Power Grid Overhaul

An increasing number of governments and authorities in Europe have embarked on programs to expand and update their aging electricity systems by developing and deploying smart grid technologies - with hard funding pledged from some to accelerate the process. European energy leaders join forces with their worldwide counterparts to participate in the GridWise® Global Forum, in Washington, DC. The GridWise Alliance is a coalition of public and private stakeholders advocating a smarter grid for the public good, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and business and government leaders from 19 countries.

Smart Grid deployment requirements are boosting research, effort and development into PLC (power line communications) modems. With more than 200 million smart meters to be utilized in Europe alone, electricity meter manufacturers are looking for cost effective, reliable and flexible communication solutions for the move to smart electricity meters. These smart E-meters are capable of two-way communication outside of the home back to the utilities, and inside the home to monitor devices such as thermostats, in-home displays and smart appliances.

Solar inverter shipments reached 4.9GW in Q2'10, growing by 2.8x according to IMS Research. More than half of these shipments were for installations in Germany, which grew by 3.9x in Q2, driving total shipments up to more than 8GW for the first six months of 2010 - a three-fold increase over the same period last year. EMEA accounted for around 90% of inverter shipments in Q2'10, growing by more than 3x over the previous year; further, but also of note, the Americas market has doubled in size. Indeed, all regions recorded impressive growth, generating around €1.5 billion in revenues for inverter suppliers. The inverter shipments of more than 8GW in H1'10 were similar to shipments for the whole of 2009. Shipments of 8GW in the first six months of the year appear to support the prediction of close to 15GW of new PV installations in 2010; with Q3 and Q4 both expected to be strong quarters for suppliers. Whilst MW shipments grew by 2.8x in Q2, revenues only grew by 1.65x due to a 30% fall in inverter prices. Despite extraordinarily high demand amidst tight supply, inverter prices fell for the fifth consecutive quarter in Q2'10. Much of this can be attributed to a continuing shift towards larger inverters, which have an inherently lower price per Watt. One thing is quite clear; there is a desire, funding availability, the technology, and certainly the vital engineering skill in our power community to implement a new, more efficient energy system. It will of course, not happen overnight, but engineering in all its forms will play the pivotal role in making it happen. www.powersystemsdesign.com