GOES-15 solar x-ray imager makes miraculous first light

GREENBELT, USA: The Solar X-Ray Imager instrument aboard the GOES-15 satellite has just provided its first light image of the sun, but it required a lot of experts to make it happen.

Scientists and engineers from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have been working to bring the Solar X-Ray Imager (SXI) instrument to full functionality since the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-15, formerly known as the GOES-P satellite, achieved orbit.

GOES-15 launched on March 4, 2010 from Cape Canaveral, Fla. On April 6, 2010, GOES-15 captured its first visible image of Earth and on April 26, GOES-15 took its first full-disk infrared image.

"Since the early checkout of GOES 15 (P) and the anomalous turn on of the Solar X-Ray Imager, the team has been aggressively pursuing all avenues to recover the instrument," said Andre' Dress, GOES N-P Deputy Project Manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt.

"Frankly, we were down to our last straw when all the teams' hard work and efforts finally paid off. We now believe we have a full recovery of the instrument's functionality! It's an incredible story and a true testament of our NASA/contractor teams' expertise, hard work and determination."

On June 3, the GOES 15 Solar X-Ray Imager finally came on-line. Scientists and engineers had subjected SXI to a series of long duration turn on tests in the hopes of clearing the short. About 16 hours into the testing, the instrument voltages returned to normal values and SXI now appears to be functioning properly.

"We were facing a tough problem when we first attempted to bring SXI on-line," said
George Koerner, SXI program manager at the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC) Advanced Technology Center (ATC) in Palo Alto, Calif., where the Solar X-ray Imager was designed and built.

"But, because of our ability to bring together subject matter experts from both government and industry, to move forward step by step, and to work as a team patiently and persistently, together we achieved mission success. This is an enormously satisfying outcome."

Since its recovery, several test solar images have also been subsequently taken successfully. The GOES team continue to assess the health of the instrument. This new round of testing will assess SXI's total functionality. That functionality means the team will capture images of the sun with the camera to assess whether the camera is properly processing image data.

"I don't think most people realize how important these space weather instruments are in our everyday life," Dress said. "This data is used by the US Department of Defense, NOAA, NASA, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in protecting our space assets, land-based assets and directing flight paths for the FAA."

GOES-15 will join three other NOAA operational GOES spacecraft that help the agency's forecasters track life-threatening weather and solar activity that can impact the satellite-based electronics and communications industry. NASA's testing of the spacecraft and its instruments will continue through the entire post-launch test period expected to end in late August 2010.

This will be followed by a series of NOAA Science Tests. The GOES series of US satellites are developed by a joint NASA-NOAA-Industry partnership, launched by NASA (with industry partners), and operated by NOAA.

Sunnovations announces commercial launch of groundbreaking solar hot water technology

MCLEAN, USA: Cleantech startup Sunnovations Inc. has announced the commercial availability of its breakthrough solar hot water system for American homes.

Solar hot water, a clean and free power source, is an incredibly underexploited technology in the US, despite the fact that homeowners can save up to 75 percent on their water heating bill and remediate several tons of greenhouse gas emissions every year, all the while having the same usage experience as a regular water heating system. Sunnovations and its passive "geyser-pump" system removes many of the real and perceived barriers to entry for homeowners, allowing for maintenance-free operation suitable for all climate zones.

"The time has finally arrived for solar hot water in the US," said Sunnovations founder and [resident Arnoud van Houten. "Our patent-pending system does away with the electro-mechanical equipment that is required in other systems, resulting in a far more cost effective, easier to install and reliable solar hot water system."

Hot water production is both the second largest user of power and source of greenhouse gas emissions in American homes, according to the US Department of Energy's Buildings Energy Data Book. In a given year, between 7 and 8 million replacement water heaters are sold in the US; switching even a small percentage to solar will have a substantial positive environmental impact.

Sunnovations CEO, Matt Carlson, said: "The cost saving and environmental remediation opportunity that solar hot water represents has been sorely underappreciated in the US. Sunnovations has set out to change that by bringing clarity to the cost-saving and environmental benefits to the homeowner as well as standardization and simplicity to the technology behind solar hot water systems."

He added: "Through our extensive field trials we have been incredibly gratified by the positive response of the solar professional installer community. Our Installer Partners represent many of the largest and most experienced firms doing solar hot water installations in the region."

Utility-scale PV inverter market to grow 60 percent

FRAMINGHAM, USA: IDC Energy Insights announced the availability of a new report, Vendor Assessment: Industry Short List for Utility-Scale Photovoltaic Inverters for the North American Market (Doc #EI223398, June 2010) and reveals that the utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) inverter market is on pace to continue its 60 percent annual growth in the North American market for at least the next three to five years.

According to the report, the dramatic growth of solar PV installations throughout Europe and Asia indicates that the North American utilities industry should be prepared to embrace the PV revolution in a demonstrably significant manner. This report evaluates 10 vendors of utility-scale inverter products for the North American market, including Advanced Energy (AE), General Electric (GE), Ingeteam, KACO, PV Powered, Satcon, Schneider Electric/Xantrex, Siemens, SMA, and Solectria.

As such rapid growth often spurs new entrants, IDC Energy Insights expects the already crowded field of vendors to multiply as new start-ups and other industrial giants recognize the opportunity. At the same time, a few market leaders will rise from the pack and start to increase their own market share as the segment matures.

"Thanks to dramatically decreasing production costs and price points, PV systems are more economical today than they ever have been," said Sam Jaffe, coauthor of the report and research manager for the Distributed Energy Strategies program at IDC Energy Insights. "The three fundamental legs that support a buying decision in the inverter field are cost, efficiency, and long-term reliability. The inverter is no longer a box of wires and parts bolted onto a PV array – it has become the heart and brains of the system."

Key findings of the study include:
* As the photovoltaic market grows, so does the solar inverter market, averaging 30-40% annual growth globally over the past five years. Among the drivers pushing the market for large-scale solar power are rate-payer pressure to increase access to renewable sources of energy, regulatory and policy requirements, government incentives, and declining PV module costs.

* Buyers have traditionally focused on the solar panel module as the differentiating piece of a PV installation. That is changing. Long dismissed as a "dumb box," the lowly inverter has transformed itself and is fast becoming the center of intelligence for a typical solar photovoltaic array.

* The inverter market is undergoing rapid evolution. Vendors have been investing heavily in R&D for several years and the fruits of those efforts are manifested in new models that boast higher efficiency, better reliability, and greater control.

"The report was designed to help buyers of large-scale inverters in North America identify and rate the most important product attributes to consider and the vendors who develop such products," continued Jaffe. "The study should be used as a tool to get started in the selection process."

PREE charger gains support of Idea Finishing School incubator

NEW ORLEANS, USA: GoSolarUSA announced that the PREE group has gained additional support from the Idea Finishing School, which is a technology incubator located in San Antonio, Texas. The company expects that this development should accelerate the delivery of the PREE automatic phone Smartphone charger to the market.

GSLO is looking to invest in this exciting new technology that will keep your Smartphone charged without ever having to plug it in again. This breakthrough technology captures the power of wireless Internet signals and solar energy to keep your Smartphone battery charged all of the time.

The technology is being designed for use with a wide range of smartphones, including Apple’s iPhone, Research in Motion’s BlackBerry and Google’s Android. With well over 150 million smartphones in use today, GSLO expects this new technology to be very popular with tens of millions of Smartphone users worldwide. GSLO is anticipating investment in Company as well as the development, delivery and marketing of the PREE product.

Smartphone accessories generate billions of dollars of revenue to manufacturers. GSLO is excited to be a part of bringing a new American technology to the market that can be sold worldwide. The smartphone accessory market is projected to reach $80 billion by 2012. The company strongly feels that this product has major market potential.

Solar Power Partners expands executive team

MILL VALLEY, USA: Solar Power Partners Inc. (SPP), one of the country’s largest independent solar power producers, announced that M. Shakil Rahman has joined its executive team as Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

The company also named Edward Scherr as Vice President and Controller. Both appointments contribute to the company’s roster of experienced energy industry professionals, and continue SPP’s commitment to building a world-class management team that enables the delivery of high-value solar development to its customers, partners, and investors.

“The legal and financial transaction complexities in the solar PV development industry require an experienced team in place that can execute,” said Bob Powell, President and CEO of Solar Power Partners. “I’m excited to count Shakil and Ed as part of the team, both of whom have extensive energy-industry experience. Their leadership will allow the company to continue demonstrating its underlying quality and bankability.”

Solar Power Partners announced in April 2010 that it closed up to $215 million in funding, a portion of which will be used to support the company’s aggressive, nation-wide growth in both commercial and utility markets.

Rahman brings over 20 years of experience as both in-house and external counsel, specializing in project finance and energy, to lead SPP’s legal, commercial and regulatory affairs as Senior Vice President and General Counsel.

Before joining SPP, he was a Principal and General Counsel of Sapphire Power Partners, a project development company focused on renewable and gas fired generation in the independent power industry. At Sapphire, Rahman provided project development, regulatory, and legal consulting services to owners as well as developing photovoltaic utility scale projects.

In his role as Vice President and Controller, Edward Scherr will be responsible for the all aspects of the company’s accounting and financial reporting functions. Before joining SPP, Scherr was the Director of Corporate Accounting at Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), where he held responsibilities that included SEC Reporting, Technical Accounting, Energy (Regulatory) Accounting and General Ledger.

Prior to that, he was a senior manager at Deloitte & Touche, where he led delivery of accounting and auditing services to SEC registrants and private companies in the real estate and high-tech markets. Mr. Scherr holds a BA in Mathematics from the University of Rochester, NY, and an MBA from the University of Oregon. He is a certified public accountant and serves as Treasurer for the Board of Trustees of the Seven Hills School.

SPP provides industry-leading system modeling, design, engineering, and construction management, and long-term operations and maintenance. Solar Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) allow customers to use clean solar energy without any upfront capital, while removing the risk of ongoing operations and maintenance.

HomePlug Powerline Alliance publishes green PHY spec for smart grid apps

PORTLAND, USA: The HomePlug Powerline Alliance, the driving force for global powerline network technology, announced the approval and publication of the HomePlug Green PHY (HomePlug GP) specification for Smart Grid applications.

HomePlug GP is a low power, highly reliable, cost-optimized powerline networking specification targeting Smart Grid connectivity for home energy management to devices such as HVAC, smart meters, appliances and plug-in electric hybrid vehicles.

HomePlug GP was developed with direct input from major utility companies and appliance manufacturers including Consumers Energy, Duke Energy, GE, Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison. Their input was used to optimize the technology to meet the challenges and requirements for real-world smart energy deployments.

"Utility companies told us loud and clear their requirements in the areas of performance, reliability, coverage, price and footprint for a successful Smart Grid solution, and we listened,” said Rob Ranck, president of the HomePlug Powerline Alliance. “Another key requirement was an interoperable powerline network and our technology roadmap ensures complete interoperability between current and next-generation HomePlug AV and IEEE 1901 technology, which gives customers confidence that devices will communicate now and into the future.”

“HomePlug powerline network technology can play a key role meeting the reliability and interoperability requirements we have connecting meters, HVAC systems and other home devices to the emerging Smart Grid,” said Wayne Longcore, Director of Architecture and Standards for Consumers Energy, a major Michigan utility. “HomePlug Green PHY enables smart grid devices to freely communicate with other devices on the home area network. We appreciate HomePlug’s approach to crafting their technology to the utility industry’s needs.”

HomePlug GP is a key component of the HomePlug technology portfolio that includes the current HomePlug AV broadband powerline technology, and will include HomePlug AV2, the Gigabit-class next-generation powerline technology specification, due for completion in early 2011. All three specifications are fully interoperable with each other and with the IEEE’s 1901 powerline standard, now completing ratification.

HomePlug AV is baseline technology for the IEEE 1901 powerline standard. The HomePlug Powerline Alliance will serve as the compliance and certification body for IEEE 1901, much as the Wi-Fi Alliance certifies 802.11 products.

HomePlug GP is a profile of HomePlug AV, which makes it easier for multiple silicon suppliers to produce GP chips quickly. HomePlug GP delivers scalable data rates with a peak sustained throughput of about 6 Mbps, ample bandwidth to support IP networking and IPv6.

The specification also includes features to reduce power consumption by about 75 percent compared to HomePlug AV solutions. The ZigBee and HomePlug Smart Energy liaison is creating a common application layer for HomePlug and ZigBee devices enabling interoperability between those wireless and powerline devices.

HomePlug devices currently account for over 80 percent of the world's broadband powerline communications market, with over 45 million devices sold to date and shipments forecasted to reach 60 million by year’s end. Additionally, more than 50 service providers throughout the world are already utilizing HomePlug technology to deploy broadband, IPTV and triple-play offerings.

China Sunergy provides additional insight regarding 2010 full year expectations

NANJING, CHINA: China Sunergy Co. Ltd, a leading solar cell and module manufacturer based in Nanjing, China, has announced several updates regarding Company expectations for the year 2010.

China Sunergy anticipates gross margin will be between 15 percent and 18 percent, prior to the completion of the acquisition of two module manufacturers, with conversion cost reducing to USD0.20/watt by the end of the year, as production efficiencies continue to be realized.

Assuming the acquisition of the two solar module manufacturers will be completed without any unforeseen issues, China Sunergy expects the module capacity to be between 500 and 550 MW by the end of the third quarter of 2010.

With demand remaining at current expectations throughout the rest of the year, China Sunergy now expects to have 400 MW of solar cell capacity and 900 MW of solar module capacity by the end of 2010.