SolarMill vs Solar Panel by Kevin Woodbridge

1. Analysisof“Hybrid”RenewableEnergyTechnology“SolarMill®”versus“Solar‐Only”Analysisof“Hybrid”RenewableEnergyTechnology“SolarMill®”versus“Solar‐Only” • I recently spoke with Dan Bates, CEO of Windstream Technologies ,about his company's hybrid small wind solar systems and asked why a hybrid versus straight solar for energy production. After a lengthy discussion with Dan he sent me a 10 point discussion on solar wind hybrids and his Windstream solar mills. It is quite compelling and I am adding his discussion in whole versus summarizing. Enjoy! - Kevin Woodbridge • SolarMill®technologyhashigherenergydensity–maximizesinvestmentinrenewableenergybydoingmorewithlessspace • Threesolarpanelswithatotalmaximumcapacityof750Wattstakesup52squarefeetversustheSolarMill“3P”,whichinthesame52squarefootspaceproducesamaximumcapacityof1.75KW 2. • SolarMill®technologymaximizesinvestmentwithmoreconsistentenergygeneration • ThechartbelowshowstheannualwindandsolarresourcesinthePhilippines.Notethedivergencebetweenthetwoduringseasonalchanges–Inthewintermonths,whensolarradiationiswaning,thewindresourceisincreasing.Thesamecanbesaidforthedailychange,aswindpicksupdailyduringtemperaturechangeatdusk,overnight,anddawn.InordertomaximizeanROIonarenewableenergyinvestment,thegreateroutputandthelowerLCOEwillprovebest. AnnualSolarandWindResources 7.4 8.0 6.9 6.7 6.9 6.6 7.0 6.0 5.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 6.4 6.1 5.8 5.3 5.3 4.8 4.8 5.9 5.6 5.4 5.4 5.1 5.0 4.8 4.5 4.5 4.1 4.2 3.6 Jan FebMarAprMayJunMonthlyDNI(kWh/M2/Day) JulAugSepOctNovDec Month MonthlyAverage50MWindSpeed(m/s)

2. SolarMill®technologyhaslowerLCOE(levelizedcostofenergy)thansolarSolarMill®technologyhaslowerLCOE(levelizedcostofenergy)thansolar • ThelevelizedcostofenergyistheTotalLifeCycleCost(includesaccessories,wiring,etc)dividedbytheTotalLifetimeEnergyProduction.Thechartbelow,fromtheEnergyInformationAdministration(USA)showstherelativeLCOEacrossseveralenergyresources • AccordingtoLazardFreres,theLCOE(unsubsidized),is$149to$204perMWhforsolar,and$97to$129perMWhformicroturbines.Byusingbothtechnologies,SolarMills®haveanoverallLCOEwhichislessthansolar‐onlysolutions • SolarMill®technologyproducesmoreWattspersquarefootthansolar • Theaveragesolarinstallationproducesbetween10and13WattspersquarefootversusTheSolarMill®“3P,”whichproduces33Wattspersquarefoot • 1sqft $0.40 $0.20 1sqft $0.00 SolarMill Solar

3. SolarMill®isan“integrated”solutionmaximizinginstallationinvestmentSolarMill®isan“integrated”solutionmaximizinginstallationinvestment • Asopposedtothestandardinstallationofasolararray,SolarMills®workoffofasinglesetofelectronicsandasinglebus.Theoveralloperationalperformanceofthesystemismaximizedandthecostsareminimized. • SolarMill®technologysavesmoneybyextendingbatterylife • Batterylifeisdependentonthenumberofchargecyclesandthedepthofdischarge • Solarchargesonlyduringdaylighthours • SolarMill®charges24hoursaday,limitingthe“depth”ofdischargeofthebattery • Batteriesmaylastupto30%longerinaSolarMill®installationreducingtheLCOEandtheROIovertime. • SolarMill®technologyhaslowerservicedegradationovertime(de‐rating)thansolar • Accordingtohomepower.com,theaveragegrid‐tied,rooftopsolararraywilllose,or“de‐rate”by44%oftheirgenerationcapacityoveritslifeexpectancy.Tier2andtier3panelshavebeenknowntodegradebyasmuchas60%overtheirforecasted25‐yearfunctionallife.QualityisarealissueasshowninthechartbelowfromanauditconductedbySolarBuyer: • SolarMills®useonlythehighestqualityGerman‐madetier1panelswhicharere‐testedlocallybeforeintegrationintothehybridsystem.Further,SolarMills®stillonlyderiveaportionoftheirpowerfromthesolarpanels.Inthe3Pmodel,morethanhalfoftheforecastedgenerationcomesfromitsmicro‐windturbines,whichsufferNOservicedegradationovertime.

4. SolarMill&SolarPower‐Time 1900 1800 1700 1600 1500 1400 1300 1200 1100 1000 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 HybridPower Poweroutput(Watts) SolarPower • 0246810121416182022242628 • Timeperiod(Years) • Lowergradesolarpanelsfailwithinonlyafewyears,negatinganyROI • AccordingtotheNYTimesinaMay2013articleonthequalityofPVPanels,onetestingservicereportedthedefectrateofpanelsinspectedinShanghaijumpedfrom7.8%to13%between2011and2012.Anothersaiddefectratesrangedfrom5.5%to22%inauditsof50Chinesefactoriesinthelast18months.WindStreamTechnologies’hybridsystemnotonlyintegratesthehighestqualitypanelsbutalsoitspatentedUSmanufacturedverticalaxiswindturbines. • Mandatesarenowcallingfor“Hybrid”solutions– • AccordingtoIndianpowermarket.com,alltelecomcompaniesinIndiaaremandatedtoensurethatatleast50%ofallruraltowers,and20%ofallurbantowers,arepoweredbyHybridpowerby2015. • SolarMill®SystemPerformanceisimprovedwithuseofmicro‐inverters • Typicalsolararraysareinstalledwiththeuseofstringinverters,whereinasinglepanelfailurewillcauseasignificantifnotcompletelossofelectricalsupplyfromtheremainingstring • SolarMills®areconfiguredwithmicro‐inverters,whereinasinglepanelorturbinefailurewillnotimpactanyothercomponentandoverallproductivitycontinues.SolarMill®panelsmaybeorientedindividuallytomaximizeperformance • Iftherearetallbuildingsortreesneartheroof,shadingmaybecomeanissue.Whensolarinstallationsuseastringinverter,ifoneortwopanelsgetshadeditcanaffecttheentirestringbyasmuchashalfofitstotalperformance.WithSolarMills®,themicro‐inverterallowsthatwhiletheshadedpanelsmaybethataffected,therestofthesystemkeepsperforming.Seebelow,fromsolarenergy.com:

5. Microinvertersallowsforeasiersystemexpansion • MPPT–Forasolarpaneltoworkatitsmostefficient,oneoftheconsiderationsisforthevoltagetobeadjustedbasedontheamountoflighthittingthepanel.Voltageishandledbytheinverter.ThismeansthattheperformanceofthesolarpanelisreliantonaccurateMaximumPowerPointTracking,orMPPT,bytheinverter.SoitfollowsthatMPPTperformedateachpanelbyamicro‐inverterwillyieldbetteroverallsystemresultsthanMPPTdoneby1stringinverterforthewholesystem.