From GreenVolts GV1: Demolition Man

Concentrating Photovoltaic (CPV) systems firm demolishes CarouSol trackers.
CarouSol is dead. Long live GreenVolts?

I was pushed the press release, “GreenVolts Names Solar and High Tech Industry Veteran as Vice President of Engineering”, on Wednesday. My first thought was what’s going on at GV1?

Since I happened, alright arranged, to be near Byron, I could not resist the temptation to investigate. As suggested in “GreenVolts Jolts Concentrating PhotoVoltaic (CPV) Business Plans”, the CarouSol trackers installed at GV1 are just now being scrapped.

Demolition Man was the headline that came to mind when I saw the CarouSol field being ripped up. Please don’t read a deeper analogy into the selection. As I took the photos, I was excited by the scoop though saddened by the development. I’ve posted about GreenVolts since discovering them at Solar Power 2006.

Commenting on “GreenVolts CarouSol debuts at Solar Power International 2008”, Daniel said:

That “contraption” seems like a massive amount of metal to minimize the amount of silicon in use.

From GreenVolts GV1: Demolition Man

When seen as scrap, the CarouSol does indeed require lots of metal. With polysilicon prices down so much, is there a compelling need to avoid using silicon or many other semiconductors in favor of common metals considering the efficient and improving material utilization?

Again, the CPUC (California Public Utilities Commission) 3rd Quarter RPS Project Status Table lists the GreenVolts GV1 project, and sources confirm their PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) is still in place with PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG).

From GreenVolts GV1: Demolition Man

What’s next for GreenVolts, Inc.? Does scrapping GV1 represent the start of a new beginning or the next leg down? I don’t know.

“It’s better to be lucky than good.” I’ve been feeling as though my luck has returned as of late.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

GP Note: First, let me caution that my information for this post has been gleaned from confidential and anonymous sources. I’ve been investigating these claims for the past two weeks, and I am convinced I have the basic facts straight.

Two weeks ago Friday, Bob Cart was forced out as GreenVolts, Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Chief Financial Officer Gary Beasley is now acting CEO as an executive search is conducted for a replacement. It appears this was a boardroom putsch orchestrated by venture capital investor, Oak Investment Partners.

I’ve had the feeling something was wrong at GreenVolts, Inc. due to the lack of progress at GV1 chronicled in my visits:

In Search of GreenVolts GV1 – Part 2
In Search of GreenVolts GV1

And later acknowledged by the company in “GreenVolts Delays its 2MW Solar Field” by Ucilia Wang at Greentech Media.

Around January 15, 2009, not long after GreenVolts was chosen for BusinessWeek’s “Most Successful U.S. Startups 2008” list, about one-third of the forty (40) person GreenVolts team was laid off including upper management and key staff. A quick look at the GreenVolts – Company Profile on LinkedIn (better when logged in) will confirm this.

Although the poor macro economic environment and credit crunch were logical explanations, the layoff was also driven by a product vision divergence. In an incredible twist for a start-up company, I understand two competing design teams were formed to develop the company’s next generation CPV technology. One team, lead by Bob Cart, evolved and improved the GreenVolts Power Unit and CarouSol. The second team investigated clean sheet and perhaps me too CPV approaches as an alternative path. I suspect this second team was formed at the insistence of Board Director Brian Hinman, a Venture Partner with Oak Investment Partners.

The outcome of this competition is now clear. I have heard a staff rotation may be underway as new employees are hired, and GreenVolts veterans ponder their respective futures.

What of GV1?

If the Power Unit and CarouSol trackers are indeed obsoleted, almost 1 MW (MegaWatt) of CarouSol trackers installed at GV1 may end up as scrap. GreenVolts is still included in the RPS Project Status Table – 2nd Quarter 2009 Update, so the PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) deal would appear to remain in place.

From California Clean Tech Open 2009 Launch

Just a few weeks ago at the California Clean Tech Open 2009 Launch, I was chatting with the GreenVolts team about the implications of the NREL pact, “GreenVolts and NREL to Commercialize Advanced IMM Solar Cells”, HCPV system capacity ratings, and their take on the CPV Consortium. I did wonder why Bob Cart was not in attendance, but I assumed he was busy.

GreenVolts did not respond to my questions regarding the content of this post.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

[Byron, California USA]

Earlier this month, I had a chance to revisit the GreenVolts, Inc. GV1 site I first posted about In Search of GreenVolts GV1. This wasn’t part of a grand design; I just happened to be in the area and couldn’t resist.

Below is a YouTube video of the GV1 site. I didn’t notice during the visit, and it took prompting by GreenVolts until I realized the “staged materials” towards the southeast corner of Phase 1 were CarouSol units. I zoomed in on these towards the middle of the video without knowing. The SpyCamSystems Mobile Video Surveillance Trailer was new at the project site. I’ve also included a few Picasa slideshow photos. At the time, GreenVolts claimed this was “a working site with roughly 40 total arrays at various stages of deployment in the field,” and modules were on sun logging data.

As this RPS Project Status Table – 1st Quarter 2009 Update (download the spreadsheet) from the California Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) webpage of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) indicates, the 2MW GreenVolts GV1 project is delayed without a revised online date. Although the final detailed schedule is being reworked with PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), GreenVolts is now targeting a mid 2010 project completion date for GV1. The project timing is driven by the improved module redesign and the macro economic environment.

“GreenVolts enhances its technology” at CPV Today reports:

GreenVolts says it has come across a new technology opportunity that will allow the CPV technology company to make its CarouSol even more efficient.
Changes to CarouSol will lead to a more efficient, more reliable and resulting lower cost system. Further details at this point of time aren’t being disclosed.

Very mysterious, but a more efficient production III-V Triple Junction terrestrial solar cell is almost certain to be part of the “new technology”.

GreenVolts did not respond before deadline to my question regarding possible schedule acceleration as a result of the $787 billion economic stimulus package.

This may be public relations plain and simple, but I like the sound of “Spire Initiates “Come to America” Program.”

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

View Larger Map

Interconnected and waiting for approval to flip the switch.
But on how much photovoltaic capacity?

Two weekends ago, I made an impromptu visit to the GreenVolts, Inc., GV1 site located in Byron, California USA, as shown in the above Google Map. Following over one month later in the foot steps of Matt Nauman, author of “GreenVolts: something new under the sun near Tracy”, I expected to see significant progress on the first 1 MW (MegaWatt) phase of the 2 MW HCPV (High Concentration PhotoVoltaics) project. Instead I was disappointed.

After passing the site on Kelso Road, I thought this must be it, but I wasn’t positive. I was only able to reconfirm the location across from the Western Area Power Administration’s Tracy Substation after consulting the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Initial Study (MND/IS) at the GreenVolts webpage maintained by the Alameda County Community Development Agency Planning Department:

• Initial Study for the GreenVolts Utility-Scale Solar Field
• GreenVolt Study; Appendices

My GreenVolts GV1 site photos can be viewed in the above Picasa slideshow. While a trailer and shipping containers obstructed the view, in my opinion, the only possible location for completed CarouSol units was towards the right center of the property behind a short wall. I could not see any mirrors among the many trackers from the public Kelso Road.

GreenVolts was unwilling to disclose the current or planned year end 2008 capacity expected for interconnection. It appears the installed capacity may remain as Matt Nauman reported:

So far, mirrors and solar cells have been installed on a handful of trackers, enough to generate 18 kilowatts of electricity.

Or perhaps five to six CarouSol units rated at 3 to 3.5 kWp (kiloWatt-peak) system capacity each?

Earlier this year at BIG Solar, GreenVolts delayed the 1 MW Phase 1 completion schedule to year end 2008. This goal was reiterated (please see “GreenVolts breaks ground on America’s largest HCPV power plant” by Garrett Hering with PHOTON International, for example) until October 2008 at Solar Power International when Phase 1 completion slipped to an indeterminate date in 2009.

Per GreenVolts, Phase I was planned and on target for completion this year, but the company decided to scale back the 2008 deployment for two reasons:

• Cautious use of financial resources during the challenging macroeconomic environment.
• Module improvements yielding potential efficiency gains.

Since GreenVolts has a 20-year PPA (Power Purchase Agreement) with PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), it does make sense for them to maximize their system power generation. However, the delay may also signal a glitch in the improved power unit module development or production.

GreenVolts had better hurry in 2009 before another CPV project usurps their leap to the largest III-V Multijunction Terrestrial Solar Cell module installation worldwide by a single company.

In early 2009, I am hoping for a proper site tour of the GV1 project to clear up the above points. At least that’s my intention; it is not a resolution.

Check out the GreenVolts label for prior posts about the company.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

Can’t Photo (Touch) This!

As suggested in my Solar Power International 2008 Preview post, GreenVolts, Inc., did indeed display a CarouSol unit for the first time, and a sparse CarouSol datasheet is also available.

On Tuesday, October 14, 2008, right after the Expo opened at 10AM, I headed straight to the GreenVolts stand to check out their exhibit. I was not disappointed to see a crowd gawking at a complete GreenVolts CarouSol unit. Up close, my first photo was of the receiver unit. Perhaps because this was seen as aggressive, I was directed by a GreenVolts representative to not take photos! Even though I pointed out I was official, accredited Press, I got a nonsensical statement about the official Solar Power Expo photo policy. Referring to the Media Kit, I pointed out there was no such rule to waning attention. Please see Solar Power: Photos of GreenVolts, Sopogy, SkyFuel by Katie Fehrenbacher for another mention of this.

My official photo policy is to get the damn photos or videos. In addition to the Picasa slideshow above, here are two very unofficial videos of the CarouSol. I apologize in advance to anyone who did not realize they were being recorded. Please note this unit was static and the two-axis tracking function was not demonstated.

Perhaps the concern was regarding close up photos of the CarouSol underside like those in my second visit slideshow?

I didn’t even think to look under the unit during my first visit. Perhaps I was distracted by the photo policy?

If you have noticed a drop in recent posting activity, I have been dealing with numerous personal and professional issues the past month or so. Expect my average two to three posts per week to resume this month. And email? Let’s not talk about how far behind I am replying to Blog subscriber and reader emails.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

Berkeley-Stanford CleanTech Conference on “Utility Scale Solar Power Generation”

The 2nd Berkeley-Stanford CleanTech Conference, BIG Solar: “Utility Scale Solar Power Generation”, took place Wednesday afternoon, May 7, 2008, at SRI International. Although the agenda included keynotes and a first panel discussion on “California’s Policy Leadership“, my focus was on the second panel, “Innovations in Technology”, with presentations by Blog stalwarts GreenVolts and Cool Earth Solar (CES).

For GreenVolts, I will highlight updates and deltas from GreenVolts presents at Alternative Energy Innovations 2007.

For the PG&E GV1 project, the 1MW (MegaWatt) Phase 1 is now scheduled for completion by the end of 2008, one quarter later than indicated in GreenVolts does it again with 2MW Solar Electric Plant deal with PG&E.

Bob Cart, founder and CEO of GreenVolts, Inc. said:

The first megawatt we’re actually manufacturing right now for deployment later on this year. This is a photograph of one of our test units. Actually, this is the first public time we’ve shown this.

Photo Credit: GreenVolts, Inc.

The above photo is of the “T6” or “six” CarouSol system under test at three sites. Optical concentration for the Off-Axis Microdish power units has been increased to 1000x. The two-axis CarouSol systems have succeeded in tracking with winds as high as 43mph (miles per hour) or 69.2kph (kilometers per hour).

GreenVolts has adopted LCOE (Levelized Cost of Energy) as a metric for BIG Solar and projects $0.15/kWh (15 cents per kilowatt-hour) as the value of solar in 2010.

In a teaser, Mr. Cart said:

This is a project that we’ll be announcing at some point in the future we hope.

Please see the Picasa slideshow for additional photos and the respective slides from the presentation.

I arrived in San Diego last night, and I look forward to covering the 33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference (PVSC 33) this week.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

The ISFOC, Instituto de Sistemas Fotovoltaicos de Concentración S.A. or Institute of Concentration Photovoltaics Systems, Board of Directors awarded the 13 Concentrator PhotoVoltaic (CPV) pilot power plants at their last meeting. These awards complete the tender for the second phase of ISFOC’s 3MW (MegaWatt) CPV pilot plant program detailed in the previous post, ISFOC 1.3MW CPV Power Plant tenders made public. The terse ISFOC announcement is here.

Including two (2) Spanish firms, here are the 1.3MW award details:

The unsuccessful bidders included: Menova Energy (Canada), GreenVolts (US), Electricidad Alsanbo S.L. (ES), Infopyme Solar (ES), and SolFocus (US). The failure of the GreenVolts bid for a 200kW (kiloWatt) pilot power plant is notable. Perhaps the capacity was too small and the price per kilowatt was too high? SolFocus was awarded 500kW of CPV pilot power plants in the first phase.

Thanks to the folks at Sol3g, S.L. for bringing this ISFOC award to my attention. Earlier this month, Sol3g joined ASIF (http://www.asif.org/), Asociación de la Industria Fotovoltaica or Spanish Photovoltaic Industry Association, per the press release Sol3g becomes member of Asif.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

The Solar Light Flashes format allows me to address news or observations that don’t require a full post.

Cool Earth Solar
Cool Earth Solar (CES, http://www.coolearthsolar.com) has revamped their website and is reshaping solar energy. I heard from CEO Rob Lamkin that CES Senior Team member, Dr. Aurelius Prochazka, co-author of RailsSpace: Building a Social Networking Website with Ruby on Rails, was involved with the implementation. Back on August 24, 2007, the press release, COOL EARTH SOLAR FILES PATENTS FOR SOLAR TECHNOLOGY, demonstrates CSE efforts to protect their Intellectual Property (IP). And Cool Earth Solar in the News was nice enough to link to my post, Cool Earth Solar emerges from Stealth Mode.

GreenVolts Inc.
On Tuesday, November 27, 2007, Kevin Fine, Director of Product Development, GreenVolts, will present Solar Energy Technologies: Emphasis on Concentrating Photovoltaic Technologies, at the California PUC (CPUC) Building, Golden Gate Room, 505 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco, California USA, from Noon – 1:00 PM PST (Pacific Standard Time). This event is sponsored by the San Francisco Power Engineering Chapter of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.). Non-member cost and RSVP details are here.

RenewableEnergyAccess.com
As the Photovoltaic Blogger, reporting on the media is one of my easiest tasks. With rare exception, media never reports on the competition. While I jumped on the news of Intersolar North America 2008, RenewableEnergyAccess.com chose not to report on this significant new event but passed on this Industry Press Release, Record Early Sales of Solar Power 2008 Reflects Growth Trajectory of U.S. Solar Industry, post haste. Could it be because Solar Power 2008 is an advertiser and Media Partner?

RSI Silicon
I noticed RSI (Reaction Sciences Inc.) Silicon Products won the ICE 2007 Ignite Clean Energy Business Presentation Competition during my research into Wakonda Technologies. Per the RSI Silicon website:

Dr. Steve Amendola, along with his experienced team, has commenced building the first plant. It is envisaged that production at the 5,000 metric tonne per annum plant based in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, will commence Q2 2008.

Also notable here is:

RSI will be using low cost raw materials for processing solar grade silicon and not the Metallurgical Grade Si >

even though Northampton is in rust belt steel country. I can only presume they will use a precursor with Silicon as a component unless they have developed a Silicon Replicator technology?

Here is the RSI Silicon ICE 2007 PowerPoint presentation and top Ten Finalist video by Newfangler Productions.

SunPower Corporation
On October 22, 2007, SunPower announced SunPower Names Brad Davis as Chief Marketing Officer. Towards the end of this press release, SunPower CEO Tom Werner said:

I am also pleased to announce that Peter Aschenbrenner will be assuming a new role as vice president, corporate strategy, continued Werner. In this position Peter will have responsibility for strategy, business development, and management of SunPower’s product portfolio. Peter has been the primary architect of SunPower’s strategy since 2003, and with three decades of solar industry experience he is uniquely qualified to help us capitalize on emerging global opportunities.

To date, I have not seen an official resolution of Peter Aschenbrenner under SEC investigation in AstroPower Saga. Could this move be a second step towards a quiet exit for Mr. Aschenbrenner from SunPower?

8. Forum Solarpraxis
I am looking forward to covering this Solarpraxis AG (FRA:SPA) event again next week on November 22-23, 2007, in Berlin, Germany. Here is the program (Deutsch). I am keen to checkout and report on this presentation:

International Solar Silicon Production – an Overview
John R. Mott, COO of Solarvalue Proizvodnja d.d., Ruse (Slovenia)

on Friday, November 23, 2007, at 14:30. I have requested access to select closed Analyst Conferences in advance to avoid a repeat of SOLON AG CEO Kicks PV Blogger Out of Analyst Conference. SOLON is not on my list.

Try entering the URL http://www.guntherportfolio.com and see where it takes you. I wonder what purpose this could serve?

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

1-Solar wins Renewables Prize
GreenVolts, Inc. announces $10 Million Series A Funding

The Academy Awards of Clean Tech, aka the Awards Ceremony for the 2007 CALIFORNIA CLEAN TECH OPEN, took place last night on Monday, October 29, 2007, at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco, California USA.

In the Renewables Category, 1-Solar was the winner of the Renewables Prize (one of six CCTO Category prizes) and Tahoe Water Systems was the runner up.

1-Solar, Inc. claims to have halved the cost and doubled the life of DC to AC inverters for solar photovoltaic system applications. 1-Solar’s President Tranh Nguyen makes his acceptance speech in the following video clip and said:

Our invertors are designed to last 15 years or more.

The short product life of inverters is one of the dirty little secrets of photovoltaics.

GreenVolts’ $10 Million Series A round of funding was led by Greenlight Energy Resources, Inc., Avista Corporation (NYSE:AVA), and several other investors.

Per GreenVolts:

… its CarouSol tracking system has begun producing energy at Avista¹s Clean Energy Test Site, and that it is on track for deployment of its GV1 plant in late 2008.

See GreenVolts scores Solar Project and Investment from Avista for more details on the demonstration High Concentration PhotoVoltaics (HCPV) project located in Rathdrum, Idaho.

The official press release should be here on the GreenVolts website in the morning.

To honor all the 2007 California Clean Tech Open (CCTO) Finalists, here is a link to the Finalist Directory or Download 2007 Finalist Directory.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.

[Redwood City, California USA]

CCTO 2007 Alumni Award won by GreenVolts

GreenVolts, Inc. founder and CEO Bob Cart delivered a crisp company Utility Scale Solar presentation on Wednesday, October 24, 2007, at the Dow Jones VentureWire Alternative Energy Innovations 2007 conference in Redwood City, California.

In a succinct summary of the GreenVolts business model, Mr. Cart said:

We sell energy not solar panels.

GreenVolts and PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG) entered into a 20 year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the GV1 High Concentration PhotoVoltaic (HCPV) power plant as I reported in GreenVolts does it again with 2MW Solar Electric Plant deal with PG&E (revised to 2.5MWp) or see the press release, PG&E Adds Utility-Scale Solar Projects to Its Power Mix.

As I have been covering developments at GreenVolts since Solar Power 2006, I will focus on the deltas or what was new in this presentation.

GreenVolts does their own Research and Development (R&D) leveraging contract manufacturers to build their Off-Axis Microdish power units and two-axis tracking platform trademarked the CarouSol™ system. GreenVolts marketing and sales efforts serve two primary channels: 10-20MWp (MegaWatt-peak) direct utility customers and 1-10MWp project partner developers such as MMA Renewable Ventures, SunEdison LLC, or Chevron Energy Solutions for example.

The CarouSol tracker was billed as 3kWp (kiloWatt-peak) again like it was prior to GreenVolts Concentrates PhotoVoltaics in San Francisco. In addition, the CarouSol was positioned as self cleaning, self stowing, easy to install, and achieving the highest energy density compared to the competition.

The integrated self cleaning system utilizes a high pressure air blast and a small amount of water to keep the mirrors dust free. Accumulated dust on the mirrors can reduce the electricity production by about 15%. At night or during high wind conditions, the CarouSol will stow the power units by tipping them downward.

At 2.5 feet (0.76 meters) tall and 19 feet (5.79 meters) in diameter, the modular and light weight CarouSol was touted as simple to install because cranes or ladders are not required and poured concrete isn’t necessary for anchoring. Also, retrofit rooftop applications do not require roof penetration for mounting.

In a revelation regarding energy density, GreenVolts claimed the CarouSol system delivers almost two (2) times the power per unit area measured in MegaWatt-hours (MWh) per acre versus the one-axis SunPower (PowerLight) T20 Tracker and two and one-half (2.5) times the SolFocus HCPV solution at lower cost per kiloWatt-hour (kWh) generated.

GreenVolts is constructing a single shift 12MWp annual capacity pilot production line now with plans to scale to 60MWp by 2010. The pilot line will be used to perfect a copy exact approach for future expansions.

In closing, Bob Cart mentioned data from field testing showed promising results though it was from a brief two month period.

While a number of questions concerned the self cleaning system (cold weather and water in arid, desert locations), Mr. Cart did not tip any vendors for III-V Triple Junction Terrestrial Solar Cells or power plant scale invertors although he did say GV1 will use 500kW sized invertors reducing the potential supplier candidates.

Per the CCTO press release, California Clean Tech Open Awards Event San Francisco October 29, 2007:

A special CCTO “Alumni” award will be presented on October 29th to the 2006 finalist that has made most progress since last year’s awards event in te
rms of investment funding or significant customer wins.

The 2007 Alumni Award will be presented to GreenVolts, a solar startup based in San Francisco. After winning the Renewables prize at the 2006 CCTO, GreenVolts has made enormous progress, recently signing an agreement with PG&E for a two megawatt HCPV (high concentration photovoltaic) power plant that, when completed, will be the largest in the world. To add to this, the company will be making a major announcement at Monday’s event.

What could the major announcement from GreenVolts be? Could there be a new customer or round of venture capital funding? Towards the end of his presentation, Mr. Cart hinted GreenVolts will have an announcement regarding the later real soon. It would appear the timing will coincide with the CCTO Awards Ceremony.

For my previous GreenVolts Blog posts, click the Topic label GreenVolts.

I know GUNTHER Portfolio is our special secret, but, please, share it with a friend or colleague.

©2010 GUNTHER Portfolio. All Rights Reserved.