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Archive for Tennessee

LightWave expands into north Alabama and southern Middle Tennessee.

LightWave Solar, Tennessee’s largest solar contractor, has announced their expansion into north Alabama and southern Middle Tennessee.

Michael E. Kelley will represent the company in the area, pursuing commercial, industrial and large-scale solar projects. Kelley brings more than 20 years of technology-oriented sales, marketing and corporate communications experience.
Founded in 2006 with offices in Nashville, Johnson City and Memphis, LightWave Solar has installed nearly 350 solar installations to-date. LightWave Solar provides turn-key solar PV systems for homes, businesses, municipalities and non-profits across the Mid-South.

original article

Solar Summit to Explore Past and Future of Solar Power in Tennessee

A UT group is partnering with the US Department of Energy and statewide leaders to explore the growing field of solar energy.

UT’s SunShot Initiative Rooftop Solar Challenge is sponsoring the Tennessee Solar Summit in Chattanooga on Wednesday and Thursday, April 10 and 11. The conference will be held at the Sheraton Read House.

The goal of the conference is to educate attendees about the past and future of solar energy in Tennessee. It will include several speakers and breakout sessions. Breakout sessions will include historic zoning and land issues, impact of solar energy on property appraisals, large-scale solar installations, and unique case studies.

“Attendees will meet the diverse group of solar stakeholders we have in Tennessee and form new partnerships to keep the momentum going in moving solar power forward in our state,” said Bruce Tonn, principal investigator for UT’s Rooftop Solar Challenge grant at the Howard Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy.

original article

Citigroup: How solar module prices could fall to 25c/watt

Energy analysts at global investment bank Citigroup suggest that the cost of solar PV modules could fall beyond most expectations in coming years – and reach a cost of just 25c a watt by 2020. The US Department of Energy, for instance, says its Solar Sunshot program aims to get the cost of solar PV down to $1/watt by 2020 (50c/W for the modules, the rest in balance of systems costs) – a situation that would deliver energy at a levelised cost of around $60/MWh, making it cheaper than new coal and gas-fired generation.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance makes a similar forecast. Greentech Media recently lowered its forecast for solar modules to 42c/W by 2015. On the other hand, Australia’s official government forecaster, The Bureau of Resource and Energy Economics, suggests that the starting point is higher than most current estimates, and predicts solar PV will not fall much below $140/MWh by 2020, and then make little progress over the following decade.

Citigroup’s report paints a very different picture in the two scenarios painted by the Citi team led by Jason Channell.

Notice of Funding Availability for the Rural Energy for America Program

The Renewable Energy for America Program (REAP) Grant & Guaranteed Loan Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) published this morning. The program sets up an April 30, 2013 deadline for submission of REAP Grants and July 15, 2013 deadline for submission of REAP Guaranteed Loan.

Complete applications should be submitted to the Business Programs Specialist in the Area Office serving the County in which the project is located. A map of our Area Offices and their respective areas can be found at the following link, click on the map of Tennessee to find the applicable office:

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/TN-Contacts.html

Application material may be found online at the following link:

http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/TN-Energy.html

The NOFA is attached in this email and indicates that the program will have $10.4 Million available Nationally for REAP Grants and $43.4 Million for REAP Guaranteed Loans. At this time we do not know what Tennessee’s allocation level will be.

Competition will be very intense with limited funds this year. Please contact the Business Programs Specialist in the applicable Area Office for further information. Please share this
e-mail with any interested parties.

Best Regards,
Will
Will Dodson | Energy Coordinator
Business & Energy Programs
Rural Development – Tennessee State Office
U.S. Department of Agriculture
3322 West End Avenue, Ste. 300 | Nashville, TN 37203
Phone: 615-783-1350 | Fax: 615-783-1395
www.rurdev.usda.gov/tn

Nominate an expert to the TVA board — Are you kidding?

personal note: I would have never guessed that our U.S. Senators would oppose the nomination of one of this country’s most outstanding expert in the area of money saving energy efficiency. Why?? I ask each of our readers to let their two senators hear their opinion as the Brown nomination

Our Tennessee senators don’t like whom our president is trying to reappoint to the Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors: an expert on energy issues. Dr. Marilyn Brown, a Georgia Tech professor and former research administrator at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory with a long list of work and research mostly ending in “energy efficiency,” has been re-nominated by President Obama to a term on the TVA board after she’d been vetoed here at home back in January.

The nomination, sent to Capitol Hill Thursday night, comes more than two months after Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker used Senate procedures to block Obama’s previous attempt to appoint her to a six-year term.

Brown, who came to the board in 2010 to fill out the a vacated term and served through the end of 2012, is widely recognized for her expertise in energy efficiency and other “sustainable” energy policies. She teaches in Georgia Tech’s School of Public Policy after formerly working for the Department of Energy at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“This is another example of the Obama White House not listening,” Alexander said in a statement Friday.

“I told the White House in advance that the TVA board needs a nominee with a better understanding of the relationship between low electricity rates and better jobs in the Tennessee Valley. The Senate now has the responsibility to exercise its constitutional role of advice and consent on the nominee.”

Corker was even more critical.

“TVA needs leaders who enthusiastically support the mission of producing economical electricity and have an abiding appreciation of its important economic development role and impact on the well-being of Valley residents,” he said.

“Unfortunately, during my discussions with Dr. Brown, it was clear she does not share that point of view.”

original article here and Sundog Blog

LETTER: Elected officials must promote clean energy laws

Judging by the recent layoffs at Hemlock, it would seem that the Chinese clean energy industry is an unstoppable juggernaut.
However, a new report by the Pew Charitable Trusts shows that US companies held a $1.6 billion dollar surplus in clean energy trade with China in 2011.
While the layoffs are disheartening, statistics show America’s clean energy market is stronger than ever. In fact, Tennessee is at the forefront of the clean energy economy in the United States.
Examples in Tennessee range from electric vehicle manufacturing at Nissan North America Headquarters to the recent launch of a solar farm at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga.
As more companies tap in to the clean energy economy, it is vital that our elected officials promote laws to help America stay in the lead.

Investments in research and innovation, encouraging domestic demand and supporting overseas sales are all vital to success. Now, more than ever, it is up to Senators Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander to lead to promote clean energy measures for our state and our nation.
America cannot afford to come in second place.

JOE SCHILLER

Clarksville, 37044

originally published by Leaf Chronicle

Larisa Brass: State’s solar strategists’ hopes not dimmed for industry

Tennessee’s solar industry appeared ready to shine when two of the world’s largest companies involved in the manufacture of photovoltaic panels announced plans to invest billions in the state.

Four years later, global economics and local policy have raised questions about the brightness of the alternative energy’s future.

Hemlock Semiconductor and Wacker Chemie have both delayed their production for the polysilicon used to make solar panels. Hemlock laid off 300 employees at its $1.2 billion plant in Clarksville, Tenn. before production began, while Wacker Chemie has slowed construction of its Cleveland, Tenn., plant with an eye towards postponing its opening until 2015.

In Georgia, following a state-mandated, 50-megawatt pilot project, the utility has chosen to develop 260 additional megawatts of solar power, which will be purchased at no additional cost to customers and reflects the energy source’s increasing affordability.
Volkswagen invested in solar energy because of its environmental commitment, not to save money right away, says Guenther Scherelis, the company’s Chattanooga spokesman.

The 33-acre installation helped Volkswagen become the first automotive plant in the world to achieve the U.S. Building Council’s LEED Platinum certification.

“Sustainability is one of our core values of the group,” Scherelis says. “We assume that in the long-term, energy prices will go up.”

Matt Kisber says changes in state incentives, a potential property tax increase for solar installations and cutbacks in TVA programs promoting renewable energy have made solar development in Tennessee more difficult. “My sense is companies want to locate and do business in states and communities where they feel appreciated and wanted,” he says. “The state needs to have policies that support their activities. … Georgia has taken our place (in developing solar as a power source). And they’re doing it for economic development objectives. There are a number of other Southeastern states that are actively recruiting (solar manufacturers).”

original article

Peak Solar completes a 100Kw Solar Energy Kit in Knoxville Tennessee

PeakSolar.com is proud to announce the completion of two 50KKw solar energy system in Knoxville Tennessee. These solar kits will provide enough green power to the two office buildings that are housed on them. Payback for the systems will be 5~7 year due to TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) incentive programs and 30% tax benefit from the federal government.
PeakSolar.com is a regional expert in solar development and engineering as well as a leading supplier of Photovoltaic components and solar kits. Providing turnkey PV systems for residential, commercial and industrial applications. Peak Solar has developed systems from the home consumer to corporate energy development parks.
website for PeakSolar

Let Our Legislators Know If You Think the President’s Energy Security Proposal is a Good One

International Association of Electrical Inspectors Tennessee Solar PV Workshop