Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell this week announced $20.5 million in state and federal investments that will create 1,400 jobs in the rapidly expanding clean energy industry.The funding will benefit 40 diverse energy projects that will generate or save the equivalent of more than 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity over their lifetimes. That’s enough energy to power 1 million average homes in Pennsylvania for one year — and reduce carbon emissions by nearly 9 million tons, which is the equivalent of removing 1.5 million passenger cars from the roads for one year.
“A few years ago, projects like these existed only in theory. Today, they are a reality,” said Governor Rendell. “They benefit Pennsylvania’s consumers by generating and saving electricity, driving down utility rates, making additional projects more affordable and feasible, while stimulating the economy by creating manufacturing and employment opportunities, attracting private investments and making our environment cleaner.”
Marks & Spencer (M&S) is launching a range of Solar PV and Solar Thermal water heating solutions to help customers cut their carbon emissions and reduce their energy bills.
M&S is one of the first retailers to offer solar energy packages that enable customers to take advantage of Feed-in-Tariffs. Through the M&S Energy partnership with SSE these tariffs are available to new and existing M&S Energy customers. They allow Solar PV customers to earn money and a tax free return for every unit of electricity they generate over the next 25 years. Under the scheme every unit produced will earn customers 41.3p from their energy supplier, with an additional 3p offered for every unused unit that is exported back to the national grid.
M&S will offer two solar packages, Solar Thermal and Solar PV, which will both include the installation of roof mounted solar panels that will contribute to customers’ home energy needs.
Thousands of Arizona homeowners have taken the plunge into solar power – but the state’s Corporation Commission believes even more homeowners would invest in solar energy if they understood its benefits. The ACC announced September 1 that it was introducing a website to provide information on available incentives and current solar projects. Dubbed Arizonagoessolar.org, the information portal launched this week.
The site, ACC chairman Kris Mayes said, “will increase the transparency of solar rebates and incentives, and provide a real-time look at where solar systems are being deployed and how much energy they can produce.”
The state Public Regulation Commission (PRC) has scaled down the Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM)’s proposed renewable energy procurement portfolio, which depended heavily on traditional photovoltaic solar electric facilities to meet state-mandated renewable energy requirements.
The Commission cut PNM’s proposed construction of new solar photovoltaic plants from a proposed 84 megawatts down to 45 megawatts, citing an original $40 million project price tag that would have been passed along to consumers. The approved projects will cost much less — about $15 million. Electric utilities in New Mexico must generate 10 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2011. At least 20 percent of renewable energy must come from solar sources.
A major order for two Austrian companies was announced at a press conference in the middle of August: Austrian engineering company Solid – represented by its two CEOs Christian Holter (middle) and Franz Radovic (right) – signed a contract with the United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) to deliver, install and operate a solar heating and cooling installation with 3,900 m2 of collector area in Singapore. The Raiffeisen-Landesbank of Steiermark (RLB-Stmk) will be responsible for financing the investment of around EUR 4 million together with the OeKB, the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank.
The solar thermal installation will supply hot water and cooling to around 2,500 students, who live and study on a newly created 76,000 m2 campus, which incorporates facilities such as boarding houses, canteens, science labs, libraries, sport amenities and music studios (see figure below).
The announced project is the world’s largest solar cooling installation yet.
Austrian OEM collector manufacturer Greenonetec runs four robots at its new assembly line for tray collectors supported by seven workers. With a cycle time of around one minute, the highly automated production line is one of the fastest in the world.
The high line speed is achieved by using four robots and a high degree of plant automation. Only very few processes require manual intervention: The first one is at the beginning of the line, when inserting the aluminium tray with the insulation layer. Further manual production steps include the following tasks: placing the absorber into the tray and removing the coating protection foil, as well as fixing the grommets on the tray. All other production steps have been automated, including the punching of holes into the tray and the application of primer and glue for the glass cover.
Wagner & Co Solar Technology, originally founded in 1979 by a group of environmental technology students, has established an US subsidiary in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Wagner Solar Inc. is the latest expansion of Wagner & Co Solar Technology after a successful history of growth throughout Europe, with subsidiaries in Spain, France and Italy and more than 400 employees. The new company will provide highly efficient solar thermal systems tailored to the US market for domestic hot water and space heating applications.
As one of the largest Photovoltaic integrators in Germany, Wagner Solar Inc. will also be offering solar electric PV solutions and will provide engineering support for installations in North America.
Intertek , a global leader in testing, inspection and certification services announces the addition of solar thermal testing capabilities to its Dallas, TX facility. The laboratory, accredited by the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC), A2LA and Standards Council of Canada, tests solar thermal equipment to safety and performance standards including SRCC SD 100, CSA F378-87 and EN 12975-1. Compliance to these standards is required for manufacturers to receive SRCC Certification and the ETL Listed Mark for North American market access.
Solar Thermal Energy systems provide a cost-efficient solution to reducing greenhouse gases by using the sun’s energy to heat water. Increases in state and federal rebates and incentive programs is driving consumer demand and moving manufacturers to bring new products to market faster. The companies new state of the art test facility is equipped with Solar Tracker system, which can simultaneously test multiple samples to expedite the test completion and enable the manufacturer to get the product to market faster.
The Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) and Honeywell are coming together to offer Upper Midwest residents Come Home to Comfort and Energy Savings, an exclusive rebate program for up to $10 back on a new Do-It-Yourself programmable thermostat. A programmable thermostat allows you to pre-set your home’s heating and cooling system to work around your schedule, providing ultimate comfort for your household. Honeywell, who employs thousands of Midwesterners and commits more than half of its portfolio to energy efficiency, is a leading designer and manufacturer of programmable thermostats.
“We’re really excited that Upper Midwest residents have this opportunity to increase their home comfort, save energy, and lower their energy bills with a new Honeywell programmable thermostat,” said Michelle Vigen, CERTs Campaign & Metrics Coordinator. “It’s an easy, convenient way to save money around your schedule.”
Solar Millennium AG, Erlangen, has completed the sale of 50 percent of the stakes in the Ibersol power plant project to Ferrostaal AG, Essen. Ibersol is the fourth power plant project developed by Solar Millennium in southern Spain. The realization of the parabolic trough power plant with a capacity of 50 MW in the province of Extremadura is to commence in autumn 2010, while the plant is expected to be connected to the grid after two and a half years of construction in spring 2013.
At the same time, Solar Millennium has prepared the shareholder structure of the Ibersol project for the involvement of additional institutional investors. To this end, Solar Millennium repurchased 25 percent of the Ibersol project stakes from the holding company Cross Capital AG, Zug (Switzerland). Cross Capital had acquired these stakes indirectly from Solar Millennium in October 2009. According to Cross Capital, this sale provides the holding company with liquidity to be able to invest into planned solar-thermal power plants in the USA.
A team of technologists from GE’s Industrial Solutions, Appliances, Lighting and Research divisions is partnering with major utilities, builders and local communities in the western U.S. to evaluate and develop new strategies that reduce energy usage in new and existing homes by up to 70%** or more. With the average U.S. household paying $1,240 per year in electricity costs, this program could save homeowners more than $850 per year on their electricity costs.
GE and its project partners will assemble a comprehensive package of home energy solutions, which will be demonstrated in several test houses located in various cities throughout the western U.S., including Phoenix, Arizona; Sacramento, California, and San Diego, California. The GE team will integrate a package of roof top solar panels and smart grid-enabled energy-efficient appliance and lighting products with its recently introduced NucleusTM Home Energy Manager. NucleusTM, part of GE’s Brillion™ suite of smart home energy management solutions, delivers real-time energy usage consumption data to PCs and smart phone applications, empowering homeowners to track and make decisions about how and when they use energy.
Premier Power Renewable Energy, Inc., a global leader in the development, design, engineering, and construction of solar power systems for commercial, government, and utility markets in the United States and Europe, REgeneration Finance, LLC, an experienced solar developer and financier that works with school districts, universities, municipalities, and commercial businesses throughout the United States, and the Douglas County School District, Colorado’s third largest school district serving over 56,000 students and whose vision is to “create responsible citizens who contribute to society,” announced today the development of more than 3.0 megawatts (MW) of solar electric power generating projects at 31 different sites — 30 schools and one athletic stadium — in Douglas County, Colorado.
To facilitate project development, the school district has entered into a Power Purchase Agreement with REgeneration Finance who will own and finance the solar electric generating projects to be designed, constructed, operated, and maintained by Premier Power.
In some countries renewable energy experts are working on making it easier for home and small business owners to be able to afford to finance solar energy technology and systems. In India Institutional finance will soon flow into to the new and renewable energy sector in a big way to boost generation, according to Dr Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy.
“Recently we held meetings with banks and financial institutions in this regard and the outcome has been encouraging,” Dr Abdullah observed while addressing members of the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BNCCI) here on Monday.
“The Ministry is providing the right kind of environment for more funds to become available.”
Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell this week announced $20.5 million in state and federal investments that will create 1,400 jobs in the rapidly expanding clean energy industry.The funding will benefit 40 diverse energy projects that will generate or save the equivalent of more than 10 billion kilowatt hours of electricity over their lifetimes. That’s enough energy to power 1 million average homes in Pennsylvania for one year — and reduce carbon emissions by nearly 9 million tons, which is the equivalent of removing 1.5 million passenger cars from the roads for one year.
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