SolarCity Goes Solar Strong

Posted on September 8, 2011 by quest

SolarCity took a major step in an initiative that could double the number of residential solar photovoltaic installations in the United States. U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the offer of a conditional commitment for a partial guarantee of a $344 million loan to help secure financing for SolarCity’s “SolarStrong” project. As part of the project, SolarCity plans to partner with the country’s leading military housing-privatization developers to install, own and operate up to 160,000 rooftop solar installations on as many as 124 military housing developments across 33 U.S. states. The project is expected to create more than $1 billion in solar projects and 371 megawatts of new solar generation capacity. USRG Renewable Finance, a subsidiary of U.S. Renewables Group, will serve as the lead lender for the project in partnership with BofA Merrill Lynch.

“Thanks to the Energy Department’s leadership and resolve, we can now bring an unprecedented opportunity to privatized military housing across the U.S.” “We’re extremely grateful to the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, in addition to our partners, U.S. Renewables Group and BofA Merrill Lynch. Without this group, we would not have been able to make the economics of this project work,” said Lyndon Rive, SolarCity’s CEO. “Now the solar industry has a debt model that can make distributed generation affordable on a massive scale.” SolarCity, which currently employs more than 1,200 people in 11 states, will create new jobs and help jumpstart the renewable energy industry in up to 22 additional states, some of which have very little solar generation capacity today. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratories’ (NREL) Jobs and Economic Development Impact model, the SolarStrong installations would be expected to create nearly 6,000 direct job-years related to the installation and ongoing maintenance of the systems. SolarCity hopes to fill as many of the jobs as possible with U.S. veterans and military family members.

The SolarStrong projects will likely include installing solar on other privatized buildings on military bases, such as community centers, administrative offices, maintenance buildings and storage warehouses. The first SolarStrong-eligible project — a coordinated effort between real estate developer Lend Lease and SolarCity — is already underway at Hickam Communities at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. When completed, that project alone will provide renewable power to more than 2,000 military family homes.

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Solar Powered Farming Takes Root With Cali Growers

Posted on September 7, 2011 by quest

By Kate Campbell – With harvest in full swing, trucks laden with bell peppers, watermelon and onions unloaded at a rapid pace last week at Morada Produce near Linden. Crews washed and packed the produce into boxes before a chain of forklifts carried the market-bound food to coolers. Harvest activity is being played out across California right now, but there’s something different about Morada Produce: The company’s energy-intensive packing and cooling activities are costing a fraction of what electricity bills totaled in the past.

Skip Foppiano, owner of Morada Produce, pointed to a newly installed two-acre, 390 kilowatt solar energy system outside his office. The once-unpaved employee parking lot is now shaded by four canopies of solar photovoltaic panels that measure more than 40,000 square feet. The company spent nearly a year researching solar technology to determine the best system for its needs and carefully analyzed the investment decision to determine cost benefits and eventual payback. Foppiano said the new system supplies 60 percent to 70 percent of the energy needed for the farm’s packing and cooling activities.

Company owner Skip Foppiano said the system helps the company hedge against increased energy costs, is good for the environment and provides shaded parking for company employees. The solar energy is delivered from the onsite system when utility rates are at their highest, he explained. “Our family has been farming here since the Gold Rush,” Foppiano said. “We’ve always tried new technology to stay competitive. Solar helps us do that and it’s the right thing to do for the environment.” Foppiano said the farming operation worked very closely with Pacific Gas and Electric Co., county government and the equipment vendor to complete the project. An investment tax credit and historically low interest rates helped make the system “pencil out,” he said, adding that payback will take about nine years—or less—depending on future energy prices. An increasing

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Solar Adding Green Jobs Says US Labor Secretary

Posted on September 5, 2011 by quest

By Hilda L. Solis: IT IS time to dispel a myth. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of manufacturing’s demise are greatly exaggerated. In fact, manufacturing in America is not only alive, it’s thriving. America’s manufacturing industry is expected to grow by 6.2 percent this year, outpacing the overall economy. Last year, the auto industry’s Detroit Three of Chrysler, GM, and Ford gained U.S. market share for the first time since 1995. And this July, motor vehicle and parts manufacturing jumped by 5.2 percent over the year-ago month, a direct contributor to the increase in factory outputs of 0.6 percent that month.

Better yet, this industrial growth has spurred job growth. In July alone, manufacturers created 24,000 jobs. Since December, 2009, the manufacturing sector has created more than 289,000 jobs — more than 1 in 10 of all jobs created during our recovery. GM announced this summer that it is creating 4,000 jobs at 17 facilities, including at least 250 at its Powertrain plant in Toledo. It is investing $204 million there.

Solar at Work

In all sorts of industries, manufacturers are making investments that hold great promise for American workers and our economy. Pittsburgh Glass Works LLC is spending more than $85 million to set up a manufacturing hub that will retrofit a vacant 416,000-square-foot plant into a center that will create more than 260 jobs. Then, there’s the ripple effect. For every job created in the manufacturing sector, four to seven jobs are created in the broader economy. The auto industry supply chain now employs three times as many workers as auto companies themselves. This supply chain accounted for almost 3.5 million workers last year. This growth contributes to gains in other industries, from retail to hospitality to tourism. That’s good news for every small business near the Powertrain facility — from Craig’s Flowers & Gifts to The Original Gino’s Pizza on West Alexis Road… America working its way back

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Solar Technology Lifts Energy Options In Rural Kenya

Posted on September 4, 2011 by quest

South Korean electronics maker Samsung has launched a solar powered laptop in the Kenyan market with the capacity to run for 15 hours, nearly double the seven to eight hours lasting power of rivals. Korean electronics giant Samsung has launched a solar powered laptop in the Kenyan market targeting thousands of potential consumers currently locked out of the computer revolution by lack of electricity. Kenya, with a large rural population that is not connected to the national power grid, is among the few countries Samsung picked for the global launch that began last week. The Samsung Netbook NC215S lap top is priced at Sh35,000 and is also targeting consumers who are connected to the national electricity grid but suffer erratic power supply.

The solar-charged laptop is loaded with a front cover panel that captures energy from the sun and automatically recharges the battery. When fully charged, the lap top can run for up 15 hours – nearly double the capacity of its closest competitors that have seven or eight hours stand-by capability. “With Netbook NC 215S Samsung is demonstrating its capacity to bring to the consumers technology that satisfies their needs and takes care of the environment,” said Samsung Electronics East Africa Business Leader Robert Ngeru. The Korean firm is building consumer electronics and mobile technology for sub-Sahara Africa where it set a $10 billion revenue target by 2015. Samsung’s sub-Saharan Africa market is currently worth $1.23 billion.

Massai Traditional Dances

Launch of the Netbook NC 215S comes as Kenya’s four mobile telecoms firms, Safaricom, Airtel, Telkom’s Kenya Orange and Essar’s Yu have intensified their activities in the data market and are looking for affordable internet enabled devices such as laptops and mobile phone handsets to expand the number of data users. Growth of the data market is particularly critical to the long term survival of the telecom operators who have had to contend with steep decline in voice revenue in the past couple of years. Samsung is among the hardware vendors who have partnered with Safaricom in the laptops market. Available only in black, the netbook’s solar panel can also be used to charge a smartphone, MP3 player and other devices via its USB port, even when the PC is switched off or in power-saving mode. The Netbook NC 215S also features an ultra-portable and stylish design, weigh–ing just 1.3kg and featuring a slim display rim that is as thin as a finger.

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Former Toronto Mayor Urges Environmental Solutions

Posted on September 4, 2011 by quest

In his first formal appearance as the Polytechnic Institute of New York University Future of Cities Global Fellow, former Toronto Mayor David Miller challenged the incoming students to tackle what he called the world’s foremost challenge: innovating to solve urban problems. His recent convocation keynote speech this to approximately 560 new first-year undergraduates publicly marked the relationship between NYU-Poly and Miller, a global leader in urban environmental sustainability, economic development and social integration. As Toronto mayor from 2003 to 2010, Miller became recognized for innovations that furthered the city’s environmental sustainability, economic development and social integration. Miller is currently counsel, international business and sustainability, to the Toronto law firm Aird & Berlis LLP and president of Urban Green Jobs, Inc.

Noting that recently the scales tipped so that most of the people of the world now live in cities, Miller told the students: “This fundamental change has an important implication for your studies. No longer will it be sufficient to simply study chemical or computer engineering, or any other technical field and become an expert – it will also be essential to understand the public policy context and challenges within which your research is being conducted.” Using real-world examples from his experience, Miller told the students that engineers and technology will play an increasingly important role in solving these urban problems. He also pointed to ways to have fun while creating solutions. He pointed to the example of the NYC BigApps Challenge, which employs open source code and open government information to create apps to make city life better for residents and visitors.

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“We have faith in your capacity to learn and make the world a better place,” NYU-Poly President Jerry Hultin told students in his welcoming remarks. “Here at NYU-Poly, you will find a 21st century toolbox of education and research…With our faculty I challenge you to combine the traditional engineering disciplines in new ways, and to set a personal goal to make a difference.” Miller’s role as Future of Cities Global Fellow will include other lectures, as well as teaching and assisting NYU-Poly and NYU in developing programs that connect technology and society to solve pressing urban challenges. Among other projects, he plans to co-instruct a studio class in which students work to increase sustainability in local parks. Urban technology is one of NYU-Poly’s highest academic priorities, befitting its mission as a comprehensive school of engineering located in one of the world’s great urban centers.

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Biofuel Powering Blue Angels Air Show

Posted on September 3, 2011 by quest

By Andrew Johnson  - The Blue Angels’ F/A-18 Hornet aircraft are using a biofuel blend during their performances at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., Air Expo held tomorrow through Sept. 4. The Blue Angels’ Labor Day weekend performance is another demonstration of the Department of the Navy’s commitment to reducing fossil fuel use without compromising capability. All six Hornets will be powered by a 50/50 blend of conventional JP-5 jet fuel and a camelina-based biofuel. Camelina sativa is a member of the mustard plant family. Camelina plants grow from 1 to 3 feet tall, producing pods with many small, oily seeds inside.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the Navy and Marine Corps’ use of alternative energy sources addresses critical vulnerabilities and ultimately serves to improve America’s warfighting capability, while also increasing the nation’s energy efficiency.”Changing the kinds of fuels we use and the way we use them is critical to assuring the Navy and Marine Corps remain the most formidable expeditionary fighting force the world has ever known,” Mabus said. “The Department of the Navy will be taking another visible step toward testing biofuel in our aircraft when all six of the Blue Angels perform using the same 50/50 blend of drop-in biofuel we’ve used in so many of our other aircraft.”

The Labor Day performance is the ultimate demonstration to date of the Department of the Navy‘s commitment to reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, as well as safeguarding the nation’s environment through the incorporation of cleaner, more sustainable and renewable energy sources. This initiative is one of many throughout the Navy and Marine Corps that will enable the Department of the Navy to achieve Mabus’ goals to improve energy security and efficiency afloat and ashore, increase energy independence, and help lead the nation toward a clean energy economy.