GLG News by Photovoltaic/Solar Cells and System Experts

Mark BurgerPrincipal ConsultantKestrel Development Company

The Uneasy Relationship of Fossil and Renewable Energies

June 14, 2011

Analysis of:Big losses for Chevron's solar EOR project | www.upstreamonline.com

The fossil fuel industries have always looked askance at solar and other renewable energies.  Conspiracy theories aside,  there are significant economic and, yes, cultural issues at play in harvesting solar power versus mining petroleum.  The Chevron solar EOR project can lead to success if it's realized that this is a demonstration project whose cost overruns can be solved by experience and replication.

Mark BurgerPrincipal ConsultantKestrel Development Company

Sustainable Solar Markets Post Fukushima

May 25, 2011

Analysis of:Japan May Require Solar Panels on All New Buildings By 2030 | cleantechnica.com

One challenge to the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster is coming up with replacement electricity, both new and long term. Short term answers will not be popular, like power curtailment in a humid Tokyo summer. Longer term policies, like a proposed mandatory solar requirement for new construction, can supplement new centralized power plant development and enable a more stable solar market with less reliance on subsidies..

Mark BurgerPrincipal ConsultantKestrel Development Company

Will this version of oil and silicon mix?

April 29, 2011

Analysis of:Total to Take Controlling Interest in SunPower | www.greentechmedia.com

The acquisition by French oil/energy company Total S.A. of a major portion of SunPower Corporation's shares may mark a new phase of involvement by a fossil-nuclear company in photovoltaic power. This phase is more passive and mundane. It might also result in greater staying power for the PV industry.

Mark BurgerPrincipal ConsultantKestrel Development Company

Get 3kW of PV with a Gallon Jar of Maraschino Cherries

April 20, 2011

Analysis of:Costco to Sell Home Solar Panel Kits | www.treehugger.com

Two interesting variations on the US residential photovoltaic market have come about. Costco, the land of bulk purchases and discounts, is selling PV kits of various sizes online and at various stores, with the panels coming from a contractor label, as opposed to the leading solar brands. Will this commercial institution persuade a more mainstream segment of American society to go solar?

Mark BurgerPrincipal ConsultantKestrel Development Company

Another example of the perfect being the enemy of good green

April 10, 2011

Analysis of:Rush to Use Crops as Fuel Raises Food Prices and Hunger Fears | www.nytimes.com

The US and world economies are shifting to a renewable based energy source gradually and griudgingly. Opposition to the reality, if not the abstract principle, of renewable sources like bioenergy create a wellspring of red herrings. The challenge is to navigate the course between "conventional wisdom" and business as usual, with my comments focused primarily on the US based situation.

Mark BurgerPrincipal ConsultantKestrel Development Company

Lower costs are half the battle for the growth of solar power

April 8, 2011

Analysis of:Solar Costs May Already Rival Coal, Spurring Installation | www.bloomberg.com

Improving economics of solar photovoltaic power put the technology on the verge of mainstreaming into the energy infrastructure. Lower costs are only part of the battle, however. A number of non-monetary policy changes will be needed at the national, regional and local level in markets like the US for the market share to become significant.

Mark BurgerPrincipal ConsultantKestrel Development Company

PV report maybe a little optimistic but in the ballpark

March 31, 2011

Analysis of:Solar Breaks Out of Niche to Match Apple’s iPad-Fueled Growth | www.bloomberg.com

I am progressive in thinking when it comes to solar and renewable energy, but regressive when it comes to filling out my NCAA brackets. I still favor the traditional powerhouses making it to the Final Four, and discount upstarts like VCU. The Bloomberg New Energy Report on photovoltaics shows that "small" energy technologies can make it past the "big" energy status quo.

Mark BurgerPrincipal ConsultantKestrel Development Company

Solar and other renewables is a marathon, not a sprint

March 22, 2011

Analysis of:Solar Rally Might Fizzle After Nuclear Accident ‘Hysteria,’ Investors Say | www.bloomberg.com

Hysteria works both ways, in the irrational exuberance of betting that solar or other renewables will be the dominant energy source in a decade or two, as well as panic peddling of nuclear when the inevitable disaster or near disaster occurs. Solar or any other energy infrastructure takes decades to transition. Investing in a shorter timeframe is essentially speculation, and subject to boom and bust conditions.

Mark BurgerPrincipal ConsultantKestrel Development Company

British Columbia May Have The Biggest Green Demonstration

January 11, 2011

Analysis of:It's No Joke in British Columbia - Time for a Carbon Tax | www.nxtbook.com

Feed-in-tariffs, power purchase agreements, renewable portfolio standards and the like have attracted most of the attention of green energy pundits.  But a broader measure, the carbon tax, is starting to rear its head.  The British Columbia Carbon Tax  is starting to make itself felt and may become another tool in the fight against pollution and waste.

Mark BurgerPrincipal ConsultantKestrel Development Company

Megawatt Scale Energy Storage Mainstreamed Into Grid

January 7, 2011

Analysis of:AES Energy Storage Announces First Grid-Scale Battery-Based Storage System to Commercially Operate as a Generator in United States | www.energycentral.com

Megawatt-scale battery storage systems have been around a while on a technical and demonstration basis. The recent approval by an Independent System Operator (ISO) for a New York installation is an important step in mainstreaming this technology. Large-scale battery storage that can act instantaneously will be an important component in making intermittent solar and wind power more dispatchable and valuable.

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