$ 1 trillion opportunity will come from rural area: Price Waterhouse Coopers

Even though Asia's third-largest economy(India) will urbanise faster, a majority of the demand for this $ 1 trillion opportunity will come from the rural areas,Shashank Tripathi  of  Price Waterhouse Coopers said, adding that aspirational people indulging in vocations beyond agriculture will contribute to the demand. 


http://www.samachar.com/1-trillion-opportunity-in-India-awaits-companies-PwC-mb1uLdhhbbc.html

Solving problems of Non-Electrification of Chakauti Village

2011 Bihar: Post-Division Total Villages 45,103 Electrified villages 18,217  Percentage  of Elec. Vill 40.38% All India 84% Villages Electrified

 As per the Govt. of India programme for electrification of all villages by 2009, in the State of Bihar very few schemes for village electrification are being carried out which can be viewed at:

http://www.bshpcltd.com/eleventh.htm

	To take up cent percent of the electrification in the State, the State Govt. has entered into an agreement with Rural Electrification Corporation (REC), BSEB and the GOl power sector undertakings of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (PGCIL) and National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).  This programme is being implemented under the GOl scheme for “Electrification of one lakh villages and one crore households”. The funding for this scheme is being made by REC as grant and loan components. The central undertakings are implementing the rural e1ectrification works in the 36 districts, with NHPC taking up works in West Champaran, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar, Darbhanga, Samastipur and Madhubani. The remaining  districts are being taken up by PGCIL.

BREDA 

Bihar Renewable Energy Development Agency

 has been implementing programme of non-conventional energy sources for schemes are bio-gas development, SPV systems of Lanterns/Home lighting systems/street lighting systems, and wind mills. Under the Border Area Development Programme, BREDA has implemented a scheme of solar street lighting system in 40 villages along the International Border.

Vinod Manjhi, former Chakauti  Mukhiya was provided with approximately 45 Solar panels and street light  under the Govt's Rural Development Assistance Programmes. The benefits of solar light has reached few BPL families under his regime.

Some key contacts are given below who can be approached for seeking  help in electrification of Bihar villages and information on causes of non-implementation of Governments electrification schemes in Bihar.

Secretary, Energy Dept. - Tel: (0612)-2217412. Fax: 2232852. E-Mail: energy-bih@nic.in Additional Secretary, Energy Dept. - Tel: (0612)-2222968. Fax: (0612)-2232852. Director, BREDA - Tel: (0612)-2228734. Fax: (0612)-2233572. Chairman, Bihar State Electricity Board - Tel: (0612)-2225036. Fax: 2222968. Website: http://www.bseb.org/

To arrest the migration of students to cities, Chandrakant starts world-class school in Chamanpura

To arrest the migration of students from Bihar Chandrakant starts world-class school  in  Chamanpura, a remote corner of Bihar, bereft of electricity till date.  Hundreds of children, are getting lessons in physics, chemistry, mathematics and computer through Skype, video conferencing and Internet. 

Read full story on link below: 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Ex-IITian-starts-world-class-school-in-Bihar-village/articleshow/7419365.cms

Ram Vinay Shahi, pioneer in India's Power Sector

R.V. Shahi  is the Chairman of Energy Infratech Pvt. Limited, an Engineering & Project Development Consulting Company.He was the Power Secretary of  India from 2002-2007 and the Chairman and Managing Director of Bombay Suburban Electric Supply (BSES) Ltd. from 1994-2002 (the predecessor company to Reliance Energy). As Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Shahi is known for transforming BSES Ltd. from a small power utility to one of the largest in the nation. As Secretary Power he is widely credited for reforming and revitalizing the Indian power sector through the landmark Electricity Act of 2003, which liberalized the sector and initiated private investment in Indian Power.

Besides being responsible for the entire Indian Power Sector (1,68,000 MW capacity including captive plants), as Secretary, Mr. Shahi was directly responsible for the Central Public Sector Undertakings viz. National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam, Tehri Hydro Development Corporation, Power Finance Corporation, Rural Electrification Corporation, Bhakra Beas Management Board and Damodar Valley Corporation. He was also President of the Governing Council of Central Power Research Institute, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Bureau of Energy Efficiency and Chairman of the Governing Council of National Power Training Institute having 5 large Training Institutes in various parts of the country. Worked as Secretary to the Government of India for almost five years till he relinquished the charge on 31 January 2007.

Prior to taking over the Indian Power Sector as Secretary, R.V. Shahi was Chairman and Managing Director of BSES Ltd  from 1994 to 2002 which he transformed from a small distribution utility to a multi–unit fully integrated power utility having generation, transmission and distribution. BSES subsequently became Reliance Energy.

During the five year tenure as Secretary the Indian electricity sector witnessed a major restructuring of the power industry through formulation and implementation of several legislative and policy initiatives aimed at creation of a competitive market structure. These include Electricity Act (2003), National Electricity Policy (2005), Electricity Tariff Policy (2006) and Accelerated Power Development Reform Programme (2002). Setting and Operationalising of Bureau of Energy Efficiency under Energy Conservation Act (2001), Rural Electrification Policy (2005), Ultra Mega Power Project Policy (2006), Merchant Power Plant Policy (2006). 50,000 MW Hydroelectric Initiative (2003), 100,000 MW Thermal Project Initiative (2004).

 Education

Graduation (Mechanical Engineering)from National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur, Post Graduation (Industrial Engineering), Post Graduation (Business Management) and Diploma in Advanced Industrial Management (Delft, Holland). He is a Fellow of the World Academy of Productivity Sciences, a Fellow of Institution of Engineers (India), a Fellow of International Institute of Electrical Engineers, and a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering.

Awards & Publications

Mr. Shahi was awarded “BEST POWER MAN of the Millennium Year 2000” Award by National Foundation of Indian Engineers. Other than being on the board of various companies and entities, Mr. Shahi sits on the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow  Mr. Shahi has written several books on Indian power scenario. To name a few,: 1) Towards Powering India: Policy Initiatives and Implementation Strategy 2) Indian Power Sector: Challenge and Response.

Energy Production gets 3rd Priority of Bihar Govt:

Addressing the Bihar Growth Conference, organized by International Growth Centre (IGC) India-Bihar, Sushil Modi, Bihar Dy. CM said that Bihar’s  high growth rate of 11%-plus was based on societal needs. "The biggest issue is to ensure the reach of government projects to every section of the society."   

Growth Areas:

1)Bihar has great potential for small investments. "We would like to concentrate on micro and medium enterprises as well as food-processing industries," he said and added that improvement of public delivery systems would be the government's priority. 

2)Agriculture has emerged as a major growth propeller as illustrated by China's example. It can play a decisive role in poverty alleviation. " Our aim is to double the farm output through scientific interventions," Modi said.

3)Another major area that warrants government attention, Modi agreed, is energy production. "We are on the job, looking for coal linkages and power purchase agreements," he said and added one such agreement is through for a 450-MW power plant to start generation by 2014. 

4)Roads have been constructed, but their maintenance is another challenge facing the government. Vocational education and skill development for generating quality human resource are also on the government's radar, the deputy CM said and stressed the need to check migration of Biharis to Gulf countries. 

Arunish Chawla, secretary to Planing Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, predicted that Bihar would be a developed state by 2015. "The Central government has accelerated the development expenditure for Bihar," he said but cautioned that the quality of expenditure is equally important to sustain a double-digit growth. Central allocations have been increasing as the Planning Commission also realizes that Bihar is growing very fast, the Bihar-cadre IAS official said. 

JNU's economics teacher Satish Jain pleaded for increased private investments in education sector and stress on skill enhancement if Bihar has to grow. The charitable contributions towards education have almost dried up and too much emphasis is being put on award of degrees than attainment of knowledge and skill," the professor pointed out. 

IGC India-Bihar's Anjan Mukherji said their two major areas of research have been structural transformation and resource mobilization. "We will provide all logistical and research support needed by policy makers and other stake holders for the state's growth," IGC's advisory board chairman Shaibal Gupta said as he advocated for result-oriented governance for the simple reason of people having very high expectations. 

Progress on -- carbon emissions and managing ecosystems as the price of solar cells continues to come down: Carl Pope

There has been some progress in the past one year on carbon emissions and managing ecosystemas, as  the price of solar cells continues to come down.

Any rational projection of likely carbon emissions for the next decade is smaller, much smaller, than it would have been a year ago. Economics, not climate concern, is the reason. Coal is no longer the obvious low-cost electricity source. Coal power plant fleet all over the world  will be retired  sooner than later, because the plants are old, outmoded, and in need of billions of dollars in upgrades. With natural gas prices down and coal prices up, they're not worth the investment.

There is no price on carbon yet, but markets are acting as if there will be.   Globally, coal is looking less like the obvious choice for two reasons. There's not enough of it at the price people expected because coal reserves are not as easy to mine as once estimated.  And meanwhile, the price of solar cells continues to come down so that in many uses and locations solar is already competitive with new coal because it doesn't require the same transmission investments -- and complete grid parity seems likely in the next decade. 

And now let's look at ecosystems. Deforestation is responsible for 20 percent of CO2 emissions globally. And while global dialogue on fossil fuels has bogged down, truly hopeful progress has been made -- and may continue to be made -- on collective action to protect forests. There's considerable doubt that the current UN architecture for saving forests, called REDD, is the real answer, but Norway and Indonesia are well along the way toward a billion dollar deal that would set a model for the rest of us. If, of course, logging interests don't sabotage it. 

Brazil, historically the center of concern for deforestation, has been making major progress without any global partner. Deforestation rates are down almost half in the past year, and down 90 percent from the 2004 peak. Brazil is not alone. Indeed, seven major tropical forest countries (China, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, India and Vietnam) have made a transition from net deforestation to net reforestation. But here again there is a caveat. In six of the seven (India being the exception) the countries substituted imported wood, often illegally sourced, for the domestic logging they had halted.  

The facts on the ground are a good deal brighter than they were a year ago. 

Access to power is a basic human right

 India hopes to become the world’s third largest economy in less than three decades. The country has been witness to phenomenal growth in a relatively short span of time. The progress is clearly reflected in hundreds of millions of Indians rising out of abject poverty, and the country’s ever-burgeoning middle class. The largest in the world, the Indian middle class is expected to grow by over ten times to nearly 583 million by 2025. The economic surge will also make the rich richer; in less than two decades, 23 million Indians will number among the country’s wealthiest citizens.

The flip-side of this growth story is that most of this new wealth will be created in urban areas. Over the past two decades, annual real rural income per household in India has achieved  a  a slow growth rate of 2.8%. In the next two decades, this growth is likely  to change by a mere 1%. Almost 70% of the Indian population will have little benefit from India’s expected rapid GDP growth of  above 8%.

Mahatma Gandhi once said “poverty is the worst form of violence”. Approximately 30% of rural India lives below the poverty line. The Government and people need to join together to help bring the disadvantaged into the mainstream, and ensure that no one is denied their basic rights.

Access to power is a basic human right, and indeed the government has set laudable targets such as ‘Power for All’ by 2012, which aims at bringing light to the homes of 400 million Indians still living in the dark. The challenge here is to maintain the focus on providing for the 47% of the rural populace without electricity, and not just the middle class settled in the cities. This is a classic example of India’s urban-rural divide, and ensuring equitable access is critical to India’s growth story.

A democracy works best when the government and the private sector collaborate to achieve common goals. So, while the government develops the infrastructure and provides supportive policies, the private sector needs to innovate to make  business models more inclusive.

In India, the major cities are crowded and the infrastructure is stretched to the limits. But thousands flock to the cities everyday in search of work and this, in turn, increases the pressure on our cities, threatens our rural way of life and breaks up family units. Solar Power, however, comes up in the remotest parts of the country and it can empower the rural population to create better lives for themselves. This means they can have secure, decent, sustainable livelihoods and don’t add to the migration.

Challenges ahead in the coming decade

India  has achieved 9% growth rate during this decade, but that has not helped  hundreds of millions of Indians to come above poverty line.  India is actively lobbying the powers around the world to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to secure Peace and Security among countries in the world, but security is not guaranteed on the streets of India's towns and villages. Our Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry is working wonders in healthcare around the world, but a huge percentage of Indians have no access to basic medical facilities. India is producing thousands of Megawatts of electricity, but 90% of Indians have no access to electricity  and there are large number of dark corners in India where kerosene lamps provide light for children's studies during evenings.

We need to meet these challenges in the coming decade.  The tasks are enormous, but the resources are scattered. Let's unite to meet these challenges.

The leadership challenge today is to broadbase success by rapidly transforming agriculture and rural sector.

The principal task before leaders in government, business and civil society in the next decade is to broadbase India's Success Story. It is my firm belief that India will begin to see miracle growth if we can rapidly transform agriculture and the rural sector with enabling policies, infrastructure and institutional support, and empowerment of local communities. As I peer into the next decade, I see exciting new opportunities and also major new responsibilities beckoning India.

Mukesh Ambani

Solar products growth picking up

http://chakauti-rkant.blogspot.com/
A brave new world of gadgets is coming up with a new potential in solar energy. The way growth is picking up and venture capital investments are pouring in, solar products are something you need to watch out for.

There are large number of solar products on offer: iPod chargers, emergency lights, rice cookers, lanterns, water heaters, garden lights, AM/FM radios, rechargeable fans, power fences, water pumps, etc.

Though these gadgets cost more than their conventional counterparts.  But  the upfront price can be compensated in the money saved on electricity bills. Solar products will help you survive power cuts and also have low operating costs. On customary products one needs to pay a regular amount of electricity bill (electronic water heater is usually blamed for yielding soaring bills) whereas solar products involve a one-time installation cost, leading to the cost recovery in the near future.

"The costs are falling  due to plummeting price of solar modules,"  Solar experts and producers say.  Solar modules typically accounts for 50 per cent of a product cost and its price. Further due to increasing competition, prices have dipped to R80 to 100 per watt from R200 to 230 per watt in the past year.

Solar Power in India to increase from 5 MW to 1000 MW by 2013

India is prepared to generate 1,000 Megawatts (MW) of solar power by 2013, in the first phase of the new solar power projects under Jawaharlal Nehru  National Solar Mission. This programme will place India amongst the solar power harnessing nations,  like Germany, Spain and Japan. The project is being financed by Indian Renewable Energy  Development  Agency,Power  Finance Corp. & Rural Electrification Corp. 1300 MW  solar power production is planned, out of  which 500 MW will be photovoltaic energy, 500 MW  will  be solar thermal, 100 MW individual and 200 MW will be off-grid. Under this project, 50 percent of the power  will be generated through solar photovoltaic cells and the other half will by solar thermal power. Because of the amalgamation of technologies the overall cost of the generated electricity would be less in the future.  This  will reduce the rate if both are amalgamated and when you find out after amalgamation,  the price will come just you see about  four to five rupees. India  currently  produces less than 5 MW  of solar power every year.

Solar Energy: The remote possibility for relief in Power starved Bihar

http://saurshakti.blogspot.com/

Suffering in  Bihar 

As the mercury soars high, hand fan is the only way out  in the power-starved Bihar.   People   live in the lantern age there. Electricity in towns fails regularly. In villages, it is not there at all.

All towns districts and villages are hit badly due to  lack of power. If there is power at night, it is considered a gift for the very few who have electricity connections for a few hours. Protests  against power shortage are marked by attacks on Electricity offices resulting in more power cuts.

Bihar faces a deficit of more than 1,000-1,200 MW of power a day. Bihar faces a serious power crisis due to shortage of supply from the central grid.  Bihar produces 100-120 MW a day from its two thermal power units at Barauni in Begusarai and Kanti in Muzaffarpur district. The state is dependent on central grid for power. By conservative estimates, Bihar needs 2,200-2,500 MW of power a day but gets less than 900 MW from the central  pool despite a daily allocation of 1,646 MW.


Solar Energy
http://mnre.gov.in/pdf/jnnsm-g170610.pdf

Government's Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission announced in January 2010  aims at a quantum leap in solar power installation in the country targeting  20,000 megawatt (Mw) of solar power by 2022.  Investment proposals over Rs 1,00,000 crore have been received by the Government.  Huge incentives offered by the government are very attractive for  business houses as the opportunities coming up are  very  large.  Last year  the government received proposals worth over Rs 1.2 lakh crore under the Special Incentive Package Scheme from solar and photovoltaics (PV) manufacturers.

To make solar power attractive, project developers have been offered many fiscal incentives, including a 10-year tax holiday for photovoltaic (PV) and thermal solar plants set up by 2020, reduced customs duty and zero excise duty on specific capital equipment, critical materials and project imports, besides loans at cheap interest rates. As per the Generation Based Incentive (GBI) programme, the Government provides financial assistance of Rs 12 per unit in case of solar photovoltaic and Rs 10 per unit in case of solar thermal power fed to the electricity grid from a grid interactive solar power plant of a capacity of 1 MW and above for a period of 10 years.  Solar equipment makers also get incentives as per Special Incentive Package (SIP), for setting up integrated solar manufacturing plants.

There is enormous potential for off-grid PV deployment in India, based on real needs and benefits, in the areas of rural lighting and electrification, for powering irrigation pump sets, back up power generation for the expanding network of cellular towers across the country, captive power generation, urban applications and highway lighting,

Solar energy utilization has just started in India, with less than 10 MW of installed capacity, though the total generation capacity is huge, 1,60,000 MW and the Mission wants to tap 20,000 MW.  The hopes are high, but  questions behind these hopes are no less. 


The basic fundamental question remains:
lack of effectiveness and efficiency of the Mission at the hands of the greedy and profit mongering elements amongst the Governments, Contractors and Business Promoter communities which have so far kept Bihar inhabitable for the past 63 years.  The lack of effectiveness and efficiency of Governments and Contractors was conveyed by the Director(RE) in the Ministry of Power of the Government of India  on August 10, 2007 in the following words : 

" This has reference to your e-mail to Secretary, Ministry of Power regarding electrification of your home villages Chakauti in Sitamarhi district.
(http://chakauti-rkant.blogspot.com/)

The matter has been got checked up. GOI has launched Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana for electrification of un-electrfied villages, intensive electrification of electrified villages and to provide free connections to BPL families. A project under the scheme has been sanctioned for the district Sitamarhi also. Chakauti village was not included under the project by the state for electrification as it was declared as electrifed earlier. However, during detailed survey during implementation of the sanctioned project, it was found that the village has got de-electrified. A supplementary project has been prepared to cover the village.

The RGGVY was for X Plan only. The proposal for continuation of the Scheme for XI Plan is under consideration of the Govt. The supplementary project will be sanctioned after approval of the scheme.

Best regards.

Yours sincerly

Director (RE)
Ministry of Power" 

The fact is that the village was never electrified, and there was no question of its getting de-electrified; no home has been electrified in Chakauti so far. Whatever "done  or undone" was only in the government's records.

   

BRIC Summit Resolution on Energy April 15, 2010

Energy 

19. We recognize that energy is an essential resource for improving the standard of living of our peoples and that access to energy is of paramount importance to economic growth with equity and social inclusion. We will aim to develop cleaner, more affordable and sustainable energy systems, to promote access to energy and energy efficient technologies and practices in all sectors. We will aim to diversify our energy mix by increasing, where appropriate, the contribution of renewable energy sources, and will encourage the cleaner, more efficient use of fossil fuels and other fuels. In this regard, we reiterate our support to the international cooperation in the field of energy efficiency.

 

20. We recognize the potential of new, emerging, and environmentally friendly technologies for diversifying energy mix and the creation of jobs. In this regard we will encourage, as appropriate, the sustainable development, production and use of biofuels.  In accordance with national priorities, we will work together to facilitate the use of renewable energy, through international cooperation and the sharing of experiences on renewable energy, including biofuels technologies and policies.

 

Additional wind power in two years in India

India will add about 9000 MW of wind power generation capacity. The country today has an installed capacity of 4,907 MW. Power generated from wind costs about Rs 3.56 per unit.
 

9,000 MW to be added by PVT. Sector in next two years

The  government announced that  the private sector will generate 9000 MW in the next two years. Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde informed Rajya Sabha that the contribution of private sector in additional generation has gone up from 4 per cent to 18 per cent since 1999.  Seven more ultra mega power projects  will come up besides the five originally planned.  Two of these projects have already begun generation. The Govt. aims at synchronising the power grids of South India from North Indian grids in 18 months. Members demanded increase in electricity generation to meet the huge shortfall of 16,000 MW.

Solar Energy : Economic Necessity for Indian Villages

Solar Panels for Rural Use

Manmohan : Solar lanterns to be promoted

Solar lanterns to be promoted across the country. In the backdrop of rising crude prices and concerns over climate change, Dr. Singh was chairing the meeting of the Energy Coordination Committee. The Centre would promote the use of solar lanterns across the country, he said. The meeting decided that in rural areas grid connectivity be explored for solar energy. Villages should have access to both conventional and non-conventional sources. Committee members stressed that kerosene lanterns be replaced with solar lanterns on account of India's import dependence on crude, the high fiscal subsidy for kerosene and the environmental benefits of solar energy.

Japanese Model of Energy Efficient Buildings

Solar Photovoltaic Energy in Buildings


Japanese housing manufacturers characterise their industrialised houses enhancing their sales with green features integrated into their products in response to the society's increasing demand for the environment-friendliness. Since 1994, the Japanese government had implemented a series of residential PV incentive program until the end of 2005. Today, the housing manufacturers tend to install a PV system as a standard feature rather than merely an option and particularly, the roof of the industrialised housing is well furnished with the PV panels instead of traditional roof shingles or clay tiles, which are called Kawara. Sekisui Chemical uses 5 ft. x 3 ft. (152.4 cm x 91.4 cm) 205-watt crystalline custom-framed modules manufactured by Sharp. The typical size of their building integrated PV systems is 4.2 kW and generates 4,200 kWh per year in Nagoya. Misawa Homes uses multicrystalline modules from a number of manufacturers, e.g. MSK, Kobe Steel and BP-Solar. Sanyo uses their 190-watt high efficiency HIT modules (half c-Si and half a- Si) that are produced in-house; thus, the use of its own PV modules may make the production of PV solar housing more efficient. PanaHome uses crystalline Kyocera PV modules, which typical size of system is 3 kW, which is also being applied to their PV solar community developments. Panahome offers a 10 year-warranty on the PV system (modules and inverter) like other PV housing competitors in Japan and a 25 year-warranty on modules alone.

Net metering and time zone contract

Japanese housing manufacturers mostly locate the solar photovoltaic (PV) power generating system on the rooftop, either tilted or flat. The manufacturers often recommend an active use of all electric homes equipped with PV systems that benefit from the net metering and the time zone contract which are already being put in effect in Japan. Users can sell the surplus electricity generated by PV systems to an electric power company of the region. Based on the time zone contract, Japanese power companies buy the surplus electricity in unit of kWh from users at a higher price estimated at approx. 26 JPY/kWh ($0.25 CAD/kWh) in the day time and sell electricity to users at approx. 6 JPY/kWh ($0.06 CAD/kWh) at night.

Costs

Sekisui Chemical Co. is successfully producing "Net Zero Utility Cost Housing"; in which the users can enjoy the economical benefit from the installation of an induction heating (IH) cooking heater, CO2 heat pump (Eco-Cute) and a PV system. The cost of the 1 kW PV system is estimated at ¥ 490 000 (CAD$ 4 760). The payback period is considered to be 16 years where actual design life is about 30 years or more. In Japan, the average size of a PV system is 3.8 kW.

Sekisui Chemical claims that the cost of their rooftop PV system is 20 to 30% lower than those of other competitors in Japan, because this housing manufacturer is able to negotiate lower PV components costs through large PV purchases with Sharp (PV manufacturer). The installation cost of a PV roof system that is installed after construction of a house, is usually 40 to 50% of the total rooftop PV system cost. However, Sekisui Chemical can reduce the cost to only 20% because of their in-factory completion. The company explains that PV modules are installed inside the factory before the shipment. Sekisui Chemical Company produces about 4 500 new houses equipped with a PV system annually: about 1/3 of their customers select a house equipped with a PV system, a relatively higher ratio compared with 1 to 2% of the national average in Japan. This may indicate that the Japanese housing manufacturers’ cost-performance marketing strategy1 is effective in increasing the sales of PV solar homes.

Sanyo is manufacturing HIT PV panels, a hybrid technology using a blend of amorphous and crystalline silicon: their PV performances are claimed to be 20 to 30% above their competitors. Sanyo Homes benefit from this Sanyo subsidiary.



1 Japanese housing manufacturers attempt to educate their clients to appreciate the distinguishing features of their high-cost and high-performance (i.e. high "cost-performance") housing, in which a wide variety of amenities are installed as standard equipment rather than options.

Building integration approaches

Most manufacturers offer a variety of PV panel dimensions which are usually integrated on South facing sloping roofs. Sekisui Chemical installs Sharp 205-watt modules that are fixed to tailored black frames and sealed to the roofing by making use of a "quick connect" device. Misawa also designs roofs that are entirely composed of PV panels and occasionally, openable windows are seamlessly integrated into the PV rooftop.

Power export metering/Net metering

Power export metering
Many electricity customers are installing their own electricity generating equipment, whether for reasons of economy or environmental reasons. When a customer is generating more electricity than required for his own use, the surplus may be exported back to the power grid. Customers that generate back into the "grid" usually must have special equipment and/or safety devices to protect the grid components (as well as the customer's own) in case of faults (electrical short circuits) or maintenance of the grid (say voltage potential on a downed line going into an exporting customers facility).

This exported energy may be accounted for in the simplest case by the meter running backwards during periods of net export, thus reducing the customer's recorded energy usage by the amount exported. This in effect results in the customer being paid for his/her exports at the full retail price of electricity. Unless equipped with a detent or equivalent, a standard meter will accurately record power flow in each direction by simply running backwards when power is exported. Such meters are no longer legal in the UK but instead a meter capable of separately measuring imported and exported energy is required. Where allowed by law, utilities maintain a profitable margin between the price of energy delivered to the consumer and the rate credited for consumer-generated energy that flows back to the grid. Lately, upload sources typically originate from renewable sources (e.g., wind turbines, photovoltaic cells), or gas or steam turbines, which are often found in cogeneration systems. Another potential upload source that has been proposed is plug-in hybrid car batteries (vehicle-to-grid power systems). This requires a "smart grid," which includes meters that measure electricity via communication networks that require remote control and give customers timing and pricing options. Vehicle-to-grid systems could be installed at workplace parking lots and garages and at park and rides and could help drivers charge their batteries at home at night when off-peak power prices are cheaper, and receive bill crediting for selling excess electricity back to the grid during high-demand hours.


Net metering

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with North America and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page.

Net metering is an electricity policy for consumers who own (generally small) renewable energy facilities, such as wind, solar power or home fuel cells. "Net", in this context, is used in the sense of meaning "what remains after deductions" — in this case, the deduction of any energy outflows from metered energy inflows. Under net metering, a system owner receives retail credit for at least a portion of the electricity they generate. Most electricity meters accurately record in both directions, allowing a no-cost method of effectively banking excess electricity production for future credit. However, the rules vary significantly by country and possibly state/province; if net metering is available, if and how long you can keep your banked credits, and how much the credits are worth (retail/wholesale). Most net metering laws involve monthly roll over of kWh credits, a small monthly connection fee, require monthly payment of deficits (i.e. normal electric bill), and annual settlement of any residual credit. Unlike a Feed-in Tariff or time of use metering (TOU), net metering can be implemented solely as an accounting procedure, and requires no special metering, or even any prior arrangement or notification.[1]

Net Metering is generally a consumer-based renewable energy incentive. While it is important to have Net Metering available for any consumer that interconnects their renewable generator to the grid, this form of renewable incentive places the burdens of pioneering renewable energy primarily upon fragmented consumers. Often over-burdened energy agencies are not providing incentives on a consistent basis and it is difficult for individuals to negotiate with large institutions to recover their Net Metering credits and/or rebates for using renewable energy.
In the U.S.A., as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, under Sec. 1251, all public electric utilities are now required to make available upon request net metering to their customers.

[2]: ‘‘(11) NET METERING.—Each electric utility shall make available upon request net metering service to any electric consumer that the electric utility serves. For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘net metering service’ means service to an electric consumer under which electric energy generated by that electric consumer from an eligible on-site generating facility and delivered to the local distribution facilities may be used to offset electric energy provided by the electric utility to the electric consumer during the applicable billing period.

In Canada, some Canadian provinces have net metering programs.
The United Kingdom government is reluctant to introduce the net metering principle because of complications in paying and refunding the value added tax that is payable on electricity, but pilot projects are underway in some areas.

Time of use metering
Further information: Smart meter
Time of use (TOU) net metering employs a specialized reversible smart (electric) meter that is programmed to determine electricity usage any time during the day. Time-of-use allows utility rates and charges to be assessed based on when the electricity was used (ie, day/night and seasonal rates). Typically the production cost of electricity is highest during the daytime peak usage period, and low during the night, when usage is low. Time of use metering is a significant issue for renewable-energy sources, since, for example, solar power systems tend to produce energy during the daytime peak-price period, and produce little or no power during the night period, when price is low.

Market rate net metering
Further information: Vehicle-to-grid
In market rate net metering systems the user's energy use is priced dynamically according to some function of wholesale electric prices. The users' meters are programmed remotely to calculate the value and are read remotely. Net metering applies such variable pricing to excess power produced by a qualifying systems.

Market rate metering systems will be implemented in California starting in 2006 and under the terms of California's net metering rules will be applicable to qualifying photovoltaic and wind systems. Under California law the payback for surplus electricity sent to the grid must be equal to the (variable, in this case) price charged at that time. It can never be negative, meaning you cannot make money from selling the electricity back. If you generate more electricity than you use then over a period of a month you will be billed zero and not make any money, in effect you give away your extra energy if you do not use it.

Net metering enables small systems to result in zero annual net cost to the consumer provided that the consumer is able to shift demand loads to a lower price time, such as by chilling water at a low cost time for later use in air conditioning, or by charging a battery electric vehicle during off-peak times, while the electricity generated at peak demand time can be sent to the grid rather than used locally (see Vehicle-to-grid). No credit is given for annual surplus production.

Australia
Main article: Feed-in tariffs in Australia
Australia's "feed-in tariff" is actually net metering, except that it pays monthly for net generation at a higher rate than retail, with Environment Victoria Campaigns Director Mark Wakeham calling it a "fake feed-in tariff".[3] A feed-in tariff requires a separate meter, and pays for all local generation at a preferential rate, while net metering requires only one meter. The financial differences are very substantial.

Victoria
From 2009, householders will be paid 60 cents for every excess kilowatt hour of energy fed back into the state electricity grid. This is around four times the current retail price for electricity.

Queensland
Commencing in 2008, the Solar Bonus Scheme pays 44 cents for every excess kilowatt hour of energy fed back into the state electricity grid. This is around three times the current retail price for electricity.

Canada
Ontario

Ontario allows net metering for up to 500 kW, however credits can only be carried for 12 consecutive months. Should a consumer establish a credit where they generate more than they consume for 8 months and use up the credits in the 10th month then the 12 month period begins again from the date that the next credit is shown on an invoice. Any unused credits remaining at the end of 12 consecutive months of a consumer being in a credit situation are cleared at the end of that billing.[4]

British Columbia
Areas of British Columbia serviced by BC Hydro are allowed net metering for up to 50 kW. At each annual anniversary the customer is paid 8.16 cents / kWh if there is a net export of power. Systems over 50 kW are covered under the Standard Offer Program.[5] FortisBC which serves an area in South Central BC is currently studying the implementation of net-metering.[6] The City of New Westminster which has its own electrical utility does not currently allow net-metering.

United States
Several bills are pending that require utilities to provide net metering. They range from H.R. 729 which allows up to 2% net metering to H.R. 1945 which has no limit, but does limit residential users to 10 kW, a low limit compared to New Jersey and Colorado's 2 MW limit, the two states with laws most favorable to consumers in 2007.[7] By March, 2009 only six states did not allow net metering, and seventeen plus Washington D.C. have no limit on the number of subscribers using net metering. Only two, Arizona and Ohio, have no limit on the power limit for each subscriber (see table).

California
Consumer Net Metering is available in California and is presumed to be highly favorable to smaller systems that displace the highest cost electricity, and systems wherein the user's demand load may be managed so that there is a net production of electricity during high cost periods. This can be done, for example, by chilling water during off-peak times for air conditioning use during high demand periods, or by pre-cooling the thermal mass of the building during low cost periods.
A hiccup has occurred in California legislation (SB1 - 2006), in that new (after Jan. 1, 2007) residential solar systems are singled out to be billed on TOU schedules, and at least one utility (Southern California Edison (SCE)) has rate structures which are punitive to the solar customer, particularly for smaller systems that cannot keep up with peak demands. This faulty legislation created a disincentive to new solar installations, and/or windfall profits to SCE. This has since been remedied through legislation.

Colorado
No limit on enrollment, system size is limited to 2 MW, excess is credited to customer's next bill; utility pays customer at end of calendar year for excess kWh credits at the average hourly incremental cost for that year.[8]

Florida
Passed by Florida Public Service Commission 4 March 2008, system size is limited to 2 MW, with compensation up to the account's electrical consumption as trued up at end of calendar year. Excess production is not compensated.

Kansas
Kansas does not have a consumer Net Metering incentive, but does have a renewable metering incentive on the wholesale level that provides the wholesale commerce of renewable energy at 150% of the avoided cost. Thus, the incentive one receives in this case is dependent not upon the price ofelectricity per kWh, but upon the price of wholesale electricity.
The Kansas Solar Electric Co~operatives [K-SEC] was founded January 2005 by Eileen M. Smith, M.Arch. VITAE as a non-profit and non-competitive renewable electricity cooperative. K-SEC Phase I Demonstration is structured around Kansas House Bill 2018 passed in 2003 by Kansas Representative Tom Sloan. See Kansas Statutes Annotated Chapter 17-4661 and 17-4655

The K-SEC program has the goal of installing 1,000 MWp building-integrated photo voltaic [BI-PV] solar electricity by 2018. This translates to approximately 100,000,000 sq ft (9,300,000 m2) of BI-PV solar roofing or one million sqft BI-PV roofing in 100 of the 105 counties of Kansas. This will require 70,000 to 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) BI-PV per county per year for ten years. K-SEC will not sell the solar systems, but they are going to lease consumer rooftops in exchange for a high-tech battery back-up system for fifty years. K-SEC will manufacture, install, monitor, maintain and sell the electricity wholesale. K-SEC will provide numerous job opportunities to rural and urban Kansas communities from manufacturing to solar system design, installation, maintenance, monitoring and electricity sells.

The foundational structure for the K-SEC Program is the Kansas Solar Electric Buildings Registry and GIS Database. A list is being compiled of Kansas homes and buildings that have unshaded roofing surface that could accommodate 100 sq ft (9.3 m2) to 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m2) of BI-PV solar materials. The rooftops must have south to southwest facing or flat rooftops.

The K-SEC Program is important for Kansas where 72.5% of the electricity Kansas presently consumes is generated by coal-fired power plants. In 2004 and 2005 projects totaling a 55% increase in coal-fired power plants were proposed in Kansas.

New Jersey
No limit on enrollment, system size is limited to 2 MW, excess is credited to customer's next bill at retail rate; purchased by utility at avoided-cost rate at end of 12-month billing cycle.[10]

North Carolina
In North Carolina initial net metering rules were put in place in 2005 to prohibit systems that include backup battery power, but due to consumer feedback the restriction was lifted in July 2006.

Texas
Residential
In Texas' deregulated electricity market, credit for electricity exported to the grid is awarded at the discretion of the Retail Electric Provider (REP), the company responsible for the retail sale of electricity to end-use customers.[11] Green Mountain Energy offers to purchase up to 500kwh per month at full retail rate with additional outflow compensated at 50%.[12] Austin Energy buys back exported energy at the "current fuel charge" and participants in the GreenChoice program are compensated at the Green Power rate of charge.
Commercial

The limit on system size is 100 kW for qualifying facilities; 50 kW for renewables. The treatment of net excess is purchased by utility for a given billing period at avoided-cost rate. It applies only to all integrated IOUs (Investor Owned Utilities) that have not unbundled in accordance with Public Utility Regulatory Act § 39.05; does not apply to municipal utilities, river authorities and electric cooperatives [14].

Net purchase and sale
Net purchase and sale is a different method of providing power to the electricity grid that does not offer the price symmetry of net metering, making this system a lot less profitable for home users of small renewable energy systems.

Under this arrangement, two uni-directional meters are installed—one records electricity drawn from the grid, and the other records excess electricity generated and fed back into the grid. The user pays retail rate for the electricity they use, and the power provider purchases their excess generation at its avoided cost (wholesale rate). There may be a significant difference between the retail rate the user pays and the power provider's avoided cost.[]

Germany and Spain, on the other hand, have adopted a price schedule, or Feed-in Tariff (FIT), whereby customers get paid for any electricity they generate from renewable energy on their premises. The actual electricity being generated is counted on a separate meter, not just the surplus they feed back to the grid. In Germany, for the solar power generated, a feed-in tariff of somewhat more than 2 times the retail rate per kWh for residential customers is being paid in order to boost solar power (figure from 2009). Wind energy, in contrast, only receives around a half of the domestic retail rate, because the German system pays what each source costs (including a reasonable profit margin).

Related technology
Sources that produce direct current, such as solar panels must be coupled with an electrical inverter to convert the output to alternating current, for use with conventional appliances. The phase of the outgoing power must be synchronized with the grid, and a mechanism must be included to disconnect the feed in the event of grid failure. This is for safety - for example, workers repairing downed power lines must be protected from "downstream" sources, in addition to being disconnected from the main "upstream" distribution grid.