Solar Energy To Power UN Climate Conference

Posted on November 29, 2011 by quest

A newly built 500 kW solar-energy facility will power the United Nations Climate Change COP17 global gathering, and will be officially inaugurated by South African President Dr. Jacob. G. Zuma on December 4. Soitec a world leader in generating and manufacturing for the electronics and energy industries, has built a concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) power plant next to Durban, South Africa, as the flagship project for the 17th annual Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), being held November 28 to December 9. More large scale commercial and utility scale projects are being started or switched on around the globe. Bloomberg New Energy Finance is reporting,”that for the first time in history, investments in renewable energy installations surpassed investments in fossil fuel plants. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, last year $187 billion was invested in renewable energy installations, which exceeded the $157 billion that was invested in new natural gas, oil and coal plants.”

“CPV offers South Africa huge potential for its natural resource and climate protection,” said André-Jacques Auberton-Hervé, president and CEO of Soitec. “After proving our Concentrix™ technology’s performance in the region with last year’s installation of a 60 kW power plant at the Aquila Private Game Reserve in Touwsrivier, we are proud to continue supporting the country’s young but growing renewable-energy sector. Sustainable energy, as we all know, is a prerequisite for a sustainable future.”

Soitec worked closely with the Department of Water and Environmental Affairs (DEA) of South Africa and the local eThekwini Municipality to build the CPV solar plant, which feeds into the area’s power-supply grid. The CPV plant was constructed in just one month using the combination of Soitec’s international expertise and the local work force. Group Five, an integrated construction services, materials and infrastructure investment group operating in Africa, was the local construction partner for the project.

Electric Vehicles Hitting The Road In South Africa

Honey Do’s May Include Solar House Painting

Posted on November 28, 2011 by quest

I can see it now…”Honey don’t you think it’s time to paint the house? Why don’t we try some of that spray on solar or solar paint? The Jones’ have those solar panels on their roof and Pat tells me their electric bill have gone from $175 a month to $20 and they didn’t even have to pay for it upfront. Some kind of lease or PPA purchase or something like that? Sweetie come on the house is starting to look at little tired and these electric bills are out of control.With more money each month we could that take that vacation you promised me we would take to Tahiti someday. You know I mean?”

Look up for Solar Power

We’ll we see how it plays out. But in the world of solar solutions, innovation won’t only include just improvements in silicon and thin film efficiency. As reported here a Florida company; New Energy Technologies, Inc. is working on spray on solar and solar windows. If the idea of spray on solar seemed like a novel little cute idea, check it out and think again. And low and behold Mitsubishi Chemical also researching this alternative to silicon panels. And then there’s Pythagoras Solar Window which won the GE ecomagination challenge earlier this year for their work as a provider of Photovoltaic Glass. Their solar window technology is an industry first that simultaneously delivers energy efficiency, high power density and transparency. The GE ecomagination Challenge, recognized the most promising building energy innovations.

To the north Canadian researcher Ted Sargent, has been talking up, paint-on solar cells for years. Seems in solar energy innovation, the imagination is the workshop of the mind.

Thankful For A Renewable Vision

US And China Solar Companies Continue Chess Game

Posted on November 28, 2011 by quest

December 2 marks the next step in the preliminary determination by the U.S. International Trade Commission on whether subsidized Chinese exports have injured the US solar domestic industry. If it finds in favor of CASM, the first possible determination on “critical circumstances” could come as soon as Jan. 12, meaning importers of record could later be required to deposit estimated duties on imports back to this past Oct. 14. CASM (Coalition for American Solar Manufacturing) is a coalition includes dozens of solar suppliers and installers from across the country, many of whom have issued impassioned pleas to preserve fair trade and U.S. jobs. The Commerce Department initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of the Chinese industry on Nov. 9. The global solar industry is growing at an alarming rate with China producing 55 percent of the world’s PVs in 2010, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

As the green economy continues to spread, federal, state and city agencies are helping to drive demand for solar products. Recently Charlotte, North Carolina Mayor Anthony Foxx completed a trade mission to China with the goal of spurring more trade with Chinese solar manufacturers. Jetion Solar USA held its grand opening in Charlotte in July of this year, amid great expectations and the tantalizing prospect and promise of jobs. But even as this is unfolding now China is planning it’s own probe. Now comes an announcement by the Commerce Ministry that China‘s solar industry association and Chinese solar companies may ask Beijing to launch an anti-dumping and subsidy probe into imports of U.S. polysilicon, the raw material used to make solar cells. Now China to probe U.S. renewable energy support… I know it gets confusing.

Ben Santarris, U.S. head of corporate communications for CASM “We are gratified, but not surprised, to see this showing of support from such a broad cross-section of the American solar industry.” “We know that support for domestic manufacturing is deep and pervasive. It’s great to see that it’s also resolute enough to stand up and be counted and heard.”The numbers include seven U.S. solar manufacturers that have joined to stop what CASM calls China’s state-sponsored solar industry from allegedly using export-oriented subsidies to dump exports into the U.S. market and harm American manufacturers and workers. Without a production cost advantage, China is deploying a staggering volume and array of subsidies to underwrite its production largely for export at dumped prices, according to CASM. The campaign has triggered trade petition drives to hold China accountable not just in the United States but also in Australia and Europe.

COP 17 climate change opens, Africa “victim and actor

Hollywood Spotlights Green Sustainability

World’s Tallest Solar Tower Set To Rise In Arizona

Posted on November 27, 2011 by quest

There are big scale solar projects that simply dazzle the imagination. Take for example the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, which is a $2.2 billion solar thermal power project currently under construction in the California Mojave Desert. The The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, is 40 miles southwest of Las Vegas, and will generate 392 megawatts of power. Google which recently pulled out of the deal after investing $168 million was one of the first investors along with the Department of Energy which has over a billion dollars in the deal. It’s massive in scope. It will produce for 1400 jobs at it’s peak and cut 13.5 million tons of carbon dioxide from the sky over it’s thirty year life expectancy.

Then there’s Desertec, an ambitious solar power project, that is to start building its first power plant next year, a 500 megawatt facility in Morocco costing up to 2 billion euros ($2.8 billion), the project lead told a German newspaper.”Construction is to start in 2012,” Ernst Rauch of Munich Re (MUVGn.DE), initiator of the Desertec Industrial Initiative (DII), told Sueddeutsche Zeitung in an interview.

Founded by mostly German companies in 2009, the 400 billion euro Desertec project will use mirrors to harness the sun’s rays to produce steam and drive turbines for electricity generation in the Sahara region within the next decade and then transmit the power to energy starved Europe. The first phase of the 12-square-kilometre Moroccan complex will be a 150 MW facility costing up to 600 million euros that will take two to four years to build.

But while these two utility scale projects go wide; EnviroMission a developer of solar tower systems is working in La Paz Arizona will build the tallest solar building in the world. It is the first of two such towers to be completed in 2015. Read more

Survival of the Fittest” Mentality at UN Climate Talks

Los Angeles The New Mecca For Electric Vehicles

Posted on November 13, 2011 by quest

It seems LA is to electric vehicle companies as San Francisco is to solar companies. “We are proud to welcome CODA to Los Angeles — the city that creates and innovates,” said Mayor Villaraigosa. “We see CODA’s move as a boost to our growing clean technology industry in LA and we are thrilled they chose to locate in our City.”CODA Holdings, a leading developer of all-electric vehicles and advanced battery systems, just recently held the grand opening celebration of its 100,000 square foot global headquarters, R&D Division and Processing Center in the heart of Los Angeles. In addition, the City has named the road adjoining joining CODA’s headquarters “Electric Drive” to honor of CODA’s core technology. “We chose to place the global headquarters in Los Angeles not only because it is one of the most significant early markets for the deployment of electric vehicles, but because elected officials and business leaders have demonstrated their commitment to fostering a successful local cleantech industry,” said Phil Murtaugh, CEO, CODA Holdings. “We are excited about the many jobs we’ve already created for the area and look forward to many more as we expand and bring to market our all-electric sedan and energy storage products.” Just recently Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa welcomed BYD who opened their North American headquarters in downtown Los Angeles.

You Got A Fast Car – Tracy Chapman

CODA’s Executive Chairman, Mac Heller and CEO, Phil Murtaugh, Governor Jerry Brown, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa,Congresswoman Karen Bass (D-47), Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, Councilman Herb Wesson and California Air Resources Board Chairman Mary Nichols were on hand to mark the occasion. Assemblywoman Betsy Butler (D-50), and representatives for Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and State Senator Curren Price (D-26) were in attendance. “Dynamic innovation is a key building block of California’s 21st century economy,” said California Governor Jerry Brown. “Car companies like CODA are investing in California because our laws encourage electric cars and recognize the paramount importance of reducing oil dependency.”

CODA is currently the fastest-growing company in Los Angeles, with a 275% job increase year to date and an expected 300% growth by the end of this year. With 220 engineers, technicians and corporate staff at its global headquarters, CODA is located on South Fairfax Avenue, adjacent to Interstate 10. Over the next year, CODA anticipates adding an additional 100 employees at the location, growing to 650 in the following years. The company supports further jobs at a facility in Benicia, CA where its vehicles undergo final assembly.

Eco-Friendly Meets Economy

California One Gigawatts of Solar And Growing

Posted on November 11, 2011 by quest

Environment California Research & Policy Center released a new report documenting that California’s innovative Million Solar Roofs Initiative, halfway through its legislatively mandated timeline, is on pace to meet its goal of installing 3 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2016, is helping to reduce the cost of solar energy, and is creating thousands of jobs throughout the state. These findings come just as California hits the milestone of installing more than 1 gigawatt of rooftop solar power across the state—a milestone that only five other countries in the world have reached.

“California can become the Saudi Arabia of the sun if it continues to get behind big, successful solar programs,” said Michelle Kinman, Clean Energy Advocate with Environment California Research & Policy Center and co-author of the report, Building a Brighter Future: California’s Progress Toward a Million Solar Roofs. “All signs point to a bright future for solar power in California, meaning cleaner air, cleaner energy, and more jobs.”

The 2006 Million Solar Roofs Bill (SB 1 – Murray) was historic in both scope and scale, representing the first unified state effort to turn solar power into a commonplace and affordable energy resource for average citizens. The law established a 10-year, statewide interagency effort, now called the Go Solar California campaign, which includes programs that fund solar projects on homes, commercial businesses, farms, and government and non-profit buildings. Read the Full Report