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The California Solar Initiative Solar Thermal Program launched January 20th, 2010,

The climate-change fighting, energy efficiency California Statewide solar water heating rebate program, called "CSI-Thermal" seeks to place @200,000 solar water heaters in California in its single family and multi-family program that runs through 2017.

Applications will be accepted April 1, 2010.

The CSI - Thermal program is being developed and is expected to run from April 2010 through 2017. A 30 percent federal tax credit is also available on the installed cost of the system less the rebate.

The goals of the CSI Thermal Program are to:

· Significantly increase the size of the solar water heating market in California by increasing the adoption rate of solar water heating technologies, including achieving:

o Installation of natural gas-displacing systems that displace 585 million therms, equivalent to placing a solar water heater on 200,000 single-family homes;

o Installation of electric-displacing solar water heating systems that displace 275.7 million kilowatt-hours per year of electricity by the end of 2017; and

o Expansion of the market for other solar thermal technologies that displace natural gas and electricity use, in addition to solar water heating.

· Support reductions in the cost of solar water heating systems of at least 16 percent through a program that increases market size and encourages cost reductions through market efficiency and innovation.

· Engage in market facilitation activities to reduce market barriers to solar water heating adoption, such as high permitting costs, lack of access to information, and lack of trained installers.

Eligible Customers for the CSI-Thermal Incentive Program

Eligible customers are gas or electric water heating customers of SDG&E, PG&E and SoCalGas & SoCal Edison. The program will run for 8 years, until December 31, 2017, or until the program funds are exhausted, whichever occurs first.

This rebate program is a four-step declining incentive structure over the life of the program and the rebate is calculated based on the expected energy savings of your solar water heating system. Incentive amounts depend upon your current water heating fuel source (natural gas or electricity).

Residents who heat their water with natural gas may receive a maximum incentive of $1,875.

Residents who heat their water with electricity may receive a maximum incentive of $1,250.

Commercial or multifamily buildings who heat their water with natural gas may receive a maximum incentive of $200,000, while commercial or multifamily buildings who heat their water with electricity may receive a maximum incentive of $100,000.

Eligible SWH Equipment for the CSI-Thermal Program

Solar water heating ( SWH) equipment must be certified by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation ( SRCC). SRCC OG-300 certified equipment must be installed on single-family homes and SRCC OG-100 certified collectors must be installed on multifamily and commercial buildings. At the start of the program, only solar water heating technology will be eligible for the rebate. Other Solar Thermal technologies such as space heating, radiant floor heating, space cooling, etc will not be eligible. We expect that those technologies may be introduced into the rebate program at a later date.

Administration: PG&E, SoCalGas, Edison and California Center for Sustainable Energy

The CSI Thermal Program will be administered by PG&E, Edison, SoCalGas, and by the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) in the SDG&E territory.

PG&E and SDG&E, in coordination CCSE, will disburse incentives to both electric and natural gas ratepayers who install eligible solar water heating systems in their territories.

Edison will disburse incentives through the CSI Thermal Program to customers who install electric displacing solar water heating systems. SoCalGas will disburse incentives to customers in its territory who install natural gas displacing solar water heating systems.

Incentives are as follows:

Natural Gas Displacing Incentives:

Step	Incentive for Average Residential Solar Water Heating System	Incentive per Therm Displaced
1	$1,500	$12.82
2	$1,200	$10.26
3	$900	$7.69
4	$550	$4.70

· Incentives are paid up-front based on estimated first year therms displaced.

· Incentives decline in four steps based on program participation.

· Forty percent of the incentive budget is reserved for single-family residential systems; 60 percent for commercial and multifamily systems.

Electric Displacing Incentives:

Step Level	Electric Displacing Incentive ($/kWh)	Incentive for Average Residential System
1	0.37	$1,010
2	0.30	$820
3	0.22	$600
4	0.14	$380

· Incentives paid up-front based on estimated first year kWh displacement.

Contactor Participation Requirements

The requirements for contractor participation are currently being developed. We expect that contractors will need to attend a training workshop to learn about the application process, program guidelines and SWH installation techniques. We may also ask for verification of liability insurance, workman's compensation and auto insurance coverage. This requirement will be determined by March 1, 2010.

Contractors Submit Paperwork

Contractors will be responsible for submitting the rebate applications. The Program Administrators (PG&E, SoCal Edison, SoCalGas and the California Center for Sustainable Energy) are currently developing the application process and creating an appropriate online application database.

Installation Team Training

Some great technical resources posted in our "Contractors Corner." We recommend you become very familiar with the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation installation guidelines (www.solar-rating.org). It is also strongly encouraged for you to seek training from SWH equipment manufacturers.

The California Public Utilities Commission

CPUC will be holding public workshops in the first quarter of 2010 to discuss the following: system sizing requirements, development of an online incentive calculation tool that estimates energy savings, development of energy-efficiency requirements and metering requirements. Your input is welcome and encouraged! Refer to the CPUC website for postings on workshop details.

CSI Program Calendar

Do I have to wait until April 1, 2010, to sell and install SWH systems in order to receive the incentive? No. The CSI-Thermal Program will provide a rebate to projects that meet the program requirements and were installed after July 15, 2009. You will have to wait until April 1, 2010, to apply for the rebate for single-family projects and May 1, 2010, for multifamily and commercial projects.

San Diego Solar Water Heating Pilot Program

As part of the California Solar Initiative, the Solar Water Heating Pilot Program (SWHPP) provides incentives to business and customers who install qualifying solar water heating systems. The California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) is administering the program.  CCSE is authorized to provide $1.5 million in rate payer funds as incentives for the Solar Water Heating Pilot Program. These incentives will go to qualified, licensed contractors to promote the installation of clean, renewable solar water heating systems.

How can I learn more about the CSI Program?

If you are a SDG&E electric customer seeking to retrofit your current water heating system, contact the California Center for Sustainable Energy for an informational packet and list of registered installers. You may contact them directly for additional details: swh@energycenter.org

As of January 20th, 2010, the California Solar Initiative Solar Thermal Program is underway. 

A new California Statewide solar water heating rebate program, called CSI-Thermal applications will be accepted April 1, 2010.

The CSI-Thermal program is currently being developed and is expected to run from April 2010 through 2017. A 30 percent federal tax credit is also available on the installed cost of the system less the rebate.

Solar water heating ( SWH) systems reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conserve fossil fuel resources, while cutting energy use and saving money on utility bills. Systems can offset up to 75% of the natural gas, electricity or propane used by your current water heater. SWH systems work to supplement the existing water heater - you do not need to replace or remove it.

SWH systems preheat the water used in a home or business (such as showers, dishwashers or sinks) and can help protect consumers against future gas and electricity shortages, as well as price increases. They help preserve the environment by eliminating carbon dioxide emissions and reducing harmful pollutants. For more information visit the Solar Water Heating Resources.

Siemens to decisively strengthen its position in the growth market solar thermal power

"After the rapid and highly successful expansion of our wind power business, we now want to continue this success story in the solar sector.

"With the acquisition of Solel, Siemens can now strengthen its market position in the promising business of solar thermal power plants. We can thus further expand our extensive Environmental Portfolio - and, as already announced, we will become even greener," said Siemens President and CEO Peter Löscher. 

Siemens AG is to acquire the solar thermal power company Solel Solar Systems Ltd.

To date, the majority stake has been held by Ecofin Ltd., a London-based investment firm, and another major shareholder.

Solel Solar Systems has a workforce of over 500 and is one of the world´s two leading suppliers of solar receivers, which are key components of so-called parabolic trough power plants. The high-growth company, which posted revenue totaling almost $90 million in the first six months of its current fiscal year (January 1 to June 30, 2009), is also a leader in the planning and construction of solar fields. The purchase price is about $418 million (currently equivalent to around €284 million *). The transaction is subject to approval by the responsible authorities. It is anticipated that the closing will take place before the end of this calendar year.

The California Solar Initiative (CSI) is overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and provides incentives for solar system installations to customers of the state's three investor-owned utilities (IOUs): Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison (SCE) and San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E). The CSI Program provides upfront incentives for solar systems installed on existing residential homes, as well as existing and new commercial, industrial, government, non-profit, and agricultural properties within the service territories of the IOUs.

The CSI Program expanded state support for solar technology and is the product of Governor Schwarzenegger's "Million Solar Roofs" vision for the State of California. The CSI Program was authorized by the CPUC through a number of regulatory decisions throughout 2006. In addition, the legislature expressly authorized the CPUC to create the California Solar Initiative in 2006 in Senate Bill 1 (Murray). When it launched in January 2007, the CSI Program built upon nearly 10 years of state support for solar, including other incentive programs such as the Emerging Renewables Program (ERP) and the Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP). Both programs still exist to provide incentives for other technologies but have been closed to new solar projects as of the end of 2006.

CSI Program Components

The CSI Program has a budget of $2.167 billion over 10 years, and the goal is to reach 1,940 MW of installed solar capacity by the end of 2016. The goal includes 1,750 MW of capacity from the general market program, as well as 190 MW of capacity from the low income programs. The general market program is the main incentive program component of the CSI, and is administered through three Program Administrators: PG&E, SCE, and California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE) in SDG&E territory.

In addition to the general market program, the CSI Program has four other program components, each with their own program administrator and 10 year budgets:

• A research and development (RD&D) program, providing grants to solar technologies that can advance the overall goals of the CSI Program; the RD&D program is administered through the RD&D Program Manager, Itron, and has a budget of $50 million.
• The Single-family Solar Affordable Solar Housing (SASH) program, providing solar incentives to single family low income housing; the SASH program is administered through the SASH Program Manager, GRID Alternatives, and has a budget of $108 million.
• The Multifamily Affordable Solar Housing (MASH) program, providing solar incentives to multifamily low income housing; the MASH program is administered through the same Program Administrators as the general market program: PG&E, SCE, and CCSE, and it has a budget of $108 million.
• The Solar Water Heating Pilot Program (SWHPP), providing solar hot water incentives to residences and businesses in San Diego only; the SWHPP is administered through CCSE.

In addition to the CPUC's CSI Program, Senate Bill 1 envisioned that the State of California would also have other programs to support onsite solar projects, including the California Energy Commission's New Solar Homes Partnership (NSHP), and a variety of solar programs offered through publicly owned utilities (POU). The statewide effort includes the CSI - as well as the NSHP and the POU programs - and it is known collectively as Go Solar California. The statewide goal of the Go Solar California campaign is 3,000 MW and there is a statewide budget of $3.3 billion.

The CSI Program is a subset of the wider solar effort in California.

Get ready for a month of celebrating the joys of going solar during California Solar Energy Month this October 2009. Get involved and Go Solar, California! Solar Energy Month provides a showcase for solar events happening statewide--and we want to promote YOUR solar event, too! Simply click to the Go Solar California! Community Solar Calendar and submit the details about your event.  Then, we will publish your events in weekly emails to over 7,000 subscribers of the California Solar Initiative Newsletter. The focus of Solar Energy Month 2009 is to Get Involved and Go Solar, California!  We're inviting everyone--from residential solar beginners to savvy solar pros--to join with their communities in taking a solar class or workshop, attending a solar tour or fair, and talking with their neighbors and local businesses about going solar and generating their own clean energy. View the poster.

Here are 10 easy ways you can Get Involved and Go Solar:

• 1. Submit YOUR local solar event to the Go Solar, California! Community Solar Calendar and reach out to thousands of solar enthusiasts statewide! 
• 2. Attend one of the many free solar classes held everyday throughout California.  Whether you are completely new to solar, or a seasoned solar contractor, there are dozens of workshops and classes for you.  As a start, the California Solar Initiative Program Administrators in your utility service territory--PG&E, Edison and the California Center for Sustainable Energy (for SDG&E customers)--offer basic and technical solar classes.  Sign up today!
• 3. Hop on the bus for guided solar tours--or take a self-guided solar tour!  The American Solar Energy Society will sponsor the annual National Solar Tour at over 20 locations in California.  These tours are a lot of fun and incredibly informative, as you get story from real solar system owners. 
• 4. Already got solar? Wonderful!  Now wouldn't it be great if more and more of your neighbors began installing solar systems, too?  Well, spread the word. Become a Solar Ambassador--the go-to person for solar in your neighborhood--so that when your neighbors have questions about the way solar works, the costs and savings, and how to find a good solar contractor they will have someone to talk to.  (Print out a Go Solar, California! window or lawn sign to announce that you're the neighborhood solar expert!)
• 5. Hey San Diegans:  Be sure to have fun during Solar Energy Week September 27-October 3, sponsored by the California Center for Sustainable Energy.  Solar Family Fun Day, a Solar Conference, and organized solar homes and commercial tours are just some of the highlights.
• 6. Looking for an entry into solar's green collar workforce? Solar Energy Month is a stage for green job seekers and employers alike.
  • A recent workforce development survey by the Vote Solar Initiative found 27 programs delivering solar-specific instruction throughout the state, with more than 5,400 prospective new solar workers currently enrolled.
  • The Emerging Industry and Occupations Report (2008) by the Centers for Excellence states that 70% of the businesses surveyed would hire within the next 12 months.
  • The Environmental Defense Fund has published  a Green Jobs Guidebook, which profiles more than 200 green jobs currently in California, including details on 25 different types of solar jobs.
• 7. Find your solar potential on a solar map.  Both San Francisco and San Diego have developed highly accurate interactive maps for customers and installers to determine how much solar a given rooftop can produce.  The maps account for attributes like tilt, shading, and climate zone, plus allow people to enter other inputs such as historical energy usage and the effects of energy efficiency measures.  Location arrows show other solar systems in the vicinity, and many system owners provide system output and other relevant details to help you get a clear picture of your true solar potential. 
• 8. Attend a solar expo or conference.  October kicks off with San Diego's Solar Week, then West Coast Green in San Francisco.  The end of October boasts the largest solar conference and exposition in the U.S., Solar Power International, held the 27th-29th in Anaheim. (This year's Keynote Speaker will be Robert Kennedy Jr.)  Mark your calendar: Solar Power is FREE to the public on Wednesday October 28th from 5:30--8:30 p.m., with the whole expo floor open for browsing and several workshops scheduled.
• 9. Go Solar!  Contact eligible solar contractors for competitive bids; a qualified contractor should hold a valid A, B, C-10, or C-46 California Contractors license, and can be found (among other places) on the State's Eligible Contractors List.  Your contractor will get you started with a simple energy efficiency audit, then show you the most affordable system design for your property--whether to displace your entire load or simply skim off the highest, most expensive energy use tiers--and assist you by applying for California Solar Initiative rebates on your behalf.  Building a custom home?  Make solar part of your home's design from the start. 
  
• Your architect or builder can help you with New Solar Homes Partnership incentives. 
  
• Go solar and you're also eligible for 30 percent federal tax credit (plus other business perks like accelerated depreciation.) 
  
• And homeowners, did you know that your solar system will increase the value of your home without a property tax assessment? 
  
• Plus, you get to generate free energy each month, earn bill credits for your surplus generation, AND do something good for the environment.  
• 
  

• 10. Help inform others. If you know someone who is considering solar--as an energy solution, investment, or career--then forward the California Solar Initiative electronic newsletter their way.  You can also send them the option to subscribe themselves.  Click here for the opt-in form. For serious data fans, take a look at the CSI Program's Performance in the CPUC Annual Program Assessment to the Legislature.  California now boasts a half gigawatt of solar power in over 50,000 locations.

the following video provides information on the Intersolar Europe 2008 conference which took place in Germany and featured more than 1,000 exhibitors and 52,000 visitors from 140 countries.

For more information:

• Intersolar North America - Home page
• Intersolar North America - Conference program

 Innovation isn't just about "products".  Industry makes more impact, and more money with merchandising and systems than with the product itself.  Build a better mousetrap just doesn't cut it in this age of hyper-competition, instant communications and volatile economies.

Solar is caught in this vortex.  The solution?  Continuous innovation not only of solar cells, but finance, training, grid infrastructure and adjusting the consumer's mindset that solar is expensive.  Redefining cost as not only personal cost...but all our shared taxes is essential to positioning renewable energies such as solar PV and solar thermal as affordable by small businesses, homeowners and public buildings.

Although solar power can provide a cost-effective alternative for off-grid applications, we believe the principal challenge to widespread adoption of solar power for on-grid applications is reducing manufacturing costs without impairing product reliability. We believe the following advancements in solar power technology are necessary to meet this challenge:

• Efficient material use. Reduce raw materials waste, particularly the waste associated with sawing silicon by conventional crystalline silicon technology. Efficient use of silicon is imperative for the growth of the industry due to the limited supply and increasing cost of silicon raw material expected for the near future.
• Simplified and continuous processing. Reduce reliance on expensive, multi-step manufacturing processes.
• Reduced manufacturing capital costs. Decrease the costs and risks associated with new plant investments as a result of lower capital costs per unit of production.
• Improved product design and performance. Increase product conversion efficiency, longevity and ease of use. Conversion efficiency refers to the fraction of the sun's energy converted to electricity.

Source:  Girasolar is a solar company innovating processes and products for the global market from their Netherlands operation including R&D, design, manufacture and distribution of components, complete solar energy systems and specialized equipment.

Green Tech Media has published a list of 150 start-up solar energy companies (greentechmedia.com.)  Each company has a brief description of their part in the solar energy industry, the amount of venture capital received thus far, and a link to their website.

The list is divided into four parts.

• Part 1: Silicon wafer technology (c-Si), solar installers, solar financiers, solar balance of plan (BoS), solar monitoring, manufacturing tools, and software
• Part 2: Concentrated Photovoltaics
• Part 3: Next Generation Photovoltaics
• Part 4: Thin Film

Energy consumption is one of six factors incorporated into the tally of Forbes magazines's "Greenest States", closely linked to other "green" standards, including air quality and carbon dioxide emissions.

Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, summarized the situation in a recent presentation to Oak Ridge National Laboratory employees: "The South is the Gobi Desert of energy efficiency."

Energy Efficiency Potential Provides Greatest Savings

While bioenergy, nuclear and other expanding energy options are important, "the potential of energy efficiency is probably greater than any other resource." She views the confluence of record prices for oil and increasing anxiety over carbon emissions as a "perfect storm" that makes the attitude of both the market and the public ripe for fundamental change.

Recognizing these trends, Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers are developing an array of energy-efficient appliances, testing energy-saving building materials and refining a zero-energy home that literally will produce more energy than it consumes.

As world energy demand collides with the growing public desire for a carbon-constrained environment, ORNL increasingly is recognized as a source of expertise for cities, states and utilities looking to trim bulging energy waistlines. The Tennessee Valley Authority has joined state and local government as well as non-profit energy efficiency advocate groups in asking the Laboratory to provide input for policy, incentives and technologies to transform the desert of consumption into an oasis of energy efficiency.

Demonstrating a renewed commitment to energy efficiency, the TVA board recently named Joe Hoagland, former senior advisor to TVA President Tom Kilgore, to a newly created post of vice president for energy efficiency and demand response. Hoagland's first task is to determine how much energy savings TVA needs to achieve in order to meet growing energy demands over the next 20 years.

Times have clearly changed. "In order to meet the goals of low cost and reliability, energy efficiency and demand response are now tools as much as our assets that generate electricity," Hoagland says, adding that TVA's strategy also incorporates environmental concerns. "A megawatt not produced is a green megawatt.

"A megawatt not produced is a green megawatt."

When Hoagland came to his new post last fall, he was asked to determine what was needed to generate 1,200 megawatts of energy savings, or the equivalent of one large nuclear or coal-fired power plant, by 2013. "As we begin to understand the situation better, I'm not sure that is going to be enough. I expect that we will need to cut back more, much more," he says.

Meeting the challenge will require TVA to adopt a combination of tactics, including new technologies, rate restructuring, education and customer incentives to achieve the required savings. The agency has signed a memorandum of understanding with ORNL as a first step in what Hoagland envisions as a growing, and necessary, partnership with the Laboratory.

"ORNL has a broad expertise in energy efficient technologies to help us do things better," he says. Oak Ridge researchers have unique experience in

• designing zero-energy homes,
  
• creative construction techniques,
  
• new insulation technologies and
  
• a sophisticated set of energy efficiency standards.
  

If these initiatives prove successful, the potential impact is enormous. ORNL researchers believe that fully one-half of the South's anticipated increase in energy demand can be met through energy efficiency.

Read more about ORNL's Southern Energy Efficiency Initiatives

On the roof of the largest research building along the courtyard of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's new east campus, perches a 700-watt solar system. The combination of concentrating solar modules and a turntable tracker makes the photovoltaic system more efficient and less costly than conventional systems. In each module 24 reflectors focus sunlight onto 72 single-crystal silicon solar cells. The four 175-watt modules concentrate sunlight up to three times its normal strength, reducing by two-thirds the number of expensive silicon cells required to produce the same amount of electricity.

Solar Tracker

An inexpensive solar tracker keeps the modules facing the sun throughout the day, theoretically increasing the energy output as much as 35% in some regions. ORNL purchased and installed the system in September 2007. 

Hybrid Solar Lighting

The rooms at the top of a nearby four-story research building are illuminated by hybrid solar lighting. In this technology pioneered by ORNL, sunlight is piped into rooms through optical fibers, and intelligent sensors adjust artificial light levels needed by occupants during cloudy days.

Sunlight Direct of Oak Ridge is commercializing this technology, which has entered the demonstration phase with installed systems at locations owned by Wal-Mart, Staples, Battelle and San Diego State University.

Thin-Film Solar Cells

ORNL materials researchers using the plasma arc lamp hope to demonstrate elimination of defects from multicrystalline and amorphous silicon thin-film solar cells, which are less efficient than single-crystal solar cells but less expensive to make. Measurements of these processed materials will be made at the new Center for Advanced Thin-film Solar Cells. (See Research Horizons: A Renewed Interest)

The Department of Energy, is a major driver behind ORNL's expanded research in solar energy. Craig Cornelius, acting program manager of Solar Energy Technologies in DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, has indicated that greater funding for research to make solar materials more efficient and less expensive will be available to national laboratories.

ORNL, which boasts one of the world's leading materials research capabilities, proposes innovative basic technology research to help meet DOE solar materials challenges.

ORNL plans to install more photovoltaic panels, perhaps as solar walkways and solar roofs over parking lots, and possibly biomassfired boilers, to help achieve that goal.

Cornelius, who leads the Solar America Initiative as part of the President's Advanced Energy Initiative, has stated that DOE's goal is to make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity by 2015. DOE predicts that by 2015, solar energy will produce 15 gigawatts, enough to power 11.2 million American homes.

Read more about Solar Energy Research