Solar Energy News
Solar grant for Colorado community
Colorado’s Delta-Montrose Electric Association (DMEA) will build its first community solar array in part thanks to support of a $60,000 NEED (New Energy Economic Development) grant from the state of Colorado. The community solar array will allow DMEA electric customers in Delta and Montrose counties to purchase part of a proposed 10 kilowatt (kW) system and be refunded for energy produced by their portion of the system. DMEA plans to build the array at its Montrose headquarters.
DMEA is a rural electric co-op in Colorado, which means its customers are also its members. The co-op is still in planning stages for its community solar array plan, which includes plans to install another 10 kW community solar array at its Reed location, or possibly installing a 20 kW system in just one location, the Montrose Daily Press reported. DMEA’s Renewable Energy Engineer Jim Henegan told the newspaper, “We need to evaluate what makes sense economically.”
Customers are unable to install solar on their properties for a number of reasons, like the high up-front cost of solar, site location, a building’s structural integrity and more. Henegan told the newspaper, “It’s one more measure we can do to give members access to renewable energy.” The community solar array “is a new concept,” he said. “We wanted to give it a try and the grant funding helps take away that risk.”
DMEA has had the project on the table for a while, DMEA Gener ... read more »
Solar Energy News
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Indian reservations look to renewable energy
Aug 25, 2010
Researches estimate that about 10 percent of the United States’ renewable energy resources reside on Indian reservations. Reservations have been cultivating solar power for decades. But it’s only recently becoming something that could help pull reservations out of poverty and end their dependence on casinos. The Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in southwestern Colorado has been saving more than $4,400 a year by using Photovoltaic (PV) solar panels to power their water pump. The Ute there raise cattle to support the reservation, according to a report from the United States Tribal Energy Program...
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Denver Schools sign solar contract with Calif company
Aug 25, 2010
Colorado’s third largest school system, Douglas County School district, recently signed a power-purchase agreement with Premier Power Renewable Energy Inc, a California-based solar company, to install solar panels on 31 district buildings. The project, set to be completed in nine months, will cost an estimated $18.3 million, and will service 30 schools and one stadium in the Douglas County school system. The school system submitted its proposal last April, and eleven companies bid on the contract. The district narrowed it down to three companies, and Premier Power was finally awarded the...
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Self-dusting PV panels coming soon?
Aug 25, 2010
No, they won’t have windshield wiper-like devices or little robotic arms with feather dusters built in. But new research shows that an electrically charged coating or screen could keep solar panels free of dust, allowing the panels to retain their efficiency while reducing ongoing maintenance. This becomes more important as solar installations continue to grow. With many taking up hundreds of acres, individually cleaning each panel becomes time and labor intensive. And since many home and building owners’ PV arrays are on roofs, they’re not easily accessible, making a self-cleaning...
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West Coast to get a bit sunnier
Aug 25, 2010
As California’s 20 percent by 2011 renewable portfolio deadline approaches, a flurry of solar permitting is under way in the state. Most recently, the California Energy Commission proposed approval of the Genesis Solar Energy Project, a 250 megawatt (MW) s olar thermal trough project, which will be located near Blythe, Calif. Overall the commission has given preliminary approval to roughly 2.1 gigawatts (GW), 2,120 MW, of solar power projects over the past few weeks, some of which could begin construction later in 2010. Before the commission can make its final decision and allow the projects...
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N.Y. fire department powered by biggest fireball
Aug 25, 2010
It’s true; New York’s Bellevue Fire District No. 9 in Cheektowaga, N.Y. completed a 28 kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) system on the firehouse’s roof earlier this year. The fire department expects to save taxpayers $191,000 in energy costs over the projected 25 year lifespan of the project. But the panels could work for 40 to 50 years, adding even more savings to the project. The PV array consists of 140 200-watt PV modules and was installed on two parts of the station’s roof. The project cost roughly $175,000. The majority, $137,000 was paid for through a New York State Energy...
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New solar efficiency recorded
Aug 25, 2010
In an Aug. 23, 2010, press release Kalahari Green Tech, Inc. claimed that the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Engineering Experiment Station found that its prototype, Tri-Brid solar thermal collector, was up to 74 percent efficient at converting sunlight into energy. And the company’s press release asserted that the technology would cost half as much as other solar technologies to produce the same amount of power. The following day, the company issued another press release saying that it hired Robert Matthews, inventor of the panel, as the company’s vice president and a board...
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Solar bells are ringing
Aug 24, 2010
On Aug. 23, 2010, The Bell Group’s new 1.1 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) installation went live. According to Schott Solar PV Inc., which manufactured the panels, it’s the largest single PV installation in New Mexico . The installation covers five acres of Bell’s parking lot at its Albuquerque, N.M. headquarters. Schott said that the installation will supply 80 percent of all the power needed at the industrial jewelry equipment supplier’s headquarters. The PV array will avoid roughly 1,125 tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions, it added. The Bell Group invested between...
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PV inverter sales skyrocket in first half of 2010
Aug 24, 2010
Sales of solar inverters, a key component of photovoltaic (PV) systems have skyrocketed in a the second quarter of 2010, said IMS Research, a market research firm in the United Kingdom. During the second quarter of 2010, inverter shipments rose to 4.9 gigawatts (GWs), according to IMS Research’s report. That’s up from the 3.1 GWs shipped in the first quarter of 2010, the company said. Given that 8 GWs of solar inverters already have shipped in 2010, it stands to reason that a similar capacity of solar generating equipment also has shipped. In 2009, more than 6.9 GWs of PVs were installed...
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The future of yachting goes solar
Aug 24, 2010
Seafaring environmentalist millionaires rejoice! Sauter Carbon Offset Design has released your nautical wet dream in the form of the “the world’s first carbon neutral megayacht.” The Super Nova 60 is a beast of a yacht, drawing together several sustainable sources of energy like photovoltaic (PV) cells to achieve its green seaward dream. The Super Nova 60 features a plug-in solar hybrid design that allows the behemoth to feed up to 400 megawatts of electricity back into the grid. When cruising at 18 knots, the Super Nova 60 boasts a 75 to 100 percent reduction in green house gas...
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Aug 26, 2010
On Aug. 24, among the fervor of the 2010 election season and wide-spread frustration over the continued economic stagnation, the White House issued a report touting the 2009 stimulus package and its impacts on the economy. Among areas focused on in “The Recovery Act: Transforming the American Economy Through Innovation,” are investments in renewable energy. While the White House can point to significant investments in solar and wind, the Associated Press contended that overall the report was full of “rosy projections.” The report stated that $100 billion of the $787 billion...
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