Show Solar Some Love

Posted on May 2, 2012 by quest

Vote Solar the San Francisco based solar advocate is on a mission to bring Solar energy into the mainstream. They were looking to send 20,000 emails asking for a YES vote on fair solar credit at the California Public Utilities Commission. “More than 34,000 Californians have replied to have urged the CPUC to support the pro-solar plan! Now they would like to build on the momentum and send 40,000 emails to the CPUC by May 15? The utilities are now fighting tooth and nail against your outpouring of pro-solar messages. They are walking the halls of the CPUC every day – even spreading false and misleading information in their attempts to restrict California customer access to fair solar net metering,” says Annie Carmichael of the Vote Solar Initiative.

Net metering gives solar customers fair credit on their utility bills for valuable clean power they put back on the grid. It’s like rollover minutes for solar. There is a cap on the amount of net metering that utilities must make available to customers – beyond that cap, there’s no guarantee that utilities will continue to allow new solar customers to net meter. California’s law sets the cap at “5 percent of aggregate customer peak demand,” but does not specify how utilities should calculate that number. And guess what . . . some utilities are using a more restrictive methodology that results in almost half the amount of net metering than the original law intended.
The state regulators at the CPUC have proposed closing that loophole and requiring utilities to calculate net metering participation in a way that results in more Californians having access to the program’s bill saving credits. Vote Solar wants you to Show Solar Some Love.

Solar And Clean Energy Political Myths Revealed

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

Solar To Save Mount Diablo Unified $220 Million

Posted on May 1, 2012 by quest

Today, Mount Diablo Unified School District and SunPower Corp. are celebrating the completion of 40 SunPower solar power systems planned for district schools and facilities. When the total number of 51 systems is complete later this year, the systems are expected to reduce the district’s electricity costs by more than $3 million per year, and save $220 million over the next 30 years. With a cumulative capacity of 12.1 megawatts, the project is creating more than 140 jobs during construction and injecting almost $24 million into the regional economy through the use of local subcontractors and suppliers.

“With this project, we will eliminate 92 percent of electrical cost from our general fund in the first year alone and generate additional financial resources from the California Solar Initiative. This will help preserve desperately needed financial resources for our schools and classrooms,” says School Board Member Gary Eberhart. “Saving our schools’ money while reducing emissions is the right thing to do for our students and the environment. We are very excited to team with SunPower to bring the largest K-12 solar project in the country to fruition.“SunPower is installing the system on rooftops and shade structures in parking lots and hard court areas. The systems use high efficiency SunPower solar panels, the most efficient panels on the market today, which are manufactured locally in Milpitas, California. All systems are expected to be complete and operational before the end of the year.”The completion of the largest solar school project in the U.S., delivering electric bill savings of more than 90 percent at 51 schools, represents a major milestone in our industry. The Mount Diablo Unified School District selected SunPower to deliver the world’s highest performing solar systems for its schools, in partnership with great local firms,” said Howard Wenger, president, regions for SunPower.

According to estimates provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Mount Diablo Unified’s solar power systems will avoid production of almost 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 30 years, the equivalent of removing 70,450 cars from California’s highways.

Jamba’s Got Juice With Youth

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

EPA Awards For Innovative Environmental Solutions

Solar Power Set For 20 Square Miles Atop LA Rooftops

Posted on April 29, 2012 by quest

The City of Los Angeles has more than 12,000 acres of prime space for solar development on the rooftops of local homes, businesses and multi-family buildings, with capacity to create as much as five gigawatts of clean, locally generated power, according to the Los Angeles Business Council. This massive amount of solar-ready rooftop space is equivalent to nearly 20 square miles. The recent approval by the LADWP to move forward with the city’s first Feed-in-Tariff (FiT) rooftop solar program – CLEAN LA Solar – provides the opportunity to create the first 150 megawatts of rooftop solar in the next three to four years, with a goal of reaching 600 megawatts by 2020. The program enables property owners to install rooftop solar and sell the power generated back to the LADWP.

How best to harvest power from the sun on the thousands of available rooftops right was the focus of the LABC 2012 Sustainability Summit on Friday, April 27 at the Getty Center.”This program will not only reduce our dependence on dirty fossil fuels, it will put LA at the center of the growing clean tech industry which means thousands of local jobs,” City Councilman Eric Garcetti said. “The 12,000+ acres of available rooftop space available for solar could generate as much as 5.5 gigawatts of power in Los Angeles,” said Jacob Lipa, LABC Chairman. “While getting to a 600 megawatt FiT only takes advantage of a fraction of the total capacity in the city, it’s a great start to encourage investment in the city,” he said. LABC President Mary Leslie put the value of the rooftop solar program into context:

“CLEAN LA Solar provides the opportunity to build the equivalent of hundreds, and potentially thousands, of local solar power plants in the heart of the city,” Leslie said. “With the enormous economic and environmental benefits a strong rooftop solar program can bring to the city, we should do everything possible to scale this program and be a national leader.” An LABC-sponsored study by UCLA found that a 600-megawatt FiT could result in 18,000 green jobs, spur $2 billion in investment, and produce long-term cost savings for businesses, ratepayers and LADWP. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa set a vision for a solar FiT in 2008 and has worked with LABC and other stakeholders to bring that vision to life. “Los Angeles has an abundance of both sunshine and ingenuity. By using our resources wisely, Los Angeles will become a long-term national leader in solar energy,” Villaraigosa said. “It’s important to move forward with a smart, responsible Feed-In Tariff to build a strong foundation for a program that will create jobs, help drive our economy, and get us to our renewable energy goals.”

Solar And Electric Cars Key To Cleaning California Air

Social Entrepreneurs Bringing Solar Solutions To Africa

Posted on April 27, 2012 by quest

Students from NYU Abu Dhabi were among the Hult Global Case Challenge winners. NYU Abu Dhabi’s solution focuses on creating a network of entrepreneurs and technicians who will sell and fix solar lamps in a sustainable way. Many Africans still rely on kerosene lamps for light. Hult International Business School (formerly known as the Arthur D. Little School of Management) is the first global business school with campuses in Boston, San Francisco, London, Dubai, and Shanghai. The other two wiining teams are Carnegie Mellon and Hult International Business School . The winning teams were honored for their commitment to eradicating poverty at the Hult Global Case Challenge in New York City, hosted by Hult International Business and the Clinton Global Initiative. The three winning teams beat thousands of students from the world’s best business schools for a US$1 million cash grant and were honored by President Bill Clinton.

Started three years ago by Hult graduate Ahmad Ashkar, the Hult Global Case Challenge is the largest and most respected initiative of its kind. Harnessing the power of crowd sourcing, the Hult Global Case Challenge attracted students from 350 colleges and universities to provide solutions to the real challenges facing three NGOs. These are Habitat for Humanity, which builds affordable housing; SolarAid, which brings renewable energy to impoverished communities; and One Laptop Per Child, which provides low-cost computers to children.

Speaking in support of the winning team’s solution, SolarAid CEO Steve Andrews said: “Our goal is to eradicate the kerosene lamp from Africa by the end of this decade. That’s simply a huge challenge, which will only be possible with massive innovation. Having the top students from around the world competing to come up with great ideas for how we will do this is an extraordinary boost. It’s already changing the way we think and work.”Ahmad Ashkar, the founder and CEO of the Hult Global Case Challenge, said: “This initiative aims to revolutionize how we think about the world’s most pressing social challenges. With US$1 million in seed capital, students from all over the world have a chance to establish social enterprises that achieve real results.”