Clean and Renewable Energy investments by Google

The past few years has seen Google embark on an ambitous program of investment in the renewables space, the most recent announcement seeing Google investing $200 million in a Texas wind farm. 
So where else has Google been putting its money?

Spinning Spur Wind Farm: West Texas wind

In December 2012, Google invested approximately $200 million in a 161 MW wind farm in Oldham County, Texas. The project, which uses 70 Siemens 2.3 MW turbines, has been contracted to SPS, a utility that primarily serves Texas and New Mexico. EDF Renewable Energy built the project and will remain the manager and an owner alongside Google.

Rippey Wind Farm: wind power in Iowa

Google invested $75 million in a 50 MW wind farm in Rippey, a small town in Greene County, Iowa. The wind farm, developed by RPM Access, uses turbines produced by Nordex USA at its Jonesboro, Arkansas facility. The energy produced by the wind farm has been contracted to the Central Iowa Power Cooperative, an Iowa-based utility that will deliver the energy to local consumers.

Recurrent Energy: Large-scale solar PV projects in California

A $94 million investment was made in a portfolio of four solar photovoltaic (PV) projects being built by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, California. These projects have a total capacity of 88 MW— and the energy produced is already contracted for 20 years with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), the first projects to be built under their feed-in tariff program (FIT) to help green the grid for Sacramento-area residents.

Clean Power Finance: Financing for rooftop solar

Google invested $75 million to create a fund with Clean Power Finance (CPF) that will help up to 3,000 homeowners go solar. Purchasing a solar system is a major home improvement, but the upfront cost has historically been one of the biggest barriers for homeowners. Clean Power Finance's open platform connects installers with investors to provide financing to homeowners. It's an innovative and scalable model that makes business sense, and has the potential to lower costs and accelerate adoption of solar energy.

SolarCity: Solar for US residential rooftops

In what Google says is the largest deal of its kind to date, it invested $280 million in a SolarCity fund to help provide innovative financing for residential solar projects. SolarCity is a full service solar systems provider offering the option for consumers to go solar through a solar lease or power purchase agreements. SolarCity works with a customer to design a solar system for their home. Investors like Google purchase the system up front and, in return, receive a portion of lease payments from the homeowner along with Solar City. This kind of innovative financing removes a major adoption barrier for homeowners—the upfront cash required for systems—and makes solar power accessible to homeowners who would otherwise not consider it. SolarCity has completed or is currently building out more than 15,000 residential solar systems, the most of any company in the US.

BrightSource: Concentrated solar power at scale

In 2008, Google invested $10 million in startup company BrightSource Energy via Google.org. It subsequently invested another $168 million into their first utility-scale solar project - Ivanpah - in California’s Mojave Desert. BrightSource specializes in “power towers"— solar thermal technology that uses heliostats, or sun-tracking mirrors, to focus solar energy onto a tower-mounted receiver. The receiver produces high pressure steam which, in turn, spins a traditional turbine generator to make electricity. Ivanpah will produce 377 MW (net) of solar power once it is up and running in 2013, and is expected to supply Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison with energy equivalent to that used in 140,000 homes in Central and Southern California. This will be the first large scale power tower project operating efficiently at high temperatures and pressures, demonstrating a critical step for the technology on a path to reliable, low cost, clean power.

Atlantic Wind Connection: A superhighway for clean energy transmission

Google has invested a 37.5 percent equity stake in the critical early-stage development of the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC) backbone, a project to build a superhighway transmission infrastructure off the Mid-Atlantic coast. Once completed, the AWC backbone will stretch 250 miles along the coast from New Jersey to Virginia, enabling the connection of up to 7,000 MW of offshore wind power. The project helps states meet their renewable energy goals and standards using the most abundant local resource. The Mid-Atlantic region has a vast offshore wind resource capable of powering more than 60,000 MW of wind turbines in shallow waters that allow wind turbines to be installed 10-15 miles offshore.

Alta Wind Energy Center: Harnessing the winds of the Mojave

The wind resource is most impressive where the Mojave sands meet the Tehachapi Mountains in Southern California, making it a great spot for wind development. Google has invested a total of $157 million in two projects totalling 270 MW at the Alta Wind Energy Center (AWEC). This investment used a leveraged lease—a financial structure new to wind but one which provides advantages to both developers and investors. The project will also use some of the first transmission lines being developed specifically to transport renewable energy from remote, resource-rich areas to major population centers. The power will be delivered to Southern California Edison under long-term agreements with the first five Alta projects, totaling 720 MW, already operational. AWEC will reportedly boost California’s wind energy production by 30% and help the state meet its ambitious renewable energy mandate of 33% clean power generation by 2020.

Shepherd’s Flat: One of the world’s largest wind farms

Located in Arlington, Oregon, Shepherd’s Flat is anticipated to be one of the world’s largest wind farm at 845 MW. Google has invested $100 million in the farm, which will also reportedly be the largest to deploy, at scale, permanent magnet generators, a state-of-the-art turbine technology used to increase efficiency and reliability and ultimately lower the cost of wind energy. The project will also benefit the region by helping California meet its aggressive renewable energy goals. The electricity produced at Shepherds Flat will be sold under long-term agreements to Southern California Edison.

Peace Garden wind farms: More financing for wind

Google’s first investment in a utility-scale renewable energy project was $38.8 million in two wind farms in North Dakota that generate 169.5 MW of power. The projects were built by NextEra Energy Resources, which uses advanced wind turbine technology and monitoring and control systems to provide one of the lowest-cost sources of renewable energy in existence today.

Photovoltaics in Germany

In 2011, Google made its first international investment of €3.5 million (approximately $5 million for a 49 percent equity stake in the project) in a recently completed solar facility in Brandenburg, Germany. The plant, one of the largest in Germany, has peak capacity of 18.65 MW and will generate as much energy as that used in more than 5,000 homes. Germany has a strong framework for renewable energy and is home to many leading-edge technology companies in the sector. More than 70 percent of the solar modules used in the project were produced by German manufacturers.

Google has been playing its part in reducing global warming by these examples. we hope to see more such investments in cleaner energies by other tech giants.

visit Google Green investments

Hope you liked this blog, please give your comments and feedback on the same

A breakthrough dye-sensitized solar cell enhances power efficiency

Hi All,
This is very interesting article I came across some time back, wanted to share its aspects with you all

Solar power is known as an exemplary way to generate sustainable power. Solar researchers across the world are working tireless to boost the efficiency of solar cells of various genres. Of late, a team of researchers at the Northwestern University has advanced up with an innovative breakthrough in solar cell efficiency. The researchers have shaped up a reliable dye-sensitized solar panel that is cheaper and can ensure better power efficiency than the regular cells.

The inventive solar technology is really a variant of the Grätzel cell, a kind of dye-sensitized solar cell, which makes use of semiconductor titanium oxide in place of the conventional silicon material. The outcome is that the solar cell, which is named after the Swiss chemist Michel Grätzel, delivers better power efficiency and is inexpensive, less toxic and certainly environmental in several aspects, the researchers claim.

In fact, the breakthrough the researchers have achieved is their successful attempt to solve a persisting problem with the Grätzel design. Since it makes use of an organic liquid as its electrolyte, there is a chance that it may leak in various conditions. The leaked liquid is threatening because it will corrode the entire cell. Well, it is here the Northwestern University researchers have proved their credential well. They developed a fresh material called the CsSnI3 that can solidify the liquid and prevent seepage under any condition.

The CsSnI3 is a very slim film compound, which merges cesium, iodine and tin. It is basically added in liquid form to dye-coat nano particles, but it turns to a solid mass so that there won’t be any leakage issue. Well, as per the lead researcher, Robert P.H Chang, it is the first demo of a solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell that can definitely ensure better efficiency than the current solar technologies.

Solar Powered plane prepares for cross country flight

Solar Impulse HB-SIA

The unusual aircraft called Solar Impulse HB-SIA a solar-powered, battery-equipped aircraft sat on a California runway as its energy source rose in the east.


Andre Borschberg, who designed and built Solar Impulse with fellow pilot Bertrand Piccard. 

The average power available to the airplane is just about that of a typical scooter, meaning that the inventiveness and feats of engineering which allow this plane to fly are pretty incredible. More than 80 companies partnered on the project to tackle the challenges of solar- and battery-powered flight, in areas including chemical, electrical, and materials technologies

The aircraft has the same wingspan as a 747 but a cockpit barely big enough for one person. It weighs only as much as a midsize car. The aircraft is sensitive to turbulence and has to fly in good weather. So, of course, it's not yet the possibility of carrying 200 passengers at the speed of sound.

The Solar Impulse HB-SIA is an oversized machine in relation to its weight, with a wingspan of 63.4 meters and a weight of 1,600 kilos. The ultra-thin photovoltaic cells from Sunpower atop the wings are just 150 microns thick. Some 12,000 of the mono-crystalline silicons photovoltaic cells cover the wings. Each motor has a maximum power of 10 horsepower, with a gearbox reducing the rotation of each 3.5-meter-diameter twin-blade propeller to 200 to 400 rpm. It cruises at only 30 miles an hour, though in a strong wind, it may stand still or even fly backward


The plane has already flown over the Alps in Switzerland where it was built. It has even flown over Morocco at night on batteries recharged by the sun.The test flight over San Francisco Bay lasted 16 hours long after the sun had set.  

Solar Impulse flight Video (Click here to see)

It is nice to know that the more and more people and organizations are moving towards creating and using sustainable technologies to reduce carbon footprint which is indeed useful for mankind

Please give you comments on such kind of technological experiments...

Till then
Cheers...

Andhra Pradesh proposes tariff of 6.49 INR/KWh

Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday fixed the benchmark price for purchase of solar power at Rs 6.49 per unit. The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Power fixed the benchmark price at its meeting on Tuesday. The State through AP Transco as the nodal agency had invited bids from private developers to set up solar PV units aiming to develop about 1000 MW in view of the unprecedented electricity crisis.

In the process, about 331 bids for development of 1,780 MW were received.

Developers will be given 30 days to respond to the proposal. 

The tariff offered by Andhra Pradesh is lower than what developers will eventually get in Tamil Nadu

So it is to be seen how developers will take to such a tariff offer in Andhra Pradesh. 

If one were to compare the rates offered by Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the Scenario completely changes. 

Tamil Nadu had offered Rs 6.48 a unit with escalation facility of 5 per cent over 10 years. This leads to a levelised tariff of Rs 7.75 a unit.

As per the new solar power policy announced by the state government, net metering facility will be implemented for consumers who set up solar PV plants on roof-tops, waste lands, industries, offices, institutions and residential complexes. Subsidy will be provided by the Union Government up to 30 per cent of the panel cost up to a capacity of 500 KW without battery support

So now we have to wait and see how the developers respond to this...

please let know your suggeestions and feedback 

New breed of recyclable solar cells made from plants

A remarkable and eco-friendly way to harness solar energy is found by researchers from Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics at Georgia Tech and Purdue


Solar cells provide us with the most eco-friendly way to harnessing energy and creating electricity with emissions. However, the creation of solar cells themselves is pretty un-eco-friendly which sort of defeats the purpose they serve to an extent. However, researchers currently working at the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics at Georgia Tech and Purdue claim that they have created the solar cells using nothing more than the materials we find in trees. Using a renewable resource to create green technology, the researchers have created a new kind of organic solar cells that are disposable at the end of their lifecycle and are less dependence on fossil fuels for its production and recycling.

Using the same basic organic substrates that plants use for the chemical process that facilitates photosynthesis, the new organic solar cells convert around 2.7% of the solar energy they get into electricity. The number is pretty impressive when you consider that organic materials and not chemicals were used to create this amazing conversion.


An easily biodegradable structure called cellulose nanocrystal is used to mount these organic substrates which allows the solar cells to be recycled using nothing more than warm water when their useful life is over. The joint research team has thus created a more eco-friendly way to create and recycle technology that is used to provide green energy. The team is now working at trying to get these organic substrates to convert solar energy more efficiently and possibly even make double-digit conversion efficiency soon.

Of course, the water soluble solar cells would need to be protected against rain and storms though that could easily be facilitated via glass or transparent waterproof encasing.

The team hopes to get the solar cells into production within the next five years.

I wish the team all the best from our blog

please send you feedback about this article..

India's Grid Connected Renewable energy installations

The statistics show a very fair growth in India's Renewable energy sector
According to Ministry of Power, as on January 2013 the total Renewable energy capacity of India is about 25,856.14MW (excluding hydro power projects) which accounts to a precise of 12.2% of the total energy produced in India


Solar Power:

With about 300 clear, sunny days in a year, India's theoretical solar power reception, on only its land area, is about 5000 Petawatt-hours per year (PWh/yr) (i.e. 5000 trillion kWh/yr or about 600 TW)The daily average solar energy incident over India varies from 4 to 7 kWh/m² with about 1500–2000 sunshine hours per year (depending upon location), which is far more than current total energy consumption. The total installations by end of 2012 is 1200MW. India targets to increase its solar power capacity to about 10GW by 2017.


Wind Power:
 

The development of wind power in India began in the 1990s, and has significantly increased in the last few years. As of January 2013 the installed capacity of wind power in India was 18634.9MW









Hydro power:

  
India is endowed with economically exploitable and viable hydro potential assessed to be about 84,000 MW at 60% load factor. The current installed capacity of Hydro power counts to 39,416.40MW with 18.61% of the total energy production of India

Geothermal Power:

 

Though India has been one of the earliest countries to begin geothermal projects way back in the 1970s, but at present there are no operational geothermal plants in India.Geothermal power is cost effective, reliable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly, but has historically been limited to areas near tectonic plate boundaries. the potential geothermal provinces can produce 10,600 MW of power

It has been estimated from geological, geochemical, shallow geophysical and shallow drilling data it is estimated that India has about 10,000 MW of geothermal power potential that can be harnessed for various purposes.
Different orogenic regions are – Himalayan geothermal province, Naga-Lushai geothermal province, Andaman-Nicobar Islands geothermal province and non-orogenic regions are – Cambay graben, Son-Narmada-Tapi graben, west coast, Damodar valley, Mahanadi valley, Godavari valley etc



The MNRE said that grid-balancing problems have limited India's deployment of grid-connected solar and wind power plants, and the country is in talks with Germany, which has state-of-the-art technology in this field, to obtain the know-how.

Please give your comments and share more information for the readers.
Thanks

India to double renewable energy capacity by 2017: Prime Minister

Here a news straight from The New Indian Express Dated 17th April 2013

The original link below:
The New Indian Express Article (click here)

Mr. Singh said India's 12th Five Year Plan recognized the importance of evolving a low carbon strategy for inclusive and sustainable growth
India plans to double its renewable energy capacity to 55,000 MW by 2017 as part of efforts to increase efficiency of its energy use. And it is proposed to double the renewable energy capacity in our country from 25000 MW in 2012 to 55000 MW by the year 2017

Stating that solar based energy generation has halved in last two years and Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) has been taken up seriously

Hope this news brings some relief to the companies working in the renewable energy sector.

please let me know your comments on the article in the newspaper
Thanks
Cheers...

RRECL releases list of 7 qualifying companies in state policy - Rajasthan state

Hello readers,
It s been a long time that I had penned down something
    Here is blog to follow

Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation Limited(RRECL) has released the list of 7 solar projects totaling 75 MW under the competitive bidding of the Phase 1 of the Rajasthan State Policy. The lowest price bid was Rs 6.45 /kWh and the state followed an L1 bidding process, which meant that all the developers had to meet the lowest price. The target allocation was 100 MW each for PV and CSP, but only 75 MW of projects are in the list. It is likely that most of the bidders have not taken up the projects so far due to the low price.

List of qualifiers

 Please give your comments and feedback regarding the Rajasthan solar policy bidding and winners...

Till then take care
cheers