It”™s been almost a year since The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC) was formed by a group of business people in Ulster County, with the goal of building a solar energy industry in the region. So what has it actually accomplished so far, and what has it learned? TSEC president Vince Cozzolino and vice president of R&D John Harrington provided attendees at the Hudson Center for Innovation”™s Jan. 23 breakfast with an update.
According to Cozzolino, TSEC”™s focus has shifted from the region to the entire state. “We”™re pushing for jobs growth and when we talk about renewable energy, we want New York to have a share,” said Cozzolino. “Our vision is to attract companies in the solar business and build products for the New York marketplace and beyond.”
Cozzolino said TSEC has begun getting the help from elected officials it needs to get off the ground. He praised the county for recently providing operating funds. So far, TSEC has garnered several million dollars in federal appropriations, thanks to the efforts of U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, who has been a supporter of the initiative from the beginning.
Harrington, who recently retired as the dean of sciences at SUNY New Paltz, said with petroleum becoming scarce in the next 20 years and the nation transitioning to alternative fuels, TSEC”™s timing is propitious. Much needs to be done to make solar a viable alternative. “There are lots of technical and engineering problems associated with solar energy,” said Harrington. He said that New York”™s wealth of universities makes it the ideal breeding ground for R&D projects aimed at overcoming these barriers.
Harrington said qualms about New York”™s climate as a barrier to establishing a solar energy industry are misplaced. Germany has more photovoltaic installations than anywhere else in the world, though it gets three to four times less solar radiation than New York. Japan, which also gets less sunlight than many other nations, is the other leading producer of solar panels. The U.S. has lagged behind in utilizing the systems, though it “leads the world with 56 percent of the development activity in R&D in solar,” Harrington said. “We”™re leading the charge but are not the ones who want to use it.”
TSEC”™s goals are to double the efficiency and halve the cost of photovoltaic systems, simplify the installation and develop building-integrated PV for urban settings, particularly in New York City, he said. Â
Currently incentives from the New York State Research Development Authority reduce the cost of a PV installation by about half, with the purchaser recouping the cost in five to 10 years. “We want to make it more self sustaining,” Harrington said.
The state also needs to change its net metering policy, which provides “only a small window” for PV system users to sell power from the systems back to the grid, according to the consortium. TSEC plans to “have a serious dialog with Con Ed to understand the infrastructure of the grid,” which the utility says could be damaged when receiving power from PV systems.
Another issue is the shortage of silicon, most of which is imported from China. Eighty-six percent of the solar energy market is based on silicon. Harrington said the production of thin films that utilize composite material is cheaper, but not as efficient as the silicon cells. The development of new photoelectric chemical materials, based on nano-crystals, is a promising alternative, although researchers don”™t yet know how long or well such materials will hold up over time, he said.
Harrington said there were several favorable signs the state and region are moving forward in promoting renewable energy: the appropriation of $295 million in state funds by the governor in 2007 for the development of alternative fuels; the goal of having 25 percent of the state”™s electrical generation produced by renewables by 2013; New York City”™s goal of installing a million PV roofs, starting with 500 in 2009; and the Big Apple”™s designation by the U.S. Department of Energy as one of 13 solar American cities.
Harrington said TSEC”™s board represents a varied constituency, including Central Hudson, architects, and PV manufacturers, installers and startups.
He said that various “outside concerns” had approached TSEC for input on using PV systems. They include orchard owners seeking to reduce the energy costs of their storage operations; the New York State Thruway Authority, which is exploring how solar energy could be used for its electrical needs; Stewart International Airport and its new owner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is investigating how CO2 emissions at the facility might be reduced; and the town of Saugerties, which is seeking to improve the energy use at its wastewater treatment plant.
