New Jobs in Solar Power

Association of Energy Engineers

New York Chapter

December 2008 NewsletterPart 2

New Jobs in Solar Power

By Julie Bick, NYTimes , Dec 14 08

MOVEover,Joe the Plumber. Spencer the Solar Panel Installer is here.

In this case, it’s Spencer Bockus, who created solar-powered fans and other contraptions for science fairs as a fifth grader in California. Today, at 22, he is on customers’ roofs, measuring where the shade will hit and hooking up photovoltaic arrays, better known as solar panels, to convert the sun’s energy into electricity.

“Sometimes I’m 50 feet up on a steep roof and it’s so hot the tar is melting onto the bottoms of my sneakers,” he said, “but I’m excited because I’m helping the environment.”

Although he may have to work 50 feet off the ground, Spencer Bockus, 22, likes his job installing solar panels “because I’m helping the environment.”

Even in the recession, Mr. Bockus has been putting in plenty of overtime for his company, Akeena Solar, which is based in Los Gatos, Calif., and has offices elsewhere in California and in Colorado and the Northeast.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association, based in Washington, there was a 45 percent increase in installed solar energy systems in 2007 over 2006.

More than 3,400 companies are in the solar energy sector and employ about 25,000 to 35,000 workers, including installers, manufacturers, distributors and project developers and materials suppliers.

“We estimate that will grow to more than 110,000 direct solar jobs by 2016,” said Monique Hanis, a spokeswoman for the organization.

Solar workers install thermal collectors, which convert the sun’s rays into heat used to supply buildings with hot water, for heating and cooling systems and to warm swimming pools. They also install solar panels to convert the sun’s rays into electricity that can power things like appliances and lights. When more electricity is being produced than the customer is using, the excess can be stored in batteries for use at other times. When batteries are full, the surplus electricity can be exported back to the electrical grid if the building is connected to it, offsetting electricity costs from the utility company.

Consumers are turning to solar energy for various reasons, including, of course, the idea that solar power creates no carbon emissions. And many people feel that solar power is important in reducing the dependence of the United States on foreign oil. Some even see a roof festooned with solar panels as an ecological status symbol.

Beyond all of that, government subsidies can reduce the cost of installing solar panels.

Bob Cowen of Morris County, N.J., chose solar panels for his roof for both ecological and economic reasons. To outfit his home with 49 solar panels, he paid $64,700, minus rebates of $42,500 — for an out-of-pocket cost of $22,200.

“The rebates I received from the state of New Jersey made the switch to solar economically feasible,” he said.

In California, Barry A. Cinnamon installed solar panels on his garage in 2001 as a way to save energy costs. Neighbors saw the work and asked him to install panels on their homes, too.

“Some people say their company started in a garage,” Mr. Cinnamon said. “Mine started on top of one.”

Mr. Cinnamon is now the chief executive of Akeena, which has about $40 million in annual sales and employs 220 workers in seven states. Despite the recession, he estimates that his solar panel installation business will increase 40 percent from last year.

Solar panel installers must be able to lift heavy equipment and should feel confident about working in high places, because much of their day is spent on roofs. As for formal training, Mr. Cinnamon said that a high school or trade school education is all that is needed.

“We’re designing easier-to-install panels so there’s less complicated wiring requirements,” he said, “but electrical experience is a plus” because each project requires someone to perform electrical work.

Some applicants with college engineering or business degrees start as solar panel installers, hoping to move into other jobs — like product designer, sales manager or supervisor — within the company or industry.

Gerry Heimbuch, vice president for operations at the SolarCenter in Rockaway, N.J., estimates that his company hires a new solar panel installer every month. Many good candidates have come from the sluggish homebuilding industry.

Beside looking for construction and electrical skills, Mr. Heimbuch wants people who can communicate well.

“Our installers need to explain to customers how the new system will work, how to maintain it and how to recognize if there are any issues,” he said.

The Labor Department does not have salary figures for solar panel installers, but in California, Mr. Cinnamon pays workers $15 to $30 an hour, as well as health benefits. His employees can also participate in a stock ownership plan.

In New Jersey, installers hired by the SolarCenter start with a three-month training program and earn from $16 to $28 an hour, in addition to health benefits, as they gain skills and take on higher levels of responsibility.

Mr. Heimbuch observes that his solar-installer work force is drawn to construction and to working outside. But he says the environmental impact is important to the workers as well. “They feel like doing this job is doing the right thing for the planet,” he says.

Fresh Starts is a monthly column about emerging jobs and job trends.

Current NY Chapter AEE Sponsors:

Association for Energy Affordability Con Ed Solutions Energy Curtailment Specialists EME Group Con Edison M-Core Credit Corporation PB Power Syska Hennessy Group Trystate Mechanical Inc.

Obama Pledges

to use stimulus to make schools and public buildings more energy efficient

By Kate Shepard, Grist, Dec 6 08

In his Democratic radio address today, President-elect Barack Obama laid out the first three steps of his economic recovery plan - the first of which, he said, will be making public buildings more efficient.

"First, we will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world," said Obama. "We need to change that."

"We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs," he continued. "That won't just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work."

Another part of that plan, he said, will be to "launch the most sweeping effort to modernize and upgrade school buildings that this country has ever seen." That includes making them more energy efficient, he said.

He also pledged to make the "single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s," "renew our information superhighway" by expanding access to broadband, and improve health care by providing access to electronic medical records.

"We need action - and action now," he said. "That is why I have asked my economic team to develop an economic recovery plan for both Wall Street and Main Street that will help save or create at least two and a half million jobs, while rebuilding our infrastructure, improving our schools, reducing our dependence on oil, and saving billions of dollars."

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Energy Choice — Nobelist With Climate Passion

By Andrew C. Revkin, NYTimes, Dec 10 08

Steven Chu of LawrenceBerkeley National Laboratory.

(Lou Dematteis/Reuters)

THE word is building that Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize winner who heads the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for secretary of energy. [UPDATE 8:45 p.m., I've added an email interview with Dr. Chu below that we had back in 2006 while I was reporting my long article on declining federal budgets for energy research.]

This choice would undoubtedly be hailed both by those pushing for development and large-scale testing of nonpolluting energy technologies and by environmental campaigners seeking knowledgeable leadership at the giant agency — which, while it still oversees efforts to boost coal and oil extraction, also has what may be the world’s biggest assemblage of scientists pursuing development of renewable power sources. More here on Dr. Chu and Obama administration environment posts.)

On Dec. 5, my friend Matt Wald provided the rundown on Dr. Chu as a candidate for this position. Below is video of Dr. Chu at a National Clean Energy Summit last summer talking about the role of energy efficiency and energy breakthroughs in heading toward a thriving planet with a stable climate:

He differs with former Vice President Al Gore on what’s necessary to transform the world from a fossil norm to abundant renewable energy options. In the videotaped talk, Dr. Chu lists as a myth the assertion that, “We have all the technology we need to solve the energy problem; it is only a matter of political will.”

As Dr. Chu puts it, “I think political will is absolutely necessary. But we need new technologies.”

So he’s echoing a persistent theme here on Dot Earth — that leading the world toward a new energy norm will require a sustained “energy quest,” from the living room to the laboratory and beyond. Maybe that means he thinks any “green jobs” list should include chemists and engineers (and physicists).

Here’s the short interview I did with him in 2006 on some of the issues he’d pursue as energy secretary:

Q. Are the intellectual forces that need to be focused on the energy-climate problem on board (top-flight physicists, for one)? If not, what needs to be done?
A. There is a growing awareness that the danger of substantial, disruptive climate change is of a high enough probability that more and more scientists are beginning to ask themselves and each other what they can do to contribute to a solution.
Q. Has the scale of what needs to be done been adequately expressed by folks in the climate discourse? If not, how could this be done and be taken seriously?
A. I am not sure most of the public realizes that the greenhouse gases that we are emitting today ha[ve] 100+ year consequences.
Q. I’ve been talking with others about the “valley of death” — the gap between near-term R and D money from venture capital and short-term-oriented government programs and long-term R and D money for “safe” perennials like fusion. What research needs lie in the middle that are not getting addressed? (This presumes you agree on the “valley.” If you disagree, I would love to know your view.) How can these needs get targeted given hurdles out there (earmarking, thirst for short term payoff, aversion to failure)?
A. I was part of the report “Rising Above the Gathering Storm.” In that report we recommended a ARPA-E [Advanced Research Project Agency - Energy; akin to the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency] as a potential solution to this problem. Ultimately, it will depend on the quality of the people who will manage any new program and the discipline of Congress NOT to earmark.
Q. What is your vote for the best role of government in shaping long-term efforts? (Is FutureGen the right kind of model? If not, what is..? is N.I.H. a good model? Is the Energy Department the wrong venue?) A lot of economists say industry is just not able to focus that far forward in R and D. Do you agree?
A. We need to alter the playing field with tax and fiscal polices (such as a carbon cap and trade with a minimum trading value so that companies could plan for sensible, long-term investments). This has to be done in order to account for the so-called “externalities” - real costs that are not yet included in the price of various forms of energy. Developed countries have made this step with air and water pollution by enacting outright regulations and installing a cap and trade system.

Once industry is assured that the bottom will not fall out (such as price of oil, gas, or the trading value of avoided carbon, etc., suddenly plummeting) long-term investments will be made. The wind industry in Denmark and Germany proceeded in this way. Off the top of my head, $70/avoided ton would work wonders in spurring long-term investments and innovation.

Dean Kamen’s ‘LED Nation’

By Eric A. Taub, NYTimes, Dec 8 08

Dean Kamen’s home with LED lighting. (Photos: John Brandon Miller)

Dean Kamen always seems to be one or two steps ahead of the rest of us. He invented a wheelchair that climbs stairs, the Segway scooter, and a robotic prosthetic arm that moves based on thought, among other things.

Mr. Kamen also owns North Dumpling Island, a three-acre island off the Connecticut coast that he jokingly refers to as an independent nation. But now, it’s more than that — he calls it “the world’s first LED nation.”

Mr. Kamen wanted to take the entire place off the grid, producing his own power through wind and solar. But to do that, he had to reduce energy consumption. So he turned to LEDs, or light-emitting diodes.

With LED lighting typically using about one-fifth the power consumed by standard incandescent fixtures (and I have some LED bulbs in my home that use just one-tenth the wattage of an incandescent bulb), Mr. Kamen figured he could get the power usage down to an amount that would work.

Mr. Kamen tapped his long-time friend, Fritz Morgan, chief technology officer of Philips Color Kinetics for help. The two collaborated on removing all incandescent fixtures from Mr. Kamen’s home, the caretaker’s house and a guest house, replacing them with Color Kinetics products.

They included LED downlights (the kind that go in ceilings and shine down), undercabinet kitchen lights and exterior units to wash the outside walls in changing color patterns.

Mr. Morgan also installed a prototype of a reflector bulb (called a PAR38) that the company expects to bring to market sometime next year. As with a regular reflector bulb sold today, it is dimmable and has the same warm color temperature as an incandescent.

The result was, they cut the energy consumption used in the house by 70 percent. And of course, the bulbs won’t have to be changed for years. When you add in the power used for the exterior lights (the house was not previously lit outside), total energy consumption was reduced by 50 percent, enough to take the island off the grid.

Total average power used is 2,500 watts. If everything is ablaze inside and out, consumption peaks at 5,000 watts.

“We wanted to convince ourselves that the technology is ready to do this,” Mr. Morgan said. “This installation lets us see what works and what doesn’t.”

While this is great for Dean Kamen, he wants others to see it as well. This spring, the setup will be shown during a fund-raiser for FIRST, an organization started by Mr. Kamen to encourage young people to become involved in science and technology. Invitations have gone out to various luminaries.

While the look Philips created is fascinating, you will probably want to try this at home only if you’ve got an open-ended line of credit.

Although LED prices are dropping fast, right now, the technology is too expensive for residential use. The ColorBlast units used to illuminate the exterior pillars cost around $600 each (including a power supply), and Mr. Morgan used two per pillar. That is a dramatic reduction from 2001, when the unit cost $1,300 without a power supply, but still enough to stop most people in their tracks.

Recently, I accompanied a local lighting designer in Los Angeles as he created an imaginative exterior lighting project for an Architectural Digest home. To do the job right cost $60,000. The clients passed.

Top of Form

AMCA International Approves AMCA Publication 504-08,

November 19, 2008

For immediate release

Arlington Heights, IL USA—October 16, 2008–The Air Movement and Control Association International, Inc. (AMCA) International approved AMCA Publication 504-08, a new Application Manual for Sun Control Devices.This application manual provides information and important points to be considered when designing, specifying, and detailing installations of sun control devices for aesthetics and energy cost savings.

AMCA Publication 504-08 includes general information and definitions, serving as a guide toward understanding the various types of sun control devices available, and includes items to be considered to ensure their proper use and installation. Exterior shading devices (sun control devices), such as overhangs, sun screens, and vertical fins have a number of advantages that contribute to a more sustainable building.Interior shading devices, such as light shelves, reduce glare and help diffuse interior lighting.