Highlights
Retains strong cash position – over $6.1 Million cash on hand
Burn rate drops by 24%
Revenue growth of over 70% re FY 2008
Cash inflows maintained
Operational expenditure prioritised to projects
Low capital expenditure
Solid order book for 4th Quarter and beyond
No debt
Now, three quarters through FY 2009, a year in which nearly all industrial companies have suffered a drastic drop in revenue and substantial reduction of cash, Dyesol continues to achieve revenue growth, with income at the end of the 3rd Quarter being 70% greater than that achieved for the whole FY2008. Meanwhile the company has substantially reduced cash burn rate while maintaining excellent progress on all projects. By the key measure of operational cash burn, Dyesol has reduced its expenditure by nearly $1M in the quarter, a reduction of 24% in burn. During the quarter, the company met another key milestone in our partnership project with Corus and announced the first stage commitments from projects in Korea and Turkey – moving the company closer to full commercialisation. Last week, at the Dyesol sponsored conference in Nara, Japan, attended by a record 250 delegates, Dyesol announced the achievement of over 12% efficiency for an industrial size tandem cell – demonstrating that the company is also expanding and strengthening its IP portfolio.
At the end of the quarter Dyesol has $6.137M at bank and continues to have no debt. The monthly burn rate for the quarter averaged $560K indicating that cash reserves are close to one year of operations. The employment levels at Dyesol are now steady as we have completed expansion of the team in the UK to meet the accelerated project schedule. Further business expansion in other jurisdictions will depend on additional funds being secured from partners, government or investors.
In investment activities, as announced in the previous quarter, Dyesol has continued to reduce expenditure on capital equipment as nearly all requirements for current projects have been committed.
Dyesol still holds all its cash as current deposits in top trading banks in Australia (CBA and Westpac/St George), UK (HSBC), Switzerland (Raiffeisen), Singapore (HSBC) and Italy (BPM).
During the quarter the company also confirmed supplier collaborations in Europe and commenced evaluation of outsourcing of equipment manufacture to specialist international equipment engineers, in order to reduce the need for further capital expansion.
The fourth quarter will bring further operating cash inflows from sales of services and equipment in Asia and Europe, growing materials sales and substantial grant payments in UK. Operational and investment cash flows are forecast to remain steady.
Dyesol enters the final quarter of FY2009 confident that the company will continue to grow through the current financial crisis and will be well placed to serve what the IEA and World Bank refer to as the Energy Revolution that could dominate industrial growth for the coming decades. Dyesol is well placed to address the worlds largest energy demand, the built environment due to the fact that our technology and products can operate in any light conditions and at any angle to the sun – a Unique Selling Proposition USP for Dyesol’s Dye Solar Cells.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Saturday, 18 April 2009
Economic survivalists take root
By Judy Keen, USA TODAY
When the economy started to squeeze the Wojtowicz family, they gave up vacation cruises, restaurant meals, new clothes and high-tech toys to become 21st-century homesteaders.
Now Patrick Wojtowicz, 36, his wife Melissa, 37, and daughter Gabrielle, 15, raise pigs and chickens for food on 40 acres near Alma, Mich. They're planning a garden and installing a wood furnace. They disconnected the satellite TV and radio, ditched their dishwasher and a big truck and started buying clothes at resale shops.
PHOTO GALLERY: A survivalist family
"As long as we can keep decreasing our bills, we can keep making less money," Patrick says. "We're not saying this is right for everybody, but it's right for us."
Hard times are creating economic survivalists such as the Wojtowicz family who are paring expenses by becoming more self-sufficient.
Reviving "almost lost" skills and preparing for tough days make people feel more in control, says Charlotte Richert, consumer sciences educator for Oklahoma State University's Extension Service in Tulsa County.
Karen Gulliver, MBA program chair at Argosy University in Eagan, Minn., expects the movement to grow as the sour economy forces people to reassess priorities. People are asking, "Do I really want to be 100% vulnerable with no self-sufficiency skills if something happens?" she says.
Some signs of the trend:
•Stockpiling. When the stock market drops, orders surge for freeze-dried food, survival kits and emergency supplies, says Nitro-Pak president Harry Weyandt. One best seller: a $3,375 food reserve that feeds four people for three months.
•Gardening. Sales of vegetable seeds and transplants are up 30% from 2008 at W. Atlee Burpee, the USA's largest seed company. The National Gardening Association says 7 million more households will grow food this year than in 2008 — a 19% rise. A book on building root cellars is the top seller at Johnny's Selected Seeds in Winslow, Maine, supervisor Joann Matuzas says.
•Canning. Jarden Corp. says sales of its Ball and Kerr canning and preserving products are up more than 30% from 2008. Sonya Staffan, owner of The Jam and Jelly Lady commercial cannery in Lebanon, Ohio, is offering twice as many classes this year.
•Sewing. More people are learning to sew so they can mend clothes and make home décor, says Rachel Cohen, spokeswoman for SVP Worldwide, owner of sewing-products makers Singer and Husqvarna Viking.
•Relocating. Steve Saltman, general manager of LandAndFarm.com, a national real estate company, says more customers want to "live simply in a less-expensive place." Jonathan Rawles of SurvivalRealty.com says more people moving to rural areas "are specifically worried about economic and social instability."
Patrick Wojtowicz's family decided to transform their lives when his paycheck began to shrink last year. A truck driver, he was spending more time on the road, paying his own expenses while waiting for loads. He disliked being away from home for weeks at a time and worried about losing his job. Melissa Wojtowicz is self-employed and works from home.
Their dual paychecks allowed them to live comfortably, but they weren't satisfied, Patrick says. "We would basically buy stuff to feel good," he says. "When that stuff stopped filling the voids we had, we started analyzing what it was that we were really missing. We were missing being around each other."
The Wojtowiczes made a list of the things they could give up if Patrick quit his job and they relied on Melissa's income. They already lived in a house on property Patrick inherited from his father a few years ago.
Gabrielle "put up enough resistance to qualify as being a teenager," Patrick says, but soon she was reminding her parents to turn off lights to save electricity.
Steps such as that, and keeping the thermostat set on 63 degrees this winter, cut monthly electric bills from $300 to $150, Patrick says. He hunts deer and turkeys. Instead of buying books and going to movies, they visit the library weekly. For Christmas, they got canning gear so they can preserve the food they grow.
"The earn, spend, earn era has come to an end for us," he says on truenorthfound.blogspot.com, their blog. "The idea of living a fuller, more satisfying life seems simple to us now. ... Money, cash, credit, maybe they don't matter. Maybe, just maybe, it is those things that impede our ability to be truly happy."
Whatever happens to the economy, the Wojtowicz family hopes to remain self-sufficient. Instead of spending their tax refund, as they usually did, they used it to pay down debt. They stopped using credit cards and they're trying to build up savings. "I'm working harder than ever," Patrick says, "but it's more satisfying work and ... it's much easier to sleep at night."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2009-04-14-survivalistsinside14_N.htm
When the economy started to squeeze the Wojtowicz family, they gave up vacation cruises, restaurant meals, new clothes and high-tech toys to become 21st-century homesteaders.
Now Patrick Wojtowicz, 36, his wife Melissa, 37, and daughter Gabrielle, 15, raise pigs and chickens for food on 40 acres near Alma, Mich. They're planning a garden and installing a wood furnace. They disconnected the satellite TV and radio, ditched their dishwasher and a big truck and started buying clothes at resale shops.
PHOTO GALLERY: A survivalist family
"As long as we can keep decreasing our bills, we can keep making less money," Patrick says. "We're not saying this is right for everybody, but it's right for us."
Hard times are creating economic survivalists such as the Wojtowicz family who are paring expenses by becoming more self-sufficient.
Reviving "almost lost" skills and preparing for tough days make people feel more in control, says Charlotte Richert, consumer sciences educator for Oklahoma State University's Extension Service in Tulsa County.
Karen Gulliver, MBA program chair at Argosy University in Eagan, Minn., expects the movement to grow as the sour economy forces people to reassess priorities. People are asking, "Do I really want to be 100% vulnerable with no self-sufficiency skills if something happens?" she says.
Some signs of the trend:
•Stockpiling. When the stock market drops, orders surge for freeze-dried food, survival kits and emergency supplies, says Nitro-Pak president Harry Weyandt. One best seller: a $3,375 food reserve that feeds four people for three months.
•Gardening. Sales of vegetable seeds and transplants are up 30% from 2008 at W. Atlee Burpee, the USA's largest seed company. The National Gardening Association says 7 million more households will grow food this year than in 2008 — a 19% rise. A book on building root cellars is the top seller at Johnny's Selected Seeds in Winslow, Maine, supervisor Joann Matuzas says.
•Canning. Jarden Corp. says sales of its Ball and Kerr canning and preserving products are up more than 30% from 2008. Sonya Staffan, owner of The Jam and Jelly Lady commercial cannery in Lebanon, Ohio, is offering twice as many classes this year.
•Sewing. More people are learning to sew so they can mend clothes and make home décor, says Rachel Cohen, spokeswoman for SVP Worldwide, owner of sewing-products makers Singer and Husqvarna Viking.
•Relocating. Steve Saltman, general manager of LandAndFarm.com, a national real estate company, says more customers want to "live simply in a less-expensive place." Jonathan Rawles of SurvivalRealty.com says more people moving to rural areas "are specifically worried about economic and social instability."
Patrick Wojtowicz's family decided to transform their lives when his paycheck began to shrink last year. A truck driver, he was spending more time on the road, paying his own expenses while waiting for loads. He disliked being away from home for weeks at a time and worried about losing his job. Melissa Wojtowicz is self-employed and works from home.
Their dual paychecks allowed them to live comfortably, but they weren't satisfied, Patrick says. "We would basically buy stuff to feel good," he says. "When that stuff stopped filling the voids we had, we started analyzing what it was that we were really missing. We were missing being around each other."
The Wojtowiczes made a list of the things they could give up if Patrick quit his job and they relied on Melissa's income. They already lived in a house on property Patrick inherited from his father a few years ago.
Gabrielle "put up enough resistance to qualify as being a teenager," Patrick says, but soon she was reminding her parents to turn off lights to save electricity.
Steps such as that, and keeping the thermostat set on 63 degrees this winter, cut monthly electric bills from $300 to $150, Patrick says. He hunts deer and turkeys. Instead of buying books and going to movies, they visit the library weekly. For Christmas, they got canning gear so they can preserve the food they grow.
"The earn, spend, earn era has come to an end for us," he says on truenorthfound.blogspot.com, their blog. "The idea of living a fuller, more satisfying life seems simple to us now. ... Money, cash, credit, maybe they don't matter. Maybe, just maybe, it is those things that impede our ability to be truly happy."
Whatever happens to the economy, the Wojtowicz family hopes to remain self-sufficient. Instead of spending their tax refund, as they usually did, they used it to pay down debt. They stopped using credit cards and they're trying to build up savings. "I'm working harder than ever," Patrick says, "but it's more satisfying work and ... it's much easier to sleep at night."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2009-04-14-survivalistsinside14_N.htm
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Turkey positions for large-scale DSC manufacture
Dyesol has been engaged by Nesli Dye Solar Cells Enerji Sistemleri Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi (Nesli) to complete a detailed feasibility study establishing a glass-based DSC volume manufacturing facility in Turkey. Nesli has secured a line of funding for a phased development program, with initial capacity growing in discrete stages to 100,000m2 before expanding to a 500,000m2 manufacturing capability in the subsequent stage. Nesli is supported in the commercialisation by the Turkish Development Bank (Turkiye Kalkinma Bankasi – TKB).
The Contract for Supply with Nesli for this initial phase is valued at €200,000 (approx. AU$400,000) and is part of a potential €60 Million program involving Dyesol providing on-going technical support, production equipment and DSC manufacturing materials. This ensures a long-term strategic relationship between the two companies, continuing demand for Dyesol materials and a defined growth path for the technology.
Gordon Thompson, Dyesol Director, says “The feasibility study provides the launching pad for a long-term strategic relationship which will be a win-win situation for both Nesli and Dyesol in seeding and growing the DSC market in Turkey”. Unal Kazak, Director of Nesli, agrees “The decision to engage the world leaders in the commercialisation of DSC to undertake this study and be our long term partners in a secure relationship is essential to achieve growth targets”.
The advantage of Dyesol’s DSC technology over conventional photovoltaic technology is its lower facility cost, lower energy for manufacture, proportionally higher output of electricity in ambient light conditions, and the ability to directly incorporate it into buildings as passive electricity generators – multifunctional building panels. This is known as BIPV or building integrated photovoltaics.
The Contract for Supply with Nesli for this initial phase is valued at €200,000 (approx. AU$400,000) and is part of a potential €60 Million program involving Dyesol providing on-going technical support, production equipment and DSC manufacturing materials. This ensures a long-term strategic relationship between the two companies, continuing demand for Dyesol materials and a defined growth path for the technology.
Gordon Thompson, Dyesol Director, says “The feasibility study provides the launching pad for a long-term strategic relationship which will be a win-win situation for both Nesli and Dyesol in seeding and growing the DSC market in Turkey”. Unal Kazak, Director of Nesli, agrees “The decision to engage the world leaders in the commercialisation of DSC to undertake this study and be our long term partners in a secure relationship is essential to achieve growth targets”.
The advantage of Dyesol’s DSC technology over conventional photovoltaic technology is its lower facility cost, lower energy for manufacture, proportionally higher output of electricity in ambient light conditions, and the ability to directly incorporate it into buildings as passive electricity generators – multifunctional building panels. This is known as BIPV or building integrated photovoltaics.
Global experts meet in Japan to advance industrialisation of Dye Solar Cells
Sydney, 16 April 2009 – For the first time since its inception in Australia in 2006, the International Conference on the Industrialisation of Dye Solar Cells (DSC-IC 2009) will be held in Asia this year, in Nara, Japan, from April 22 to 24. This is the third International Conference on the Industrialisation of DSC, building on the success of previous DSC-IC conferences in St Gallen, Switzerland and Canberra, Australia.
The strength and growth of the photovoltaic industry in Japan, together with the advancements in Dye Solar Cell (DSC) technology and research within the East Asia region, make this venue the ideal place to bring together leading scientists, technologists and industrialists from the field of DSC.
Following the official opening by Nara Governor Arai, joint conference chairpersons, Professor Shozo Yanagida and Professor Tsutomu Miyasaka, will be joined by over 250 participants, including top academic, institutional, government and industry experts in DSC technology.
Leading experts from around the world spearheading the commercialisation of DSC technology, including Professor Michael Graetzel, Professor Anders Hagfeldt, Professor Laurence Peter, Professor Hironori Arakawa and Dyesol’s Dr Gavin Tulloch and Dr Hans Desilvestro, are just a few of the long list of impressive speakers confirmed for the conference next week.
More than ever, the pace of DSC commercialisation is being dictated by urgent global economic and environmental drivers. As recently as the April G20 meeting in London, governments have demonstrated their commitment to meeting the challenges of global warming through promises of new legislation and policy, thus creating significant new opportunities for DSC technologies. DSC technology is the most advanced of the third generation technologies and promises solutions where other technologies cannot deliver. G8 Environment Ministers meet in Sicily next week to determine how to accelerate the reduction of the worldwide carbon footprint through energy efficiency and low energy renewables such as DSC. .
The advantages of DSC over conventional silicon-based photovoltaic technology are its lower cost, lower embodied energy for both the manufacturing plant and production, greater output of electricity in ambient and low light conditions, and the ability to be directly incorporated into buildings as active electricity generating glass facades and steel roofs – building products that combine energy generation with energy efficiency.
The global solar photovoltaic market was valued at almost US $30 billion in 2008 and is forecast to reach US$100 billion in revenues by 2013.
Dyesol Limited is pleased to be the lead sponsor of the conference.
For further information contact Catherine Gleeson on +61 (0)2 6299 1592.
In Europe contact Eva Reuter, Investor Relations, Dyesol Europe on +49 177 6058804
Note to editors
The Technology – DYE SOLAR CELLS
DSC technology can best be described as ‘artificial photosynthesis’ using an electrolyte, a layer of titania (a pigment used in white paints and tooth paste) and ruthenium dye deposited on glass, metal or polymer substrates. Light striking the dye excites electrons which are absorbed by the titania to become an electric current many times stronger than that found in natural photosynthesis in plants. Compared to conventional silicon based photovoltaic technology, Dyesol’s technology has lower cost and embodied energy in manufacture, it produces electricity more efficiently even in low light conditions and can be directly incorporated into buildings by replacing conventional glass panels or metal sheets rather than taking up roof or extra land area.
The Company – DYESOL Limited
Dyesol is located in Queanbeyan NSW (near Canberra) and in August 2005 was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX Code ‘DYE”). Dyesol manufactures and supplies a range of Dye Solar Cell products comprising equipment, chemicals, materials, components and related services to researchers and manufacturers of DSC. The Company is playing a key role in taking this third generation solar technology out of the laboratory and into the community.
More detail about the company and the technology can be found at: http://www.dyesol.com
More detail about the conference can be found at: http://www.dsc-ic.com
The strength and growth of the photovoltaic industry in Japan, together with the advancements in Dye Solar Cell (DSC) technology and research within the East Asia region, make this venue the ideal place to bring together leading scientists, technologists and industrialists from the field of DSC.
Following the official opening by Nara Governor Arai, joint conference chairpersons, Professor Shozo Yanagida and Professor Tsutomu Miyasaka, will be joined by over 250 participants, including top academic, institutional, government and industry experts in DSC technology.
Leading experts from around the world spearheading the commercialisation of DSC technology, including Professor Michael Graetzel, Professor Anders Hagfeldt, Professor Laurence Peter, Professor Hironori Arakawa and Dyesol’s Dr Gavin Tulloch and Dr Hans Desilvestro, are just a few of the long list of impressive speakers confirmed for the conference next week.
More than ever, the pace of DSC commercialisation is being dictated by urgent global economic and environmental drivers. As recently as the April G20 meeting in London, governments have demonstrated their commitment to meeting the challenges of global warming through promises of new legislation and policy, thus creating significant new opportunities for DSC technologies. DSC technology is the most advanced of the third generation technologies and promises solutions where other technologies cannot deliver. G8 Environment Ministers meet in Sicily next week to determine how to accelerate the reduction of the worldwide carbon footprint through energy efficiency and low energy renewables such as DSC. .
The advantages of DSC over conventional silicon-based photovoltaic technology are its lower cost, lower embodied energy for both the manufacturing plant and production, greater output of electricity in ambient and low light conditions, and the ability to be directly incorporated into buildings as active electricity generating glass facades and steel roofs – building products that combine energy generation with energy efficiency.
The global solar photovoltaic market was valued at almost US $30 billion in 2008 and is forecast to reach US$100 billion in revenues by 2013.
Dyesol Limited is pleased to be the lead sponsor of the conference.
For further information contact Catherine Gleeson on +61 (0)2 6299 1592.
In Europe contact Eva Reuter, Investor Relations, Dyesol Europe on +49 177 6058804
Note to editors
The Technology – DYE SOLAR CELLS
DSC technology can best be described as ‘artificial photosynthesis’ using an electrolyte, a layer of titania (a pigment used in white paints and tooth paste) and ruthenium dye deposited on glass, metal or polymer substrates. Light striking the dye excites electrons which are absorbed by the titania to become an electric current many times stronger than that found in natural photosynthesis in plants. Compared to conventional silicon based photovoltaic technology, Dyesol’s technology has lower cost and embodied energy in manufacture, it produces electricity more efficiently even in low light conditions and can be directly incorporated into buildings by replacing conventional glass panels or metal sheets rather than taking up roof or extra land area.
The Company – DYESOL Limited
Dyesol is located in Queanbeyan NSW (near Canberra) and in August 2005 was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX Code ‘DYE”). Dyesol manufactures and supplies a range of Dye Solar Cell products comprising equipment, chemicals, materials, components and related services to researchers and manufacturers of DSC. The Company is playing a key role in taking this third generation solar technology out of the laboratory and into the community.
More detail about the company and the technology can be found at: http://www.dyesol.com
More detail about the conference can be found at: http://www.dsc-ic.com
Sunday, 12 April 2009
GE, Vestas Lead U.S. Wind Turbine Sales, Taking 56% of Market
April 12 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. and Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the world’s two largest suppliers of wind turbines, sold a record 4,648 megawatts in the U.S. last year, taking 56 percent of the total market, an industry group said.
Installations rose 58 percent to 8,300 megawatts. Wind turbines accounted for 42 percent of all new generating capacity in the U.S., almost matching the additions of natural gas fueled plants, the Washington-based American Wind Energy Association said today in a statement.
Juno, Florida-based FPL Group Inc.’s NextEra Energy Resources ranked first among companies that install wind turbines, with 25 percent of U.S. generation totaling 25,300 megawatts, enough to power 7 million homes, the group said. That’s about 2.5 percent of total U.S. power supply. The U.S. leads the world in wind-power capacity.
Texas and Iowa have the most wind generation, followed by California and Minnesota. Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy Inc. leads regulated utilities in wind-power production. Minnesota leads the nation in the share of power coming from wind at 7.5 percent.
President Barack Obama set a goal of doubling U.S. renewable energy over three years. Wind turbines are typically the cheapest source of renewable energy.
Employment in the wind industry rose 70 percent from a year ago to 85,000, the trade association said.
GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, retained the lead in largest number of wind turbines installed, with a 43 percent market share, the group said. Randers, Denmark-based Vestas had 13 percent, followed by Siemens AG and Suzlon Energy Ltd. with 9 percent each.
Developers were taking advantage of federal and state incentives to encourage renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Installations this year have stalled as a credit crisis dried up financing, the wind association said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aU5YTxhhDvIE&refer=home
Installations rose 58 percent to 8,300 megawatts. Wind turbines accounted for 42 percent of all new generating capacity in the U.S., almost matching the additions of natural gas fueled plants, the Washington-based American Wind Energy Association said today in a statement.
Juno, Florida-based FPL Group Inc.’s NextEra Energy Resources ranked first among companies that install wind turbines, with 25 percent of U.S. generation totaling 25,300 megawatts, enough to power 7 million homes, the group said. That’s about 2.5 percent of total U.S. power supply. The U.S. leads the world in wind-power capacity.
Texas and Iowa have the most wind generation, followed by California and Minnesota. Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy Inc. leads regulated utilities in wind-power production. Minnesota leads the nation in the share of power coming from wind at 7.5 percent.
President Barack Obama set a goal of doubling U.S. renewable energy over three years. Wind turbines are typically the cheapest source of renewable energy.
Employment in the wind industry rose 70 percent from a year ago to 85,000, the trade association said.
GE, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, retained the lead in largest number of wind turbines installed, with a 43 percent market share, the group said. Randers, Denmark-based Vestas had 13 percent, followed by Siemens AG and Suzlon Energy Ltd. with 9 percent each.
Developers were taking advantage of federal and state incentives to encourage renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Installations this year have stalled as a credit crisis dried up financing, the wind association said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aU5YTxhhDvIE&refer=home
Thursday, 12 March 2009
Progrees at Dye-Timo
Manufacture of the remaining equipment for the pilot plant for Dyesol-Timo, the Korean joint venture between Dyesol Limited and Timo Technology Co., Ltd, is underway in the Australian factory of Dyesol Limited. Confirmed funding for the equipment comes from the JV and the order exceeds A$500,000 for the supply of equipment and associated services. Dyesol will assist in the commissioning of the total prototype production facility on delivery of this equipment. In addition to the equipment expansion, support provided by the Korean Government allows the addition of seven new technical staff to the team.
This is an important step for Dyesol-Timo, and will accelerate the completion of the product development phase. The additional equipment supplements the existing facilities of Dyesol-Timo, allowing sufficient production capability to finalise product and line design and move the technology towards volume manufacture. Products from the pilot line will be used for test bedding, and evaluation for selected applications. The pilot line will provide the basis for a future larger scale manufacturing facility for selected products resulting from the current development phase.
Renewable energy is an important component of the Technology Development Programme under the auspices of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy of the Korean Government. This progressive step in Korea is an indication of the demand that exists recognising DSC technology as an increasingly important contributor to the solar photovoltaic industry. Continuing research and development by Dyesol in Australia, and with partners in Europe and Asia, cements the Dyesol Group as a leader in the field of DSC technology.
This is an important step for Dyesol-Timo, and will accelerate the completion of the product development phase. The additional equipment supplements the existing facilities of Dyesol-Timo, allowing sufficient production capability to finalise product and line design and move the technology towards volume manufacture. Products from the pilot line will be used for test bedding, and evaluation for selected applications. The pilot line will provide the basis for a future larger scale manufacturing facility for selected products resulting from the current development phase.
Renewable energy is an important component of the Technology Development Programme under the auspices of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy of the Korean Government. This progressive step in Korea is an indication of the demand that exists recognising DSC technology as an increasingly important contributor to the solar photovoltaic industry. Continuing research and development by Dyesol in Australia, and with partners in Europe and Asia, cements the Dyesol Group as a leader in the field of DSC technology.
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Preparing for a Flood of Energy Efficiency Spending
By KATE GALBRAITH
Published: February 25, 2009
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — To the casual eye, the basement of this city’s Firehouse 9 looks like a jumble of old hydrants, Dr Pepper cartons, rakes and random gear. To specialists in energy efficiency, the 1960s-era building is a mess of a different sort: wasteful hot water heaters for the firefighters’ showers, ancient refrigerators and outdated lights.
Wrapping up an elaborate energy audit, Knoxville is about to find out which of 99 city buildings are wasting the most energy. It hopes to begin repairs this summer, just in time to catch a tsunami of federal stimulus money earmarked for such unglamorous tasks as replacing light bulbs and fixing leaky insulation.
Knoxville’s timing is excellent. The city began the arduous work of cataloging deficiencies before the stimulus bill passed, and it is well along in planning its next steps. But experts worry that other beneficiaries, especially cities, are not ready to oversee the huge sums of energy-efficiency money about to come their way.
The money in the bill is enough to pay for a tremendous expansion of efficiency efforts across the country. But as with other parts of the stimulus package, the efficiency plan is creating tension between spending the money quickly, to get rapid economic stimulus, and spending it well, to do the most good over the long run.
“There’s enormous opportunity here for expansion of energy efficiency in this country,” said Lowell Ungar, the policy director for the Alliance to Save Energy, an advocacy group. “But there is certainly the potential for waste.”
President Obama signed the stimulus package into law on Feb. 17, hailing it as a shot of money big enough to help shake the economy from its lethargy while advancing many of his campaign priorities. Accelerating the country’s energy transition is at the top of his list. Many experts in the field agree with him that carefully chosen investments in efficiency will ultimately save more than they cost, by cutting energy bills.
At least $20 billion in the stimulus bill was earmarked for programs like improving the efficiency of government buildings and the homes of poor people, and trying to find better ways to save energy. That is far more, advocates say, than any bill in history. Within a few months, the money is likely to start landing in the bank accounts of thinly staffed state and city agencies that are accustomed to scraping for a dime here, a dollar there.
Utah expects that its state energy office will receive $40 million for energy efficiency, renewable energy and related programs — 123 times the size of the office’s current budget, said Jason Berry, who manages the four-person unit. He is about to go on a hiring spree.
The package contains $5 billion to weatherize low-income homes through the Department of Energy, enough to give the state programs that manage that work 10 to 30 times the money they received last year, said Christina Kielich, a department spokeswoman.
For advocates of this relatively obscure program, “it’s like they finally got to the other side of the desert and it’s pouring rain,” said Seth Kaplan, a vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental group.
The stimulus package also contains $4.5 billion to modernize federal buildings and $2.5 billion for research into energy efficiency and renewable energy. The biggest chunk, $6.3 billion, will be distributed by the Energy Department in grants to state and local governments, which can spend the money on things as diverse as thicker window panes for state capitols and rebates for homeowners who change their light bulbs.
Homes and commercial buildings account for 39 percent of national energy consumption. Experts say that improving their efficiency is not only cost-effective but also a good way to reduce the nation’s emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
But figuring out how to spend the money effectively — learning which university buildings need their doors caulked, for example, or which firehouse walls have insulation that is too thin — can involve time-consuming, tricky analysis by skilled technicians.
“People are very conservative about their buildings,” said Donald Gilligan, the president of the National Association of Energy Service Companies, a trade group. “Nobody wants to put a failed technology into the school buildings or have the lights not work.”
In Knoxville, a team of auditors hired by the city is spending six months peering into the grimy nooks of fire and police stations and even the convention center, where one employee referred to the downstairs boiler area as a “money-eating room.”
Knoxville — which says the stimulus money may help accelerate or expand its program — hopes to reduce the city’s energy bills as much as 25 percent, and the city is “definitely on the front end of the wave as far as efficiency and municipalities addressing efficiency,” said John Plack Jr., a director of project development for Ameresco, which is conducting the Knoxville energy audit.
In the Southeastern region of the country, where Mr. Plack works, low electricity prices have often made saving energy an afterthought, unlike in California and much of the Northeast. For example, Nashville, nearly 200 miles west of Knoxville, has not conducted an energy audit of its city buildings, though it hopes to use stimulus money to look through its own stock of fire stations and libraries.
“There’s a lot of municipalities out there who are completely unaware this is moving forward,” Mr. Kaplan said, referring especially to smaller cities. “They just don’t have the infrastructure in place to deal with this.”
The Energy Department, which is doling out most of the grants, has been assailed on Capitol Hill for delays in disbursing other types of assistance for clean energy. Ms. Kielich said in an e-mail message that the department hoped efficiency grants would begin flowing to city and state energy offices within 120 days, and that it planned to begin disbursing weatherization money “expeditiously and responsibly.”
On the receiving end, absorbing the huge increase in money for weatherization could be particularly challenging, said Ian Bowles, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs for Massachusetts. Though he contends it can be done, “the weatherization folks are going to have to quintuple their effort in order to put that money out,” he said.
In some cases, the managers of efficiency programs may not need to look far to find ways to spend the money.
In Knoxville, the Community Action Committee, whose operations include helping poor people weatherize their homes, works from a building with a $14,000 monthly utility bill — some of it because of an enormous skylight that lets in too much blistering Tennessee sunshine in the summer.
“It’s embarrassing,” said Barbara Kelly, executive director of the committee. “We do better for our clients than we do for us.”
Published: February 25, 2009
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — To the casual eye, the basement of this city’s Firehouse 9 looks like a jumble of old hydrants, Dr Pepper cartons, rakes and random gear. To specialists in energy efficiency, the 1960s-era building is a mess of a different sort: wasteful hot water heaters for the firefighters’ showers, ancient refrigerators and outdated lights.
Wrapping up an elaborate energy audit, Knoxville is about to find out which of 99 city buildings are wasting the most energy. It hopes to begin repairs this summer, just in time to catch a tsunami of federal stimulus money earmarked for such unglamorous tasks as replacing light bulbs and fixing leaky insulation.
Knoxville’s timing is excellent. The city began the arduous work of cataloging deficiencies before the stimulus bill passed, and it is well along in planning its next steps. But experts worry that other beneficiaries, especially cities, are not ready to oversee the huge sums of energy-efficiency money about to come their way.
The money in the bill is enough to pay for a tremendous expansion of efficiency efforts across the country. But as with other parts of the stimulus package, the efficiency plan is creating tension between spending the money quickly, to get rapid economic stimulus, and spending it well, to do the most good over the long run.
“There’s enormous opportunity here for expansion of energy efficiency in this country,” said Lowell Ungar, the policy director for the Alliance to Save Energy, an advocacy group. “But there is certainly the potential for waste.”
President Obama signed the stimulus package into law on Feb. 17, hailing it as a shot of money big enough to help shake the economy from its lethargy while advancing many of his campaign priorities. Accelerating the country’s energy transition is at the top of his list. Many experts in the field agree with him that carefully chosen investments in efficiency will ultimately save more than they cost, by cutting energy bills.
At least $20 billion in the stimulus bill was earmarked for programs like improving the efficiency of government buildings and the homes of poor people, and trying to find better ways to save energy. That is far more, advocates say, than any bill in history. Within a few months, the money is likely to start landing in the bank accounts of thinly staffed state and city agencies that are accustomed to scraping for a dime here, a dollar there.
Utah expects that its state energy office will receive $40 million for energy efficiency, renewable energy and related programs — 123 times the size of the office’s current budget, said Jason Berry, who manages the four-person unit. He is about to go on a hiring spree.
The package contains $5 billion to weatherize low-income homes through the Department of Energy, enough to give the state programs that manage that work 10 to 30 times the money they received last year, said Christina Kielich, a department spokeswoman.
For advocates of this relatively obscure program, “it’s like they finally got to the other side of the desert and it’s pouring rain,” said Seth Kaplan, a vice president of the Conservation Law Foundation, an environmental group.
The stimulus package also contains $4.5 billion to modernize federal buildings and $2.5 billion for research into energy efficiency and renewable energy. The biggest chunk, $6.3 billion, will be distributed by the Energy Department in grants to state and local governments, which can spend the money on things as diverse as thicker window panes for state capitols and rebates for homeowners who change their light bulbs.
Homes and commercial buildings account for 39 percent of national energy consumption. Experts say that improving their efficiency is not only cost-effective but also a good way to reduce the nation’s emissions of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.
But figuring out how to spend the money effectively — learning which university buildings need their doors caulked, for example, or which firehouse walls have insulation that is too thin — can involve time-consuming, tricky analysis by skilled technicians.
“People are very conservative about their buildings,” said Donald Gilligan, the president of the National Association of Energy Service Companies, a trade group. “Nobody wants to put a failed technology into the school buildings or have the lights not work.”
In Knoxville, a team of auditors hired by the city is spending six months peering into the grimy nooks of fire and police stations and even the convention center, where one employee referred to the downstairs boiler area as a “money-eating room.”
Knoxville — which says the stimulus money may help accelerate or expand its program — hopes to reduce the city’s energy bills as much as 25 percent, and the city is “definitely on the front end of the wave as far as efficiency and municipalities addressing efficiency,” said John Plack Jr., a director of project development for Ameresco, which is conducting the Knoxville energy audit.
In the Southeastern region of the country, where Mr. Plack works, low electricity prices have often made saving energy an afterthought, unlike in California and much of the Northeast. For example, Nashville, nearly 200 miles west of Knoxville, has not conducted an energy audit of its city buildings, though it hopes to use stimulus money to look through its own stock of fire stations and libraries.
“There’s a lot of municipalities out there who are completely unaware this is moving forward,” Mr. Kaplan said, referring especially to smaller cities. “They just don’t have the infrastructure in place to deal with this.”
The Energy Department, which is doling out most of the grants, has been assailed on Capitol Hill for delays in disbursing other types of assistance for clean energy. Ms. Kielich said in an e-mail message that the department hoped efficiency grants would begin flowing to city and state energy offices within 120 days, and that it planned to begin disbursing weatherization money “expeditiously and responsibly.”
On the receiving end, absorbing the huge increase in money for weatherization could be particularly challenging, said Ian Bowles, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs for Massachusetts. Though he contends it can be done, “the weatherization folks are going to have to quintuple their effort in order to put that money out,” he said.
In some cases, the managers of efficiency programs may not need to look far to find ways to spend the money.
In Knoxville, the Community Action Committee, whose operations include helping poor people weatherize their homes, works from a building with a $14,000 monthly utility bill — some of it because of an enormous skylight that lets in too much blistering Tennessee sunshine in the summer.
“It’s embarrassing,” said Barbara Kelly, executive director of the committee. “We do better for our clients than we do for us.”
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