A New Day For Solar City And Google

Posted on June 14, 2011 by quest

SolarCity and Google , today announced the creation of a new $280 million fund to finance residential solar projects. The Google-backed fund is the first collaboration between the Internet giant and the nation’s leading solar power and energy efficiency service provider, and represents Google’s largest investment to date in the clean energy sector. The fund is SolarCity’s largest project financing fund and the largest residential solar fund created in the U.S. SolarCity has now created 15 project funds with seven different partners to finance $1.28 billion in solar projects. Google has now invested more than $680 million in a wide range of clean energy technologies. This marks Google’s first investment in residential solar.

The SolarCity/Google fund will extend solar lease (SolarLease) and power purchase agreement (SolarPPA) options to customers who desire to have solar panels installed on their homes, but do not wish to make the larger upfront investment to purchase the systems. SolarCity serves Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas, and has more than 15,000 solar projects completed or underway. More than 12,000 of those customers have chosen SolarCity’s financing options, while 3,000 have purchased their systems.

“Google has made a series of investments in renewable energy because they make business sense and help deploy a range of solutions that can help move us toward a clean energy future,” said Rick Needham, Director of Green Business Operations at Google. “Now, through this partnership with SolarCity, we’re excited to be making our first investment in distributed residential solar, making it easier and more affordable for consumers across the country, including our own employees, to use renewable energy at their own homes.”

Top 10 Solar Trends for 2011

Nepal Schools Say Namaste To Solar Energy

Posted on June 13, 2011 by quest

by Jasmine Greene EarthTechling: Tilak Pun and co-worker Clif Swigget of Knowledge Mosaic have created a plan called the “Solar Energy for Shikha Schools.” This plan seeks to bring technology to a remote part of the world by providing consistent energy via renewable means.

Pun himself graduated from the Shikha higher secondary school and knows first-hand the energy issues over 350 schools are having. Power outages in these schools are a frequent occurrence and often last for days, severely limiting options and opportunities to study. Shikha’s solar panels will help at least power the numerous donated computers in these schools to allow access to the Internet and communication. Pun tested a small prototype of the panels out in Seattle and was able to successfully grill shrimp on a small Nepalese grill to ensure compatibility with the Nepalese current.

Pun, along with Swigget and his two sons, plan to travel to Nepal in August and install the solar panels. The installation of these panels will lead the four along the Annapuna circuit, reaching elevations of 17,000 feet and taking around two days while the men carry ten solar panels and ten batteries, altogether weighing 1,400 pounds. Besides getting support from Knowledge Mosaic, the project is receiving help from the Nepal’s Secretary of Ministry of Education and the Namaste Children’s Fund. Knowledge Mosaic will track its employees’ progress in Nepal via their blog. Pun’s efforts are not only to provide clean and reliable energy, but, as he stated, are also to “giv[e] these children access to the wealth of knowledge and educational resources available on the internet [that] will enable them to dream big and realize new possibilities.”

SOLAR DICTIONARY

Solar Satellites Key To Green Energy

Posted on June 13, 2011 by quest

With gas prices on the rise, the race is on for cheap alternative fuel sources, including solar power, but amid a wash of criticism, the solar industry may not even be in the running. The major criticisms against solarpower facilities, such as wind farms, are unreliability and inefficiency. Solar power depends on environmental factors beyond human control and that makes investors anxious. These facilities also require areas with high amounts of sunlight, usually hundreds if not thousands of acres of valuable farmland and all for relatively little power production.

This is why, in the 1960s, scientists proposed solar-powered satellites (SPSs). SPSs have about the most favourable conditions imaginable for solar energy production, short of a platform on the sun. Earth’s orbit sees 144 per cent of the maximum solar energy found on the planet’s surface and takes up next to no space in comparison to land-based facilities. Satellites would be able to gather energy 24 hours a day, rather than the tenuous 12-hour maximum that land-based plants have, and direct the transmitted energy to different locations, depending on where power was needed most.

So, with so many points in its favour, why hasn’t anyone built one yet? Obviously, putting anything into outer space takes a lot of money. Many governments claim there simply isn’t any money in the budget for launching satellites into space, but in 2010, amid an economic crisis, the United States managed to find $426 million for nuclear fusion research and $18.7 billion for NASA, a five-per-cent increase from 2009. The most recent projections, made in the 1980s, put the cost of launching an SPS at $5 billion, or around 8-10 cents/ kWh. Nuclear power plants cost a minimum of $3 billion to $6 billion, not including cost overruns, which can make a plant cost as much as

LADY GAGA GOING GREEN ?

LADY GAGA

Lady Gaga steals the limelight at the Council of Fashion Designers of America Awards in New York, in a bright green wig and huge platform boots. The pop star was there to accept the prize for style icon of the year.

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US Marines Building Solar Airfield Lighting Systems

Posted on June 11, 2011 by quest

The United States Marine Corps announced that ADB Airfield Solutions and Carmanah Technologies have been awarded a contract to supply a rapidly deployable solar hybrid airfield lighting system. The solar hybrid lighting system will be shipped to Afghanistan and installed by the Marine Wing Support Squadron in support of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The total value of the award is over $1 million. The solar hybrid lighting system of Medium-Intensity Runway Lights (MIRL) have photometrics compliant to FAA AC 150/5345-46D, and can be operated wirelessly using a handheld controller or a ruggedized tablet PC. Powered using either the light’s integral photovoltaic panels, or cables connected to an on-base power network, the solar airfield LED lights reduce or eliminate energy consumption and dependence on fossil fuels. This hybrid lighting approach provides security in the event of grid failure and supports the US Marine Corps’ Expeditionary Energy Strategy objectives.

According to Ted Lattimore, Carmanah’s CEO, “Our hybrid lighting system offers a unique portable lighting solution that will ensure safe, efficient and reliable aviation operations.” Lattimore also commented on the ADB/Carmanah partnership which has produced a series of aviation lighting contracts and energy efficient products. “This installation is an ideal project for the Carmanah/ADB partnership – each company will contribute unique skill sets and experiences to provide Marine Corps Aviation with a practical, robust, energy efficient solution,” said Lattimore.

Steve Rauch, ADB’s CEO, said, “We are excited to provide the Marines with a tough and resilient aviation lighting solution that will support them in their ‘Bases-to-Battlefield’ expeditionary energy strategy for decades to come. The project is consistent with ADB’s commitment to continued innovation in the development of products that save energy, reduce maintenance costs, minimize waste and offer renewable solutions.” ADB Airfield Solutions and Carmanah Technologies Corporation entered into a partnership in 2009 to combine expertise in solar power systems and aviation lighting and to develop energy-efficient visual navigation aid technologies.

Kyocera Honored as “Recycler of the Year”

New Avatar Sequels Will Be Filmed Using Solar Energy

Posted on June 10, 2011 by quest

When Hollywood wants you, you know you’re hot stuff. And hotter than the Boulevard and casting calls is the news that major film studios are climbing on the solar energy bandwagon. This week, it was announced that James Cameron’s Avatar sequels will be filmed using solar-power energy. Public response to the announcement was nothing but praise for the solar movement. The popularity has created an exponentially-rising demand from businesses interested in the benefits of investing in solar energy — both economic and environmental.

As demands surge, Sun Center Studios is taking the spotlight as an up-and-coming, new age film lot located just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The site houses an $85 million studio stretching over 33 acres. On that 33 acres lie a 4-D movie theatre, five studios, seven soundstages, and a 370,00-square-foot high-tech museum. The 216 kilowatt (kW) energy system ranks in the top one percent of solar projects funded by the Pennsylvania Sunshine Solar Rebate Program, and is the largest solar-related project in Delaware County, PA. Sun Center carefully designed their campus and sound stage to facilitate optimum efficiency, using the newest technology to obtain environmental sustainability.

AVATAR

Senior Vice President of Sun Center Studios Adam Rotwitt elaborates: Sun Center Studios’ commitment to sustainability extends throughout the entire facility from the efficient design of the campus’s new buildings and stormwater management, our use of organic and locally grown foods whenever possible, to our participation in ‘smart-grid’ technology programs through integrated demand response and the installation of electric vehicle charging stations along with a fleet of hybrids for our production company clients. Rotwitt is passionate about the global efforts in solar energy transition and confident that his company is actively setting a good example. In doing so, Rotwitt believes other nearby Pennsylvania business will catch on and follow suit. Sun Center Studios is proud to stand as a role model for local developments, as well as for foreign companies with business in the film and media industry. According to David Richman, Commercial Sales for Mercury Solar Systems: The solar incentives in Pennsylvania and New Jersey are some of the most generous in the country, making this an optimal time to invest. We commend Sun Center Studios for incorporating solar into their state-of-the art facility.

VISIT THE SOLAR WALL

Calls for Solar Farms After Nuclear Disaster in Japan

Posted on June 9, 2011 by quest

Business and government leaders across Japan are calling for creating “solar farms” on damaged or abandoned land to help wean the nation off nuclear energy and provide economic opportunities for future generations. Katsunobu Sakurai, mayor of Minami-soma, told reporters on Thursday he wants to invite experts from around the world to rebuild his devastated city as a center for what Japanese call “natural energy.” His city of 70,000 residents is about 15 miles from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, where three reactors underwent meltdown after being swamped by the March 11 tsunami. “The land is ruined land but we can see this as a chance to fill them with a huge amount of solar panels in one fell swoop,” said Mr. Sakurai, referring to a 25-square-mile area ruined by muddy, salty seawater from the tsunami and radiation from the plant.

“But such a venture cannot succeed unless the government makes a clear policy, and sets regulations where power companies are required to buy electricity at a specified price.” In April, Mr. Sakurai called for Minami-soma to become a global center for “the brave people of the world” to create industries to transcend the nuclear power generation. “We are in need of a new mindset that is totally different from the one that merely envisions creating a new city on higher ground,” he said. Several corporations and state organizations, meanwhile, are making their own moves to create new energy technologies.

Masayoshi Son, president of mobile phone giant Softbank and one of Japan’s wealthiest men, has promised that his company will shoulder most of the $1 billion cost of building 10 massive solar power plants in Japan. Mr. Son says 19 provinces have pledged to join his project to build solar plants to wean Japan off nuclear energy. The provinces include Hokkaido in the north, Nagasaki in the far south, the Tokyo suburb of Saitama, and four central provinces that lost power when the government ordered a cold shutdown of Hamaoka nuclear plant. Mr. Son says the provinces will build solar power farms on abandoned farmland in declining rural areas across Japan. The provinces plan to set up a council to coincide with a meeting of Japan’s National Governors’ Association in July.

“The Hamaoka nuclear power plant had covered more than 80 percent of the electricity needs of our prefecture,” Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu told reporters in May. “We cannot help but switch to solar power to compensate for it. This is a big turning point.” About two-thirds of Japan’s aging nuclear reactors are switched off, and most of the active reactors will shut down for scheduled maintenance in coming months. Opposition from local residents and a growing anti-nuclear protest movement will likely make it difficult for private regional monopolies to restart reactors. By Christopher Johnson – Special to The Washington Times