Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), also referred to as Renewable Electricity Standards (RES), puts a requirement on retail electricity providers to supply a minimum percentage of their electricity from renewable sources, such as solar, wind and geothermal.

- Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)

Renewable Portfolio Standards drive investments in clean technologies.  Currently, California law requires that utilities provide at least 20% renewable energy by 2010.  In addition, there is growing support for a proposal to raise the RPS requirements to 33% by 2020.

Nearly half of the states in the US have implemented RPS requirements.  The US Department of Energy’s website has a comprehensive list of each state’s Renewable Portfolio Standards.

The Investment Tax Credit (ITC) is a reduction in the overall tax liability for individuals or businesses that make investments in a variety of pre-determined areas. For solar-electric and solar water heating residential property expenditures, the credit is 30 percent of the cost, with a maximum cap of $2000 (26 USC 25D). For commercial installations the credit is 30 percent of the installed cost with no monetary cap (26 USC 48).

- Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)

On July 17, Al Gore challenged America to produce 100 percent of our electricity from energy sources with zero carbon emissions - and to do so within 10 years. His speech, and the resulting dialogue, is resetting the way Americans think about our energy future and the climate crisis.

It may also be resetting our understanding of what is possible.

The goal is ambitious, but achievable.

-From http://www.wecansolveit.org/content/pages/320/

GREENVOLTS NAMED 2008 RED HERRING 100 WINNER

Utility-Scale Solar Company Recognized for Technology Innovation as One of the 100 Most Promising Private Companies in North America

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. - May 14, 2008 - GreenVolts, a leader in utility-scale solar technology for wholesale-distributed generation solutions, today announced its selection as a Red Herring 100 winner, an award that honors the top 100 private technology companies in North America for their innovation.

The Red Herring 100 winners were chosen by the editors of Red Herring from more than 800 applications by companies based in the U.S. and Canada. Winners were selected on the basis of technology innovation, quality of management, breadth of partners and customers, and depth of financial backing. Previous winners of this award include Google, eBay, Salesforce.com and Skype.

“We’re pleased to be acknowledged by Red Herring as an innovative solution to the challenge of the world’s diminishing sources of affordable energy,” said Bob Cart, founder and chief executive officer of GreenVolts, Inc. “Our technology and the unique way in which we deploy it will make solar energy a practical, affordable and scalable way to meet the world’s ever-increasing demand for energy.”

GreenVolts is a utility-scale solar technology company delivering wholesale-distributed generation solutions that can produce the world’s lowest cost solar energy on a massive scale. The company has developed state-of-the-art concentrating photovoltaic technology that achieves unparalleled solar-to-electricity conversion efficiency through an innovative integration of optics and solar tracking.

Like central station power plants, GreenVolts’ technology is a complete power plant designed for delivering the lowest levelized cost of energy; yet similar to traditional rooftop solar panels, GreenVolts’ power plants are sited close to loads, increasing efficiency and further reducing cost.

The 100 winning companies were announced Tuesday, May 13th at the Red Herring North America conference in San Jose, California.

About Red Herring

Red Herring is a global media company which unites the world’s best high technology innovators, venture investors and business decision makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation magazine, an online daily technology news service, technology newsletters, and major events for technology leaders around the globe. Red Herring provides an insider’s access to the global innovation economy, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies driving the economy. More information about Red Herring is available on the Internet at www.redherring.com.

About GreenVolts

GreenVolts, Inc., based in San Francisco, was founded in 2005 to deliver solar power at costs competitive with that derived from fossil fuels. The company’s breakthrough high concentrating photovoltaic technology efficiently integrates tracking and optics into a system that dramatically lowers energy cost. Through low cost and high efficiency the company can access large markets previously inaccessible to solar. GreenVolts changes the economics of solar energy.

From the interview:

“The high-efficiency returns and intelligent design components of our system are important differentiators in our industry, but the way we apply them is also unique. Instead of targeting expensive rooftop solar panel projects or building huge desert-based solar thermal plants requiring costly transmission lines and millions of dollars in project finance, we design and build modular urban solar power plants that can be placed near communities and plugged directly into the existing grid. It’s a very simple, streamlined way to meet the power needs of our customers with a minimum of funds, permits, and environmental concerns.”

Read more here: Bay Area Green - Questions and Answers with CEO Bob Cart (PDF)