As more and more gadgets pop up in the market, we often discard the old and go with the new. This is not really something new. In fact, we may have accumulated quite a pile of electronics that we do not know what to do with them anymore. Now if you are interested in finding where to take that old computer of yours, then you better read on.

In Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TECQ) has been able to work out a way to help consumers. What it did was it created a web site which people could access so as to find information on where they could bring their old PCs. This site can be accessed by going to http://www.texasrecyclescomputers.org/.

Mark Vickery is the director of the organization and he says, “The goal of the program is to give Texans an easy way to recycle the used computer equipment they have been storing in their closets and garages for years.”

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[Valencia, Spain]

The big news was who was absent.
The Valencia Call for Solar Photovoltaics.

While “Regional Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Mario Flores Lanuza has opened the world´s largest solar energy conference in Valencia” (Español) may have been the headline, the key observation on the Monday morning, September 1, 2008, opening of the 23rd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference and Exhibition (EU PVSEC) was no representative from the Spanish central government chose to attend the “the most important international Event in the field of Photovoltaics”.

Discussions in the opening speeches and press conference centered on the “Spanish question” regarding a draft proposal to reduce Spain’s photovoltaic (PV) Feed-in Tariff (FiT) and cap annual installations at 300 MWp (MegaWatt-peak). With Spain’s existing FiT set to expire on September 28, 2008, Spanish PV installers are scrambling to complete projects before the current law is superseded. More than 1.6 GW (GigaWatts, pronounced JigaWatts by many Europeans like in “Back to the Future”) of photovoltaics are expected to be installed in Spain this year, perhaps even by the end of September.

EPIA (European Photovoltaic Industry Association) President and Isofotón Communication and External Affairs General Manager Ernesto Macias was direct in his opening remarks and responding to a statement by ASIF (Spanish Photovoltaic Industry Association) President Javier Anta at the press conference said, “(We had) the wrong tariff and wrong model with too many large plants.” This was the root cause of the Spanish PV market explosion.

Mr. Macias outlined a light gray counterproposal to the Spanish FiT draft revision which would:

• Limit large PV plants to a maximum size of 10 MW.
• Only large PV plants would count towards the 300 MW annual cap.
• 100 kW (kilowatt) and smaller distributed generation PV plant installations should not be limited.

These were the key points I noted, and I am waiting for an official copy of the proposal from EPIA. The Spanish question should be decided in a matter a weeks. Outside of the press conference, a number of sources including Photon International Editor-in-chief Michael Schmela have mentioned the possibility of a higher Spanish PV cap in the next FiT revision of 500 to 600 MW.

Although not touted as important metrics, here are a few key stats from the 23rd EU PVSEC:

• 3702 registered Participants from 83 countries and perhaps up to 4000 by week’s end
• 715 Exhibitors from 37 countries
• 1322 papers received from 69 countries
• 20000 Conference and Exhibition visitors expected this week

In his Welcome Address, the Conference General Chairman Daniel Lincot, Research Director at CNRS, Institute for Research and Development of Photovoltaic Energy (IRDEP), Paris, France, announced an international call by scientists for the accelerated worldwide deployment of Photovoltaics known as “The Valencia Call for Solar Photovoltaics” echoing the Kyoto Protocol. This declaration is supported by over 200 PV and society personalities and can be found at the Chairman’s Initiative for PV on the EU PVSEC website. You (yes that means YOU!) are invited to join this initiative and sign the Call by sending an email to PVCall@enscp.fr or contact Daniel Lincot at the address shown in the above link along with your comments and proposals.

Buenas noches from Valencia where Iberia Airlines has held my checked bag hostage for over four (4) day now. My brand new camcorder is already out of battery power, and I am dreading the demise of my trusty Canon PowerShot SD800IS battery. Both chargers and my voice recorder are in the missing bag. That’s my excuse for not getting a post out sooner.

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Investors have been hot and cold on energy stocks for the past few months. Earlier in the year solar energy stocks reached their highs and a sell off occurred. But, they’re baaaaacccckkkk.

Business Week is reporting that some of the solar energy issues have risen at least 58% in the past month. No doubt motivated by a lot of positive quarterly earnings reports. Investors are catching on again-the public wants solar energy technology to be developed to bring down the price for consumers.

But, the feds have to have their brains cells functioning in order to keep investment tax credit incentives for individual users. Homeowners who are thinking of installing rooftop panels want the larger incentives let alone not renewing the current ones. The current congress has not passed legislation that would extend investment tax credit incentives as of yet.

One broker at Raymond James who monitors the solar energy sector said regarding the feds not reupping on the incentives “We have excellent solar resources in the U.S. We have increasing power prices, plenty of renewable energy incentives even without the [investment tax credit].”

The cost of producing solar energy is coming down. Alternatively, the cost of producing fossil fuel based energy is going up. What’s not to understand Feds?

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Some people think they should wait to go solar until the cost of solar panels drops significantly. But there are a number of reasons why waiting to go solar will ultimately diminish your savings on energy instead of increasing them.

Rising Energy Costs

California has some of the nation’s highest energy costs, with homeowners paying an average of sixteen and a half cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity. Prices have risen around six percent annually since 1971. Pacific Gas & Electric recently announced that its rates could rise another 4.4 percent in October, and they could possibly go up 11 percent in January.

But soaring residential utility bills don’t yet reflect the true, high cost of today’s power. The price of wholesale electricity – which utilities like PG&E buy to deliver to your home – has gone up on average 10 percent annually over the last 7 years. PG&E’s recent warnings reflect a larger statewide trend. Southern California Edison recently asked the California Public Utilities Commission for permission to raise residential rates 16 percent next year and warned they could jump a whopping 25 percent. The utilities are asking for and getting these dramatic hikes approved because the fuels we use to make electricity – natural gas and coal for the most part – are getting more expensive. With these price increases, taking advantage of solar power makes economic sense for the majority of Californians right now.

Falling Solar Incentives

The federal and California government offer incentives to go solar. But these subsidies won’t last much longer. The Federal Solar Investment Tax Credit (ITC) defrays a significant portion of solar’s cost for homeowners and businesses, but this is set to expire at the end of 2008. Without clear leadership on energy policy in Washington, recent efforts in Congress to extend the solar ITC have failed. Hence, going solar before the end of the year is the only way to guarantee this advantage.

Here in California, homeowners can also benefit from the state’s solar rebate program – the California Solar Initiative. But the rebate amount in PG&E territory recently went down 15 percent, and will go down again this year. Making the switch to solar now ensures you’ll get the maximum remaining state rebate. The longer you wait the less money you’ll save.

The Time to Go Solar is Now

Waiting to go solar simply doesn’t make sense – not with rising electricity prices, declining subsidies, and new services that make solar affordable and hassle-free. By next summer you might just breathe easier as you watch the meter spin backwards when the temperature rises and the thermostat falls.

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