DHL in conjunction with Lumeta, Inc. and Daniel’s Electric, have just equipped Banning High School in Banning, California with PowerPly, building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) solar modules. DHL Global Forwarding handled the ocean freight, U.S. customs clearance and the staging delivery of the 220 solar panels (88kW) that shipped from Shanghai, China to the school site. Lumeta’s PowerPly modules were then mounted on the roof of the newly constructed 35,000 square foot two-story classroom building within a span of three days by Daniel’s Electric.

“We are proud to partner with Lumeta and DHL on this first school installation in California of the Lumeta PowerPly modules,” said Thomas Ispas, Daniel’s Electric president. “This installation is particularly meaningful because of the project’s significance to the local community. We’re glad to help the School District not only lower its utility expense, but also have a system that generates clean, renewable solar power.” The Lumeta PowerPly modules have several innovative features that were considered beneficial over traditional rack mounted solar panels for rooftop installations. These features include minimized roof load, elimination of roof penetrations for traditional racking systems and utilizing proven, high-efficiency monocrystalline silicon cells. The simplified “peel-and-stick” modules are lightweight and easy to install, greatly reducing costs.

In addition to the solar panels, the building will be equipped with high efficiency heating and air conditioning units, double pane windows, and upgraded insulation among other environmentally friendly features. The building will also be CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools) Certified. “With experience, timely service and previous solar panel logistics expertise, DHL Global Forwarding is able to meet the expectations of all of the partners involved,” said Greg King, director of Business Development, Renewable Energy for DHL Global Forwarding. “DHL invested in this sector by building an industry-leading team focused on developing insight, specialized services and specific logistics solutions for the solar market.”

EXPLORE THE SOLAR WALL

Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) released the following statement today commending President Barack Obama’s FY2012 budget request: “A few weeks ago, President Obama laid out a vision to keep America competitive in a rapidly evolving global marketplace. The Administration’s budget delivers on that vision, helping to lay the groundwork for a level playing field that allows solar energy to compete with traditional fossil energy sources that have received substantial support from the federal government for decade after decade.

“This budget is a smart investment for the American taxpayer.  If this budget is enacted, I expect the solar industry to more than double in 2012, creating tens of thousands of good-paying solar energy jobs.  And as the industry grows, our costs continue to decline helping to make solar the best economic choice for taxpayers across the country.
“The President’s budget makes a targeted investment in the Department of Energy Loan Guarantee Program, adding $200 million to spur development of utility-scale solar and solar manufacturing facilities.

“The budget also extends the highly successful 1603 Treasury Program for one year. This program has been critical for solar power development, both large and small, while the financial markets have been slow to recover. After securing a hard-fought extension through 2011 during the lame duck session, we are pleased to see that the program remains a top priority for the President.

“Finally, the Administration’s budget includes smart investments in clean energy research – including a near doubling of solar energy technology funding – that will go a long way in achieving the new Sputnik moment President Obama envisioned in his State of the Union Address. “We applaud this bold investment in America’s future and urge Congress to swiftly pass this budget and keep solar working for America.”

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HyperSolar, Inc. the developer of a breakthrough technology that magnifies the power of the sun to significantly increase the power output of solar cells, today announced that it has successfully completed a prototype design of its innovative thin solar concentrator. Tim Young, CEO of HyperSolar, commented, “Our ultimate goal is to develop an inexpensive and thin solar concentrator for use in replacing expensive solar cells in conventional flat solar panels. After a year of intense research and development, we are excited to report that we have finally achieved a prototype design that we believe can be refined into a commercial product. While this initial prototype is designed to provide 300% light magnification, we are aiming for at least 400% in our final commercial product.”

The company anticipates the commercial version of the HyperSolar concentrator will be approximately 1 centimeter thick and will be applied as the top sheet on flat solar panels. The initial prototype will be a single micro-concentrator module fabricated at a larger size to facilitate testing and validation of its real-life performance. Once the photonic and optical characteristics of the micro-concentrator module are validated and refined, the design can be easily miniaturized for use in the mass production of the commercial version HyperSolar concentrator.

When successfully commercialized, a HyperSolar concentrator delivering 400% light magnification can reduce the number of solar cells in a solar panel by 75%, thereby dramatically reducing the cost per watt of solar electricity. “Unlike current concentrated photovoltaic solutions that require bulky mirrors or lenses and sun tracking mechanisms, the HyperSolar concentrator will be a thin and flat self-tracking solar concentrator that conventional solar manufacturers can use in conventional flat solar panels. A HyperSolar concentrator is a concentrator like no other with a multi-billion square feet opportunity. Every square foot of solar panel demand is an opportunity to reduce the number of expensive solar cells by incorporating a square foot of HyperSolar,” concluded Mr. Young.

VISIT THE SOLAR WALL

NASA’s Glory mission is scheduled to launch Wednesday, Feb. 23, from Space Launch Complex 576-E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Liftoff is targeted for 5:09 a.m. EST (2:09 a.m. PST) in the middle of a 48-second launch window.

Data from the Glory mission will allow scientists to better understand how the sun and tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols affect Earth’s climate. Both aerosols and solar energy influence the planet’s energy budget – the amount of energy entering and exiting Earth’s atmosphere. An accurate measurement of these impacts is important to anticipate future changes to our climate.
The first of NASA’s Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNa, missions also will be launched on the Taurus XL rocket. These auxiliary payloads are three small satellites called CubeSats, each designed and created by university and college students.

NASA Television will carry prelaunch media briefings on the Glory and ELaNa missions on Monday, Feb. 21, starting at 4 p.m. EST (1 p.m. PST) from Vandenberg. Reporters who cannot attend the briefings can ask questions from NASA field centers.

On Feb. 23, NASA TV coverage of the countdown will begin at 3:30 a.m. EST (12:30 a.m. PST). Liftoff is targeted for 5:09:43 a.m. EST (2:09:43 a.m. PST). Spacecraft separation from the Taurus occurs 13 minutes after launch. The briefings and launch coverage also will be streamed online at:

Launch coverage of Glory countdown activities will appear on NASA’s launch blog starting at 3:30 a.m. EST (12:30 a.m. PST). Real-time updates of countdown milestones as well as streaming video clips highlighting launch preparations and liftoff will be available at: NASA GLORY

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the Glory project. Mission launch management is the responsibility of NASA’s Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., which built the Glory satellite, also is the launch service provider of the four-stage Taurus XL rocket.

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