Articles by Adam Browning

Increasingly popular solar power conference mirrors growth in the industry

The heart and soul of the world's solar industry is gathered this week in Long Beach for the annual SEPA/SEIA solar conference. Five years ago, this conference drew 200 people to a dingy hotel ballroom in Reno. This year, it's sold out the Long Beach Convention Center, and you can't get a hotel room for love or money within a 20-mile radius. It's like the Super Bowl is in town.

Solar has come a long way -- and there's a lot of things to thank for what's brought the industry to this point. Certainly, the world owes the German feed-in tariff a big danke for all it has done to scale up manufacturing. And in the U.S., the California Solar Initiative has been the big driver, with a bevy of new state programs vying for the crown. While everyone is encouraged by the progress First Solar has made delivering on thin-film's long-deferred promise, I'd argue that to date, financial innovation -- more specifically solar PPAs -- has been a bigger driver in expanding markets than technological innovation.

So, the question of the day is: what's the new development that will emerge as the biggest theme of this year's conference? At the risk of blogmiscuity, I'm guest-blogging on just that question over at RenewableEnergyAccess. Check it out.

Parking lots transform into parks for one day

There are two kinds of public demonstrations. Those that attract people to the cause and demonstrate new possibilities, and those that just piss people off and make enemies out of potential friends.

Here's a beautiful example of the former. "Parking" can either mean leaving an expensive hunk of climate-changing steel to cool on greasy asphalt, or it can mean sitting on the grass with friends, drinking wine in the fresh, clean air. These guys have an elegant way of getting people to think about which definition of "park" should get more city space.

If you are in SF, NYC, LA, DC, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, St. Paul, Boston, Austin, Salt Lake City, Tampa, Miami, then check it out.

Some pictures below the fold, courtesy of Transportation Alternatives.

On buying solar electricity, not panels

One of the biggest hurdles to going solar is the large up-front costs. That's why solar power purchase agreements (PPAs in wonk-speak) have been so popular. With this model, a third party designs, installs, and owns a system on your roof. You simply sign a long-term contract to buy the output on a kWh basis. You avoid the need for financing, and shift performance risk to the service provider -- you only buy what the system produces. Check out this article for more.

To date, solar PPAs have been offered exclusively for commercial-sized systems. That's because the developer has to take a 15-yr maintenance/service/billing interest in the property, and the economics are better for big systems.

Until now. Sun Run Generation is, as far as I can tell, the first company to legitimately offer a form of residential solar PPA*. They make a fairly convincing case that they can offer a PPA with net customer economics better than an outright purchase. The reason? As a business, they are not restricted by the $2K residential Fed investment tax credit cap, but can take the full 30 percent.

I predict that the next few significant developments in the solar field are going to be in the field of financial rather than technical innovation. Solar Power 2007, the largest solar conference in the U.S., is next week in Long Beach. If I see anything that contradicts my prediction, I'll let you know. (You should also consider going yourself. All the kids will be there, and there's a no-fee public night on Tuesday).

*Note: there have been other companies that claim to offer this service. The most notorious don't currently have ... what's the technical term ... any actual product. As with everything, buyer beware.

Residents in over 100 Chinese cities urged to walk, bike, or use public transit this Saturday

China, once famed as a bicycling nation, tries to put the genie back in the bottle.