Fresh Loaf

(Sad horn)

From the Savannah Morning News:

The sun won’t be generating significant electricity any time soon in Chatham County – plans for the biggest solar projects were delayed when Georgia Power announced last month that it was out of funds to produce solar and other “green” power.

“We had to cap the amount we would buy back, because there’s only so much the program would bear as we rolled it out and it started to be developed,” said Ervan Hancock, Georgia Power’s renewable and green strategy manager.

…

“Just at the time alternative energy is beginning to take root, they are stifling these initiatives by artificially putting a cap on it,” [Savannah-based solar advocate Jack Star] said. “This is unbelievable at a time when the rest of the country is moving forward with alternatives.”

Georgia Power’s Green Energy Program, launched nearly three years ago, has enrolled about 4,400 customers among a total customer base of 2.3 million. Those enrolled voluntarily purchase nearly 19,000 blocks of 100-kilowatt-hours each per month for an extra $3.50 to $4.50 per block. That money funds the premium that Georgia Power pays to producers of solar and other green power.

The Morning News has the full story.

Bookmark It

It’s hard to read through the clean-energy jargon, but an article in PV Tech — “your daily dose of photovoltaic technology developments and solar news” — has some big news.

Georgia Power, the Atlanta-based utility that has insisted time and again that solar power won’t work in the Peach State, is conducting a yearlong project — on its downtown headquarters’ roof — to test which solar power technology offers the biggest bang for its buck.

[Georgia Power] plans to have seven “representative” module technologies installed on its headquarters’ roof, all with the same position and orientation to the sun, run them for a year, sort through and analyze the data, and see which ones perform best (and provide some clean juice to the building in the bargain).

Four of those techonologies are already in place on Georgia Power’s roof, PV Tech’s Tom Cheyney reports. Norcross-based Suniva installs its technology next week.

What caught my eye were the quotes from the utility’s clean-energy experts that says “yeah, for years, we didn’t know how effective solar power works in metro Atlanta” — even though the utility’s suits have repeatedly told lawmakers and electricity rate-setters that the zero-carbon technology just somehow wouldn’t work in metro Atlanta.

(more…)

Bookmark It

Of course he signs it on Earth Day. The legislation, House Bill 473, creates a grant program that provides incentives to businesses that install solar panels, produce heat from geothermal heaters, and invest in energy efficiency.

From the governor’s office:

“HB 473 provides Georgia companies with additional incentives for investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy,” said Governor Perdue. “These clean energy grants will also help the private sector meet the state’s goal of reducing energy consumption by 15 percent.”

HB 473 will be administered by GEFA under similar terms and conditions of the current Clean Energy Property Tax Credit (HB 670) passed last year. Quality standards, such as Energy Star criteria for geothermal heat pumps and a high efficiency standard (exceeding ASHRAE 90.1.2004 by 30 percent) for lighting and buildings, determine eligibility for the grant program. The grants will be available on a first come, first served basis; installation of the qualifying clean energy property must be completed before a grant application can be submitted. The maximum grant for each applicant is limited to the lesser of 35 percent of the cost of the clean energy property or the statutory caps.

There’s a hitch though — the size of the grant program depends on how much stimulus cash our benevolent federal overlords decide to give us this summer.

While HB 473 authorizes Georgia to use ARRA funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy grants to non-residential consumers, the state will not know whether this is possible or how much will be available until its application for recovery funds is reviewed this summer by the U.S. Department of Energy. GEFA is expected to receive a total of approximately $82.5 million for the State Energy Program through ARRA, which will support many other efforts in addition to HB 473.

Bookmark It

Ajeet Rohatgi, the Georgia Tech professor who founded the Norcross-based solar power technology company Suniva, has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and several other organizations for his life’s work in the clean energy field.

After over thirty years of innovative research and discoveries in photovoltaic (PV) technology, Dr. Ajeet Rohatgi, founder and CTO of Suniva, was recently recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) for a lifetime’s contribution to making solar technology a realistic, low-cost energy solution. The U.S. EPA will honor Dr. Rohatgi as an Individual Climate Protection Award Winner in a ceremony held today at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

…

Dr. Rohatgi is a regents professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he founded the school’s PV research program and later established the first University Center of Excellence for Photovoltaic Research and Education (UCEP), a program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2007, he founded Suniva, a Norcross, GA-based company, to commercialize the world’s most advanced low-cost high-efficiency solar cells.

“This is a critical time in the history of solar research and deployment. Never before in my career have I seen today’s confluence of technological advances, political will and economic conditions necessary to bring solar into the mainstream. I’m honored to receive such recognitions as America and the world embrace photovoltaics as a practical energy solution,” said Rohatgi.

In last week’s Green Guide, we noted Suniva as one of metro Atlanta’s examples of a company that’s making strides to foster a green economy.

(Courtesy Suniva)

Bookmark It

Big news for Suniva, a solar-cell company headquartered in Norcross.

Urvaksh Karkaria and Douglas Sams report:

Norcross, Ga.-based Suniva Inc. will supply solar cells to Aerotropolis Atlanta, a planned 130-acre mixed-use redevelopment of the former Hapeville Ford plant.

The deal could be worth “tens of millions of dollars,” said Jim Jacoby, developer of 6.5 million-square-foot aviation-intensive business district that is expected to include office, retail, restaurant, hotel and airport parking. The site is adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Suniva, a Georgia Tech startup, claims to have a lower-cost way to make solar cells.

The company, which snagged nearly $1 billion in orders from Indian and European solar module makers, has developed technology to make solar cells that can transform more of the sun’s energy into the juice that powers today’s plugged-in world.

…

The solar infrastructure is expected to satiate up to half of the development’s electricity needs. Longer term, Jacoby said, he plans to sell excess power generated at Aerotropolis to surrounding developments.

Jacoby also plans to install solar cells in other projects, including at Atlantic Station — the developer’s best know redevelopment project.

Bookmark It

The state’s first solar power manufacturer will set up shop in Norcross, Gov. Sonny Perdue announced yesterday at the Capitol.

Suniva, a start-up company co-founded by a former professor at Georgia Tech considered one of the world’s leading experts in solar technology, will manufacture silicone-coated high-efficiency cells used in panels to capture the sun’s energy. The company plans to invest $75 million in a 60,000-sq.-foot facility on Peachtree Industrial Road that it estimates will bring 100 jobs to the area within the first year.

“This new solar cell facility is a perfect example of the way Georgia’s investment in research and development pays dividends by producing innovative technologies that help companies grow,” Perdue said. “Suniva’s production commitment and highly-qualified workforce will expand our clean energy success as the nation’s renewable energy corridor into the solar arena.”

The company plans to begin production capacity at 32 megawatts but wants to expand to 100 megawatts over the next two years.

Now about the finances.

A touchy moment came when a reporter asked the governor what type of incentives the company received from the state and Gwinnett County to locate in Norcross. Perdue says Suniva received $10.6 million from both entities. Perdue vetoed legislation in April that would’ve offered tax incentives for solar panel manufacturers — a bill that looked to be written with Suniva in mind, and that Perdue characterized as doing such in his summary explanation.

And here’s the crazy thing: From a quick glance, it looks like Perdue saved the state $400,000. Here’s his statement from May 14, emphasis added:

House Bill 1249 provides several new tax credits related to solar energy companies establishing or expanding a headquarters in Georgia. I support the location and expansion of clean energy companies in Georgia, but the precedent set by this legislation is too costly to be applied across the board. Specifically, House Bill 1249 provides overly generous tax subsidies for (1) research and development; (2) jobs; and (3) capital construction. It allows the tax credits to be offset against withholding or sales and use taxes owed to the extent the beneficiary’s tax credit exceed its taxable income. The cost of this legislation – that currently benefits only one company in Georgia – is over $4 million in State revenue. Because of my concern that this rich package will be the perceived standard for similar industries in Georgia, I am compelled to VETO House Bill 1249.

And from the AJC’s Michael Pearson:

For agreeing to locate in Gwinnett, Suniva will get about $10 million in economic incentives from the state and Gwinnett County, including the elimination of $3.6 million in state sales taxes on manufacturing equipment, according to the governor’s office.

Gwinnett, the county’s school board and the city of Norcross will cede $4.8 million in property tax revenue as part of the deal, according to the governor’s office.

Nick Masino, vice president of the Gwinnett County Chamber of Commerce, said the county’s governments will give Suniva a phased 10-year break on real property taxes worth $1.3 million.

The remainder of the county’s incentive package comes from a phased five-year abatement on personal property taxes on manufacturing equipment.

Regardless of the numbers, welcome to Norcross, Suniva.

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

Bookmark It

Georgia Power, the largest subsidiary of energy juggernaut Southern Company, announced that it’s accepting proposals from wind- and solar-power providers, which the company will in turn sell to its Georgia customers. Yippee! Zero-emission energy for we!

Well, possibly. According to a Georgia Power representative, there are few providers in the state, as Georgia has historically been a region not too suitable for solar- and wind-power generation. (The company did recently find, however, that wind power would be feasible along the coast.) You’ve got until October of next year to hook those pretty pinwheels in your garden up to a battery and make our world a clean and spiffy place. And yourself a buck. Click on the link above to get the 40-page proposal.
Has Georgia Power not thought about contacting the Manns? That 45-foot-tall eco-monster of a turbine they built in Grant Park might just pay off.

Bookmark It