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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Arizona State University tenures solar project
Aug 20, 2010
Fully half of Arizona State University’s (ASU’s) West campus in Phoenix will be powered by locally installed photovoltaics (PVs) by the end of 2010. The university is installing 17,000 PV panels over three parking structures and an adjacent field to provide power on campus. The system will provide 4.65 megawatts (MWs) of PV power on the campus when completed and will consist of 10,000 panels covering three parking structures and 7,000 more in an adjacent field, according to The Arizona Republic, which reported on the project on Aug. 16. According to Jason Scott, project manager for...
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Easy solar solution lets homeowners plug in and save
Aug 20, 2010
Solar panel installation is generally regarded as a daunting, expensive undertaking. Homeowners have to have the capital as well as the space and are typically looking at a $30,000 investment they can’t take with them when they move. Clarian, a U.S.-based start-up, has a simple answer for the average Joe who’d like to stop the electricity meter from spinning forward. The company has created a micro-inverter, which it refers to as the power module. Its patented device allows clients to plug solar panels into a regular outlet at their homes and convert it into useable electricity, effectively...
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Greensburg, Kansas, opens greenest school
Aug 20, 2010
Greensburg, Kansas was a town of 2,000 in 2007. But the town was wiped out almost completely when an F5 tornado, one of the strongest ever to touch ground in the United States, swept away 95 percent of the town’s buildings and sent a big chunk of the residents to find homes and jobs in other parts of the country. The population fell to 800, and the kids who stayed in town have spent the last two and a half years attending school in makeshift trailers. That’s all changing. Greensburg has gone green. The town opened its new $50 million kindergarten through 12th grade school last week...
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Historic village replaces horses with batteries
Aug 19, 2010
Horses and carriages used to carry tourists through the quaint streets of historic Cocoa Village, Fla. But the times, they are achangin’. Next month, the Village’s tourism agency will replace the horses and buggies with solar-powered electric golf carts. Volunteers will drive the carts and take tourists on tours through the village, highlighting some of the local businesses in the historic district of Cocoa, located about an hour from Orlando, Fla. The new system, which will be dubbed the “solar rider,” will shuttle visitors from parking areas and is expected to breathe...
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Utility companies looking to solar
Aug 19, 2010
Research by Gartner and the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) found that utilities are increasingly interested in purchasing photovoltaic (PV) systems to their generating portfolios. According to SEPA, the joint survey found that PV is a leading technology, as utilities look for near-term measures of adding more energy generation. Gartner’s report is available and SEPA’s becomes available on August 19. The organizations surveyed utilities in Europe and the United States to understand how utilities are attempting to integrate PV into their portfolios. Overall, the survey had 134...
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Washington state projects gets go-ahead
Aug 19, 2010
The Teanaway Solar Reserve (TSR) project received final approval on Aug. 11 from the Kittitas County Board of Adjustment. The 75 megawatt (MW) project, when completed, will likely be the largest photovoltaic (PV) installation in the northwest and one of the largest in the world. The world’s largest operating PV farm, as of 2010, is a 60 MW plant in Olmedilla, Spain, but a slew of new PV projects, including this one, will dwarf the Olmedilla project in the next few years. When operational, the reserve will supply enough electricity to power about 45,000 homes. It will be built about 90 miles...
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The University of Delaware to install 850 kilowatt PV system
Aug 19, 2010
The University of Delaware at Newark will soon benefit from the installation of a 850 kilowatt (kW) photovoltaic (PV) system that will be spread across three rooftops atop three buildings. The installation is being done by Standard Solar, Inc., and it will be jointly owned and operated by Standard and project financier, Perpetual Energy Systems LLC. The PV arrays are being installed at the Delaware Field House, the David Nelson Athletic Complex, and at Clayton Hall. When completed, the array on the Field House will be the largest single rooftop installation in the state of Delaware. This is first...
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Solar race around world underway
Aug 19, 2010
In 1873 French author Jules Verne wrote Around the World in 80 Days in response to the dramatic changes he saw coming from the industrial revolution. In that story, the main character Phileas Fogg accepts a bet that he can’t circumnavigate the globe by rail in 80 days. Today, the measure—80 days to conquer the world—remains the greatest challenge, the greatest benchmark, of success for modes of transport. Four brave teams took off from the Place Des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday to compete in an 80-day race around the globe. The challenge this time, in 2010, 137 years...
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SF based solar company quick to install
Aug 18, 2010
United States-based Recurrent Energy recently installed 4.8 megawatts (MWs) of photovoltaic (PV) modules on Spanish warehouse rooftops in under a year. The San Francisco-based company specializes in larger-scale distributed PV generation projects geared toward utilities, governments, and commercial sector needs. The company began the project in September 2009. Recurrent reached an agreement with European-based ProLogis Renewable Energy and ProLogis European Properties (PEPR), one of Europe’s largest owners of modern distribution facilities, last September to install PV on eight of PEPR’s...
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Aug 20, 2010
The United Arab Emirates is gearing up to build one of the most ambitious hotel projects to date. With a unique helical structure, Leeser Architecture has won the race to be the contractors for a new world class five star hotel like the world has never seen. The building, named the Helix Hotel will be home base for five star luxury hotel rooms, a-class business offices, and a slew of condominiums and retail stores. But, the unique architecture and high class shopping aren’t the only things that are turning heads. The Helix Hotel hopes to break new ground in the realm of green energy solutions...
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