Solarthon Brings Solar Power to the People

Posted on September 20, 2013 by QuestPoint

MCE (Marin Clean Energy), a program offering cleaner energy choices for electric customers in Marin County and the City of Richmond, sponsored GRID Alternatives’ largest installation event earlier this of the year at the May 8^th annual Bay Area Solarthon.On September 7, 2013 solar panels were installed on the roofs of more than 8 low income homes in Richmond’s Iron Triangle. The Solarthon community installation event is, a fundraiser and solar block party that brings together hundreds of people including individual fundraisers, corporate sponsors, job trainees, community leaders and the homeowners themselves to install multiple solar systems in one neighborhood in a single day.

The funds raised at the Solarthon event are used to further support GRID Alternatives’ work to bring clean, affordable energy and hands-on solar installation experience to families and workers that need it most. Participants get hands-on experience installing solar with and for local families.

MCE offers its customers 50 percent renewable energy, more than twice that offered by PG&E, at affordable rates and also has one of the best Net Energy Metering programs in California. “The Solarthon event aligns with our mission and goals to provide local clean energy alternatives and demonstrates our commitment to environmental and community sustainability,” said Dawn Weisz, Executive Officer of the Marin Energy Authority, which administers MCE. “We’re pleased to support this event and GRID Alternatives as another way to foster community control, workforce development and renewable energy in Richmond.”

Solar Shingles A First In San Antonio

Posted on June 20, 2012 by QuestPoint

Today, Dow Powerhouse announced the first installation of its cutting-edge Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingle roof system in San Antonio. Bobby and Sarah Ross waited over a year to be the first homeowners in Texas with a Dow Powerhouse solar roof.“This is an exciting day for us to be a part of the first Dow Powerhouse solar roof installation in Texas” In 2011, The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) installed a Dow Powerhouse system in Katy, TX as part of an employee contest before the product was made commercially available. The Ross’ family-owned business, Ross Electric Company, was chosen to connect POWERHOUSE below the rooftop. The family was able to see the installation hands-on, and decided to be one of the first in the country to install this total residential roofing solution that not only protects like a standard asphalt roof but also generates solar electricity, turning the roof into a source of value and savings.

“When I saw the seamless integration of the Dow Powerhouse Solar System, I knew it was something worth waiting for,” said Ross. “I am proud to invest in my home with such an innovative and good-looking product. I expect that my POWERHOUSE™ roof will reduce my utility bills by about 40 percent and will increase my home value overall.” BELDON Roofing Company, the exclusive Dow Powerhouse Authorized Dealer in San Antonio, worked directly with the Ross family to custom design the solar roof array to align directly with the family’s budget, roof design and energy goals.“This is an exciting day for us to be a part of the first DOW POWERHOUSE™ solar roof installation in Texas,” said Brad Beldon, President and CEO of BELDON Roofing Company. “We are seeing the way San Antonians think about their roof change now that they have the option to purchase a smart roof system that goes to work for them and pays for itself.”

The Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingle roofing system is offered to San Antonio homeowners as a packaged turn-key solution. It includes:A custom designed array of shingles to fit the individual homeowner’s budget, roof design and energy goals, a DC-to-AC inverter that feeds the home’s power needs or can be returned to the power grid and a monitoring system accessible from any internet connection, showing real-time energy production and generation. Made in the United States and backed by a 20 year warranty from Dow, the Dow Powerhouse Solar Shingle is also certified as both a solar and roofing product. It has received seven performance and safety certifications, including the backing of Underwriters Laboratories (UL), International Code Council Evaluation Service (ICC-ES) certification and is proven to withstand rain, hail and wind uplift.

Scientists Tap Into Underwater Solar Energy

Intersolar North America Focusing Energy Storage

Posted on May 30, 2012 by quest

Intersolar North America will feature a close look at advanced energy storage and its impact on renewable energy generation. Intersolar North America, the premier solar industry exhibition and conference in North America for solar professionals to exchange information and develop business opportunities in the U.S. solar market, returns to San Francisco July 9-12, 2012 for its fifth year. Co-located with SEMICON West, the event is expected to draw approximately 900 exhibitors and more than 22,000 registered visitors from more than 80 countries to provide a true global perspective of the solar industry.

This year, Intersolar North America features a new special exhibit that promotes innovative energy storage technologies. PV Energy World, located in the Moscone Center, North Hall will offer expert presentations on energy storage and grid integration. The informative exhibits and display boards will stimulate discussion among visitors. As the North American solar industry matures, energy storage has emerged as a key technology to optimize renewable energy generation. Storage enables greater flexibility for the power grid, thus accelerating the deployment of affordable solar energy. The successful commercialization and integration of new energy storage technologies promises to help boost the capacity of solar projects, ease concerns over grid strain and bring more large-scale plants online.

Janice Lin, Executive Director of the California Energy Storage Alliance said,”Energy storage offers the solar industry the opportunity to bring several goals to fruition, including faster grid interconnection, more precise timing of output, fewer curtailment and imbalance penalties, and the potential to secure valuable new revenue from wholesale ancillary services and capacity markets. Advanced  energy storage is poised to have a huge, positive impact on the solar industry in California and beyond, and the storage industry is very excited to see Intersolar North America cover this formative topic in such depth at this year’s conference and on the exhibition floor.”PV Energy World is supported in part by the California Energy Storage Alliance (CESA), an advocacy coalition committed to expanding the role of energy storage to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy. CESA counts storage technology manufacturers, renewable energy component manufacturers, developers and system integrators among its members, and this year marks the first time Intersolar will partner with CESA.

Manitoba Hydro Place LEED Platinum

Solar Decathlon Gets $1 Million For Great Park XPO

Posted on May 18, 2012 by quest

At their meeting on May 17, 2012, The Orange County Great Park Corporation Board approved an agreement with the United States Department of Energy that provides a $1 million grant to host the Solar Decathlon 2013 at the Great Park. The agreement establishes a two-phase planning and implementation process that also includes the staging of the first ever multi-day exposition set for October 3-13, 2013, dubbed the XPO: Clean+Renewable+Efficient Energy Exposition.

“We are excited to host the Solar Decathlon and XPO at the Great Park,” said Beth Krom, Chair, Orange County Great Park Corporation Board. “Today’s action allows us to move forward on developing plans for this international event that will bring worldwide attention and economic development to the Great Park and the region and raise public awareness about the benefits of clean energy and energy conservation.”Under the first phase of the agreement, the Great Park accepted $375,000 from the United States Department of Energy for the planning and development process. This planning phase includes event programming and sponsorship planning as well as a finalized site plan that shows the location of the Solar Decathlon Village, where 20 collegiate teams will showcase their solar-powered houses.

The Solar Decathlon challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are cost effective, energy-efficient and attractive. The winning house best embodies affordability, consumer appeal and design excellence while also providing optimal energy production and maximum efficiency. The XPO, featuring the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013, will showcase technology, products, arts, education and business opportunities that arise from clean and renewable energy generation and efficient energy use. Both events will occur simultaneously October 3-13, 2013.

Congresswoman Johnson Backs Renewable Energy Bill

Posted on May 2, 2012 by quest

Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas has backed legislation that will make significant new investments in renewable energy sources, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, help end our dependence on foreign oil and slash taxpayer funded subsidies to oil companies. The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act of 2008 was approved by a vote of 236-182 on February 27th.“With oil prices reaching another record high of $102 per barrel today and families paying $3.15 a gallon for gasoline, the time for action on renewable energy and American energy independence is now. This bill is good for our environment, good for our economy and good for our national security,” said Congresswoman Johnson. “Ending our dependence on foreign oil and using renewable energy to help fight global warming will make our nation stronger. And at a time when our economy is struggling, these investments will help create hundreds of thousands of new jobs. ”

The Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation Tax Act extends and expands tax incentives for renewable electricity, energy and fuel, as well as for plug-in hybrid cars, and energy efficient homes, buildings, and appliances. Additionally, the bill includes solar energy tax credits that could reduce carbon dioxide pollution by 240 million tons.The new investments in wind, solar, geothermal and fuel cell technology will also create hundreds of thousands of new jobs and help strengthen the American economy. The Geothermal Energy Association estimates that the geothermal provisions alone could create tens of thousands of new jobs and stimulate tens of billions of dollars of new investment in geothermal energy production.

Additionally, the legislation approved today repeals $18 billion in unnecessary tax subsidies for big, multinational oil and gas companies. The vote comes shortly after the big five oil companies recently reported record profits for 2007. While oil companies have profited, consumers have felt the pinch. The average cost of a gallon of gasoline in Dallas is $3.058. A year ago it was $2.61 a gallon. H.R. 5351 includes more than $8 billion in long-term clean renewable energy tax incentives for electricity produced from renewable resources, including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, hydropower, ocean tides, and landfill gas and $2 billion in new clean renewable energy bonds for electric cooperatives and public power providers to finance facilities that generate electricity from these renewable resources.

Recovery Depends On Good, Green Jobs

Labor Department Awards Aid to SolarWorld

Posted on April 30, 2012 by quest

The U.S. Department of Labor has determined that all manufacturing employees laid off from SolarWorld Industries America Inc. as a result of the company’s shutdown of its 35-year-old solar-panel production plant in Camarillo, Calif., in September are eligible for federal trade-adjustment assistance, including grants for education to retrain them for new work.“How many more U.S. manufacturing jobs must the United States lose in this most promising renewable-energy industry, which Americans pioneered, before adequate remedies are put in place to offset the illegal practices of Big China Solar,? said company president Gordon Brinser.

The determination that Chinese imports helped cause the shutdown resulted from an investigation earlier this year by the department’s Office of Trade Adjustment Assistance, which announced the decision Friday in the Federal Register. The decision means that many of the 186 laid-off SolarWorld employees can tap federal assistance with job placement; expenses for job searches, relocation and retraining; income support during full-time retraining; and a tax credit on health-insurance premiums.

According to U.S. law, the Labor Department may certify workers for trade-adjustment assistance only if it finds that an increase in competing imports “contributed importantly” to the decline in sales or production of a firm and to the cause for worker layoffs. Though SolarWorld invested tens of millions of dollars automating the Camarillo plant after purchasing it in 2006, the company determined it needed to consolidate its U.S. manufacturing in Hillsboro, Ore., where it operates the Western Hemisphere’s largest solar plant. Consolidation was required, according to SolarWorld, to contend with the illegally subsidized and dumped solar products of China’s government-backed export drive. U.S. Department of Energy researchers have concluded that without state sponsorship, Chinese manufacturers would face a 5 percent cost disadvantage in producing and delivering solar products into the U.S. market. Read the full article: U.S. Labor Department Awards Aid to SolarWorld Workers Laid off Because of Chinese Solar Imports