SolarWorld Installs Solar Panels At Pearl Harbor

Posted on June 4, 2011 by quest

A combined 2.4 megawatts in arrays of high-performance SolarWorld solar panels cover the roof of five important buildings at the historic U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, now known as Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The $15 million project, funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, comprises an important stride in the U.S. military’s intensive base improvements to increase its energy independence using a renewable energy technology that requires no fuel, parts, maintenance, emissions or noise. The largest U.S. solar technology manufacturer for more than 35 years, SolarWorld supplied the solar panels from its factories in Hillsboro, Ore., and Camarillo, Calif., the latter of which has produced crystalline silicon photovoltaic technology since the late 1970s.

The solar systems, engineered, procured and installed by California-based DRI Energy under a contract with Hawaii-based Niking Corp., crown five buildings: Combined, the arrays are expected to produce 3.4 gigawatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to power about 440 homes. Installation of the solar panels is complete, but final configuration of associated electrical systems as well as the systems’ commissioning are not expected until this coming fall.

Kevin Kilkelly, president of SolarWorld Americas, said the projects are a source of pride for the more than 1,300 U.S. manufacturing, sales and other employees of SolarWorld.“It’s gratifying for them to know that the high-quality products they have labored so long to perfect and produce now help power one of the best-known U.S. historical and military sites,” Kilkelly said. “In that light, these projects may be the best signs yet of the nation’s embrace of domestic solar technology.”

DRIVE ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Solar To Power UC Davis Eco Friendly Energy Campus

Posted on June 2, 2011 by quest

The largest planned Zero Net Energy development in the U.S. is readying for its debut this fall. Under construction on the University of California, Davis campus, UC Davis West Village is combining advanced energy efficient design features with a 4-megawatt (MW), high efficiency SunPower solar power system to achieve the largest planned Zero Net Energy development in the nation. UC Davis West Village is the product of an innovative public-private partnership between UC Davis and West Village Community Partnership, LLC, a joint venture led by San Francisco-based Carmel Partners with their partner Urban Villages of Denver.

“I applaud UC Davis, SunPower Corporation, Carmel Partners, and the CEC for their collaboration, dedication, and leadership in developing the largest zero net energy project in the United States,” said Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom. “This is a demonstration of California’s excellence in sustainability, and should set an example for the rest of the nation.””West Village is a paradigm shift in creating both a great place to live and a model Zero Net Energy community,” said Nolan Zail, senior vice president for Carmel Partners. “Our guiding principles include environmental sustainability and quality of place. West Village will include housing, recreation and retail options, providing a convenient and eco-friendly lifestyle for students, faculty and staff.

“Using aggressive energy efficiency measures and on-site renewable energy generation to meet community energy demand, this holistic approach offers new solutions in the design and construction of large-scale sustainable communities,” Zail added. The first phase of the 130-acre project, to be completed this year, will include apartment housing for 2,000 students, an education center for Los Rios Community College, recreation and study facilities, a village square surrounded by neighborhood-serving retail, and 343 single family homes for sale to faculty and staff. Two initial student housing components of the community, The Ramble Apartments and Viridian, will welcome residents September 2011.

UC Davis West Village integrates sustainable design to enable those living in the community to reduce their reliance on automobiles, limit energy consumption and enjoy the benefits of the local climate. Building designs optimize solar orientation, utilize energy efficient appliances and incorporate materials from renewable sources. A 4-MW solar power system that is manufactured, designed and installed by SunPower Corp. will generate the equivalent of 100 percent of the community’s electricity demand. The system is comprised of both rooftop solar power installations as well as solar canopies installed in parking areas.

GREEN WEBINARS

New Vermont Law Cuts Red Tape For Solar Power

Posted on June 1, 2011 by quest

The state of Vermont signed a wide-ranging renewable energy bill into law Wednesday that will soon introduce what may be the nation’s most streamlined process for getting small-scale solar installations up and running. Among myriad other provisions, the law eliminates the sort of permitting and inspection snarls that have long delayed, complicated and, some argue, arbitrarily increased the cost of small-scale residential and commercial solar projects — a problem that the solar industry and clean energy supporters face in dozens of states and jurisdictions across the country. “There is a fiscal and environmental urgency for Vermont to move off fossil fuels and toward sustainable sources of power,” Gov. Peter Shumlin.

In a nutshell, the new provision essentially eliminates permitting altogether and reduces most administrative headaches to a 10-day process or less. For a small-scale solar customer — a homeowner, business, a non-profit, school, municipality or any other entity interested in a solar array system up to 5 kilowatts in size — the process will soon entail completing a registration form and a certificate of compliance with grid connection requirements. The local utility then has 10 days to raise any issues. After that, the path is clear. The new registration process will go into effect beginning January, 2012. “If adopted beyond Vermont, simple registration for small solar installations could help solar businesses grow,” said David Blittersdorf, the president and chief executive of Williston, Vt., based solar manufacturer and installer AllEarth Renewables, in an email Thursday morning. Blittersdorf’s company worked with industry groups in the state to help legislators develop the streamlined solar registration concept.

For years, the residential solar industry and homeowners alike have complained bitterly about local permitting bottlenecks.Within a single service area, a solar installer or service company might well encounter dozens of different local ordinances, building and electric codes, zoning laws and permitting costs and idiosyncrasies that make estimating the final price tag — or installation timeline — for a solar system a nearly impossible affair. A study released in January by SunRun, a solar leasing company based in California, estimated that local permitting and inspection costs add roughly 50 cents per-watt, or about $2,500 to the cost of an average residential installation. The U.S. Department of Energy has also been developing various initiatives in concert with industry partners to tackle these sorts of non-technical, bureaucratic and administrative barriers to solar power expansion.

Solar Impulse Makes International Flight

Puma Installs One Of The Largest Solar Projects In LA

Posted on May 31, 2011 by quest

Sportswear maker Puma North America has installed a 1.9 megawatt solar power system at its warehouse and distribution facilities in Carson and Torrance, one of the largest solar projects in Los Angeles County.
The system was installed by Premier Power Renewable Energy Inc., using more than 8,500 high-efficiency solar photovoltaic, or PV, panels — equal to about 380 residential solar systems – covering nearly 340,000 square feet of roof-top area.

The installation features a light-gauge steel racking system designed to optimize roof space while using fewer ballast blocks than a traditional system. “Given the optimal design of the roof-mounted solar system, Puma will receive the advantageous electricity production, which will allow them to stabilize long-term electricity rates, ultimately benefiting its customers, employees and the local communities,” the companies said.

Premier Power designed and engineered the solar systems to produce 2.2 million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to offset the annual carbon monoxide emission of 243 California homes or avoiding the annual carbon monoxide emission from using 4,662 barrels of oil or 225,501 gallons of gasoline, the companies said. The companies didn’t disclose cost of the solar power installations. Puma’s facilities in Carson and Torrance are operated by Brookvale International, a sister company of California Cartage Co. The two automated warehouses encompass 180,000 square feet for apparel and 300,000 square feet for footwear.

PUMA

INVESTING IN SOLAR STOCKS

In Germany Solar Energy Up Nuclear Energy Down

Posted on May 31, 2011 by quest

Europe’s economic powerhouse, Germany, announced plans Monday to abandon nuclear energy over the next 11 years, outlining an ambitious strategy in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster to replace atomic power with renewable energy sources. Chancellor Angela Merkel said she hopes the transformation to more solar, wind and hydroelectric power serves as a roadmap for other countries. “We believe that we can show those countries who decide to abandon nuclear power – or not to start using it – how it is possible to achieve growth, creating jobs and economic prosperity while shifting the energy supply toward renewable energies,” Merkel said. Merkel’s government said it will shut down all 17 nuclear power plants in Germany – the world’s fourth-largest economy and Europe’s biggest – by 2022. The government had no immediate estimate of the transition’s overall cost. The plan sets Germany apart from most of the other major industrialized nations. Among the other Group of Eight countries, only Italy has abandoned nuclear power, which was voted down in a referendum after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

The decision represents a remarkable about-face for Merkel‘s center-right government, which only late last year pushed through a plan to extend the life span of the country’s reactors, with the last scheduled to go offline around 2036. But Merkel, who holds a Ph.D. in physics, said industrialized, technologically advanced Japan’s “helplessness” in the face of the Fukushima disaster made her rethink the technology’s risks.Phasing out nuclear power within a decade will be a challenge, but it will be feasible and ultimately give Germany a competitive advantage in the renewable energy era, Merkel said.”As the first big industrialized nation, we can achieve such a transformation toward efficient and renewable energies, with all the opportunities that brings for exports, developing new technologies and jobs,” Merkel told reporters. The government said the renewable energy sector already employs about 370,000 people.

Germany’s seven oldest reactors, already taken off the grid pending safety inspections following the March catastrophe at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, will remain offline permanently, Merkel said. The plants accounted for about 40 percent of the country’s nuclear power capacity. At the time of the Japanese disaster, Germany got just under a quarter of its electricity from nuclear power

Chicago Skyscraper to Generate Solar Electricity

Sustainable Africa Show Lights Up Health and Solar

Posted on May 29, 2011 by quest

Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Cape Town, South Africa – Royal Philips Electronics, is once again traveling across Africa to raise awareness about how healthcare and lighting solutions can improve the quality of life across the continent. The Cape Town to Cairo road show 2011 (from 12th May to 11th July, 2011) is the second African road show undertaken by Philips. The road show will cover 12,000 kilometers in 62 days, visiting a total of twelve countries. “As many developed countries are struggling to stimulate economic growth, a strong middle class of 313 million, or 34% of the African population, is on the rise in what is still considered the world’s most impoverished continent,’’ said Dr. Gottfried Dutiné, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Markets and Innovation at Philips, in Cape Town today. “This group of mainly young, eager and mobile Africans is rapidly rivaling the middle classes of China and India. Philips sees this continent as a new growth market.”

“Even in the 21st century, we still allow eight million children and close to half a million mothers around the world to die each year from preventable complications related to pregnancy and child birth.”, said JJ van Dongen, General Manager, Philips Healthcare Africa & Country Manager Philips South Africa.“This makes the availability of and access to high quality, affordable care for all mothers and children an issue of high priority for policy makers and societies. Philips recognizes this need and through this road show wants to create dialogue and cooperation between governments, local healthcare workforces, non-governmental organizations, foundations, healthcare professional associations, and research institutions to help mothers, newborn babies and children obtain care.”

During the roadshow Philips will also introduce new solar powered lighting solutions aimed at providing a healthier and safer home environment. Today an estimated 560 million Africans live without electricity. Better lighting is likely to make home child birth safer and help reduce the very high infant mortality rate throughout the continent. This is part of Philips’ commitment to both develop sustainable solutions for Africa and to foster its partnership with the Dutch government on the ‘Sustainable Energy Solutions for Africa’ (SESA) project, which aims to provide 10 million people with affordable, sustainable energy services across 10 sub-Saharan African countries by 2015.