The Man With The Golden Sun…A New Solar Bond

Posted on September 21, 2011 by quest

By Ken Paulman: As we mentioned back in June, Environment Minnesota is hosting a video contest to promote its solar power campaign (full disclosure – the contest is funded by RE-AMP, which also funds Midwest Energy News). The group recently announced the finalists, and it appears there’s a ringer in the bunch. This entry, title “The Man with the Golden Sun,” baffled the contest organizers, as it clearly cost much more to produce than the $1,500 first prize. So they contacted the producers.

The video, it turns out, was produced by a team of more than 50 people, led by Steve and Lisa Fait. Lisa Fait works for a solar company in San Francisco, while her husband, Steve (a native Minnesotan), spent ten years working for a variety of film studios, including Industrial Light and Magic (yes, THAT Industrial Light and Magic). Steve currently works at Splice, a Minneapolis production company.

The Man With The Golden Sun

The Faits are living on different coasts (here in Minnesota, we consider the Mississippi River to be one of the coasts) until Lisa can find the right job opportunity to rejoin her husband. Meanwhile, the solar film contest provided them with an opportunity to combine both their passions. Lisa explains:

Pandas and Biofuel

NASA Night Rover Challenge Seeks Solar Solutions

Posted on September 21, 2011 by quest

NASA has selected The Cleantech Open of Redwood, Calif., to manage the agency’s Night Rover Challenge that will culminate in a competition in fall 2012. The event is a new Centennial Challenges prize competition seeking revolutionary energy storage technologies for future space robotic rover missions. NASA is offering a prize purse of $1.5 million to challenge winners.The Night Rover Challenge is to demonstrate solar energy collection and storage systems suitable for rovers to operate through several cycles of daylight and darkness. During daylight, systems can collect photons or thermal energy from the sun. During darkness, the stored energy would be used to move the rover toward a destination and to continue its exploration work.

Mars Needs Moms

“The Cleantech Open runs the world’s largest clean technology business competition and is a proven leader in developing clean technology startup entrepreneurs,” said Larry Cooper, program executive for NASA’s Centennial Challenges Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The team has significant experience in tech entrepreneurship and innovation, and access to expertise in aerospace, making them a great choice to manage the Night Rover challenge. We look forward to the competition and bringing together innovative teams with creative problem-solving ideas.” The objective of the competition is to encourage innovations in energy storage technology and system designs for space operations. In particular, NASA seeks solutions to meet the demands imposed by the daylight and darkness cycle on the moon. Energy innovations stemming from this challenge may be beneficial to broader terrestrial applications, including vehicles and renewable energy generation systems.

The Cleantech Open team is partnering with YouNoodle Inc., a San Francisco-based startup to manage the competition. The Cleantech Open and YouNoodle will begin preparations for the challenge, publishing rules and registering competitors for the competition. NASA’s Centennial Challenges seek unconventional solutions to problems of interest to the agency and the nation. NASA provides the prize purse, but the competitions are managed by non-profit organizations that cover the cost of operations through commercial or private sponsorships. Competitors have included private companies, student groups and independent inventors working outside the traditional aerospace industry. Unlike contracts or grants, prizes are awarded only after solutions are demonstrated successfully.

Push for solar energy to continue says Ken Salazar

Solar Energy Production Shines On Brazil

Posted on September 18, 2011 by quest

GE and MPX, a division of EBX Group have announced an agreement that will double the output of MPX’s first solar power plant in Brazil. The announcement signifies an important step for both MPX and GE in helping provide clean, renewable energy to the people of Brazil and marks GE’s entrance into the Brazilian solar energy market. Currently the plant in Taua, Fortaleza, Ceara state, has 4,680 solar panels capturing sunlight and turning it into 1 megawatt (MW) of clean energy, which MPX estimates is enough to power 1,500 households in the region. With this new expansion, GE will provide an additional 1-MW solar power plant, which includes the company’s thin film panels, Brilliance inverters, transformers and SunIQ monitoring and control system.

“MPX is a pioneer in solar energy in Brazil and has invested in developing solar energy for the medium and long term. Working with GE, we plan to grow our business at this plant to 50 MW,” said Eduardo Karrer, the CEO of MPX. “Today’s announcement with MPX signals our entry into the Brazilian solar industry,” said Marcelo Soares, president and CEO of GE Energy Latin America. “GE is committed to providing innovative solutions for our customers’ challenges, and we look forward to working with MPX in the solar arena.”

Shine On

Approximately 360 kilometers from Fortaleza, MPX Taua is connected to Brazil’s national electrical grid through a local substation. For the second phase, the Taua solar plant has been authorized by the National Electrical Energy Agency (ANEEL) and licensed by the Ceara state Environment Department (SEMACE) to expand its capacity up to 5 MW. The project developed by MPX for the solar power plant is expected to reach 50 MW, and the partnership between GE and MPX is expected to continue with this future expansion.

Listen In: This Week on Sierra Club Radio

Yingli Solar Joins GRID Alternatives’ Solarthon

Posted on September 9, 2011 by quest

Yingli Green Energy, a leading solar energy company and one of the world’s largest vertically integrated photovoltaic (PV) manufacturers, which markets its products under the brand “Yingli Solar,” announced today that its U.S. subsidiary, Yingli Green Energy Americas, Inc., is the Presenting Sponsor of Solarthon, nonprofit solar installer GRID Alternatives’ annual fundraiser that brings together hundreds of individuals, teams, solar job trainees, and corporate participants to install multiple solar energy systems in one day for low-income homeowners. The first of the five events takes place on Saturday, September 10th in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood in San Francisco.

“We’re pleased to have worked with GRID Alternatives to install over 250 projects for low-income families to date and are proud to be their Official Solar Module Provider,” said Helena Kimball, Head of Marketing Communications, Yingli Americas. “These unique Solarthon events are a great way to advance our mission to bring cost-effective solar power to the communities who need it most, while creating local job opportunities and growth.” “Every single GRID Alternatives home installation provides thousands of dollars in savings for working families and two days of on the job training for ten job seekers – and we average 15 home installations per week. Because of Yingli Solar’s support, we have been able to multiply this impact hundreds of times over,” said Erica Mackie, Co-Founder, GRID Alternatives.

As Presenting Sponsor and Official Module Provider of GRID Alternatives, Yingli Solar will supply solar modules for 50 participating families from neighborhoods in San Francisco, San Diego, Fresno, San Louis Obispo and Los Angeles during the five Solarthon block parties. The systems will eliminate more than 4,400 tons of greenhouse gas emissions and generate $1.3 million worth of renewable energy savings for families living on very low incomes. The sponsorship of these Solarthons is part of the collaboration between Yingli Solar and GRID Alternatives to install 1 MW of solar energy systems for 400 low-income families throughout 2011. These installations will create thousands of hands-on job training opportunities in PV installation while helping underserved families with immediate financial savings.

High Desert Cali City To Go Net Zero Using Solar Power

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

Hertz To Rent Electric Vehicles With BYD In China

SunShot Shines $145 Million On Solar Technologies

Posted on September 2, 2011 by quest

Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced more than $145 million for projects to help shape the next generation of solar energy technologies and ensure that the United States remains a leader in this global market. Sixty-nine projects in 24 states will accelerate research and development to increase efficiency, lower costs and advance cutting-edge technologies. Funded through DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, the projects will also improve materials, manufacturing processes and supply chains for a wide range of photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and components of solar energy systems. Some of these investments also support efforts that will shorten the overall timeline from prototype to production and streamline building codes, zoning laws, permitting rules, and business processes for installing solar energy systems.

“America is in a world race to produce cost-competitive renewable energy that can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, create manufacturing jobs across the nation, and improve our energy security,” said Secretary Chu. “The projects announced today under DOE’s SunShot Initiative will spur American innovation to help reduce the costs of clean, renewable solar energy and re-establish U.S. global leadership in this fast growing industry.”

The SunShot Initiative seeks to make solar energy systems more cost-competitive, without long-term subsidies, by reducing the cost of these systems about 75 percent by the end of the decade. The achievement of the SunShot Initiative goals will encourage rapid, widespread adoption of solar energy systems across the United States. The six categories of projects announced today are: Extreme Balance of System Hardware Cost Reductions – Nine projects to receive $42 million.Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency – Eighteen projects to receive $35.8 million. Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems: Advanced Concepts – Eight projects to receive $25.9 million.Transformational PV Science and Technology: Next Generation Photovoltaics II – Twenty-three projects to receive $22.2 million. Reducing Market Barriers and Non-Hardware Balance of System Costs – Seven projects to receive $13.6 million. SunShot Incubator – Four projects to receive $5.8 million.