KYOCERA To Combine Solar With Lithium Ion Battery Power For Residential Use In Japan

By this summer, residents in Japan will have a new clean and cost-effective option for powering their homes.

Photo courtesy of Green Solar and Wind Power.

The partnership between KYOCERA Corp. and Nichicon Corp. has finally born results. They’ve created a new – home installed - power generating and energy management system, using solar power combined with lithium ion storage capacity required for meeting Japan’s growing residential energy needs.

KYOCERA says that the new system will offer multiple operating modes to meet the varying energy uses needed of different consumers.

The system is designed to accommodate customers “whether their peak energy consumption occurs in the daytime or at night; and for families who want to prioritize reducing their energy bills,” says KYOCERA, adding that system should also be considered by “those that place a premium on having a guaranteed electricity supply.”

KYOCERA says that the “system automatically switches to independent operation in the event of a natural disaster or electricity blackout. In the event of a prolonged blackout, the battery can be charged directly by the solar modules during the day, allowing users to draw from the battery at night or during inclement (severe) weather.”

The lithium ion battery has a high capacity of 7.1 kWh, which KYOCERA says can roughly last five times longer than conventional lead-acid batteries.

KYOCERA believes that it has a strong market projection for the new energy system, expecting that “up through the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, more than one million homes in Japan will have installed solar power.”

The company bases its projections on the hope that residents in Japan will feel an incentive toward solar stemming from Japan’s restart of the national subsidy program for residential solar power generating systems in January 2009, and the feed-in tariff, which were started in November of the same year.

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Multi-State Solar Rooftop Project for Bolstering U.S. Electric Grid Getting $1.4 Billion in Fed Loan

Project Amp is ‘green-lighted’ to go with the finalizing of a $1.4 billion partial loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy.  The solar generation project will be installed across about 750 commercial rooftops across 28 states, and the District of Columbia.

Project Amp. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy’s loam programs office.

“The energy generated from those panels will contribute directly to the electrical grid, as opposed to powering the buildings where they are installed,” said the energy department.

Prologis – an owner, operator, and developer of industrial real estate – will provide the rooftops, and will also act as developer, construction manager and program sponsor, in addition to making an equity investment in the project.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said this project “will help us meet the SunShot goal of achieving cost competitive solar power with other forms of energy by the end of this decade.”

The project is expected to produce an annual output of about 1 million megawatt-hours, with enough power to provide clean, renewable electrical energy for approximately 80,000 homes for a year, according to the energy department and affiliated experts.

NRG Energy – one of the nation’s largest electric companies and solar developers – is the lead investor for phase one of the installations, with financing through Bank of America Merrill Lynch, under the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP).

Phase one of the project will involve the construction and installation of solar panels in Southern California, where the generated power will be sold to a local utility (Southern California Edison) under long-term approved power purchase agreements.

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Renewable Energy Production For Electricity Usage Surpasses Traditional Fuels

Montage courtesy of Go Green with Renewable Energy and Solar Power.

Despite naysayers, who for years have predicted that renewable energy would never gain a foothold the United States, a newly released report by U.S. Energy Information Administration found that more renewable energy has been produced for electrical usage over the last recorded 12-month period than at any other time.

The report looked at the production levels of renewable and traditional energy resources in March 2011 compared to their respective production levels during the same time last year.

The energy resources specifically looked at were: hydroelectric, natural gas, wind, nuclear, coal, and petroleum.

Overall, what the report found was that renewable energy resources grew in production and use, while traditional energy resources experienced slight declines, though the country’s electrical energy needs are still primary fuel by coal.

“About 93 percent of U.S. coal consumption is in the electric power sector,” said the EIA.

What’s significant is the slight shift in preferences for renewable energies as opposed to traditional energies, which could be a signifier of a more extended trend in this direction.

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Progress Slow Going For European Union’s In Reaching Its Energy Efficiency Targets

Stock photo.

While there’s a lot of talk within the European Union about the need to develop large scale renewable energy infrastructures to lessen reliance on foreign fossil fuels, progress continues to move at a snail’s pace.

Among the disappointments was the EU’s failure as a whole to reach its 2010 targets for renewable energy in the electricity and transport industries.

The EU reached just over 18 percent for the electricity share of renewable energy in 2010 rather than the predicted target of 21 percent. For the transport industry, the EU reached 5.1 percent instead of 5.75 percent.   

Fueling the transport industry with renewable energy is a vital priority. Energy consumption in this industry currently depends almost exclusively on imported fossil fuels, and contributes to “the insecurity of Europe’s energy supply,” says the European Energy Commission.

The concern is over recent estimates which suggest that the EU will only achieve half of its targeted energy efficiency improvements by 2020.

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Controversy Over Economic Benefit of Building the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Farm

Netherlands Offshore wind farm. Photo courtesy of knowledge.allianz.com.

Depending on what side your on, the evolving plans for an offshore wind farm in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie are either an economic boom for the state or a disaster that will cost taxpayers billions.

The inital project will be a five-turbine, 20 megawatt pilot wind farm that will be five-to-ten miles offshore of Cleveland. Construction on the initial phases is tentatively scheduled to be completed by late 2012.

General Electric has committed to providing the wind turbines and maintenance service for the initial 20-megawatt wind farm. After completion, it’s expected to be followed by subsequent projects with a long-term goal of 1,000 megawatts in the Ohio waters by 2020.

The Lake Erie Energy Development Corp. (LEEDCo) believes the economics of scale will reduce energy costs. “We aim to develop a cost-effective approach for installing and maintaining offshore wind turbines,” said Dr. Lorry Wagner, the company’s president.

“We’re confident that working with GE, our combined efforts will be able to promote a self-sustaining and growing market for offshore wind in Lake Erie. We know that it will provide a lot of economic opportunity and emissions-free energy for northern Ohio,” she added.

Not everyone agrees with this assessment. Mary McCleary, an analyst with the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions, warns that, “Financially, the wind turbines are a bad proposition for Ohio.”

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