QuestPoint Solar Solutions

Electric vehicles are already out there and more are on the way. Tesla and Toyota have made headlines as has
ZAP which has signed fleet agreements in China and with the US Postal Service.

An interesting area for growth in the electric vehicle (EV) field is the business of car conversions and fleet management.  AMP Holding Inc. is a company engaged in the emission-free electrification of OEM vehicles,  hosted “Making Your Fleet Green.”
Their program offers two viable solutions for fleet operators: 100% electric new vehicles such as the AMP’d GM Equinox, and the upfitting of existing or retired fleet vehicles.
Steve Burns, CEO of AMP (interviewed with the New York Times), said, “Historically speaking, fleets have been early adopters of alternative fuel solutions; it seemed only natural to create a Fleet Vehicle Program that affords real world solutions for these transportation planners.

Aside from the obvious environmental appeal these vehicles garner, various government grants and incentives available to fleet operators make the economics quite compelling. Upfitting just one vehicle previously deemed for retirement could yield savings of up to $15,000 by year five, just on that one vehicle alone. Imagine the implications for a large government agency or municipality that has thousands of vehicles in its fleet, it’s just mindboggling; not to mention the massive reduction in carbon footprint in saving these vehicles from the scrap yard. AMP’s game-changing technology allows us to help these fleets meet and exceed the ever-growing environmental standards being dictated.”

Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben sat down with David Letterman on the Late Show to discuss climate change and the actions desperately needed to confront it.
McKibben says that the dire environmental problems we face aren’t entirely unmanageable, and we have the capabilities to provide some solutions, but there are certain groups — like the oil and gas industry — that don’t want that kind of progress to be made. “Until we build a movement big enough to challenge them, we won’t solve it,” McKibben tells Letterman.
McKibben describes the environmental grassroots organization he started last year with 7 colleges kids, 350.org, and how it exploded into a worldwide movement when their “International Day Of Climate Action” succeeded with 5,200 demonstrations in 181 countries.
This year, they expect to make an even larger impact on 10/10/10 for what McKibben describes as a “global work party.” The organization is putting pressure on President Obama to restore solar panels to the roof of the White House, and is calling on people across the world do their part in addressing climate change in their local communities. “If I can go to work and do something, then I damn well expect my political leaders to do something,” McKibben says.

BILL MCKIBBEN ON DAVID LETTERMAN

HOUSTON

Waste Management, the nation’s largest trash hauler, said Wednesday that it purchased a majority stake in organic lawn and products maker Garick LLC in order to expand its organic recycling business.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Garick’s operations will add over one million tons of processing capacity as well as commercial and consumer organic products to Waste Management’s organics recycling business.
Waste Management Inc., based in Houston, has been working on boosting its organic efforts since last year when it made an investment in Terrabon. The company also made an investment in Harvest Power in January.

Congress, Don’t Send the U.S. Solar Industry on an Extended Vacation
by Rhone Resch
President & CEO, Solar Energy Industries Association

It’s that time of year when many Americans are just returning from a summer vacation.

During their travels, most of those vacationers probably passed by some of the many solar projects, large and small, being installed across the country. However, they probably didn’t know that while they were on holiday, smart policies were at work speeding up deployment of solar projects. From PV farms to solar water heating systems, solar is having a record growth year and is creating stable, well-paying American jobs.
One of the main drivers of solar’s robust growth has been the Treasury Grant Program (TGP), an initiative created in the Recovery Act which provides a cash grant in lieu of the 30 percent solar investment tax credit for companies that lack access to private tax equity financing due to the poor economy. Research by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found the TGP “has provided significant economic value” and more than 40 states have solar projects that were stimulated by the TGP.
Vacationers who hit the beaches of Southeast Florida were sunbathing near the DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center, a 25-megawatt solar power plant that is the largest photovoltaic plant in the country. It provides clean, safe, reliable electricity to about 3,000 homes and created around 400 construction jobs. Almost 900 other solar projects nationwide have been built because of the TGP.
Tourists sending postcards from the National Cherry Festival in Michigan may have noticed a revival in America’s manufacturing sector. The Upper Midwest is one of the regions hardest hit by the recession. In Michigan, where unemployment hovers around 10 percent, the TGP has supported thousands of jobs in the manufacturing plants producing solar products. American-made solar components from these plants will be sold across the U.S. and exported around the world.

Elvis fans making the pilgrimage to Graceland may have been all shook up to see how the TGP is creating jobs for local solar installers, contractors and distributors. Memphis, Tennessee-based Unistar-Sparco was able to cut their energy costs by one-third by going solar with the help of the TGP. Read on

CYPRESS, Calif. Using solar energy, Butte College in Oroville, Calif., plans to be one of the first colleges in the U.S. to produce more energy than it consumes. While the college has been using solar energy for three years, the board of trustees approved its Phase III solar project which is expected to be completed by May 2011. Butte College will install more than 14,000 Mitsubishi Electric solar modules capable of producing 3,481,920 kWh of clean energy per year. This 2.7 MW DC installation is an addition to the 10,000 solar panels the college already has, making the total system size 4.55 MW DC.

“We congratulate Butte College for setting an example for its students, its community and other colleges in the nation by choosing solar energy as its energy source”

“Once this solar project is completed, Butte College will provide enough clean renewable energy to cover all of our electricity needs and generate slightly more than we use—which will be a source of additional revenue for the college,” said Diana Van Der Ploeg, president of Butte College.

The solar panels will be installed by a joint venture between Chico Electric and DPR Energy which designs and installs commercial and residential solar systems in California.“We have worked with Butte College for years and are proud to facilitate this cutting-edge project for such a forward-thinking institution,” says Norm Nielsen, president of Chico Electric. The modules will be installed on the ground and on rooftops that will create covered parking areas and walkways. Mitsubishi Electric modules were used for a previous installation at the college and were chosen again due to their high-reliability and use of 100% lead-free solder. “We congratulate Butte College for setting an example for its students, its community and other colleges in the nation by choosing solar energy as its energy source,” says Gina Heng, general manager of Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics USA’s Photovoltaic Division.

The total funding for the project is $17 million with $12.65 million of this amount funded by federal Clean Renewable Energy Bonds (CREBs). The remainder, up to $4.35 million, will be funded by the college from its annual budget allocated to purchasing electricity from the grid. The college will receive almost $1 million in rebates from Pacific Gas & Electric, the California Solar Initiative and benefits from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act/CREBs allocations. The CREBs for the project were arranged and funded by Bank of America as part of its 10-year, $20 billion business initiative to address climate change.

Butte College Wins Global Warming Solution Award

UPDATE: A NEW GREEN RENAISSANCE II

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Learn about: Solar Bill of Rights

10 Great Green Opportunities

By Brita Belli, Kathryn Gutlebar, Julia Hirsch, Jesica Knoblauch, Shawn Query

Everything’s coming up green. Across every industry, new job possibilities are emerging for those with the skills to bridge the divide between the old, fossil-fuel-based economy and the new, energy-efficient one. Corporations once demonized for their role in creating pollution and exploiting workers are being held accountable; they are partnering with nonprofits and hiring corporate social responsibility managers. They are finding that reducing their impact is as good for future profits as for the planet at large. There’s no secret to getting a job in the new green economy. It’s as basic as applying the job skills you’ve already developed (web design, sales, management) to a nonprofit or sustainable industry, or coordinating sustainable practices from within a corporate entity. Sometimes, as in green building or solar panel installing, these green jobs require a specific set of skills—and classes are organizing to fill the growing need. Other times, as in the organic food industry, ecotourism or sales and marketing of energy-efficient technology, anyone with a good work ethic can get in and create a great green career. Read on here

SunPower Corp. today announced that SunPower world-leading solar technology has been selected for installation at several U.S. government properties, including for the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), the General Services Administration (GSA), the Navy and the Air Force. SunPower expects to create more than 1000 local jobs during the construction of these projects. These contracts represent a minimum of 20 megawatts (MW) of new solar projects for SunPower.

“SunPower has worked with federal agencies since 1999, resulting in the installation of more than 20 MW of solar power systems at government facilities,” said Karen Butterfield, SunPower’s director of federal accounts. “As a result, SunPower has the experience and credibility to successfully navigate the federal procurement process and deliver reliable, high performance solar systems that meet agency requirements. With the addition of a U.S.-based panel manufacturing facility this year, we have also bolstered our ability to serve this growing demand.”

Recent government contracts won by SunPower include the following:

• SunPower was selected by NREL to design and construct a 2-megawatt solar power system at the Department of Energy’s new Research Support Facility on the NREL campus in Golden, Colo. The project will be installed at three sites, including a new ultra-low energy office complex, an outdoor parking area, and a parking garage. Colorado-based SunPower Premier Dealer Namaste Solar is partnering with SunPower to install the systems. This project is being financed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, and is expected to be complete by the end of 2011.
• The General Services Administration (GSA) and general contractor Shiel Sexton selected SunPower solar technology for the 1.8-MW solar system that is under construction at the General Emmett Bean Federal Building in Indianapolis, Ind. The project uses the SunPower T5 Solar Roof Tile system, which integrates a high-efficiency solar panel, frame and roof-mounting system into a single pre-engineered unit. The T5 Solar Roof Tiles position the solar panels at a 5-degree tilt, for greatest energy production. Scheduled for completion in January 2011, the system will be the largest rooftop solar power system on a GSA facility. This project is being financed through ARRA.
• SunPower was one of five solar providers awarded an indefinite delivery-indefinite quantity contract by Naval Facilities Command to deliver solar power systems to Navy and Marine Corps installations throughout the southwestern United States. Under the contract, SunPower will design, build, operate and maintain the systems, and sell the power to the Navy and Marine Corps under power purchase agreements. Projects may range in size from one to 15 MW. The Navy will have up to five years to award up to 40 MW of solar projects under this $200 million contract.
• Earlier this month, SunPower announced an agreement with Arizona Public Service (APS) to design and construct a 15-MWac solar photovoltaic power system at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona. The system will use SunPower solar panels with the SunPower Tracker(R) system, which follows the sun’s movement during the day, increasing sunlight capture by up to 25 percent over conventional fixed-tilt systems, while significantly reducing land use requirements. Scheduled for completion in the summer of 2011, it is expected to be the largest solar power installation at a U.S. government facility and generate the equivalent of 50 percent of the annual energy requirements for Luke Air Force

Westford, MA – Today Green Ray Solar announced the first ever certification for an AC module solar module the SunSine 200 AC, the worlds’ first solar appliance. This is quite a development because AC is safer then DC, micro inverters are build into the solar panels and installation costs will be lower.  The SunSine™200 has been certified by Intertek. Intertek performed the comprehensive safety and grid connectivity testing according to the UL 1741 standard; following the testing, the product received the ETL mark for the U.S.

“Having this important certification allows GreenRay to shift its focus and now aggressively build our sales and partner channels and begin production of the SunSine™200 AC Module”, said Miles C. Russell, founder and CEO of GreenRay, Inc. “We expect to have product available for delivery starting in October. This has been a long development path, and we owe thanks to many partners who helped us get this far, including the Department of Energy, the MA Clean Energy Center, and our investors, 21Ventures and The Quercus Trust. ”

The SunSine™200 AC Module is the world’s first solar appliance. It is a fully-integrated plug- and-play PV system, and provides the market with a modular, scalable AC system solution for home and commercial solar installations.
In another industry first, the SunSine™200 AC Module comes with a 20-year warranty, including the integrated micro-inverter. GreenRay’s proprietary inverter is designed to match the useful life expectancy of PV modules by eliminating the weak components found in other inverters, such as electrolytic capacitors and opto-couplers.

You can hear an interview that QuestPoint N The Mix had with founder Miles Russell earlier this year where he talks about why the SunSine is such a breakthrough and the solar industry in general. Listen here

You’ve got the power

The Egyptian Electricity Ministry has unveiled plans to build a new $700m 100MW solar power plant between 2012 and 2017 that should further establish the country as one of the leading developers of utility-scale solar plants.

According to reports in the local Al-Ahram newspaper, the solar power project at Kom Ombo, near the Aswan High Dam hydro-electric plant, will be financed by a number of international institutions, including the African Development Fund and the World Bank. Additional finance is also expected to be provided through the UN’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) carbon offsetting scheme.

The project is part of a five-year plan running from 2012-2017 designed to establish the Egypt as one of the top generators of solar energy in North Africa, electricity ministry undersecretary Aktham Abou el-Ella told news agency Reuters.

The project will be the nation’s second large scale solar power project following the country’s first solar plant at El-Koraymat, south of Cairo, which is expected to be finished later this year and will produce 20MW of solar power alongside 120MW of conventional natural gas power.

The vast majority of Egypt’s power is currently provided by natural gas-fired power stations, with a small percentage coming from large scale hydroelectric plants on the Nile delta.

However, the country’s government has pledged to generate 20 per cent of its power from renewable sources by 2020, which it hopes to achieve largely through wind and solar expansion. It is also eyeing the potential to export solar energy to southern Europe as part of the high profile Desertec initiative.

Northern Africa has been touted as a potential hub for solar energy generation given its low levels of rain and year-round sun, but uptake of the technology has been slow, largely because of high capital costs.

Egypt will need to dramatically accelerate the rate at which it deploys solar technologies if it is to meet its ambitious renewable energy targets. Electricity
generation is currently growing at a rates of seven to eight per cent a year, due to a growing economy and increasing use of air conditioning units, and a government-sponsored report last year estimated the country will need to have at least 1GW of solar capacity alongside 7.2GW of wind capacity to meet its 2020 renewables target while satisfying the growing demand for power.

The government also has a long way to go to meet its wind energy target. There has been large scale wind farm development along Egypt’s eastern Red Sea coast, but even with huge new wind farms at Zafarana and Hurghada having recently come online the country’s total installed capacity currently stands at just 430 MW.

However, plenty of new projects are in the pipeline and last month the World Bank awarded Egypt a $220m loan to support the Wind Power Development Project, which aims to develop the infrastructure and business models needed to scale up wind power in the country.

The initiative will include the funding of new transmission lines to connect Egypt’s largest wind farm, the 250MW Gabal el-Zait project, to the national grid.

“Some of the world’s best wind power resources are in Egypt, especially in the areas of the Gulf of Suez, where at least 7.2GW could be potentially developed by 2022, with further 3GW on the west and east banks of the Nile,” the World Bank said in a statement at the time. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010

The era of personalized energy systems — in which individual homes and small businesses produce their own energy for heating, cooling and powering cars — took another step toward reality today as scientists reported discovery of a powerful new catalyst that is a key element in such a system. They described the advance, which could help free homes and businesses from dependence on the electric company and the corner gasoline station, at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, being held here this week.

“Our goal is to make each home its own power station,” said study leader Daniel Nocera, Ph.D. “We’re working toward development of ‘personalized’ energy units that can be manufactured, distributed and installed inexpensively. There certainly are major obstacles to be overcome — existing fuel cells and solar cells must be improved, for instance. Nevertheless, one can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic system.”

Such a system would consist of rooftop solar energy panels to produce electricity for heating, cooking, lighting, and to charge the batteries on the homeowners’ electric cars. Surplus electricity would go to an “electrolyzer,” a device that breaks down ordinary water into its two components, hydrogen and oxygen. Both would be stored in tanks. In the dark of night, when the solar panels cease production, the system would shift gears, feeding the stored hydrogen and oxygen into a fuel cell that produces electricity (and clean drinking water as a byproduct). Such a system would produce clean electricity 24 hours a day, seven days a week — even when the sun isn’t shining.

Nocera’s report focused on the electrolyzer, which needs catalysts — materials that jumpstart chemical reactions like the ones that break water up into hydrogen and oxygen. He is with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. Good catalysts already are available for the part of the electrolyzer that produces hydrogen. Lacking, however, have been inexpensive, long-lasting catalysts for the production of oxygen. The new catalyst fills that gap and boosts oxygen production by 200-fold. It eliminates the need for expensive platinum catalysts and potentially toxic chemicals used in making them.

The new catalyst has been licensed to Sun Catalytix, which envisions developing safe, super-efficient versions of the electrolyzer, suitable for homes and small businesses, within two years.

The National Science Foundation and the Chesonis Family Foundation provided funding for this study. Nocera did the research with post-doctoral researcher Mircea Dinca and doctoral candidate Yogesh Surendranath. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency has recently awarded the team with a grant, which it plans to use to search for related compounds that can further increase the efficiency of its electrolyzer technology. The team hopes that nickel-borate belongs to a family of compounds that can be optimized for super-efficient, long-term energy storage technologies.– by The American Chemical Society. A non-profit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress. With more than 161,000 members, ACS is the world’s largest scientific society.

QuestPoint n the Mix Updates

A NEW GREEN RENAISSANCE

Listen: a green renaissance

There’s something magical about rivers. In romance, mythology and adventure. Who can’t be moved by Audrey Hepburn words from the song Moon River in the movie Breakfast at Tiffaney’s.  “I’m crossing you in style some day. Oh, dream maker, you heart breaker, wherever you’re going I’m going your way. Two drifters off to see the world. There’s such a lot of world to see. We’re after the same rainbow’s end– waiting ’round the bend, my huckleberry friend,Moon River and me.” Moon River and me.”

AUDREY HEPBURN BREAKFAST AT TIFFANEY’S

As a source of power and energy let’s take a look at we’ve done with water. Early uses of waterpower date back to Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, where irrigation has been used since the 6th millennium BC and water clocks had been used since the early 2nd millennium BC. Other early examples of water power include the Qanat system in ancient Persia and the Turpan water system in ancient China.

The damming of streams and rivers has been an integral part of human civilization from its early history. Controversy paralleled this use because impounding and diverting water for upstream users affects those who live downstream, and also modifies the local habitats of plants and animals. Read about some of effects of hydropower.The Three Gorges Dam is the world’s largest hydropower project and most notorious dam.
Dams are built to control floods, improve navigation, provide a drinking-water supply, create or enhance recreational opportunities, and provide water for irrigation and other agricultural uses. A small percentage of dams (less than 3 percent in the United States) are used to generate power.
Waterpower was the impetus that powered manufacturers who were building a growing nation during the U.S. Industrial Revolution. Hydropower generates about 24 percent of the world’s and 12 percent of the United States’ electricity.

Today hydropower provides the source of energy to the state of Washington, close to 90%. As solar power and other renewable alternatives are coming into view using the power of our nations rivers in a sustainable and non destructive way only makes sense.

Michael Franti East to the West