Solar Energy Development in Washington State

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Solar Energy Development in Washington State

• Jim White
• Chelan County Public Utility District

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Why promote solar in Washington?
Jobs, jobs, jobs and jobs
New clean renewable power
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Solar industry jobs in Washington
Purified Silicon
Wafer Cell
Glass Modules
DC to AC Inverters
Installers
Local solar installers and electricians all
over Washington
Alpha, Outback Power, Xantrex in
Arlington and Bellingham Washington
SSB 5101 passed in 2005 Outback Power
Wenatchee, Washington?
SolarWorld Vancouver, Washington
REC-Silicon plant in Moses Lake,
Washington
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Question

• Which global industry is larger?
• Wind industry
• Solar power industry

Answer Both are about equal, but in 2006 solar
is overtaking wind power. Worldwide, the wind
industry installed more than 14 billion worth of
new generating equipment in 2005, a 25 increase
over 2004 according to figures released by the
Global Wind Energy Council.
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Question

• Which global industry is larger?
• Internet search advertising (Google, Yahoo,
  etc..)
• Solar power industry

Answer Both are about equal The worldwide solar
industry reached 14 billion in 2005. Internet
advertising revenues surpassed 12.5 billion in
2005. Source According to an estimate from the
Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and solar industry
figures from the Solar Energy Industries
Association.
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Question

• What is the average annual growth rate of the
  solar industry over the past ten years?
• 17
• 27
• 37
• 47

Answer C, The average growth rate has been 37.
In 2004-05 the growth rate was 47.
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Historical Growth of Solar
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Projected Solar Market
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Washington States Approach

• Production incentives
• Payments to solar power producers based on
  measured output
• Used by Germany with enormous success
• NOT rebates
• Rebates are based on cost of system, not how well
  the system performs
• Rebates are popular in US, but not in Europe

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Washington Production Incentive

• Unanimously approved by legislature in 2005
• Utility pays a premium to customers that generate
  solar energy.
• 0.15 per kWh for solar energy generated using
  equip. manufactured outside of Washington.
• 0.54 per kWh for solar energy generated using
  equip. manufactured in Washington.
• No Washington module manufacturer yet, but three
  scheduled for 2007.
• Utilities get a credit for this payment on their
  utility-use tax.

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Other Washington Solar Policies

• Sales tax exemption for solar power equipment
  through 2011
• Reduction in state BO taxes for solar module
  manufacturers

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What more can Washington do to promote the solar
industry?

• Establish incentives for commercial facilities
• Facilitate large-scale generation
• Create incentives for expanding silicon
  manufacturing along with wafer and cell production

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Oil has been the fuel of choice, but look whats
on the horizon?
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Wind turbine blades passing through Wenatchee
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How a Hybrid Car Works
1.2 kWh
50
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What is a PHEV?(PHEV Plug-In Hybrid Electric
Vehicle)
5-10 kWh
100
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Question

• How large of a solar array would it take to
  provide 90 of a PHEVs total energy to drive
  15,000 miles per year.
• Cover the surface of vehicle
• Cover the roof of the garage
• ½ acre of land
• 10 acres of land

Answer B It only takes 350 square feet of solar
electric modules to provide the annual
electricity consumed by a plug-in hybrid
electric vehicle.
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Thank you

• Jim White, P.E.
• Chelan County Public Utility District
• 327 Wenatchee Ave.
• [phone]
• jamesa_at_chelanpud.org
• www.chelanpud.org/snap