With a generating capacity of more than 37,370 MW, the government-owned utility Taiwan Power Co serves nearly 11.7 million industrial, commercial, and residential customers. 

Concentrated solar power (CSP) technology, as it is known, is seen by many as a simpler, cheaper and more efficient way to harness the sun's energy than other methods such as photovoltaic (PV) panels.
Spain is placing a huge bet on CSP to meet their renewable energy and carbon targets:

Spanish firms are charging ahead with CSP: more than 50 solar projects around Spain have been approved for construction by the government and, by 2015, the country will generate more than 2GW of power from CSP, comfortably exceeding current national targets. The companies are also exporting their technology to Morocco, Algeria and the US ...

The country's clean energy targets are in line with the EU's plan to source 20% of primary energy from renewables by 2020, which means that 30% of electricity would have to come from carbon-free sources ...

CSP projects across Spain are built with the promise that the government will pay a premium, known as a feed-in tariff, for any CSP electricity sent into the grid. The PS20 is part of a €1.2bn series of solar power plants based on CSP technologies including tower plants and trough-style collectors -- where water is passed in tubes directly in front of parabolic mirrors that collect sunlight -- and a few PV panels planned by Abengoa. The solar farm will eventually generate up to 300MW of power, enough for the 700,000 people of Seville, by 2013.
The ultimate goal is to add thermal storage to CSP and create what I think is more accurately called solar thermal baseload:

The 20MW solar tower is also a forerunner for an even more ambitious idea, one that Abascal [Abengoa's CTO] hopes will become a standard for CSP plants in future -- a 50MW version that could generate electricity around the clock. "During the day, you'd use 50% of your electricity to produce electricity and 50% to heat molten salt. During the night you use the molten salt to produce electricity."

Molten salt technology is in its early stages but Abengoa is testing the idea at a power plant in Granada. So far the company has demonstrated that it is possible to store up to eight hours of solar energy by heating tanks containing 28,000 tonnes of salt to more than 220C. "This will make it possible to have almost constant production or at least it will be able to produce energy for most of the day," said Abascal.
Kudos to Spain for leading the way on this crucial climate solution.

"While we don't have the final numbers yet, it appears we nearly doubled the amount of solar installed in 2008 versus 2007," said Molly Tirpak Sterkel, director of the California Solar Initiative. "That's a magnificent story."

Experts attribute the surge in solar sales to a big increase in the federal tax credit, an ongoing state rebate and new innovative financing programs, as well as to mounting consumer concerns over global warming. The growth comes despite a U.S. economy suffering from a battered stock market, severe declines in house and car sales, and growing unemployment.

Perhaps 150 megawatts or more of new solar panels were installed in California in 2008, Sterkel said, up from 81 megawatts in 2007. (In California, one megawatt is enough electricity for 750 houses.)

She noted that California has more than half of the solar capacity in the United States, and that the state ranks as the world's No. 4 solar entity after Germany, Spain and Japan.

Solar's growth here is "somewhat surprising, as we expected the economic downtown might have some dampening effect," said Damon Franz, an energy analyst with the California Public Utilities Commission.

Sales increased because consumers now see solar as a safe economic bet, and a hedge against rising energy prices, said Lyndon Rive, chief executive of Solar City, a solar installer based in Foster City.

Tax incentive

Others credit inaction, then action, by the U.S. Congress for boosting solar. Fears that Congress wouldn't extend the federal solar tax credit past the end of 2008 spurred activity in the early fall as consumers and installers rushed to get projects completed by the end of the year. Then once Congress extended the tax credit for eight years and lifted a $2,000 cap in favor of a 30 percent credit, consumers jumped in to be first in line to get their systems — and their credit — after Jan. 1.

Combined, the federal tax credit and the California incentives can reduce the cost of a residential solar system, which typically costs $25,000 to $35,000, by as much as $14,000.

In the 24-month history of the California Solar Initiative, the busiest five months for applications were August through December of 2008. More than 1,000 applications were received in August, the largest monthly number to that point in the program's history, and the number reached a record 1,316 in December.

The California Solar Initiative is run regionally by public utilities. Pacific Gas & Electric has collected many more applications than Southern California Edison, which serves the greater Los Angeles area, or the California Center for Sustainable Energy, which runs the program in the San Diego area.

Through Dec. 31, applications in PG&E's Northern and Central California territory represented 52 of the 79 megawatts for residential systems and 118 of 219 megawatts for nonresidential systems.

'Big momentum'

Chuck Hornbrook, PG&E's senior manager for solar and customer generation, expects the utility to connect more than 1,000 solar systems to the grid in January. Many of those will be customers who had put off making the connection in order to get the larger federal tax credit, he said.

"There's a big momentum," Hornbrook said.

Statewide, 18,199 homeowners or businesses have applied for rebates on 298 megawatts worth of solar panels since the program started in January 2007. The goal of the California Solar Initiative is to have 3,000 megawatts of solar power installed by 2016, and $3.3 billion have been allocated to three programs to reach that goal.

On Friday, 1 Block Off the Grid, a San Francisco startup that negotiates communitywide discounts for solar projects, said it had selected Solar City for its next round of Bay Area installations, which includes San Jose.

While its original goal was to put solar on 75 homes, Dave Llorens, 1BOG's general manager, said the company already has 667 people who have signed up to have their homes evaluated.

Such communitywide efforts, Llorens said, push down solar prices while providing homeowners with a well-vetted installer and a pre-negotiated deal.

"It's the magic of knowing everyone else is getting the same deal," Llorens said.

For Solar City, working with 1BOG means it doesn't have to spend as much on advertising and sales calls to attract new customers. So it can offer discounted rates, Rive said.

1BOG was acquired by another San Francisco startup, Virgance, in November, which has expanded the solar-buying cooperative to 20 cities nationwide, including San Jose.

In San Jose's Blossom Valley neighborhood, Fiona Marshall has signed up to get a solar system via 1 Block Off the Grid. "They've done all the legwork," she said, adding that was important because she and husband Tim just had a new baby.

It was the change in the federal tax credit that spurred their decision.

"Now we can have a solar system and not have to wait 20 years to break even," she said.

Some £22.7 million of the £50 million programme has already been handed out to 1,214 projects.

But with fewer projects proposing small wind turbines or heat pumps than expected, more money is being shifted into the solar photovoltaic pot. Grants will have to be approved by June 2009, with projects to be installed by 2010.

Photovoltaic system suppliers hit by the slow-down in the construction sector have welcomed the extra support, which is available for PV systems up to 50kW in size.

Mid Wales firm Dulas Ltd, which said it was currently trading well in "difficult times", said the extra money was a timely boost for its 60 employees.

Dulas director Ian Draisey said the next six months would be crucial for his team, which was keen to make the most of the opportunity.

Optimism

Mr Draisley said: "Like most we were hit by the downturn in the construction industry, but have continued to supply housing associations and the public sector with advice on low carbon buildings. We now have a real reason for optimism going into the new year."

Machynlleth-based Dulas Ltd, which was spun out of the Centre for Alternative Technology in 1982, is part of the Low Carbon Partnership, one of three consortiums chosen to supply PV systems, solar thermal equipment and wind turbines under phase two of the Low Carbon Buildings Programme.

The consortium also includes Sundog Energy, Rayotec and AES.

Dulas said it has been most active in the photovoltaic field under the Low Carbon Buildings Programme.

"New technologies have to be put into place, new markets must be conquered, and new solutions must be offered," stated Enerqos' president Marco Landi. "We intend to bring all these projects to fruition via our own funds and with industrial and financial partners who share our mission. We want to be able to better ourselves together and demonstrate even faster growth, creating more value, more research and more jobs."

Recently, Enerqos opened two European subsidiaries, in Paris, France, and in Athens, Greece.

Enerqos said its subsidiaries, namely Enerqos France and Enerqos Hellas, are not be just virtual offices as they are fully functioning premises. Focusing on France, Enerqos said it plans to create a center of expertise entirely devoted to BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaics).

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced $145 million in the first quarter of next year will go toward encouraging home solar power.

The ministry said Japan aims to have solar power systems installed on more than 70 percent of new homes.

The new efforts will also include solar power education in schools, the development of refined deep cycle battery technologies and the installation of grid connections.

Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) defines winter as November through April, and in those six months, Erlichman says his company generates just 40 percent of the company's annual production even though the skies are gray. He says, however, that there are ways to squeeze more energy out of the panels.

“You can increase the ‘tilt’ to improve winter production, but as a result you wind up sacrificing summer production for fixed tilt systems. So we typically optimize at a tilt of 20 to 30 degrees and that maximizes overall annual production.”

Erlichman believes that despite the tough economic times solar energy is primed to grow because of growing interest in green energy and because it saves money.

“One of our greatest challenges is addressing the misperception that solar is not affordable. Both homeowners and businesses can take advantage of leases that require no out-of-pocket payment.

Solar experts said the facility's successful first year of operation should help convince utilities that sun power can be a viable part of the U.S. generation mix, even though its costs are higher and its output more intermittent than traditional coal- and natural-gas-fired generators.

Xcel Energy is using the plant's power to help it meet the renewable-energy standards approved by Colorado voters and state legislators over the past four years.

"We have been very pleased with the amount of solar power the SunEdison plant has been able to deliver," said Karen Hyde, vice president of resource planning and acquisition for Xcel. "We continue to believe that solar power will be an integral part of our resource strategy."

Xcel customers pay about 2 percent more on their power bills to fund renewable energy, mostly from wind farms.

Among plants employing the technology of photovoltaics — direct conversion of sunlight to electricity — the 8.22-megawatt Alamosa facility is the largest in the nation to deliver power to a public utility.

Its size is exceeded only by the 14-megawatt photovoltaic generating station at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where the power plant is used to meet a portion of the base's needs.

Yet the Alamosa plant's bragging rights may soon go by the wayside as larger solar plants begin to come on line.

Developers recently completed construction of a 10-megawatt photovoltaic plant in southern Nevada that will serve customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.

And construction of other plants using solar-thermal technology — harnessing the sun's heat to make steam to spin turbine generators — is expected to bring larger-scale facilities more suited to utilities' needs.

"Not to pooh-pooh Alamosa's size, but the industry is growing fast," said Mike Taylor, director of research for the Washington, D.C.-based Solar Electric Power Association.

"I'd almost call it entry-level," Taylor said. "But you've got to start somewhere. So kudos to the Colorado initiatives that got them out in front on this project."

Photovoltaics are best known for their use in solar panels installed on the rooftops of homes, stores, government buildings and parking structures. Large-scale solar arrays are in place at Denver International Airport and the Denver Federal Center.

"Solar power has come to maturity," said Rick Gilliam, managing director of Western states policy for Beltsville, Md.-based SunEdison. "Alamosa is helping us show that solar is a legitimate resource."