News & Articles on Solar Energy
While I have primarily worked with wind energy, I have long been a proponent of renewable energy in the broadest sense. This includes solar energy. My work in Canada, especially Ontario, stressed inclusion of solar energy because it had been previously overlooked. At one time Ontario was one of the leading jurisdictions in North America developing solar photovoltaics due in part to the programs I and others pushed. The political winds changed and these policies were abandoned and with it Ontario’s progress toward a renewable energy future.
Solar Cost Calculator Using Chabot-BSi-Rate Methods
By
Paul Gipe
The following spreadsheet calculator is a work in progress. The workbook, or notebook in Corel terminology, contains three spreadsheets: BSi Calculator, Chabot PI Method, and Rate Calculation. The calculator determines the price or tariff per kWh necessary to arrive at the financial targets given.
Italy Launches New Solar PV Feed–In Tariffs Among the Highest in Europe
By
Paul Gipe
According to a recent article in Sun & Wind Energy (2/2007), Italy has launched new feed-in tariffs for Solar PV. The new tariffs replace a complex and bureaucratic system of net metering and feed-in tariff incentives.
German Solar Rate of Return 2006
By
Paul Gipe
The following chart from New Energy’s 1/2007 issue (page 48) shows the profitability of solar PV installations in Germany in 2006.
Fesa B31 Solar Bürgerbeteiligung (Investment)
By
Paul Gipe
Fesa’s B31 Solar PV project went into service in mid 2006. The 365 kW project was financed by Fesa as a solar bürgerbeteiligung or investment fund.
Solar PV OPA RetScreen Calculation
By
Paul Gipe
When announcing the Standard Offer Program, the Ontario Power Authority provided a simple RetScreen spreadsheet to calculate simple payback on solar PV.
Ecovision’s Stuttgart School Solar PV Funds
By
Paul Gipe
Ecovision, a developer of solar investment funds in Freiburg, created an investment vehicle to install solar PV systems on the roof tops of several schools in Stuttgart.
Solar Hot Water Systems Tariff Calculation
By
Paul Gipe
The following spreadsheet calculator is a work in progress. The calculator determines the price or tariff per kWh(thermal) necessary to arrive at the financial targets given for a solar hot water system.
German Solar PV Interconnection Procedure
By
Paul Gipe
The following is a rough translation of the German interconnection procedure for small solar PV systems from a flyer produced by Novotech.
