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<ul><li>The <keyword id="103658" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Central-Electricity-Regulatory-Commission">Central Electricity Regulatory Commission</keyword> (<keyword id="6624175" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="CERN">CERN</keyword>) has allowed 5.4 GW solar power project by Bhadla Solar Power, to get its safeguard duty back. </li><li>After the ruling, solar power producer will be compensated by law and will not have to wait for it for a year like the Bhadla park developer. </li><li>After safeguard duty was imposed, returns from solar power projects shrunk by 12-15%. </li></ul> Solar power producers will make more money now by the central power regulator, paving the way for more clean energy projects to take shape. The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERN) has allowed 5.4 GW solar power project by Bhadla Solar Power, to get its safeguard duty back. This move will add to gains to the tune of 1.9-2.2% of the equity returns---basically the promoters and shareholders will make more profits. “Apart from benefiting affected projects, the reimbursement order provides much-needed clarity by emphasising a definite timeline for payments, and gives preference to the one-time payment mechanism,” said <keyword id="7854483" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ankit-hakhu">Ankit Hakhu</keyword>, Associate Director, <keyword id="6359483" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Crisil">CRISIL</keyword> Ratings. A report by CRISIL said that after the ruling, solar power producer will be compensated by law and will not have to wait for it for a year like the Bhadla park developer. The CERN ruling also directed Solar Energy Corporation of India and electricity distribution companies of <keyword id="6355588" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="rajasthan">Rajasthan</keyword> to compensate the developer of the Bhadla solar park project. The Duty Effect The order can change the way safeguard duty will affect solar power industry, since it was imposed in 2018. The move had shrunk solar power gains by 12-15%. “The safeguard duty had increased the cost of the solar projects by about 15% because the solar modules used in the projects were largely imported from China and this amounted to 60% of the total project cost,” the report said. CERN has classified the reimbursement of safeguard duty under ‘Change in law’ provision in the Bhadla solar park project. The duty had increased the cost of the solar projects by about 15% because the solar modules used in the projects were largely imported from China. And this amounted to 60% of the total project cost. “Continuing interest of solar project developers is a function of how much gets left on the table,” said <keyword id="94933" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manish-Gupta">Manish Gupta</keyword>, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings.

Solar power to get more profitable as power regulator lightens the safeguard duty burden

Sourcing energy for the myriad power needs of a humongous country of more than 1.2 billion people (accounting for more than 17 % of the world’s population) has been a key part of Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>’s recent visits to foreign countries. 
 Soon after assuming power, Modi visited <keyword id="6356598" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bhutan">Bhutan</keyword> where he pushed for speeding up hydroelectric plants under construction (three projects totalling 3,000 MW are underway and will be operational within three years) with <keyword id="44734" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Government">Indian government</keyword> funding. This was followed by a visit to <keyword id="12266" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nepal">Nepal</keyword> where Modi inked a pact build a $1.04-billion 900 MW hydroelectric plant that will start producing energy by 2020 and export three-quarters of its output to India. Later, during his US visit, Modi facilitated the signing of a $1-billion loan agreement between the US Ex-Im Bank and India’s renewable energy agency, <keyword id="391336" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="IREDA">IREDA</keyword>, which will fund sourcing of US equipment for solar projects in India. This was followed by an agreement with Australia to expedite approvals for investment in key mining projects and arrangements to implement the civil nuclear agreement signed in September that will try to make sure the supply of Australian uranium for India’s nuclear energy programme. 
 All these efforts point to one concern: if India has to leapfrog to emerge as one of the top economic powers in the world, it should first stand on its feet in terms of power supply. This is where the Modi regime’s focus on renewable energy comes into play. In an effort to reduce the dependence on coal, the <keyword id="6360789" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Modi-Government">Modi government</keyword> plans to more than double the share of renewables such as solar and wind in the mix of fuels the country consumes. and expects the share of renewables to account for 15 % of India’s energy supply (up from 6% currently) in five years during which it will try to attract more than $100 billion of investment for the industry. One must note, this compared with the coal sector that currently caters to 60 per cent of the country’s electricity requirement—the reason why India ranks fourth behind China, the US and the EU in global greenhouse gas emissions. 
 
Also, faltering railroad projects, rising transport costs and ineffective production have contributed to driving up the country's reliance on imported coal from Indonesia and South Africa. In fact, the country's coal import dependency surged from zero in 1990 to nearly 23% in 2012. 
 After assuming power in May, the Modi government announced its aims to develop an adequate amount of <keyword id="70990" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Solar-power">solar power</keyword> by 2019 to run at least one light bulb in every home in the country as the demand of energy is projected to double over 20 years. 
 According to <keyword id="1005434" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="power-and-energy-minister">power and energy minister</keyword>, Piyush Goyal, the government plans to go “far beyond’’ the previous UPA government’s target of installing 20,000 megawatts of <keyword id="6357019" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="solar-energy">solar energy</keyword> capacity by 2022 and add about half of India's current total installed capacity (10,000 megawatts of capacity to the sector every year). 
 
However, even with a significant boost in renewable energy, the country may find it difficult to reduce dependence on coal. 
 
Concerns about the risks to migratory birds including flamingos that winter at the wetlands nearby have proved to be a bottleneck in going ahead with plans for a 4,000-megawatt project in the midst of the Thar Desert, the world's largest solar power plant. 
 
While the first Budget presented by finance minister Arun Jaitley talked a lot about renewable energy, it increased funding to alternative sources of energy by just 25% compared to the allocation made by the previous UPA regime, which is abysmally low according to a section of analysts who say the country needs a 10-fold increase in investment in reviewable energy. 
 
Also, even if one assumes that the government will hit the target in terms to production of renewable energy, it would require huge extra investment in power stations and power lines for power distribution. 
 As such Modi’s government may have to tweak its policy of depending on mega <keyword id="188239" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="alternative-energy">alternative energy</keyword> projects and unleash innovation by incorporating a clutch of smaller but smarter ways of augmenting capacity. For instance, setting up photovoltaic panels on millions of residential rooftops. 
Image: thinkstock

Modi’s Energy Policy: Why Tapping Into Alternative Energy Sources Is Critical

One of the prominent challenges of the 21st century is how to make aviation sustainability a reality in the face of the industrys high global footprints. In this modern world, transportation by air has become a necessary evil as more and more people and industries rely on it, creating a dilemma between economy and environment. The aviation sector, if it were a country, would be one of the top 10 carbon polluting nations in the world. To put that in perspective, the top 10 countries together emit more than two-thirds of all carbon emitted each year. It is also one of the highest and fastest growing sources of individual emissions. A single international trip taken by one person emits more carbon than someone living in <keyword id="100686" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="paraguay" source="Orion">Paraguay</keyword> for a year. Ground operations, mainly performed at the airport form a major aspect of the sector. Airports act as the interface between landside access to airspace and the airside access to the ground. Further, airports are not just transport hubs anymore, they are full-fledged industrial hubs, becoming bustling centres of businesses, hotels and other transport connectivity. It is no surprise that areas in and around airports are fast developing and expanding, now being referred to as 'airport metropolises'. This is fast becoming a problem as the amount of emissions from ground operations is researched to be as deadly, if not more as it tends to have an added and more direct impact on the local air quality. Creating sustainable airports, therefore, becomes essential to creating a more sustainable aviation sector. A big contribution in this direction comes from <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>. The <keyword id="750722" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="cochin-international-airport" source="Orion">Cochin International Airport</keyword> became the first 'green airport' in the world, for which it was awarded the Champions of Earth award 2018, United Nations' highest environmental honour. The airport fully operates on solar power, which meets all its electricity requirements. This is no small feat as the <keyword id="6412822" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="cochin" source="Orion">Cochin</keyword> airport stands to be one of the most important airports for not just India but the rest of the world. It is the largest airport in the state of Kerala and the seventh largest in India in terms of passenger traffic. It has one of the longest runways, measuring up to 3.4 km, equipped to handle the largest of aircrafts. It is also the first ever airport in India to be developed under Public-Private Partnership. Installing the first solar photovoltaic power station plant on the rooftop of the Arrival Terminal Block way back in 2013 turned out to be trendsetter. Since then, it has not looked back, adding several more solar power units to maximise energy production and produce enough for all its needs. A sum total of Rs 7 crore was spent on the solar power units, which might already have been recovered from the massive saving of Rs 7-8 lakh per month on electricity bills. In fact, most recent news on the Cochin International Airport Ltd (<keyword id="6379525" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="cial" source="Orion">CIAL</keyword>) confirmed that it has become power surplus, having achieved power neutrality way back in 2015. This means, CIAL now has a negative carbon footprint. Rather than adding to the global carbon emission, it is making a significant contribution in off-setting emissions done elsewhere. It is also now the second-largest energy producer in the Indian state of Kerala after the State Electricity Board (KSEB). CIAL has a culture of cost-effectiveness. The entire construction of Cochin airport can be considered a marvel given the low-cost of mere Rs 303 crore at which it was constructed. This sense of cost consciousness is probably what motivated the sustainability drive. Becoming energy positive might be the most important of its achievements but it by no means is the only. The airport is also engaged in scalable agro-photovoltaic activities, putting to efficient utilisation the vacant spaces between the solar panels within the CIAL solar plant, which has by far produced close to 90 metric tons of pesticide-free vegetables. This is largely in line with the Indian government's general push in the direction of organic and zero budget natural farming. The solar project pioneered by managing director <keyword id="14842718" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vattavayalil-joseph-kurian" source="Orion">Vattavayalil Joseph Kurian</keyword> has motivated CIAL to take up several more solar and hydropower projects in the rest of the state. Since the success of the Cochin International Airport, the government of India has every airport in the country to produce at least 2 MW of solar energy. Despite having a large population leading to a low per capita GDP when compared to the global powers, India has engaged itself proactively in global environmental initiatives, being on track with its international commitments, and coming up with several great initiatives of its own, the International Solar Alliance being one of its major initiatives. In a world where the global climate action is witnessing a stagnation, India's environmental leadership is inducing hope for a better and sustainable future. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/byd-auto-pips-tesla-to-become-top-selling-ev-brand-globally/articleshow/93857196.cms">BYD Auto pips Tesla to become top-selling EV brand globally</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/upcoming-new-cars-and-suv-in-india-in-september-2022/slidelist/93856836.cms">Upcoming cars launching in India in September 2022</a>

Cochin International Airport: India's champion in sustainable energy

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Feature China / Barcroft Images / Barcroft Media via Getty ImagesXinyi photo-voltaic power station on August 21, 2016 in Songxi, China.</div></div></div><ul><li>The world added more solar power capacity than fossil fuels in 2017, a sign of the sector's strength.</li><li>The sector attracted $160.8 billion in investment in 2017.</li><li>China was the biggest investor in renewable energy in 2017, sinking $126.6 billion into the industry, a 30% increase over 2016. </li></ul>The world added more solar power capacity than any other type of energy in 2017, outpacing all fossil fuels, according to <a href="http://fs-unep-centre.org/sites/default/files/publications/gtr2018v2.pdf">a new report</a> from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).In 2017, solar energy attracted $160.8 billion in investment in 2017, an 18% increase over 2016. Renewable energy, including wind, hydro, and solar, supplied a record 12% of the world's energy needs, according to the report. Global investment in renewable energy held steady over last year, with over $200 billion invested. China was the biggest contributor, sinking $126.6 billion alone into the sector, a 30% increase over 2016, according to the report. Since 2004, the world has invested over $2.9 trillion into renewable energy.The chart below shows net capacity growth for different electricity sources, factoring in power plant closures. Coal was <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/global-solar-capacity-grew-faster-than-fossil-fuels-2017-report">the hardest hit</a>, according to Carbon Brief:<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Shayanne Gal/ Business Insider</div></div></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-happens-when-swallow-chewing-gum-stomach-2018-3">Here's what happens in your body when you swallow gum</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

There's new evidence that fossil fuels are getting crushed in the ongoing energy battle against renewables

Getty ImagesA worker cleans solar panels at a solar photovoltaic power station which is currently under construction on November 3, 2008 in Xining of Qinghai Province, China.From <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pittsburgh-paris-agreement-trump-renewable-energy-2017-6">Pittsburgh</a> to <a href="http://www.energy-cities.eu/IMG/pdf/publi_100pourcent_final-web_en.pdf">Frankfurt</a>, cities around the world are pledging to stop burning fossil fuels for electricity by 2050 or sooner.But the Chinese province of Qinghai has already reached that goal, according to news outlet <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-06/25/c_136393766.htm">Xinhua</a>. For seven days - from June 17 to 23 - the region ran on 100% renewable energy, including solar, wind, and hydropower.The week was part of a trial conducted by the State Grid Corporation of China, which aims to test the viability of relying on renewables long-term. During that time, the Qinghai province generated 1.1 billion kilowatt hours of energy for over 5.6 million residents. That's equal to burning 535,000 tons of coal.Hydropower contributed to approximately 72% of the electricity generated during the seven days, Xinhua News <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-06/25/c_136393766.htm">said</a>. As of May 2017, Qinghai's power grid had a total installed capacity of 23.4 million kilowatts, with around 82% of that capacity made up of solar, wind, and hydro sources. By 2020, the province plans to expand its clean energy capacity to 35 million kilowatts, which could supply 110 billion kWh of renewable energy annually. Nationwide, China hopes to produce 20% of its electricity from clean sources by 2030. Despite the recent <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/solar-power-chart-projections-2017-6">rapid growth</a> of clean energy, wind power accounted for just 4% and solar for about 1% of China's electricity in 2016, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/19/china-builds-worlds-biggest-solar-farm-in-journey-to-become-green-superpower">according to</a> The Guardian.Qinghai is not the first place to run on 100% renewable power. Tokelau, a set of three tiny islands between Hawaii and New Zealand, <a href="http://www.go100percent.org/cms/index.php?id=91&amp;id=92&amp;tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=180&amp;tx_locator_pi1%5BstartLat%5D=-14.87670135&amp;tx_locator_pi1%5BstartLon%5D=3.70347235&amp;cHash=784f71c6824a0cf05b6475d6b023b22e">replaced</a> its diesel energy system with one that uses solar in 2012. And Costa Rica <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/costa-rica-energy-100-percent-renewable-electricity-2016-9">ran on 100% clean energy</a> for 285 days in 2015, and <a href="http://mashable.com/2017/01/01/costa-rica-renewable-energy-2016/#XTrbG1XJbOq8">on 98% renewables</a> for 250 days in 2016. Austria's largest state also currently gets <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/06/all-electricity-in-austrias-largest-state-now-produced-from-renewables">all of its energy needs </a>from solar, wind, and hydropower.These efforts signal that a power grid that doesn't rely on fossil fuels is possible for other cities, too. <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-tesla-solar-roof-2017-3">Tesla will begin selling its Solar Roof this year - here's everything you need to know</a></h3> Please enable Javascript to watch this video

An entire region of China just ran on 100% renewable energy for 7 days

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><a href="http://www.highcorkett.com/listing/1301-dolphin-terrace/#">Highcorkett.com</a>A solar paneled house</div></div></div>FORTY-FIVE minutes west of Las Vegas, dejected sinners may encounter a sight to lift their sunken hearts: a sea of 347,000 mirrors, reflecting the rays of the desert sun on to boilers mounted on three 460-foot towers. 
The Ivanpah solar-thermal plant (pictured), which opened in mid-February, is the largest of its kind in the world. Fully ramped up, it will deliver around 377 megawatts (MW) of power to 140,000 homes in southern California. 
Its backers compare it to the nearby Hoover Dam; an astronaut claims to have spotted it from the international space station. It is a striking sight, even if the heat from its heliostats has roasted dozens of unfortunate birds alive.
Its backers compare it to the nearby Hoover Dam. Last year it represented 29% of new electricity capacity, behind only natural gas at 46%. Solar output has more than doubled during Barack Obama's time in office; GTM, a research firm, reckons it will grow another 26% in 2014. The Department of Energy wants solar to provide 27% of America's electricity by 2050, up from less than 1% today.
Though dazzling, Ivanpah and large plants like it will not generate much of this growth. The federal loan guarantees that allowed their creation have expired. More important are photovoltaic solar cells, a rival technology that converts sunlight directly to electricity.
Their cost has fallen so quickly that in many places retail electricity customers are saving money by placing panels on top of their houses or businesses; 200,000 have done so in the past two years. And there is a lot of room to grow. "There's no market saturation in any state; not even close," says Lyndon Rive of SolarCity, a solar-installation firm. Even David Crane, the boss of NRG, co-owner of Ivanpah, says that photovoltaic installations are the future.
Last year sun-soaked California accounted for over half of America's new photovoltaic installations. That, say solar fans, shows that the sector can thrive even after it loses its subsidies. (The $2.2 billion California Solar Initiative, which gave cash to homes or firms that went solar, has largely expired.) Solar is also blossoming in unexpected places like Massachusetts and North Carolina.
A bigger test will come in 2017, when the federal government's solar-investment tax credit drops from 30% to 10% (unless Mr Obama can convince Congress otherwise). Still, says Shayle Kann at GTM, this will be no "death knell"; it will simply eliminate some marginal projects. And by then there may be a revival of Ivanpah-style solar-thermal plants, as energy-storage technologies improve and utility firms look to them to provide steady power throughout the day.
Yet even if solar power is a boon to consumers, it threatens some utilities. Energy has traditionally been generated centrally, distributed over power lines and sold to consumers. Distributed solar power--generated from rooftop panels--undermines that model. The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), a trade group, warns that distributed generation could do to energy companies what the internet did to newspapers.
<h3>Bet your bottom dollar</h3>
Regulations are adapting to this shift: all but seven states have adopted net-metering policies, which credit solar-enabled homes and businesses for the excess energy they feed back into the grid. At least 22 states allow consumers to buy the electricity produced by solar panels that a third party installs on their homes. This lets people take advantage of solar's savings without having to pay the hefty up-front installation costs. In 2013, third-party-owned systems accounted for most solar installations in California, Arizona, Colorado and Massachusetts.
Some utilities grumble that customers who benefit from net metering escape the costs of maintaining the grid they depend on. Last year Arizona Public Service, the state's biggest electric firm, urged regulators to slash the savings that new solar customers would derive from net metering. After a fierce campaign their call was rejected, though the regulator approved a small solar surcharge. Georgia Power also proposed a fat tariff; it too was defeated.
Julia Hamm of the Solar Electric Power Association identifies three ways regulators could help utilities cope with these changes. First, they could demand monthly infrastructure fees from solar users. Second, they could list every component of value separately rather than wrapping the cost of infrastructure maintenance, for instance, into usage charges. Third, they could split energy used and consumed into separate transactions, meaning that a solar customer sells all his energy to a utility before buying what he needs.
Yet those last two proposals leave unanswered the question of what rate utilities should pay customers for their power--or more broadly, what the price of solar, with all externalities factored in, ought to be. And more battles loom; California's regulator must make an important decision on net metering this month. Further ahead the growth of distributed solar will pose other threats to the utilities' traditional business model. "Net metering is just the pointy edge of the wedge," says Adam Browning of Vote Solar, an advocacy group.
Still, while user-generated solar power makes utilities skittish, many have rushed to embrace it on the supply side. In 2013 they installed roughly 4,100MW of solar capacity, up from 2,390MW in 2012. Renewable portfolio standards, which in 30 states force utilities to generate a certain share of their electricity from clean sources, are part of the reason. But so is hard economics: low installation and labour costs, clean power delivery at peak midday hours and a hedge against fuel-price volatility.
Many of these gains have already been banked. Photovoltaic modules have become slightly dearer lately; costs will rise further if the Commerce Department heeds protectionist calls by some domestic manufacturers and expands tariffs on imports from China and Taiwan. Yet solar firms are not short of ideas to cut costs elsewhere: third-party financing, for example, or securitising pools of solar leases to reduce financing costs. For makers and users of solar power, the future looks bright.
Click <a href="https://subscriptions.economist.com/nwcd">here</a> to subscribe to The Economist

Why The Future Of Solar Is Bright Despite Subsidy Cuts

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Elon Musk and Tesla Energy recently introduced a new home battery system. It is, in theory, pretty revolutionary.It stores solar power such that a home can run on solar power all the time, even when it is cloudy or dark outside.But in practice it's still in the early stages, it's really expensive (around $9,000 all-in), and there likely won't be enough economic incentive to make it really worth using for the vast majority of people.From CNBC's <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102654345">story on the announcement</a>:In places like California, where there are generous incentives for installing renewable power, a homeowner could save about $2 a day, meaning the system pays for itself in four to six years, said Mark Duvall, director of energy utilization at the Electric Power Research Institute, who's based in the northern California town of Half Moon Bay. In most of the rest of the country, the payoff would be longer because government incentives to go solar are smaller. Initial demand is huge, but analyst reactions have been mixed.Credit Suisse's auto research team noted that reservations for stationary energy storage went "bananas out of the gate," but didn't say much about a long term view. Deutsche Bank's auto research team is bullish: Investors should come away from TSLA's call with increased confidence in the prospects for Tesla Energy. Interestingly, Tesla indicated they have been overwhelmed with ~38,000 residential reservations and ~2,500 commercial reservations for Tesla Stationary Storage Systems in just the first week since Tesla Energy was announced. However, DB also pointed out that, "though residential storage is already economically attractive in certain locations (i.e. Australia, Germany, Hawaii), the company acknowledged that most of the initial residential demand will come from customers seeking environmental benefits and/or grid independence." This may change, however, as utility companies respond to lower demand and the cost of batteries starts to decline.Bank of America Merrill Lynch's auto analysts aren't so positive, saying, "we believe the market for stationary storage will remain small over the foreseeable future, with intense competition resulting in a low margin profile for most players, including Tesla."But what about the longer term implications?John Aziz took that on <a href="http://azizonomics.com/2015/05/05/tesla-the-new-economics-of-the-coming-renewable-energy-boom/">this week on his blog</a>. He thinks this is a huge, world-changing new technology. But it is in very early stages, and it's too soon to tell where the market is going to go:This, in my view, is the furnace to power the next fifty or a hundred years of soaring mid-20th century style economic growth. This is the beginning of an energy-driven economic supercycle - which takes us from the era of handheld computing to the era of building asteroid mining space stations and extraterrestrial colonies and maybe even interstellar spacecraft. It's the main reason why I switched from bearish to bullish in 2013. But what I really want to know is how to make money out of this trend. If photovoltaic cells and batteries are the new crude oil, coal, gasoline and natural gas (etc), does that mean Musk's firms (Tesla, SolarCity, SpaceX, etc) are going to be the next Exxon-Mobil or Shell or Gazprom?Maybe. But I'd tend to see renewable energy and emerging tech index funds as a slightly smarter bet. The trouble is that we're at a very early stage in the supercycle.Regardless, there's a lot of opportunity here. For someone. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/use-tesla-supercharger-station-darien-connecticut-2015-5">Here's what really happens at a Tesla Supercharger station</a></h3> <div> <div> <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="ZieHI3aTqIkmR2mAWCf25jx4dLBfnctg" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div> </div> </div> </div>

Home battery systems will be an energy revolution - but maybe not for Tesla

The <keyword id="6354868" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="UK">UK</keyword>'s renewable energy sector is quietly booming and much of the gains are being driven by a single technology - solar panels.
Back in 2006 only 4.6% of the UK's electricity was generated from renewable sources. That compared unfavourably to a European average of 14%.
With countries in the European Union setting a target of&#xa0;20% of energy consumption coming from renewable sources by 2020 (although the UK government is targeting a more modest 15% share) it looked like the UK was lagging some way behind. But a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/386837/6_Renewables.pdf">report released by the UK government</a> shows that the prospects for the sector are quickly improving.
Firstly, the UK's embarrassingly low share of renewable energy is showing signs of significant improvement. Renewables' share of electricity generation increased from 13.6% in 2013 Q3 to 17.8% in 2014 Q3. To put that into context, the figure was below 8% in the first quarter of 2011.

A big part of the gains in recent years have come from two sources in particular - bio-energy and solar.
Output from bioenergy has surged by 31% since 2013, predominantly due to the conversion of two of&#xa0;Drax power station's six generation units from burning&#xa0;coal to sustainable wood pellets. Conversion of a third unit is planned in the near future.
However, the stand-out story of the past few years has been the rise and rise of solar. As the report states:
"Solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity was the largest contributor to the increase on a year earlier, increasing by 1.9 gigawatts [equal to one billion watts], with the majority of this coming from large-scale schemes."

While those figures are encouraging, there is still a great deal of potential yet to be exploited. An <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/80246/11-02-13_UK_Renewable_Energy_Roadmap_Update_FINAL_DRAFT.pdf">analysis undertaken by the government in 2012</a> suggested that by 2020 solar panels could potentially produce as much as 20 gigawatts of electricity - an amount that would almost double the total current output from the sector.
Although that represents the maximum potential it nevertheless is indicative of the possibilities that are opening up from developments in solar. In particular, technological advances have made solar panels much more efficient than ever before. This has meant that over the past decade the cost of solar energy has plummeted by over 50%.

Falling oil prices may take concerns about the cost of relying on fossil fuels off the political agenda for the time being, but the need for cheaper, renewable energy to meet future demand is a story that will not go away for long. The data shows that the prospects for achieving it are looking much more promising.

Britain's Renewable Energy Sector Is Surging - Mostly Thanks To Solar

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>PUT your foot down in a Tesla Model S and the experience is rather different to other cars. The usual exhaust roar is replaced by a hushed whooshing sound as the car accelerates rapidly--and relentlessly--thanks to the high torque of an electric motor making gear changes unnecessary because there is no gearbox. And inside, instead of multiple dials and switches, a large touchscreen dominates the centre console. Established carmakers have tended to make modest electric vehicles, usually small ones to eke out the range available from their pricey batteries. But it was Tesla, a Silicon Valley startup, which realised that many early adopters of new technologies are likely to be well heeled and would prefer a large high-performance saloon that is both luxurious and extremely high-tech.
Why did Tesla act differently? For a start, it does not think of itself as a carmaker. "I see us more as an energy-innovation company," says Jeffrey "JB" Straubel, the firm's chief technology officer, and one of the co-founders of Tesla, along with Elon Musk, the chief executive. "If we can reduce energy-storage prices, it's the most important thing we can do to make electric vehicles more prevalent," says Mr Straubel. "Add in renewable power and I have a direct line of sight towards an entire economy that doesn't need fossil fuels and doesn't need to pay more to do it."
Mr Straubel's captivation with energy storage is understandable. He is cagey about the exact cost of the lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery pack powering the Model S, but it is believed to represent around a quarter of the $70,000 starting price of the basic version. A smaller car, the Model 3, is due in 2017. Although the new car will have some self-driving features like the Model S, it is aimed more at the mass-market. But to hit the Model 3's expected price of around $35,000, Mr Straubel now needs to reduce the cost of his battery packs by at least a third.
The best way to do that and to meet expected demand, Mr Straubel believes, is for Tesla to make its own batteries. And to make them big time. This is why he and Mr Musk are gambling on building a $5 billion "gigafactory" in Nevada in a joint venture with Panasonic, a Japanese battery supplier. By 2020 the gigafactory is set to produce as many Li-ion batteries as the entire world used this year.
The determination to act boldly and independently has worked for Mr Straubel in the past. When researching a charging system for the Model S he rejected existing industry standards because they delivered too little power. And instead of waiting for an agreement with other carmakers for a universal recharging plug, he designed his own proprietary connector. The company's Superchargers, which provide free recharging in public locations to Tesla owners, can top up a battery to about 80% of capacity in 40 minutes. These now comprise the largest fast-charging network in the world.
Mr Straubel also takes a different view on the batteries themselves. Whereas most manufacturers of electric vehicles have opted for large-format batteries, both the Model S and its predecessor, the Tesla Roadster, are powered by around 7,000 individual Li-ion cells. The Roadster's were originally the standard Li-ion cells widely used in industry and found in devices such as laptop computers. For the Model S, however, the cells have been significantly redesigned. Mounted inside a battery pack, the cells are interconnected and interwoven with liquid cooling systems to prevent fires in the event of an accident (damage resulting in short circuits and faulty charging can cause Li-ion batteries to burst into flame).
<h3>The electric Porsche</h3>
Teslas were always going to be unique. Mr Straubel, who is 38, made his first full-sized electric vehicle 14 years ago (a golf cart which he resurrected at the age of 14 doesn't count). This was a 1984 Porsche 944 fitted with twin electric motors and 380kg of old-fashioned lead-acid batteries: a weighty proposition, but one that went on to become the fastest electric car in the world at a drag-racing event in California.
"I love immersive experiences where you're engaged with the thing that you're engineering. If you are driving, riding or flying it, it's even more exciting and fun," says Mr Straubel, who holds a private pilot's licence. After graduating with a master's degree in energy engineering from Stanford University, he worked with Harold Rosen (the designer of the first geosynchronous satellite) on a novel hybrid-drive system for cars. This used a turbine to generate electricity and a fast-moving flywheel to store and release kinetic energy when needed. Although the innovative combination worked, it was a leap too far for conservative carmakers, which declined to invest in it. Nevertheless, the pair licensed the technology to a company that makes flywheels for commercial vehicles. Mr Straubel and Mr Rosen went on to build a hydrogen-powered electric engine for aircraft, which was subsequently licensed to Boeing.
It was then that Mr Straubel met Mr Musk, a freshly minted multimillionaire from the sale of his PayPal digital-payments company to eBay. "One lunch was the beginning of what eventually became Tesla," says Mr Straubel. "We spent most of the meal talking about electric aeroplanes. But as we were wrapping up, I said I was working on a fun crazy project with cars, trying to build a lithium-ion battery pack that could last 1,000 miles."
That dream is still some way off. The Model 3 is likely to have a range of 322km (200 miles) compared with the 440km claimed for a top-of-the-line Model S. But with Tesla intending to sell ten times as many Model 3s, the need for a reliable battery supplier is paramount. Hence the gigafactory. Tesla will have to innovate in battery chemistry and manufacturing techniques even as it ramps up production. Although the new cells are likely to remain small, their exact specifications are still undecided.
Mr Straubel insists that this strategy is less risky than it might seem. He notes that Model S cells today are produced on equipment very similar to that used for the Roadster cells almost ten years ago, even though the energy from the cells has increased by half and their chemistry has changed substantially. The Roadster cells used cobalt oxide as a cathode whereas the Model S uses a nickel-cobalt-aluminium oxide. The difference, says Mr Straubel, is a much improved energy density, a longer lifetime and a higher operating temperature (which means less cooling is required). Besides the chemistry, Tesla is also developing other new features for the batteries.
The idea is that, benefiting from economies of scale, the gigafactory's cells will be significantly cheaper than those from more established manufacturers. "Over the next ten years, it's going to change to the point where we're focused on production to meet the world's energy-storage needs rather than waiting for a cost reduction from a radical change in battery technology," says Mr Straubel.
Not everyone agrees. A report by Lux Research, a firm of technology analysts, has predicted that the gigafactory will bring about only a modest cut in battery costs and suffer more than 50% overcapacity. "Most other companies do not believe that battery volume will grow as fast as it's going to," Mr Straubel counters. "They don't understand the tight linkage between cost and volume. We're at this crossing-point where a small reduction in cost is going to result in a ridiculously big increase in volume, because the auto industry is so big."
Not all the cells made by the gigafactory are destined for vehicles. Some will end up in the company's Superchargers, allowing Tesla to cope with sudden bursts of demand should multiple vehicles need to recharge at once. Others will be used at Tesla's assembly plants to store energy when it is cheap, typically at night, and release it when the price rises.
<h3>Keeping the lights on</h3>
The use of batteries to store renewable power (see "Printing electronics: Chips off the old block") may provide Tesla with its biggest opportunity in the years ahead. The potential is huge, says Mr Straubel. "The economics in many cases have already crossed a threshold where battery packs can effectively store renewables on a very big scale." The main problem with renewable-power sources, such as wind or solar, is that the wind does not always blow or the sun shine when demand for electricity is high. This requires utility companies to maintain additional power stations, usually running on fossil fuels, to meet the shortfall. Batteries, however, could store the power from renewables when it is generated and release it when needed.
Around 1,000 households in California already have a Tesla battery pack installed alongside photovoltaic panels leased from Solar City, another company owned by Mr Musk. The battery packs allow householders to run appliances if the power goes out or switch when electricity prices are high. But they are also designed to maximise the return from "net metering" rules that allow residential customers to sell excess energy to utilities.
Tesla's residential batteries have been plagued by interconnection problems with utilities and are not being adopted as swiftly as Mr Straubel had hoped. "Utilities tend to be very conservative by nature," he says. Nevertheless, Mr Straubel thinks that favourable economics will persuade utilities of the benefits.
As batteries improve in terms of safety and the amount of energy they can store, this will allow new electrically powered products to be produced, reckons Mr Straubel, returning to another of his interests: "In the foreseeable future, electric aeroplanes become an interesting and pretty compelling proposition." A variety of small electric aircraft have been built in America, China and Europe. Airbus recently set up a subsidiary in France to build a two-seater pilot-training aircraft called the E-Fan. It is powered by electric motors driving a pair of ducted fans on either side of the rear fuselage. The European aerospace giant is also looking at the potential of building an electric helicopter and a 90-seat electrically powered passenger plane for short journeys.
A number of developments are under way which have the potential to boost the amount of energy a battery can store. For instance, a team at Stanford University is investigating enclosing the lithium-based anodes used by Li-ion batteries in a thin film of carbon "nanospheres". This would allow more lithium to be used safely in the anode (it is lithium's high chemical reactivity that puts the batteries at risk of catching fire). The coating, researchers think, would allow a Li-ion battery to hold about five times as much energy as those used today, weight-for-weight.
Such innovations are still at the laboratory stage and remain some way from commercial reality. In time, perhaps, even lithium may be replaced by more exotic new materials in batteries. "No one wishes we could come up with a technology that makes today's chemistry obsolete more than me," says Mr Straubel. "We could sell more cars at a lower price. But we're not waiting."
"One lunch was the beginning of what eventually became Tesla"
 
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