The feed-in tariff in the UK : a case study focus on domestic photovoltaic systems

This paper explores the photovoltaic (PV) industry in the United Kingdom (UK) as experienced by those who are working with it directly and with consideration of current standards, module efficiencies and future environmental trends. The government's consultation on the comprehensive review for solar PV tariffs, proposes a reduction of the generation tariff for PV installations in the UK of more than 50%. The introduction of the Feed-In Tariffs scheme (FITs) has rapidly increased deployment of PV technologies at small scale since its introduction in April 2010. The central principle of FIT policies is to offer guaranteed prices for fixed periods to enable greater number of investors. A financial analysis was performed on two real-life installations in Cornwall, UK to determine the impact of proposed cuts to the FIT will make to a typical domestic PV system under 4 kW. The results show that a healthy Return on Investment (ROI) can still be made but that future installations should focus on off-setting electricity required from the national grid as a long term push for true sustainability rather than subsidised schemes. The profitability of future installations will have to be featured within in-service and end-of-service considerations such as the feed-in tariff, module efficiencies and the implications of costs associated with end-of-life disposal

Community Wind Financing Handbook

The goal of this handbook is to identify critical financing issues and present several possible financing models that reflect the differing financial positions and investment goals of various project owners/developers. The handbook includes six sections:-- Section I describes various models for community wind power ownership.-- Section II examines sources of equity and debt financing and the steps necessary to secure this financing.-- Section III identifies federal grant and loan programs and state incentives for wind power development.-- Section IV reviews the federal tax incentives supporting wind power projects, the impact of these incentives on project economics, and limitations on utilizing these incentives.-- Section V examines power purchase agreements and the value of green tags to community wind power projects.-- The Appendix contains a list of operating community wind projects in the United States and a list of project consultants and financing resources.Principal author: Charles Kubert, Environmental Business Specialist, with assistance from Howard Learner, Executive Director, Jill Geiger, Director of Communications and Marketing, and Rebecca Stamey-White, Policy Associat

Feasibility Study of Economics and Performance of Solar Photovoltaics at the TechCity East Campus Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Site in Kingston, New York. A Study Prepared in Partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency for the RE-Powering America's Land Initiative: Siting Renewable Energy on Potentially Contaminated Land and Mine Sites

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in accordance with the RE-Powering America's Land initiative, selected the TechCity East Campus site in Kingston, New York, for a feasibility study of renewable energy production. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) provided technical assistance for this project. The purpose of this study is to assess the site for a possible photovoltaic (PV) system installation and estimate the cost, performance, and site impacts of different PV options. In addition, the report recommends financing options that could assist in the implementation of a PV system at the site

Warranty and Maintainability Analysis for Sensor Embedded Remanufactured Products in Reverse Supply Chain Environment

Remanufactured products are very popular with consumers due to their appeal to offer the latest technology with lower prices compared to brand new products. The quality of a remanufactured product induces hesitation for many consumers, in regards to its efficacy and reliability. One stratagem that remanufacturers could employ to encourage customer security are product warranties. This paper studies and scrutinizes the impact that would be had by offering renewing warranties on remanufactured products. This study was able to determine the optimal costs of warranty for two-dimensional non-renewable warranty offered on remanufactured products using the simulation model and design of experiments

Optimal Two Dimensional Preventive Maintenance Policy Based on Asymmetric Copula Function

For some kinds of products, the consumers have strict requirements to the reliability of these products in the based warranty period. Then the manufacturer is inclined to provide the two-dimensional preventive maintenance policy to take the usage degree of the product into account. As a result, two-dimensional preventive maintenance policy in the warranty period has recently obtained increasing attention from manufacturers and consumers. In this paper, we focused on the optimization of based warranty cost and proposed a new expected based warranty cost model considering the two-dimensional imperfect preventive maintenance policy from the perspective of the manufacture. Asymmetric copula function was applied to modeling the failure function of the product. And the optimal two-dimensional preventive maintenance period was obtained by minimizing based warranty cost. At last, numerical examples are given to illustrate the proposed models, of which the results prove the model effective and validate

The Role of Warranties and Product Standards in Solar Energy Development

This Article examines the use of warranties and product standards in solar marketing as ways to bring about the needed confidence in and acceptance of solar equipment. The first part of the Article analyzes relevant warranty law from the perspectives of solar sellers and buyers. Some government and private groups have argued that warranties can provide the needed impetus for solar development, and there is thus a great tendency today to view warranties as the means to encourage solar usage. The premise advanced in this part of the Article, however, is that warranty law, operating independently, is unlikely to instill adequate buyer confidence or provide sufficient buyer protection to develop solar markets. The second part examines the major types of product standards promulgated in the United States in the context of solar energy and demonstrates their importance as a means of overcoming reluctance on the part of consumers, builders, code officials,and government benefit officials. The final part of the Article assesses how warranties and product standards can be used most successfully in the solar commercialization effort. The Article argues that given the shortcomings of warranties, greater emphasis must be placed on the development of product standards if solar energy is to become a viable commercial enterprise in this country. The implementation of sound product standards is one of the most important and necessary acts to stimulate widespread solar use.The role of solar warranties is more modest; their primary contributions will be in a support capacity for product standards

Market surveillance to support quality assurance and consumer protection for the solar PAYG products market in East and West Africa

Off-grid Pay As You Go (PAYG) solar products have become one of the fastest-growing approaches to providing basic electricity services to off-grid households not only in Sub-Saharan Africa but also in many other parts of the world with limited or no access to the grid connection. However, sustainably growing the PAYG solar industry requires paying close attention to product quality from the point of manufacturing to the end user. This research examines how to best design market surveillance programs that ensure quality in off-grid PAYG solar products and strengthen the implementation and enforcement of quality standards in the off-grid solar market. It identifies and analyzes the common failures in off-grid PAYG solar products and formulates recommendations for designing an effective market surveillance program that tracks quality-certified off-grid PAYG solar products to ensure that they continue to perform as per the certified quality standards once they reach the market. Based on the information gathered from the industry practitioners, quality testing and certification laboratory, and data from the Kenya market survey, the most common failures were reported in batteries, lights and switches. Based on the Kenya data alone, batteries reported 57% of the failures in solar home kits and 38% in Solar Home Systems. Although not directly related to the product, some companies noted problems with the supporting technology systems for PAYG solar products such as telecom network service issues that made it difficult for end-users to make payments for their PAYG solar products as well as receive activation codes on time via mobile phone when they are able to make payments. Additionally, the research unveiled challenges associated with ensuring that warranties are offered to the end-users as indicated on the products by the manufacturer as one of the quality standards requirements enforced by the VeraSol quality assurance program. A market surveillance program and quality standards that aim at solving these common failures in PAYG solar products can help improve quality in the off-grid solar market and make the industry more sustainable by focusing on improving quality standards, monitoring and test methods with more focus on the identified common product failures on the market