JTF Renewable Design Build

Solar Costs Drop

Jason Fails — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:31:17 +0000

The average cost of going solar in the U.S. continued to decrease significantly in 2011 and through the first half of 2012, according to a report released by the Department of Energy. Solar advocates noted that these findings are the latest indicator that solar is an important and growing part of America’s new energy economy.

Adam Browning, Executive Director of the Vote Solar Initiative said, “this report shows just how far solar power has come in the U.S., and how much more we can do. Faced with a recession economy, messy election politics and an entrenched electricity marketplace, solar is quietly defying the odds and reinventing our national energy landscape. It’s really remarkable”.

President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, Rhone Resch, added, “with solar energy more affordable than ever, more American families and businesses are going solar to meet their electricity and hot water needs”. Experts predict the solar market will double in 2013, based 2012 growth. The solar energy industry employs about 119,000 Americans with over 5,600 companies.

The latest edition of Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s “Tracking the Sun,” an annual report on solar photovoltaic costs in the U.S., examined more than 150,000 PV systems installed between 1998 and 2011 and preliminary data from the first half of 2012. The report fount that the average installed price of residential and commercial PV systems completed in 2011 range from $6.1/W for smaller projects to $4.9/W for larger projects, an 11-14% decrease from the year before. Installed prices fell an additional 3-7% in the first half of 2012. Additionally, installed PV prices historically have declined an average of 5-7% per year from nearly $12/W in 1998, with particularly sharp reductions occurring since 2009. The recent price decline is, in large part, attributable to falling module prices, which fell by $2.1/W from 2008 through 2011, and have fallen further still in 2012. Finally, non-module costs, such as installation labor, marketing, overhead, inverters, and the balance of systems for residential and commercial systems declined by roughly 30% from 1998 to 2011, but have not declined as rapidly as module prices in recent years. Market-building policies that target non-module or “soft” costs represent a significant opportunity for continued price reduction.

The price declines found in Tracking the Sun add to a number of recent reports, including rapid market growth, employment growth, and overwhelming bipartisan support. PV installations totaled 742 megawatts (MW) in Q2 2012, up 45% over the previous quarter and 116% over Q2 2011. Solar employs 119,000 Americans across all 50 states. Solar job growth has far outpaced the general economy with 13.2% annual growth over 2011. Source: The National Solar Jobs Census from the Solar Foundation. 92% of Americans agree that it's important to use and develop more solar. Source: Hart Research National Solar Survey 2012.

http://www.solarenergy.net/News/2012120501-solar-costs-drop.aspx

Source: Solar Cost Drop (http://www.solarenergy.net/News/2012120501-solar-costs-drop.aspx)

US solar installations have increased 116%

Jason Fails — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 10:50:15 +0000

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/10/us-solar-market-idUSBRE8890DN20120910?feedType=RSS&feedName=environmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+reuters/environment+(News+/+US+/)

The debate over raising tariffs on Chinese solar panels hightens.

Jason Fails — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 20:58:19 +0000

Do people realize that by raising the industry's overall cost per kilowatt hour, we are actually hurting our US companies. Click here to: read further on how and why...

Our neighbors in Tennessee are rapidly growing they're Solar manufacturing

Jason Fails — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:42:15 +0000

"Tennessee is one of the top markets for solar energy manufacturing in the U.S.," stated Tom Kimbis, vice president of strategy and external affairs for SEIA

US Solar manufacturers struggle

Jason Fails — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:47:53 +0000

While solar commitments continue to rise and DOE's Sunpath is still in it's early stages, US solar manufacturers continue to struggle. This week Evergreen files for chapter 11. With China's rising footprint in the industry will consumers continue to provide enough support for these US jobs?

Earth Day 2011!

Jason Fails — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:11:43 +0000

We hope you all had a great Earth Day! We decided to celebrate by transforming a local eyesore (abandoned tires dumped off the side of our lovely rural road in Madison Heights) into something useful. Jason climbed down from the road and hauled up 20 tires, which are now being used for a sustainable construction project back at our garage, the JTF Renewable D&B headquarters. We are using the rammed earth method to build a retaining wall behind the garage, which involves tamping soil into the repurposed tires which are then stacked like bricks to form a sturdy wall or other structure.

Rammed earth and "found objects" are popular green building tools. We've seen them used all over the world, from Trinidad and Tobago to New Mexico where resourceful folks have transformed piles of unwanted tires, glass bottles, and soda cans into breathtaking works of architecture.

For our part, we're thrilled to use sustainable building methods whenever possible. We'll share pictures of our new retaining wall as soon as it's done!

Southern VA is waking up!

Jason Fails — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:42:20 +0000

Danville sees an opportunity to create Renewable energy & jobs. They've created an introductory 3 credit course for now. The local Danville Community College is beginning its Solar training program in the Spring.

Bay area solar

Jason Fails — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:10:17 +0000

This week we're in the San Francisco Bay Area researching the solar industry and its impact and role in the communities.

Richmond, CA has an interesting non profit program that gives inner city youth job skills in the solar industry. It also has the most Solar Watts Per Capita for California.

If I learn anything from the Bay area Solar I hope to bring back that knowledge to Central VA, and make Solar energy for affordable and approachable!

Fun at Green Spring!

Jason Fails — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 00:30:13 +0000

Today's green expo at the Lynchburg Armery was a great success, area business brought their best!

2kw of Solar in Colleen, VA

Jason Fails — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:40:17 +0000

Working with Solar Connexion Able, Bryan, and I finished a 2kw system in Nelson Co., VA. We installed the pole mount array for Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC is the local power company). I think they're next install might be on a larger scale.

Its been a busy couple of months!