California Solar Center - Solar e-Clips 2003.8.26

Renewable Energy and Jobs: Employment Impacts of Developing Markets for Renewables in California - New Report from Enviroment California. Developing California's renewable energy industry will provide a job boost for the state. Effective implementation of the recently-adopted Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) would create greatly increased demand for renewable energy equipment and services, which may encourage California renewable energy companies to expand their operations. The booming worldwide market for renewable energy creates further opportunities for these companies. Read the executive summary and download the full report here.

World PV Market Update [Paul Maycock]- Growth in photovoltaics manufacturing is proceeding at a dazzling rate. In 2002, it was up by 56% in Europe, and by more than 46% in Japan, with the grid-connected sector continuing to dominate. Several fully automated manufacturing plants have now started up, and long-awaited economy-of-scale price reductions are materializing at last in Japan. World production of PV increased by a record 43.8% during 2002, with most sales going into the grid-connected sectors in Japan, Germany and the US State of California. Several key events and features have characterized the industry... read the full story online at JamesXJames by Paul Maycock

Vallejo debuts new solar panels, becomes top US solar city - Vallejo has unveiled its fourth solar power panel system. The debut yesterday of the 214 kilowatt system makes Vallejo the nation's top city per capita in installed solar power capacity. The new panels will provide up to 80 percent of the energy needed to run a nearby water pumping station. Mayor Tony Intintoli says the dedication to solar power is a source of pride for the entire community. Vallejo also has solar panel systems to provide power for a police station, City Hall and the John F. Kennedy Library. The city can now generate 577 kilowatts of electricity -- at an annual savings in energy costs of over $200,000. [source: Monterey Herald 2003.8.22]

New Reports and Photo Gallery from IEA-PVPS online- A good source of worldwide PV market information. Information includes: “international statistics” with the data as of the end of 2002 concerning total PV power installed, plus photovoltaic cell and module production, module and system prices, and including an analysis of trends since 1992. The data presented are based on National Status Reports 2002 of the IEA-PVPS countries. Currently we are in the process of adding these national reports to the website as well, and you can find them in the country section. Last month we also added a new section to our website: Photo gallery of photovoltaic installations including the option to download the images as high resolution jpg-files (example to the right is from Amersfoort the 1 MW project).. Furthermore we added the full content of the Annual Report 2002 of the IEA-PVPS programme, which can be found in the section “Annual reports”; the annual report can also be downloaded from the Publications’ section. Additional reports include: the Task 8 report "Energy from the desert", a summary of which can be downloaded from the website; the book itself can be ordered from James and James. Next, we added the following papers – including download option - presented at the 3rd World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion, held in May 2003 in Osaka in Japan: - Performance analysis and reliability of grid-connected PV-systems in IEA-countries, - Understanding temperature effect on PV system performance , - Subsidies versus rate-based incentives for technology, economical and market development of PV. The European experience, - Performance analysis of stand-alone PV-systems from rational use of energy point of view. visit at http://www.iea-pvps.org

Events

9/7 Sustainable Building Tour at Hidden Villa. Sunday, September 7, 2003, 3:30-5:00pm Los Altos Hills, CA. Come see the newest buildings at Hidden Villa - featuring solar electricity and hot water, a geothermal heat pump, passive solar design, strawbale and rammed earth construction and more. 650-949-8653 or www.hiddenvilla.org. Other fall dates for the same event: October 5, November 2, December 7.

9/18-19 The Solar Cities Summit [San Francisco]- On September 18-19, the City of San Francisco, the Vote Solar Initiative and the Million Solar Roofs Program are sponsoring the Solar Cities Summit for Mayors. The summit is convening the nation’s top experts in solar energy and financing to showcase cost-effective ways to implement solar energy programs. Dr. Amory Lovins will give the keynote address. Over 100 mayors have been invited. Although many local governments face major budget deficits, there is much that can be done to advance the cause of renewable energy. In these times, it may be the most patriotic cities can perform.

2003 National Solar Tour - October 4— Real Places for Real People- The American Solar Energy Society (ASES), along with chapter, state and local tour organizers, would like to invite you to attend the eighth annual National Solar Tour that will take place in most locations on Saturday, October 4, 2003. There are tours scheduled throughout California. Check here for more information.

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