Tipping Point Energy Blog

Solar by Soldiers covered in Readers Digest

2012-05-21T19:48:03Z

We were proud to see one of our team, Mark Haake, profiled in Readers Digest this month about the challenges he and other veterans faced coming home.

Read it here or help employ veterans by putting up solar. Contact us for more information.

The Home Depot

2012-04-15T04:11:03Z

We are proud to announce that, in partnership with UR Solar, we are a now a ceritfied installation partner with the Home Depot. We are selling systems from several Home Depot stores in the Central Ohio area. Another validation from a leading organzation that we are trusted leaders in the solar arena.

BBC Radio One Story on Solar By Soldiers

2012-02-09T20:21:24Z

Tipping Point's Solar By Soldiers (SM) program continues to garner attention for our efforts to match unemployed veterans with jobs installing solar panels. Now, we are even starting to get attention internationally.

BBC Radio One Reporter Greg Dawson recently spent the day with us in Columbus learning more about our program and meeting some of the veterans who will be working with us on solar panel installations in Ohio going forward. Although we have already been using veterans on our small and mid-size commercial installation, the first large project will be the installation of nearly 3000 solar panels on the roof of the Fleet Maintenance Building for the City of Columbus.

Not having the right qualifications is a common problem for many servicemen and women as they look to use their experience to get job outside the military.

The most recent unemployment statistics in the US show that the overall rate dropped to 8.5% in December 2011. However, the veteran rate climbed to 13.5%.

Tipping Point co-founder Eric Zimmer says soldiers have a "good work ethic"

Eric Zimmer is the co-founder of Tipping Point. He says although his company is small he wanted to do his bit to help.

"These are people that served our country and allow us to be a business and have freedom," he says.

"They bring a lot to the job that goes beyond just their skills. They bring a good mentality and work ethic."

Not having the right qualifications is a common problem for many servicemen and women as they look to use their experience to get job outside the military.
The most recent unemployment statistics in the US show that the overall rate dropped to 8.5% in December 2011. However, the veteran rate climbed to 13.5%.
Tipping Point co-founder Eric Zimmer says soldiers have a "good work ethic"Eric Zimmer is the co-founder of Tipping Point. He says although his company is small he wanted to do his bit to help.
"These are people that served our country and allow us to be a business and have freedom," he says.
"They bring a lot to the job that goes beyond just their skills. They bring a good mentality and work ethic."

A link to the whole story can be found here. More information about solar by soldiers program can be found here.

Deloitte on Future Energy Costs

2012-02-05T04:59:58Z

We are often asked about what electricity rates are going to do in the future. Here is an opinion from a large consulting group:

" U.S. businesses have enjoyed stable and predictable electricity prices over the past decade due in large part to nuclear facilities operating in force and coal plants burning an inexpensive fuel source. But this is about to change. With many energy producing facilities scheduled to retire in the next ten years, some of which will be replaced by more expensive facilities, the price organizations pay for a kilowatt of electricity is expected to rise. As a result, electricity prices the next ten years may be unlike the past ten years. With a typical operation already spending a significant portion of its annual revenue on energy, what can your organization do to insulate itself from the expected increase in energy prices?"

- Deloitte Energy Management Strategy Report

Full report here

AEP Rates Stun Small Businesses

2012-01-27T14:14:48Z

Today the Dispatch posted an article about how new AEP rates have hurt small businesses. Some of them have seen increases of upwards of 45%.

This is a factor of many different influences and an increasingly complicated Ohio electricity market. Some day when we have more time we can share our perspective, but for now I want to focus on solutions for small business owners.

This rate increase is most likely a result of your load factor. A load factor is a way of comparing how much total energy you use versus the most you use at any one time.

Note: Utility tariff nerds leave me be. I'm focusing on explaining this at a level the average business owner needs to understand so detailed techical innacuracies need not be sent my way :)

On a utility bill you are charged for electricity in different ways. To make it simple I'll say that you are charged for how much you actually use and how much the utility has to keep ready that you might use. This second part is known as demand. Fior example, if at one time during a month you need 75kw of energy then the utility basically assumes that you could need that much at any time. So they have to have it available. If however that 75kw is a rare occurence and you use much less energy the rest of the time you still have to pay for the utilities need to be prepared.

That difference between your peak use and average use is known as your load factor.

There are ways to improve this. Looking at when and how you run machines in your workplace, looking at moving certain processes to off hours time, controlling your demand are all ways to improve this.

Solar energy, used correctly, can be a way to improve this.

Here is an article that goes into more details about load factor and potential solutions.

If you'd like to learn more about how you can reduce your bills please contact us and we would be glad to present solutions and see if we can help. As a small business ourself we know how unexpected cost jumps can be very painful.

Good luck to you!

Renewable Energy Interconnections in Ohio

2012-01-10T22:31:39Z

Just read a good summary of the rules for interconnecting a solar (or any renewable energy) installation to electric utilities in Ohio. Tom O'Brien, an attorney at Bricker & Eckler, published a summary in the firm's

Consumers considering distributed generation need to be aware that, unless you are going to go “off the grid” completely, the distributed generation facility must be able to operate “in parallel” with the local electric distribution system, or for large installations, the interstate transmission system.

We end up having to describe interconnection, net metering and the impacts of rates a lot, so thanks, Tom, for this useful article that we can point to as a primer.

Here's the link.

TechColumbus Names Tipping Point as Semi-Finalist for 2011 Innovation Award

2011-12-06T15:39:58Z

Tipping Point Renewable Energy is proud to be named as a semi-finalist for the TechColumbus 2011 Innovation Award in the category of Green Innovation.

According to the TechColumbus website:

The TechColumbus Innovation Awards celebrate and honor individuals and teams in a variety of disciplines. Each award category is an important component of the technology and innovation community. Receiving the top honor in an award category showcases the dramatic impact of the awardee’s contributions in Central Ohio and beyond. (Link)

The Green Innovation award is for a company that has EITHER: Developed a Green product or service that is commercially available and in production, and is in use with at least one customer/client; OR Applied or implemented a technology or process change that has a net positive impact on the environment.

The final award winners will be announced at the Innovation Awards dinner on February 2, 2012 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center - Battelle Grand Ballroom. More information on the awards dinner is available at the Innovation Awards' website.

Energy Information Administration Studies The Impact of Clean Energy Standards (CES)

2011-12-02T23:41:15Z

The Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration (EIA) recently released an analysis of the economic and other impacts that would result from the enactment of a number of different Clean Energy Standards. The analysis was done at the request of U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Senate Energy Committee. There are a number of interesting findings that arise from the study, including the dramatic impacts that enactment of a Clean Energy Standard (CES) would have on emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants compared to the relatively modest impact on electric prices and the economy. Specifically, Chairman Bingaman requested an analysis that compared a Clean Energy Standard that he is expected to offer next year (called the Bingaman Clean Energy Standard or BCES) with the Base Case from the EIA's 2011 Annual Energy Outlook. A number of alternative cases based on policy ideas that have been previously considered in Washington were also analyzed. As expected, the analysis finds a significant impact on the mix of technologies used to generate power:

The BCES policy changes the generation mix, reducing the role of coal technologies and increasing reliance on natural gas, non-hydro renewable and nuclear technologies. Coal-fired generation, which in the Reference case increases by 23 percent from 2009 to 2035, decreases by 41 percent in the BCES case over the same period. Relative to the Reference case, where natural gas generation grows steadily throughout the projection period, natural gas generation in 2025 is 34-percent higher and 53-percent higher in 2035. Under the BCES policy, non-hydro renewable technologies grow at the fastest rate, increasing from 146 billion kilowatthours in 2009 to 601 billion kilowatthours in 2025 and 737 billion kilowatthours in 2035. These totals are 60 percent and 75 percent greater than the 2025 and 2035 Reference case projections, respectively.

Also as expected the impacts of annual electricity sector carbon emissions are dramatic.

Under the BCES, projected annual electricity sector carbon dioxide emissions are 22 percent below the Reference case level in 2025 and 43 percent lower in 2035 (Figure 3, Tables B1 and B2). In the Reference case electricity-sector carbon dioxide emissions increase modestly over the projection period, reaching annual emissions of 2,345 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (MMTCO2) in 2025 and growing further to 2,500 MMTCO2 emitted in 2035. Over the 2009-to-2035 period, cumulative CO2 emissions are 20 percent lower in the BCES case than they are in the Reference case.

Finally, the report also found that in the early years, the impacts of the BCES on electricity prices is negligible, but grows as the standards ratchet down.

The BCES has a negligible impact on electricity prices through 2022, but prices rise in later years. In the early years of the projection period, there is negligible impact on average end-use electricity prices, as the requirement to hold BCES credits is modest. As shown in Table 1, the share of total sales that must be covered by credits does not exceed 45 percent until after 2030. This is important because, while coal-fired plants do not receive BCES credits, efficient combined cycle plants receive 0.48 credits for each megawatthour they generate, more than retailers purchasing their output are required to hold until after 2030. This effectively reduces the cost of most natural gas-fired generation until the later years of the projections. Electricity prices do grow later in the projections, reaching 21 percent above the Reference case level by 2035 in the BCES case.

The report can be found here.

Solar By Soldiers (SM) Garners Attention

2011-11-30T20:42:19Z

Tipping Point was pleased to have a recent story by the Associated Press about our Solar by Soldiers (SM) program picked up by a number of news outlets throughout the country.

The article, written by Andy Greenfield, was picked up by a number of major news outlets including Fox News, the Huffington Post and many local and metro news organizations.

The article discusses a number of programs for getting US service veterans to work in the clean energy industry, but focuses on former Marine Ben Noland's experience looking for a job after returning from two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Noland, one of Tipping Point's hires, left the Marines in 2009, in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

He started looking for supply and logistics management jobs, something he had experience with from running supply convoys to troops on the front lines in Iraq and Afghanistan. When nothing turned up, he looked futilely for warehouse jobs in Columbus. Finally, he briefly took a minimum-wage job at McDonald's 30 minutes away from his house.

"I'm a military veteran. Two tours of Iraq, one of Afghanistan — I was thinking, 'Man, I've got to be able to hang my hat on that,' you'd think." Noland said. "I was completely discouraged." Link to AP News

Ben is currently a Project Manager with Tipping Point.

National Journal Debate on Clean Energy

2011-11-22T12:29:19Z

National Journal's "Expert Blog" on energy and the environment published an interesting debate over clean energy policy entitlted "Is Clean Energy Headed for Crisis". It's a pretty good summation of the debate over clean energy policy at the federal level.

With input from a number of clean energy executives and the heads of various think tanks, there is something for everyone to agree with. Of course our favorite is Rhone Resch, President and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, who pointed out the significant number of jobs created in the solar sector.

The U.S. solar industry is thriving and creating jobs at a time when Americans need them most. Solar has doubled its workforce since 2009 and now employs more than 100,000 Americans at 5,000 companies – mostly small businesses – in all 50 states. The U.S. solar market grew by almost 70 percent in the last year, while the price of solar panels has dropped 30 percent since the beginning of 2010. And the U.S. is a $2 billion net exporter, including a solar trade surplus with China.

(Rhone Resch's Reply Direct Link)

Just a tip, if you go to the link, you can agree or with the statements of each of the experts.

Link