Solar panel costs are at an all time low. Material costs making up 30% – 60% of the cost of a solar installation. This means any significant increase or decrease in the cost of panels can significantly impact the overall installation costs of a project. I am all for American manufacturing and job creation, but we have to keep in mind, even though China dominates the panel assembly business, that America is still a net exporter of solar materials (we make ingots, frames, glass, and other materials that are used in panel assembly). If we raise the cost of solar panels by imposing a tariff there will be a ripple effect beyond fewer installations being completed. Fewer parts will be needed and companies that have aggressively expanded into the sector will scale back. This will cost jobs, lots of them!

Any benefit gained by American panel manufacturers by imposing a tariff will be offset by the jobs lost as a result of fewer installations. In other words the tariff is a bad idea.

Currently there is a lot of doom and gloom in financial circles around the clean tech industry. Solar is still a great investment. It’s nice to see that big venture capital guys like John Doerr of Kleiner Perkins agree. Doerr says, “There were 53 makers of personal computers. There are now three. At one point, there were 83 solar ventures around the world. They’re not all going to make it.” (source nytimes.com). Venture capitalists have a unique understanding of the old adage if at first you don’t succeed try and try again. It’s not uncommon for VC firms to have 19 investments that don’t work for every one that does. Let’s not forget, solar is one of the few industries where America still runs a surplus. If Solyndra does not recover it will be a loss (perhaps one worth avoiding)…but not a reason for the government and tax payers to sour on the entire industry.

While covering this story from the “tax payers stand to lose lots of money” angle the majority of media outlets missed the point. This was actually a calculated risk, that could still work! Jonathan Silver, Executive Director of the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office, said the loan guarantee program is needed to give U.S. companies the kind of low-cost financing that other nations are providing their renewable energy industries. For example, the China Development Bank is providing tens of billions of dollars in credit to that country’s largest solar panel manufacturers. ”This isn’t picking winners and losers,” Silver said. “It is helping ensure that we have winners here at all.”

Having just returned from a trip touring China’s solar manufacturing facilities, I have to agree with Mr. Silver. One need only look at the largest solar manufacturer in the world, SunTech (SunTech Power Holdings, on the NYSE as STP) to see how serious the Chinese government is about supporting solar. I toured the SunTech campus and it is both huge and technologically sophisticated. They employ thousands of people and make a quality product at a good price. The government has loans and grants with SunTech to the tune of billions of dollars. When the road gets bumpy for SunTech the government is there to help.

The question that no one is asking is why our government isn’t playing the same role? Yes, it is a bad investment to give a company half a billion dollars and then see them fail. But when major banks were in trouble the government deemed them “too big to fail” and stepped in with assistance. Same thing for American car manufacturers. Why not the solar industry? Perhaps we need to adjust this saying to “too important to fail”.

Why is the solar industry too important to fail…because solar energy is going to be a critical component of how America produces energy well into the future. The renewable energy sector will lead a robust American economy. Americans have a huge appetite for energy and thus energy production is essential to our economy. Our current energy mix is weighted heavily towards carbon intensive sources. We are awakening to the fact that this is unsustainable. It’s a good bet that solar energy will play a major role in future renewable energy production.

As to the questions of impropriety surrounding Solyndra’s loan guarantee several points need to be made. There have been accusations that the Obama administration knew Solyndra had a troubled balance sheet, yet still funded the project because of influence from a large political donor. There’s little indication that the administration knew Solyndra was headed for trouble. Although the DOE’s own investigator wrote an email stating, “Solyndra will run out of cash in September, 2011″, this prediction seems uncanny to the point of impossibility. It makes a lot more sense if this was one of many scenarios that DOE investigators modeled while evaluating the loan guarantee. Since congress has cherry picked bits and pieces of investigators’ reports, it is very hard for the public to get the full picture.

It’s clear the final decision on giving Solyndra a loan guarantee was a little rushed so the Obama administration could have a timely photo op. I despise this practice and it needs to be stopped, but there is no concrete evidence of undue influence, just a loose string of associations. There is no good reason to believe that, given more time, the loan guarantee would have been rejected.

Solar States’ Andrew Kennedy suggests the DOE form a review board and, again, act more like VCs. After an investment or guarantee is made, if the review board senses trouble they should intervene and insist on changes that will keep the company solvent or cut its losses in the best way possible. This strategy is a sensible adjustment to current practices.

Lastly, there is the issue of Solyndra’s intellectual property. Congressional hearings investigating the federal government’s loan guarantee to Solyndra are not asking the right questions. What happens should a Chinese company buy Solyndra’s intellectual property (IP) and hardware? Does America as a whole lose as a result? One scenario is the Chinese take their loot and, again with help from the government, turn it into successful products. Congress should be more concerned about keeping important IP in this country than trying to score political points.

As a solar energy provider I recognize the advantages of  Solyndra’s thin film wrapped tubes approach. Solyndra has developed an extremely light weight product that does not require screws or weight to hold it down. This means even the most sensitive roof can support a solar installation. Additionally, because of the round shape it can collect solar irradiation from any angle thereby simplifying installation by eliminating the need for a more complicated superstructure to support panels at a specific angle. There are numerous applications I have investigated where only Solyndra style products will work, assuming they are cost effective. The only question remaining is how to make it cheap enough. This is an issue that can be solved given more time and money. Hundreds of millions of dollars is a lot of money, but in comparison to what China and other countries are lending to their clean tech companies it is tiny. Clean tech innovations by their nature are capital intensive and take a long time to produce results. The government should be investing more money (not less), be patient while the technology matures, and have reasonable oversight in place to ensure success or cut the losses. And don’t be upset when some don’t pan out, that’s just part of the process.

P.S. Nothing like a congressional hearing for high drama. This clip follows the usual angry congressman and guilty looking guy sitting behind a table script. Except, I am usually mad at the guy sitting behind the table for evading or refusing to answer the congressman’s questions. Here the congressman looks a little frazzled and the guy behind the desk sounds pretty reasonable!

Recently, I traveled to China to tour the Renogy solar manufacturing facilites. Wow, it was truly an amazing experience! Wuxi is a small Chinese city of 5 million people (pretty crazy that 5 million people is a small city). There is growth happening at a breakneck pace. While I was there I got to see a recently expanded train station and the construction of a large new metro system that will serve the entire city. It seemed like the majority of downtown Wuxi was under construction with half built sky scrappers and large foundation holes all over the place.

The Renogy plant is located about 20 minutes outside of the city center. The plant is a sprawling campus of warehouse buildings. My tour guide, translator, and head of  Renogy marketing Annie did a masterful of taking me every building despite hot and rainy conditions. The moment I entered the compound I noticed that all of the light poles had solar panel AND wind turbines on them. What a great idea! Do both wind and solar energy production right on your light poles.

Each warehouse space had a specific function… from growing the silicon and forming it into ingots, laser cutting the wafers, wiring the wafers, assembling the the panels, and packing and shipping the panels Renogy does it all in house!

Renogy panels are UL listed and CHUB B insured making Renogy panels a bankable product. Check out the full line of Renogy panels. See pictures of the Renogy plant below.

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Traveling to Wuxi, China to tour the Renogy solar manufacturing plant was an amazing experience. Solar States is now the premier east coast distributer of Renogy panels.

This makes me very excited because I can now tell clients that I’ve seen the manufacturing process with my own eyes and can personally attest to the quality of the build. From growing silicon and forming ingots, to laser slicing wafers, wiring the wafers, and panel assembly Renogy is a vertically integrated manufacturer. This means I got to see the whole process, from start to finish, all at a single location. With over 500 mW of yearly production capacity Renogy is ready for solar installations large and small.

The Renogy campus is laid out over a few acres with a number of large warehouse buildings. Utilizing modern, European manufacturing equipment Renogy is clearly keeping up with the times. There is also plenty of room for expansion. Thank you to Yi Li and Mr. Du and his family for putting together a great trip. Check out the photo gallery below to see all of the details.

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From the second floor of his new office, entrepreneur Randy Schulz can gaze across the Delaware River; past the decommissioned Navy vessels and utility trucks of South Philadelphia’s Navy Yard, past the struggles of a local Philadelphia economy, all the way around the world to another economy in need of jobs, innovation and national unity. Schulz and partner Brett Goldman founded the American Israel Business Lab with the stated goal of helping Israeli firms found cleantech businesses here in the US, turn their innovations into profits and even bring jobs to the U.S.

The AIBL looks at Israel as a world leader in cleantech innovation. With wind farms, solar facilities, biofuel manufacturers and other national and local programs, Israel has a diverse energy portfolio. But even more varied than their energy industry is the young crop of entrepreneurs looking to make energy the global cause of a generation. AIBL wants to help.

“This is an opportunity for the Philadelphia region to position itself on a global stage and emerge as a center for clean technology,” Schulz told the Jewish Exponent newsletter. “We are essentially privatizing the business attraction function. It’s a good place to be, right now, in the private sector. It’s an emerging market.”

The AIBL’s opening gala gathered several cleantech entrepreneurs from England, Israel and the US to discuss issues from working with unions to finding investment capital. Solar States was there along with members of Oak Energy Partners and members of designer Marc Ecko’s Artists and Instigators Project.

As friends of Solar States, Schulz and Goldman visited the Crane Arts Building solar array in April and we spoke about the future of cleantech business ventures in Philadelphia. We wish them the very best on their new venture and hope to share many long gazes into the future with them, whether they are from a slip in South Philly or a rooftop in West Kensington.

First, Solar States is assisting with legislation that will allow solar installers to defer some of the cost pertaining to electrical permits until up to a year after the solar install is complete.  Solar installs require a lot of up-front costs, so deferring some of those costs until after the system is on and working will make life a lot easier.

Second, we are crafting legislation to create a solar loan fund to assist with financing solar installations inside of the city borders. The devil is in the details and we are working hard to ensure a fair and positive result. We will post updates in our blog as the legislation moves forward. Our goal is to bring the legislation to a vote in city council by September/October 2011. We are very excited about creating jobs and clean, green energy right here in Philly!

Solar States Would Like to Thank

Councilman Kenney – The Councilman has been a leader in green energy in the city of Philadelphia. Recently, the Councilman was on hand to launch the Water Department’s new solar power plant.

Sarah Sachdev – Councilman Kenney’s chief of staff. Sarah’s knowledge and understanding of the issues at play is invaluable.

Andrew Kennedy - Andrew is an impressive Drexel MBA candidate who is working with Solar States to ensure the legislation is well crafted and cost neutral/positive for the city of Philadelphia.

According to the EPA, On-Site energy usage and generation are the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly ways to power your home or business. Solar States has been working to cover rooftops across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and beyond with clean, green solar energy, diversifying state energy portfolios, saving businesses thousands per year and making the world a little cleaner. And, because our arrays come with no upfront costs, your business is guaranteed to save money.

Call us today at (215) 901-3262 or use the form below and let us show you how we can save your business thousands per year with clean, green solar energy.

From outdated government buildings to government land, state legislatures have many assets that can be used to provide point-of-use solar energy. By providing competitive returns with no upfront costs and partnerships with educational programs, Solar States believes we have a winning recipe for any state government. Call your local congressman and tell him to go with the energy generation company that provides the most jobs and the best return on your tax dollars. We hope we can count on your vote.

View photos of the Crane Building roof

See the completed project!

Array Description
Solar States’ photovoltaic array atop the 20,000 square foot roof of the Crane Arts Building has a nameplate capacity of 81.5kW.  The array consists of a total of 444 Schuco MDE modules (222 MPE180s and 224 MPE185s).  Each module is connected to an Enphase D380 microinverter.  The D380 contains two DC inputs thus two panels are connected to each microinverter.  A total of 15 microinverters are connected in one string.  All strings are connected together in an AC combiner box located on the roof of the building.

Mounting and Racks
Modlues and microinverters were mounted on the roof using Schuco ezFlatroof 2.0 mounting systems.  The modular mounts and racks provide great flexibility in configuration and expansion.  The systems included pans to hold ballasting materials (concrete block).

Why microinverters? 
The choice of individual microinverters over a traditional large inverter was driven by several factors.  1) Performance is no longer limited by the lowest performing panel in the string; 2) A mixture of panels can be used with mis-matching not impacting performance; 3) Inverter failure will only impact an individual module no the whole installation; 4) These micronverters allow performance tracking on a panel-by-panel basis.  On a cost basis, the entire installation was equivalent to previous estimates of similar nameplate using larger inverters.

Are you interested in learning more about the Solar States PPA model?

We have the experience to get the job done no matter the size of the roof.

*SREC profit sharing not available in all areas