Google Announces New Solar Plans

By Matt Daily

(Reuters) - Google Inc and TransCanada Corp announced deals to buy solar power projects on Tuesday, just days after billionaire Warren Buffett made his second major purchase in the sector.

Prices for solar panels have fallen more than 40 percent this year, pushing the cost to install the renewable energy systems to their cheapest levels ever.

But solar panel makers have struggled as the price decline eroded profit margins for the nascent industry, driving share prices across the sector sharply lower.

Google is teaming up with private equity firm KKR & Co to buy four solar plants in California with a total capacity of 88 megawatts from developer Recurrent Energy, which is owned by Sharp Corp.

The deal, whose financial terms were not disclosed, brings Google's total investment in the sector to more than $915 million.

Solar installations in the United States have reached record levels this year, with more than 1,000 MW installed through the first nine months of the year, about equal to the output of a large nuclear reactor.

Meanwhile, TransCanada, whose efforts to build the Keystone XL pipeline connecting the Canadian province of Alberta's oil sands fields to the U.S. Gulf Coast have been delayed by the Obama administration, announced its first deal in the solar sector.

The company said it would pay $470 million to Canadian Solar, which will build nine projects in Ontario. Solar plants in that province receive a "feed-in tariff" that guarantees a higher-than-market price for the electricity produced.

Shares of Canadian Solar rose 29 percent to $2.85 in premarket trading, while Google gained 0.8 percent to $626.88.

Last week, Buffett's power company, MidAmerican Energy Holdings, said it would buy a 49 percent stake in the 290 MW Agua Caliente plant in Arizona from NRG Energy.

That followed MidAmerican's purchase a week earlier of the 550 MW Topaz solar project from First Solar, which is also building the Agua Caliente plant.

(Reporting By Matt Daily in New York and Aftab Ahmed, Vaishnavi Bala and Supantha Mukherjee in Bangalore)

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Comments

[chris11hex]

10:23 AM on 12/21/2011

Good job Google, a company that cares is a good company

[artleads]

11:42 PM on 12/20/2011

Does the purchace entail new grids? TransCanada getting into the racket should forewarn us that this is Big Energy meant to enrich large corporations rather than release ordinary people from their grip.

[TwoZeroOZ]

12:53 AM on 12/21/2011

'release ordinary people from their grip'?
Nobody's saying you can't still install a solar panel... But as with everything else in reality, efficiency comes in mass production.

[artleads]

11:35 AM on 12/21/2011

There's also the serious matter of the blight and destruction of the natural world to run the grids. Plus, it is the taxpayer who picks up the tab, and gives up its public lands, for that grid. And a whole army of people know how to make, distribute and install solar panels efficiently. While large corporations might be efficient, I weigh that efficiency against their destructiveness and oppressiveness, and the latter weighs heavier.

[Genders]

10:33 PM on 12/20/2011

Solar cheap.

http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/12/11/387108/solar-power-much-cheaper-than-most-realize-study/

http://solarcellcentral.com/companies_page.html first solar 2.5$ per Wp installed.

http://cleantechnica.com/2011/06/10/solar-power-graphs-to-make-you-smile/

http://solar.gwu.edu/Research/EnergyPolicy_Zweibel2010.pdf Great article about price of solar now 3$/W installed. last 100 years, 1-2 cents per KWH after the first 20 years and the loan is paid off.

http://cleantechnica.com/2011/06/10/solar-power-graphs-to-make-you-smile/

energy source amounts: http://cleantechnica.com/2011/08/23/solar-power-intro-3-key-solar-power-points-top-solar-power-news/

http://www.sunelec.com/ 75 cents per Wp. 50 cents for laminates.
cheapest new solar panels 1-2$/Wp http://www.ecobusinesslinks.com/solar_panels.htm

Then see what subsidies you can get, there are lots of them: http://www.dsireusa.org/

[markkocaldo]

04:16 PM on 12/21/2011

Here is the real cost of a real solar install just completed by expert engineers at Duke Energy.

Google "biofuelsw­atch.com/s­olar-farm-­starts-ope­ration"

$43 a watt average, 18% capacity factor, 50 cents a kwh at Dukes discount rate. It's in sunny South Carolina.

Solar/wind costs, now at their lowest level in years because of Chinese dumping, need 20 cents a kwh for gas backup No GHG's are saved because the scam needs to backed up to 100% of name plate with low efficiency gas.

If decades in the future green storage comes available it will add a buck a kwh to the cost - $60K per annum to the average household.

[TwoZeroOZ]

09:58 PM on 12/21/2011

Nobody can interpret what you're saying. Try spending more time on grammatical structure.

[Genders]

08:49 PM on 12/22/2011

Versus the trillion dollar cost of the Japan nukes.....

[LVNVprog]

07:04 PM on 12/20/2011

I live in Nevada, land of unlimited sunshine. I just received a proposal to go Solar on my 2,000 Sq' house. Price 26K, of that I get a 7K Federal Tax Credit, and a 6K Nevada Energy Tax Credit, leaving me with a 13k Bill. This Solar Panel System would reduce my energy usage by 80% of my average $ 100 Per month Bill. No need to convert my Gas Heat and Hot Water since this Solar proposal does not generate enough electricity to take care of that. Solar Must become Less Expensive for the Homeowner to become Viable.
Another consideration is: Public Utilities are shirking their responsibility to build the Solar Farms themselves and will purchase Solar and Wind Electricity at Highly inflated rates they pass on to the consumer as brokers with a mark-up to bypass regulation of their rates. This is the Next coming Bubble And Scam - Invest wisely! The Google People are not Idiots, they know how to make money.

[Genders]

09:33 PM on 12/20/2011

Right, you anecdotal example should convince us all, right?

Residential solar averages 7$ per Wp. In CA and NJ and Hawaii, that ends up far cheaper than the grid power including 5% capital loan costs.

If you have cheap subsidies nukes, coal oil oil, of course it will be more expensive for solar. Nukes get 500M$ per reactor per year in breaks, coal and oil get even more. green gets 1% of that.

The lowest cost rooftop solar installations are below 2$% per peak watt. That's about 8 cents per KWH.

[markkocaldo]

10:21 PM on 12/20/2011

Even the simplest arithmetic is beyond Genders.

At $7 peak watt at 5% capital that is 40 cents a kwh in Hawaii and 50 cents in NJ. Many times higher than grid cost.

Genders has never been able to list a single nuclear subsidy despite being asked many times to put up or shut up. There are no nuclear subsidies.

[vaeho]

05:15 PM on 12/20/2011

hi;
this is very important.

[edenooch]

04:52 PM on 12/20/2011

Would training in photovoltaics be a good idea right about now?

[TwoZeroOZ]

12:58 AM on 12/21/2011

I don't think any amount of training will allow your body to generate electricity with sunlight.

[jdl51]

04:34 PM on 12/20/2011

A square 100 miles by 100 miles of solar panels would provide the entire U.S. electricity needs. Nat gas could supply transportation fuel and power plants when the sun isn't shining, along with wind power. There is only one reason we are dependent on foreign countries for our oil, and it isn't because there are no other alternatives. That would keep roughly half a trillion a year in our country, and create tens of thousands of jobs, if not hundreds of thousands. Alternative energy can solve many problems all at once, pollution, balance of trade and jobs, climate change. Big oil will do anything possible to prevent this scenario, including buying as many politicians as they can.

[TheTightwireGuy]

07:02 PM on 12/20/2011

jdl,

That may be true, but building this many solar panels is the US, or buying them from China -- which is the current leader in photovoltaic technology AND possesses the lion's share of key mineral resources needed to produce them -- is more than likely to be EXTREMELY cost prohibitive.

http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ib103

Mind you, I fully agree in the merit of our country adopting an aggressive sustainable energy policy, but we must consider the limiting physical and international competitive realities of how to actually implement that strategy here in the US.

[NWBrunette]

07:15 PM on 12/20/2011

Spot on.

[planetjeffy]

04:23 PM on 12/20/2011

I would rather have Google build plants instead of buying them.
But if that allows the plant's former owner to build new solar installation - that will work too.

[Tom95134]

04:08 PM on 12/20/2011

The new Public Utility in California is GW&E (Google Water & Electric). One they start to build Solar Tower generation systems they will be able to desalinate sea water and supply it to the public water systems.

[markkocaldo]

02:42 PM on 12/20/2011

TransCanada is simply taking advantage of the 65 cent kwh solar feed tariff the corrupt government of Ontario is paying. TransCanada also gets to sell enormous amount of gas to load balance the solar far more gas than it would sell if the solar units were replaced with highly efficient gas units unsuitable for load balance.

[TwoZeroOZ]

01:02 AM on 12/21/2011

Government of Ontario is corrupt because is supports solar power?

That's a new one.

[markkocaldo]

04:11 PM on 12/21/2011

Yup they got a bunch of sleazy campaign donations from Samsung after giving them a $7B sweet heart deal.

[demcratville]

02:13 PM on 12/20/2011

Google is starting to scare me! First we hear on the Huffingtonpost Google is turning Red and Backing Republicans in the Senate and Congress.(Known Climate Deniers) Second they team Up with Fox News for the Republican Debates. (The evilist network on television) Third I read On THE New York Times Green Section Google was trying to kill all it's green Endeavors quietly. Last,Now That Warren buffet invested in something they decide to get back into Green Technology,but not alone with TransCanada Corp The Major Backer Of that deadly Pipeline? (Google Has Turn Full Republican.I wouldn't be surprised if they were all big fans of Ayn Rands)

[jasonsabio]

07:08 PM on 12/20/2011

#1 Google will back anyone that supports their business, just like any other business would do. You keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
#2 I hardly see how promoting an open political debate (one that is really just a YouTube advertisement) means they are suddenly in bed with Fox News.
#3 This article is an example of Google expanding its green endeavors, meaning if the New York Times green section really did say that, then they were wrong.
#4 Re-read the article, Google is not partnering with TransCanada Corp, they just both announced deals to to purchase solar fields on the same day.

[DJNinjah]

01:58 PM on 12/20/2011

The funny part is we are all way behind in solar. Travel to any non-urban village in China and they almost all have panels on their house.

[Kache]

07:02 PM on 12/20/2011

True. But there's nothing "funny" about that.

[neurolux]

02:18 AM on 12/21/2011

Germany too.

[Frank-Landfield]

12:57 PM on 12/20/2011

I got solar on my house and it didn't cost me a penny. Solar lease. From solar city dot com. Last month my electric bill was .95¢. I was thrilled to pay it, in cash. SolarCity.com.
I highly recommend. Great service. Great people. :-)

[SisterAnn]

01:13 PM on 12/20/2011

What is the cost of your lease?

[TwoZeroOZ]

01:04 AM on 12/21/2011

Why isn't there a spam report feature on HP?

[Frank-Landfield]

12:54 PM on 12/20/2011

Cool

[Gurinder Dhillon]

11:53 AM on 12/20/2011

GO GOOGLE
Solar power can only be suppressed for so long, try as they might its the future, its renewable, its clean, and its unbelievably abundant. The reason solar power is being suppressed is cause the countries that get the most photovoltaic sunshine are all in the Southern hemisphere and countries in the Southern hemisphere of Earth have historically been MUCH poorer than the countries in the Northern hemisphere and solar power would guarantee those countries year round essentially free energy and this would upset capitalism. You can't have capitalism with free energy, you need a paradigm like oil to keep everything measured, the banking industry and big oil are closely intertwined, and they're both hopelessly corrupt institutions.

[MOHILLBILLY]

12:22 PM on 12/20/2011

They have been suppressing solar power above my house all week.The capitalist stooges call it cloud cover, but I know it is big oil.Doesn't the combination of solar power and tinfoil hat make your head hot?

[mynamesyow]

01:22 PM on 12/20/2011

and doesnt the combination of Solar Panels w Chargable BATTERIES make you feel like a fool to realize that you are over-shilling the obvious missing component of batteries in your 'd@ng cloudy days!" fist-shaking argument....?

[Ginzu Mawa]

02:11 PM on 12/20/2011

space solar is the best option for industrial facilities, electric aircraft, and cloudy days.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-11-iaa-power-orbit.html

http://www.physorg.com/news172224356.html

Why do those commies hate good ol 19th century technologies?