Is Amonix the next Solyndra?
Amonix Trackers in Alamosa, these things are huge and expensive!
504 Huge trackers on 255 acres at Alamosa. If you haven’t been following this company, it seems Amonix has a unique and different approach. Instead of taking advantage of the plummeting prices of Solar Panels, and using them in a fixed and trouble free (KISS) rack mount, they chose to mount 65KW of panels on Huge, and I mean REALLY huge trackers! The trackers cost a fortune and look like they came off a ‘Star Wars Movie Set’! Each tracker cost about $250,000, and they need maintenance people on site to look after them sources say.
As the prices of panels plummet, Solar Voltaic Engineers generally see better economics in adding additional panels, and optomizing the installed angle for fixed mounting. I’ve read that many engineers see superior economics over tracking systems by spending part of the tracker budget on the addition of 20 percent more fixed rack mount, and additional panels. What we need to digest here, is the cost of the tracker, and math that suggests we can add another 180KW of panels and fixed mounts to each 65KW of installed panels and dump the Maintenance hassle of the monster trackers. I don’t suggest I’m a Solar Engineer, so I’ll leave the question up to you.. what gain in efficiency must this tracker deliver (trouble free) for about 30 years to compete with fix mount panels on a cost per KwH delivered basis? Is there a good reason the Amonix approach is unique?
http://www.investorideas.com/news/renewable-energy/4211.asp
Notice the mention of Ben Kortland in this article above.
“Amonix CPV systems have emerged as the lowest cost solar technology for sunny and dry environments,” said Ben Kortlang, Partner of Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers. “Developers and utilities are choosing Amonix systems because of their 15-year track record in the field, high reliability, ease of deployment and industry-leading efficiency.”
Here’s the question, does Ben Kortland have an engineering degree? Does he have any hands on experience in Solar Power production and maintenace? Could he find a cross in the Vatican?
It’s a very sad thing that the CEO of Amonix died in a plane crash in December 2011 leaving a Wife and three Children behind. A very sad event for his Family and Company. I hear that the loss of the CEO has left the Company pretty much without a rudder, and the enthusiasm seems to have died with him.
There’s some things that insiders say isn’t adding up, at least that’s the rumors, the folks who do know how to count beans are thinking that the current customer is being charged around $200,000 for an installed tracker, and the current cost is around $250,000 each. So… we’re talking acres of these things, and we need multiply this 50K loss by 504 trackers alone, that’s a pretty big number, and some say this is not the only thing that doesn’t add up.
Rumors suggest that Amonix projects have been postponed, and it’s likely that there will be no more installation work for Amonix employees unless the company can be profitable in making the installation, imagine that. Next, we might hear Investors expect a profit too.
It was not that long ago, I was visiting with one of my favorite technical minds…. Brian W and I were sitting at his dining room table discussing Solar Voltaic Panels when his Sister, a Grade School Teacher joined in, she said ”I don’t really care what solar panels cost, my Husband and I want to install them just to set a good example, we don’t care if they ever pay us a dime.” I looked over at Brian and saw the corners of his mouth turn up ever so slightly, I stared directly at him, he couldn’t take the pressure and stared up at the ceiling trying to shake me off. I knew better than take another sip of coffee, as I might have started laughing and spewed coffee all over Brian. His Sister soon decided we were bores and left to join a conversation in the other room… little did she know that she had spawned a great idea, and Brian and I discussed a potential money-making idea!
Maybe you haven’t followed Evergreen, Solyndra, Solon, or others, but in my mind and in the mind of many others, there was no chance these companies could compete in the market place, they didn’t have business plans that produced any kind of profitability.
Do these Companies exist only because there are fools lined up for a block to invest in anything that looks green? OR is it the generous incentives that are more or less transferred directly from your Social Security contributions into the hands of others?
Back to the plan Brian and I hatched.. you’ve seen those vinyl signs they apply to van bodies and more? Highly UV resistant, and you can print anything onto them! So why don’t we print a matrix that looks like the face of a solar panel, and we build a roofing system that looks like solar panels for people who want other people to think they are doing the right thing? Think about it, as long as they look good, we have no service calls, and the customer is happy, install it, collect your money, and move on. At the end of the day, the systems delivered by some of the real solar companies will disappoint their customers and investors, our idea will likely leave everyone involved happy, and their incentives will be the admiration and respect their neighbors pay them.
More links about Amonix:
http://amonix.com/content/careers
Htttp://www.therepublic.com/view/story/99aa19ba55e04b21aabd0b2dae3ba801/NV–Solar-Project-Layoffs/
How bout you invest in the Utterpower/Ward (Solar-Like Panels), now I hope you don’t try copyrighting the name “Solar-Like Panels”, because we got our guys working on it right now. There will be no disappointments when we tell folks up front it doesn’t provide a return on your investment, but the incentives paid for ownership, that’s what it’s all about.
At the end of the day, someone might ask.. just how much of the American Dream was squandered on providing Government incentives? It’s just recently that most in Government will admit that Ethanol subsidies might have done more to hurt us than help us, but not long ago, some would have bet their lives on it being the only thing to do.
In closing, there’s always good in any story.. If you have a Company that needs a few good installers, you might attempt to recruit those who were laid off by Amonix or soon will be. It appears the work force put up a mountain of product in record time.
No doubt, there is a pay off in solar when >you< do it yourself, call in the clowns, and it’s likely a far less attractive deal..
All the best,
George B.
P.S. Wait a minute… I’ve got another thought.. the movie rights! did you think of buying the movie rights? Now watch Amonix, it will likely be in the news in the weeks ahead, and this Ben guy, anybody know him? Is he one of those long haired medical marijuana users? Does he drive a VW Bus? No doubt he must live in San Francisco? This could be a novel in the Making, will Warren Buffet dump his Amonix Stock, or use it to offset other gains? Who will play Warren Buffet’s part? Was the CEO’s plane brought down by a missile fired by Big Oil? Maybe it was those damned Arabs, were they afraid this technology was going to put a dent in their oil sales? Greenies will want to know.
Ohh, just one more thing, if these trackers ever get scrapped, can you imagine what kind of desert shade tree this would make for your patio? Adjustable too.. Perhaps there’s a play to be made on buying the salvage rights?
G
Others stop at the base of a hill to do a quick survey, “should I go up this or not? Of course, as soon as they step on the pedal again, they find themselves making a bobsled run down the hill and hitting other cars who didn’t anticipate the near insane move made ahead of them.
Jan 7 2011 Email of the day, Generator Mods, notes on AVRs, and know your loads.
Question of the Day: Jan 7, 2011
Randy's Arc
—–Original Message—–
Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2012 3:17 AM
To: georgeatutterpower.com
Subject: UtterPower.com Contact Form: generator full power
Name: Ernie M.
Subject: Generator, full power
Message: I’m going to convert my generator to get full power @ 120v.
[My 120v wire feed welder burns up the AVR's of my 7Kw gen.]
On your explanation page, and another that I looked at, it is demonstrated that some cutting and soldering needs to be done.
However, I believe that the taps on my generator are simple spade connectors. These are labeled 1 through 4.
So, do I actually need to dig into the gen head and cut, solder, etc… or can I simply use these connectors to achieve what I need to do?
This may be one of those questions that give occasion to the statement: “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.”
My answer: Far from a dumb question! And perhaps once you find that PAGE you REFERENCE, you’ll comment below and share the page LINKS in comments.
First off, opinions vary, but I think that 120 Volt Wire Feed Welders are a poor choice because it is often difficult to find an outlet that will deliver the current necessary to run one properly. If we consider that many outlets are wired with 14 gauge wire and equipped with 15 amp breakers, we are starving for power from the start. Consider that a standard breaker is only rated to carry 80% of the rating continuously What this means is you might be trying to weld on a circuit that has trouble delivering adequate current to the coffee pot yet alone a wire feed welder!
When I added a generator transfer switch to Zach’s house, I also added a new 20 amp breaker, 12 gauge wire, and a heavy duty outlet just below the fuse panel for electric power washers, small wire feeds, or other high current loads, as there wasn’t a decent outlet in the whole house outside the one designed for the garbage disposal under the sink in the kitchen!
So we need recognize you have the 120 volt load from hell (IMHO), there’s a few worse, but not many. We need understand our loads, and that’s why I will ramble on after answering your basic question, my readers cal it a rant, but what follows is an education for some.
MOST generators capable of producing 120/240 have two separate windings in the STATOR and they do terminate both ends of both windings on binding posts where you can re-configure the output of the generator for 120V only, (stators windings in Parallel) or 120V,220V where Stator windings are in series with a center tap. Of course you need understand that 120V loads are carried at one half generator power capacity.
If this is your case, both ends of both stator windings appearing on posts or spade clips, then you have no reason to take the generator head apart and make cuts or splices in or near the windings.
End of Answer:
Following are musings of Generator design and why I think the ‘Hands ON DIYer’ is a totally different customer, and may have far different equipment requirements than the average person who shops for a backup generator. Know your loads, There are other loads that can challenge us, and cost us some money if we don’t address their requirements.
As for the AVRs (automatic Voltage Regulators), I’ve commented on these in the past and said that many small generators fail to provide service when needed BECAUSE of failures directly related to the implementation of the AVR itself!
It’s my belief that the DIYer is far more capable of managing voltage droop and understanding the pros and cons of running an AVR head or a head without one. All that really counts is the percent of voltage droop and whether it is acceptable in your use. If your generator head droops a few volts at the maximum power you’ll be using, and you have a properly functioning governor, you’ll likely be fine, same as millions of generator owners before you, but there are special circumstances you need to understand.
IF you are selling generators with an AVR, you might be inclined to tell the other side of the story, and there certainly is one, the AVR can help ‘prop up’ the voltage when a larger load hits the generator, and it normally does so by increasing the current in the field.
Here’s where we get into trouble, the Electrical Engineer who is given the budget and a free hand might design the ‘Rolex Watch’ version of an AVR, but most Engineers find that their solutions must sell in the market place, and people need buy the product to keep their paychecks coming. If your generator is a dime more than the next guys, and the buyer doesn’t know the difference, you may be out of business over night. AVRs that address all of the things that can go wrong add expense to the generator head, and seldom do you find the better voltage regulator with current limiting, and the robust parts that go along with it on the more affordable generators or Generator heads.
An example of a problem might be the AVR that will continue to boost current in the field until the weakest component fails, that might be the field winding that experienced a lot of overheating in past usage finally breaking down the insulation and shorting the field windings, or perhaps causing a brush to arc on the slip rings to arc and create enough heat to damage a brush spring, or more. Sometimes, it’s the control board itself, and on that board you find the AVR and more components. Having this board changed out can be VERY expensive.
If you buy an aftermarket AVR with adjustable parameters (like current limiting) you need to know how to setup these parameters, and assure the AVR doesn’t overdrive >your< field. Some people just install a fuse or breaker in series with the field, and they are in the habit of re-setting it or replacing a fuse instead of buying the new AVR.. I guess it depends on what you have, and knowing what current to fuse your field at.
An example of Kiss Generator Design might be a 5KW generator head NO AVR, that never sees a load larger than 4kw, and is driven by a prime mover with plenty of power at full load and a decent governor. Measuring the voltage droop at the highest load you expect and knowing it serves your particular requirement might cause you to consider KISS, and steer clear of AVRs. Maybe you fuse it or breaker it to open at 4kw to assure you don’t overload it?
Following is an example of a situation I never anticipated, and you now have an opportunity to see if your experience or Engineering skills can spot the following oversight. Make notes BEFORE you read the answers below.
A Glass Blowing Operation is called a ‘Hot Shop’ and many of the developments over the years comes from the ‘hands on’ Glass Blowers as they learn what works, and what doesn’t. The typical glass shop uses a 2HP electric motor driving a fan to feed air to a natural gas fueled glass furnace. If this electric motor goes without power for more than a few minutes, bad things can happen to the furnace and the glass. I’ve even heard the glass can even find its way out of the furnace and across a shop floor.
For this reason, Glass Shops put in backup power, and they are concerned about little else that keeping the furnace at temperature. Even a single overhead light in the entire shop is optional, as they’ll gladly use a flashlight if necessary to assure the furnace blower motor has the power to be quickly restarted.
So here’s the situation….The Glass Shop manager calls a Generator Dealer, and explains the need, the generator salesmen consults the technical staff and together they recommended that the customer consider an 8KW natural gas-powered auto start Generator as a minimum to start their critical load.
OK… here’s your chance, is there anything wrong with this recommendation?
If you answered that it would be wise to do a power audit, give yourself a star, but if you arrive at the glass shop to do this audit, you’ll find a very nervous owner reluctant to turn off that motor and allow you to restart it, so perhaps you’ll leave with name plate data at best.
Once the backup generator was installed, there was an actual test, the tripping the main breaker, simulating a power failure, and watching the backup power come online and restart the two horse power blower motor, and everything looked great!
OK… here’s another chance, was anything overlooked?
On with the story, one year later, there was reason to remove the glass from the furnace and there was a planned shutdown, eventually the furnace was restarted, or should I say there was an attempt to restart the furnace, and a breaker tripped for the furnace blower motor. A local Electric Motor Sales and Service Company was called, and it was determined that the start winding was defective. The Technician replaced the motor which included the removal of the fan that was directly connected to the motor shaft and the blower was started and restarted several times to assure breakers wouldn’t not trip out resulting in another failure.
More years passed, and then the replacement 2hp fan motor failed to start.
Your analysis of the problem? write it down before you proceed with the story.
The mystery was solved once someone noted that there had been another power failure and a past restart of the motor on the generator!
The blower was designed and built by Glass Blowers, NOT electrical engineers, and they had chosen to use a higher RPM 3750 Synchronous motor attached to their beautifully crafted, very heavy cast iron master piece of a fan that was very nicely balanced, and fitted into a custom housing that produced just the right amount of flow and pressure for the furnace.
The Mass of this blower fan just barely allowed the motor to start on good (close in) commercial power without cooking the start winding. Apparently there wasn’t adequate thermal protection here, and when the 8KW generator was used to start the motor, the blower did eventually come up to speed, but not before it cooked the start winding or a component in it’s path.
Considering our technician found it necessary to replace the Motor, it was likely the start winding itself, but doesn’t this beg more questions?
For me, this is all evidence as to why I will always be the student, I would have never thought to question the design of the blower, and this is an example of why we need to take every precaution in checking out our designs and loads. I’m sure all the motor criteria was available, there was no reason the designer couldn’t have placed a power analyzer on that motor and even noted the time and exceedingly high current for all too long caused by the high mass of >their< flywheel like blower design! The inability of the motor to reach operating speed in time to generate the CEMF (counter electro Motive force) to oppose that high current flow was what cooked that start winding! Big flywheels are not always a good idea.
There’s normally plenty of motor data, and I think there’s normally mention of current and time that start winding can be under load.
AS DIYers we need to recognize that there are far larger engineering disasters created by large companies or Governments every day, and some of them cost us taxpayers millions if not billions!
Some of my favorite examples are posted under the title ‘things I hate’. Here’s an example of a coffee pot design from hell. http://www.utterpower.com/kitchen-aid-pro-12/ . And another example of the printer from hell http://www.utterpower.com/epson-sylus-photo-820-printer/
. Of course these are my opinions, and I’m sure the designers would tell a different story. I can imagine a discussion with the Engineers who designed the printer, it might go something like this… “We were told to design a printer that might double the sales of a specific printer cartridge sales outlet. That was a first priority in the design, don’t blame us”
But let’s consider a recent Boeing built Airplane the 787. The Company ‘contracted out’ a lot of the Engineering for this airplane after gutting one the best aviation brain trusts on the planet, (their own engineering department). Sure we all watched as they struggled to build this aircraft but behind the scenes is a story of just how inept sub contractors were and how Boeing management had assumed that these contracted work forces were equal to the internal ones they had down sized or eliminated at Boeing.
Did you know that the 787 required 11 tons of re-enforcement materials added to the original design, and most of that was added in the areas where the wing and fuselage meet! Eleven Tons!
As for the design work contracted out for Boeing.. I can hear the design team that came up with the structural calculations and design for the wing to fuselage joints defending their work. I visualize the reply in broken English… “Don’t blame us, Boeing never told us they wanted to carry passengers or cargo in that airplane, we gave them a very safe design to fly it assuming no loads.
Today we need question near everything, one of the more amazing projects is the Chevy Volt, Billions of Dollars spent on developing a car that only a handful of people want to buy! If you don’t agree, buy one and save the project!
Have a great day! George B.