Editors Note: (To See If Your Utility Provider or State offers net metering to store solar electricity request a list at the bottom of this article.)

Discussions of alternative energy solutions involve learning some new terms. Solar electricity as a solution is fairly easy to understand, but its practical application involves the beaurocracies of the utility providers and government agencies, and the result is new terminology. “Net metering” is a term that is key to understanding how most practical systems will work and become affordable for the majority of solar system users now and in the future.

Net Metering by Reggie Rasmussen

October 25, 2007

Any photovoltaic solar system will at times produce more electricity than is currently being used.

So what happens to this excess electricity?

The excess electricity will go to one of two places –

1. A battery storage unit

2. To the utility company

Solar systems set up with battery storage capacity are very expensive and cause damage to the environment. Solar systems with batteries, while producing clean renewable energy leave a big problem in the waste disposal of the batteries when the useful life has been completed. Consumers that are looking to help the environment with solar electricity often defeat their purpose when batteries are used as a part of the system.

The other common method for excess electricity is to send it back to the current utility provider. This method is referred to as net metering. When the excess electricity is sent back to the utility provider, the customer’s meter will spin backwards. The customer is issued a credit for this excess electricity so that when it is needed such as on cloudy days or at night, the customer will draw electricity from their current provider. They will not be charged for this electricity as long as they have credits built up from the meter spinning backward when the excess was fed into the grid.

Why would the power company allow for net metering?

Net metering solves one of the utility providers biggest problems, PEAK POWER. Every utility company has times when more power is used than other times. This is usually during the summer days when the weather is hot and customers are using air conditioning. Since electricity cannot be stored, the power companies are forced to have production facilities that will handle a maximum load even though peak consumption will last for a very short time. This means that they must build factories that are not needed most of the time.

Net metering solves this problem for the utility providers. Most net metering is accomplished when photovoltaic solar systems are installed. These systems produce electricity when the sun is shinning, which by fate, is when the utility providers have their peak production problems. If they
allow net metering, excess electricity flows back into the grid when it is needed the most and everybody wins.

One problem. If 100% of all households had solar systems with net metering and not batteries, it would be great for the environment and for solar companies, but not so great for the utility providers. If almost all electricity is generated from solar all of the sudden utility companies cannot make a profit. Why is that a problem? The fact is that the solar industry is dependent on the power company for the infrastructure. Power lines, factories that produce power for backup, and transmission services are an essential part of providing low cost solar systems that use net metering. Keep in mind that systems with batteries are expensive and environmentally toxic.

Currently the two industries are in alignment. To resolve this dilemma, utilities have placed a limit as to how much electricity can be net metered. Some utility providers have caps as a percentage of the customers while other utility providers cap the amount of power that can be net metered. As solar becomes more popular, it is important to keep in mind these net-metered caps. When the caps are reached the customer will have to use batteries for storage capacity; this of course will make the systems more expensive and more environmentally unfriendly. Solarjoules has learned that one utility provider in New York has already reached their cap. (Click Here)

If you are convinced that solar is great and you want to get in before your utility company hits the net meter cap - but buying a solar panel system is just too expensive consider this: Citizenre has a program that allows customers to install a home solar power system and no purchase is required. A deposit of $500-1000 will be collected and the deposit is refundable at the end of the service contract with interest. Citizenre will rent the system to the consumer and the rent in most cases is covered by the reduction in the bill from the current utility provider. A complete solar system can be installed on your home and the amount that you will spend is usually the same or less than the amount you are already paying - all with no upfront charges.

If net metering is offered in your state it will be in BOLD in the list below.
States without any utilities offering net metering will be in ITALICS.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

SolarJoules believes that offering net metering is part of the solution to reducing our carbon emissions and becoming energy self reliant in this nation. If you believe that your utility provider or state should be offering net metering to everyone on the grid and by utilities in every state. If your state or utility provider does not offer net metering Click Here to link to a petition to ask your Governor, State Representative and Utility Company to change policy and reduce our dependence on carbon fuels.

Spin Your Electric Meter BackwardsSign Up Now! and solarjoules will take the necessary steps to help you reserve your system.

Oct. 19, 2007 by AskAME.com

Cypress Semiconductor has been outperforming the S&P 500 for months now and has been hitting new highs while other stocks in the chip making sector have been flat lining.

Upon investigating the source of the price imbalance AskAME.com discovered that the secret was a solar panel chip technology company, publicly traded, of which Cypress is a majority owner. Furthermore that little solar company reported earnings yesterday and it is up over 250% year-over-year.

Here are the Fidelity & Charles Schwab (exactly the same) description of CY, “Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (CY) provides silicon-based products andsolutions. It offers programmablesystem-on-chip (PSoC) products, universal
serial bus (USB) controllers, wirelessUSB, programmable clocks, and RoboClock family of clock buffers, as well as programmable-radio-on-a-chips.”

TDAmeritrade sheds a little light on this stock’s more direct solar connection, “Cypress Semiconductor Corporation (Cypress) delivers mixed-signal, programmable solutions. The Company’s offerings include the programmable system-on-chip products, universal serial bus controllers, general-purpose programmable clocks and memories. It also offers wired and wireless connectivity solutions. It serves numerous markets, including consumer, computation, data communications, industrial and, through its subsidiary SunPower Corporation (SunPower), solar power. It operates in five business segments: Consumer and Computation Division, Data Communications Division, Memory and Imaging Division, SunPower and Other. During the fiscal year ended January 1, 2006 (fiscal 2005), it acquired SMaL Camera Technologies, Inc. and also acquired Cypress MicroSystems. In March 2007, it completed the sale of its Silicon Valley Technology Center, to Oak Hill Capital Partners and Tallwood Venture Capital. During fiscal 2007, SunPower completed the acquisition of PowerLight Corporation.”

Aside from the obvious silicon chip manufacturing angle (photovoltaic solar panels are made of specialized silicon chips) Cypress has been ahead of the curve on solar energy by purchasing or spinning off SunPower Corporation (Nasdaq: SPWR).

SunPower Corporation engages in the design, development, manufacture, and
marketing of solar electric power products primarily in the United States, Germany,and Asia.

This little gem released their quarterly report Oct. 18th, 2007. Here are the highlights:

* Q3 2007 revenue of $234.3 million, up 258.6 percent year on year - 466-megawatt solar cell Fab 2 dedicated and production ramping on first two lines
* Achieved 20.1 percent efficiency world record for mass produced solar panel
* $24.7 million, three-year Solar American Initiative agreement signed with U.S. Department of Energy
* Dedication of first of 28 Macy’s solar electric systems in California - 18-megawatt Olivenza Spanish solar power plant order booked in October

Todays pullback in the markets provides a buying opportunity for both stocks. CY and SPWR are were both trading at 52 week highs yesterday. I suspect the solar connection is what has propelled CY above other semiconductor makers catagorized along with it. This incorrect analogy creates an informational imbalance that suggests Cypress will continue to be a low risk high reward stock pick.

SPWR certainly represents a higher risk with a much lower capitalization than its parent company, however it has proven itself to be a highly profitable company with tremendous upside should the cost of traditional sources of energy remain high or continue to climb.

Semiconductor makers as a group have moved sideways over the same period of Cypress Semiconductors meteoric rise.

Note below how the Cypress Semiconductor price has climbed…

…virtually in tandem with its subsidiary Sun Power (which went public in late 2005).

Click To Enlarge Chart.

October 19, 2007

By Reggie “Rasmataz” Rasmussen

Citizenre is currently building one the world’s largest photovoltaic production facilities. Photovoltaic solar systems have the ability to convert the suns energy into usable electricity. Once completed the factory will have the capacity to install approximately 100,000 homes. Half of this production will be allocated towards residential through their solar rental program, which I have written about extensively in this blog. To give you an idea as to how large this project this is, consider this. In 2006 the entire solar industry installed photovoltaic solar systems on approximately 7500 homes. To install systems on more than 6 times that number by one company alone is mind-boggling, but what are they going to do with the remaining 50% of the solar systems that they produce?

Until recently, Solarjoules was under the impression that the remaining 50% was be used in the commercial industry. The remaining systems are expected to be distributed as follows.

Commercial - 22.5%

Industrial - 22.5%

International developments – 5%

International Development? As it turns out Citizenre is a company that a huge vision of helping more than the environment. For example, there are many remote areas around the world where small villages exist with no suitable water supply. Programs already exit where an organization has come in to those villages with water purification equipment. The village pays a small fee to cover the cost of the equipment. “The challenge they have is that the grid keeps going down and the machine needs electricity to purify the water. When the machine is not working, people go back to the streams and infect themselves with water born diseases.” States Rob Styler, president of Citizenre. “We could install panels for them at no upfront charge and receive our payment over time as they sell the water.”

“Man, the project is such a beautiful idea.” stated Bilal Yasin El-Amin, sales managers, “Just the thought and the concern to want to do this brought tears to my eyes. This is a beautiful company, bringing together beautiful people in a beautiful world.”

At this point no definitive plans have been solidified, but the company is hard at work to make a difference. Helping people to have clean water is only the beginning.

October 18, 2007 By Reggie “Rasmataz” Rasmussen

Citizenre’s rental program has been modified again and now customers may save even more money while using clean renewable electricity. Citizenre is a company that has plans to manufacture, distribute and install complete solar systems on residential homes with no upfront charges. Customers will rent these systems from Citizenre instead of purchasing the systems. Once product is available, the customer would meet with a solar technician who would design a system to best fit the needs of the home. If the customer approves the design of the system, a small deposit of $500 to $1000 is collected which would be fully refundable at the end of the service contract. Service contracts are currently offered for 1,5 or 25 years and the rental fee is locked in to insure no rate increases throughout the service agreement. The customer becomes his or her own producer of electricity from the equipment that is rented from Citizenre.

The original business model of Citizenre was to charge the customer for all of the electricity that was produced. Systems were under designed based on past usage for each home to insure that customers were never charged for electricity that was never used. If the customer still used less electricity, adjustments would be made to the system at no charge to assure customers that they did not generate and pay for electricity that was not used. Since the rental rates were nearly the same as the savings from the utility company, system rentals, in most cases, pay for themselves. To assure no service interruptions, the customer is still connected to his or her current utility provider and any electricity used but not generated by the system would still come from the current utility provider.

However, the rental plan was not fully embraced by all utility companies. Having the rental fee tied to the actual production of the systems, too closely resembled a utility company. So Citizenre management went to work and came up with a solution. The rental fees will be tied to the nameplate capacity of the system. In easy terms, the nameplate capacity is the amount of electricity that the system is designed to produce. So if the system is designed to produce 500 KW of electricity, customers will be charged a rental fee based on 500 KW of electricity. If the system produces less electricity than intended, the customers will get a refund. Here is why the program becomes so much better for the customer. If the system produces more than intended, the customer gets to keep the excess electricity that was produced with no extra charges.

Since the rent of the system is paid from the utility savings in most cases and each system has no upfront cost, the customers is now in an even better position to save money and the environment.

Over 23,500 are on the waiting list for the Citizenre Renu solar program. The company is expected to roll product off the assembly line and begin installations in the middle of 2008. If you would like to inquire about the Renu program from Citizenre simply click here: Solar Panel Rental Program: Sign Up Now!

Once you have put your client in the computer, the website will prompt you to print out the Forward Rental Agreement General term and Conditions (FRAG). Print up all 4 pages that contain the following information.

Page1. Corporate cover letter. This is a welcome letter.
Page 2. Client copy.
Page 3. Corporate copy.
Page 4. Associate copy.

If you DO NOT have a client signature, mail Page 1, Page 2 and Page 3 to the client along with a corporate addressed stamped envelope. Ask the make a handwritten note on the paperwork asking the client to sign the corporate copy and mail in the stamped and addressed envelope. A handwritten note carries more impact than a typewritten note, as it can be distinguished from the other information more readily. The address on the corporate envelope should read as follows:

THE CITIZENRE CORPORATION
Customer Service
501 Silverside Road # 69
Wilmington, Delaware, 19809

The company has excellent tracking on their website for each of their independent ecoprenuers. Therefore, it is easy to follow up and find which of your clients have mailed to corporate and which clients have not.

If you already had a signature from the client then follow these steps.

Step 1. Print all 4 pages of the forward rental application general terms and conditions.

Step 2. Mail page 1 and page to your client. Include a handwritten note that no further action is required at this time, as all paperwork has already been taken care of. I like to cross out the paragraph on the company welcome letter that requests a signature from the client and make a handwritten note in this area.

Step 3. Staple the copy already signed to Page 3(corporate copy) and mail to corporate at the above address.

Step 4. Keep Page 4 (associate copy) for your records.

Here’s a company I’ve been buying and selling for 3 years now.

As nanotechnology as a buzz word ebbs and flows so does this stock. The company though continually leads in providing profits for companies in the energy sector.

Read the latest news on UTEK Corp. below:

World Energy Solutions Acquires Hydrogen Safe Technologies, Inc. from UTEK Corporation

2:00a ET October 3, 2007 (Business Wire) UTEK Corporation (AMEX:UTK) (LSE-AIM:UTK), a technology transfer company focused on open innovation, and World Energy Solutions (OTCBB:WEGY), a company engaged in the business of energy conservation and environmental sustainability, are pleased to announce that World Energy Solutions, Inc. has acquired Hydrogen Safe Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of UTEK Corporation, in a stock transaction.

Hydrogen Safe Technologies, Inc. contains an exclusive, worldwide license to a hydrogen sensor technology developed by researchers at the University of South Florida. Originally funded by NASA, this unique sensor uses nanowires and nanoparticles as the sensing element. We believe that coating these devices with nanostructure materials may allow hydrogen detection in near real time.

“World Energy Solutions is enthusiastic about this technology and its potential to help expand our proprietary position in the energy conservation field,” said Benjamin Croxton, Chief Executive Officer at World Energy Solutions.

“UTEK is pleased to consummate this technology transfer with World Energy Solutions,” said Joel Edelson, Vice President of Technology Licensing at UTEK Corporation.

About World Energy Solutions, Inc.

World Energy Solutions, Inc. is an energy services company and electronics manufacturer. WES’s primary business focus is the development of technology for lowering electrical, gas and water usage for commercial, government and residential facilities. As a manufacturer of transient voltage surge suppressor systems, WES uses cutting-edge technologies and design standards to provide its customers with full lifetime warranties on its products. For more information about WES, please visit its website at www.wesinc.net.

About UTEK Corporation

UTEK(R) is a technology transfer company focused on open innovation. UTEK’s services enable companies to acquire externally developed technologies from universities and research laboratories worldwide. In addition, UTEK provides services to help companies create value from their intellectual property. UTEK is a business development company with operations in the United States, United Kingdom and Israel. For more information about UTEK, please visit its website at www.utekcorp.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain matters discussed in this press release are “forward-looking statements.” These forward-looking statements can generally be identified as such because the context of the statement will include words, such as UTEK or World Energy Solutions “expects,” “should,” “believes,” “anticipates” or words of similar import. Similarly, statements that describe UTEK’s or World Energy Solutions future plans, objectives or goals are also forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including the financial performance of UTEK or World Energy Solutions, as appropriate, and the valuation of UTEK’s investment portfolio, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated. Although UTEK and World Energy Solutions believe the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it cannot give any assurance that its expectations will be attained. Shareholders, potential investors and other readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating any forward-looking statements. Certain factors could cause results and conditions to differ materially from those projected in these forward-looking statements, and some of these factors are discussed below. These factors are not exhaustive. New factors, risks and uncertainties may emerge from time to time that may affect the forward-looking statements made herein. These forward-looking statements are only made as of the date of this press release and both UTEK and World Energy Solutions do not undertake any obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

UTEK’s operating results could fluctuate significantly due to a number of factors. These factors include the small number of transactions that are completed each quarter, the value of individual transactions, the timing of the recognition and the magnitude of unrealized gains and losses, UTEK’s dependence on the performance of companies in its portfolio, the possibility that advances in technology could render the technologies it has transferred obsolete, the loss of technology licenses by companies in its portfolio, the degree to which it encounters competition in its markets, the volatility of the stock market and the volatility of the valuations of the companies it has invested in as it relates to its realized and unrealized gains and losses, the concentration of investments in a small number of companies, as well as other general economic conditions. As a result of these and other factors, current results may not be indicative of UTEK’s future performance. For more information on UTEK and for a more complete discussion of the risks pertaining to an investment in UTEK, please refer to UTEK’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE: UTEK Corporation

UTEK Corporation, Tampa Tania Bernier, 813-754-4330 x 223 (USA) or Bankside Consultants (UK) Steve Liebmann or Simon Bloomfield, + 44 (0) 20-7367-8883 or World Energy Solutions Benjamin Croxton, 727-525-5552

Friday, October 12:

by, Reggie “Razmataz” Rasmussen

A grand day in the solar industry; today is the opening ceremony of the Solar Decathlon. The event takes place on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., October 12 - 20. The Solar Decathlon joins 20 college and university teams in a competition to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house.

Just like the well-known Olympic decathlon, the Solar Decathlon consists of ten contests. But the Solar Decathlon centers on all of the ways in which we use energy in our daily lives—at work, at home, and at play.

Below are the ten Solar Decathlon Contests:

• Architecture — 200 points
• Engineering — 150 points
• Market Viability — 150 points
• Communications — 100 points
• Comfort Zone — 100 points
• Appliances — 100 points
• Hot Water — 100 points
• Lighting — 100 points
• Energy Balance — 100 points
• Getting Around — 100 points

The 2007 Solar Decathlon is the third competition, with past Decathlons occurring in 2005 and 2002. On October 14, 2006, the University of Colorado won the 2005 contest in the Solar Decathlon. Cornell University took second place and California Polytechnic State University placed third. 

During each of the past Solar Decathlons, more than 100,000 visitors gathered at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to visit the “solar village.” 

The U.S Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is the primary sponsor of the Solar Decathlon. For more information visit:

http://www.solardecathlon.org/

New forward rental agreements almost ready for use. 

October 3, 2007   By Reggie “Rasmataz” Rasmussen

In the citizenre’s forums, notable issues were brought to light when it was stated that citizenre systems would be designed to produce at 80% capacity instead of 100% as marketing efforts to this point had stated. The change was made so that systems could be optimized to the point where a customer would never be left paying for electricity that was not used.

 “You will rarely have a 0 KWh bill from your utility, because we only engineer the systems to 80% of anticipated needs. We don’t want our customers to ever produce more power than they use because then they would be at a financial disadvantage.” stated Rob Styler president of Citizenre and forum administrator.

Efforts are under way to clean up the marketing materials to reflect this change in strategy. Forums, blogs, conference calls, and word of mouth will certainly get all of Citizenre’s ecopreneur’s up to speed on the changes very quickly.

The company is in the development stage and constant changes are made to insure that this is a great product for the customer and for the enviroment. “We are still in Pilot Phase Bro’ this is our learning stage! We just learned a little more and I’m sure we will learn a lot more before we are out of Pilot Phase.” stated Frank Knight, regional sales director.

In other news, the new forward rental agreement has been drafted and will soon be available for use. “It has been sent to Fabrice for formatting. As soon as he can finish that, we will post it.” stated Styler.

Citizenre Powûr Calander of Events

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