Tohoku Electric Power Co. under the nation’s feed-in tariff (FIT) program. The proceeds from energy sales will be re-invested into the community to build more renewable energy systems.Read More Here

Iitate Village in Fukushima, Japan

What Do Noodles and Oranges Have in Common? Japanese Bioenergy

Published at Renewable Energy World --- San Diego, Calif. — In Japan, solar photovoltaic (PV) technology has been a center of attention ever since the nation’s government launched a very rich feed-in tariff (FIT) program. Although they are not getting the spotlight, there are also several unique biomass projects in Japan, which fully utilize locally-available resources such as noodles and oranges, without directly competing with consumable food production.

Sanuki Udon Noodles Waste

Udon Noodles to Create Udon Noodles

Kagawa prefecture is well known as a home of “sanuki” udon — square shaped noodles made by kneading together wheat flour, salt, and water. Sanuki udon noodles have a strong “koshi” (an al dente or firm-bite consistency). While many people enjoy and consume udon noodles daily, the prefecture faced a problem with a massive amount of udon noodle scraps from noodle manufacturers and unsellable noodles at local noodle shops.

Chiyoda Seisakujo, an industry equipment manufacturer located in Takamatsu city, the capital of Kagawa prefecture, has been developing biogas plants since 2004. Two prefecture-owned technology research and development centers approached the company, asking to utilize udon noodle waste as an ethanol feedstock ....Read More Here

Data Analysis: Can Japan Exceed 10 Gigawatts of Solar Capacity Installation in 2014?

Published at Renewable Energy World --- Several analysts are predicting that Japan may add over 10 GW of photovoltaic (PV) capacity for 2014, exceeding that of China. Exceeding 10 GW means an annual growth of at least 33 percent more than the previous year. In the mist of the temporary hold of grid connection approvals placed by 5 out of the 10 utilities, can Japan still grow to be the No 1 position in the world?

According to the latest figures released by the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association (JPEA), Japan installed 2.4 GW of on-grid PV capacity in the third quarter of this year (or second quarter fiscal year in Japan). This represents the second largest quarterly PV installation since the nation’s generous feed-in tariff (FIT) program launched in July 2012.

With the strong third quarter result, for the first nine months of this year, Japan installed about 7 GW of on-grid PV capacity. If Japan adds 3 GW more during this quarter, or an average 1 GW each month, Japan will no doubt hit the 10-GW mark. Read More Here