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Lease option increases rooftop solar’s appeal, study says

January 24th, 2012

Lease option increases rooftop solar’s appeal, study says

Rooftop solar panels are attracting a new demographic of customers who are choosing to lease rather than buy, and enjoying the low upfront costs and immediate savings.

The new third-party-lease business model lets homeowners save money the very first month, rather than breaking even a decade later after an initial investment of $10,000 or $20,000.

Analysts with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that the solar lease models are surging in southern California. And they’re being adopted in less affluent neighborhoods that had few customer-owned systems.

The NREL study, “The Transformation of Southern California’s Residential Photovoltaics Market through Third-Party Ownership,” is in the current edition of the journal Energy Policy.

The study indicated an attraction for third-party leasing in neighborhoods with less affluence than those most likely to go for the customer-owned option.

It found a positive correlation between customers outright buying solar energy systems and customers living in neighborhoods where the average household income was $150,000 or more.

But with third-party-leased photovoltaic (PV) panels, that positive correlation appeared in neighborhoods where the average household income was just $100,000 or more.

If what’s true in southern California proves true for the nation, it means that rooftop solar power could prove tempting for an additional 13 million Americans who live in households that earn between $100,000 and $150,000 per year.

“What is so interesting about the southern California data is that the strong decrease in PV prices – from lower retail costs and stronger federal incentives – didn’t pick up a new demographic. But the new business model – leasing – did pick up a new customer demographic,” NREL’s Easan Drury, the lead author of the report, said.

Repackaging the value of photovoltaics as a simple savings on the monthly bill is an attractive alternative to the pitch that it will pay for itself in a decade, he said. “If someone comes up to you and says you can make money next month and forever, that totally changes how people see the value of solar.”

Among Drury’s other findings:

Third-party leasing usually eliminates the need for home-equity-style financing and, thus, the need for significant equity in the home. Without the hurdle of financing, more people can adopt solar, Drury said.
Along with the lower income threshold, Drury found a surge in solar leasing in neighborhoods with younger families.
In the Los Angeles and Orange county markets, customer-owned PV was five times more prevalent than third-party owned in 2009. In 2010, the ratio had dropped to 2 to 1. And for the first quarter of 2011, the ratio was almost even.
Homeowners can put as little as $3,000 down and see an immediate drop in their electricity costs, albeit that first year the drop may be just a couple dollars a month.

The real benefits come over the next two decades, when the $40 or $50 per month they’re paying to lease the solar panels stays constant, while, presumably, the cost of electricity goes up. Third-party companies are touting potential customer savings of $10,000 to $15,000 over two decades.

23. January 2012 | By: NREL

Solar PV Firm Sets New World Record for Solar Efficiency

January 18th, 2012

Solar PV Firm Sets New World Record for Solar Efficiency

With the World Future Energy Summit taking place in Abu Dhabi this week, US company First Solar has just revealed that it has set a new world record for cadmium-telluride (CdTe) photovoltaic (PV) solar module efficiency.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) has confirmed the record, which saw First Solar achieve 14.4pc total area efficiency, bypassing the past record of 13.4pc, which was also set by the company.

First Solar’s chief technology officer Dave Eaglesham made the announcement this morning in Abu Dhabi.

The company manufactures advanced thin-film modules using semiconductor technology. Via its manufacturing process First Solar is able to transform a sheet of glass into a complete solar module in less than 2.5 hours.

Six months ago First Solar bypassed the world record for CdTe solar cell efficiency with a mark of 17.3pc. Eaglesham said today that the cell and module record were both set at the company’s Perrysburg, Ohio factory.

“These records also underscore the tremendous ongoing potential of CdTe compared to silicon-based technologies,” he said this morning.


First Solar employees pictured holding the company’s record-breaking 14.4pc efficient module, manufactured in Perrysburg, Ohio

But what exactly are cell and module efficiencies? Cell efficiency measures the proportion of light converted to energy in a single solar cell. Meanwhile, total area module efficiency measures light conversion across a production-size, multi-cell solar module.

Eaglesham said module efficiency provides a more realistic assessment of real-world performance than cell or aperture-area efficiency.

The World Future Energy Summit itself started yesterday in Abu Dhabi and will run until 19 January. It will cover issues such as advancing future energy, energy efficiency and clean technologies by engaging business, industry, academic and finance leaders at the summit.

Carmel Doyle | |

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/clean-tech/item/25370-new-world-record-for-solar/

SEIA and the Solar Alliance Merge

January 4th, 2012

SEIA and the Solar Alliance Merge

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the national trade association for the US solar energy industry, has merged with the Solar Alliance, an advocacy organization committed to establishing solar policies at the state level. Effective immediately, the Solar Alliance will operate under the SEIA brand in an effort to present a unified solar industry voice in all advocacy efforts at the state level. Carrie Cullen Hitt, president of the Solar Alliance, is now Vice President for State Affairs at SEIA, and the Solar Alliance team joins Hitt as part of SEIA’s new department for State Affairs.

“The solar energy industry is expanding and it is critical for SEIA to mirror this growth and put our resources and expertise into developing state policy that expand markets for solar energy,” said Rhone Resch, president and CEO of SEIA. “Adding Carrie Cullen Hitt and her top-notch staff to the SEIA team is a critical step as we continue to scale the U.S. market and move toward our goal of installing 10 gigawatts of solar annually by 2015.”

“We have tremendous opportunities for opening markets for solar across all regions,” said Hitt. “With the Solar Alliance now a part of SEIA, we have the unified voice that is necessary on the policy front – both in Washington and in the states – to really take the U.S. solar industry to the next level.”

Additionally, SEIA has established more formalized, collaborative relationships with nearly a dozen state and regional SEIA chapters to coordinate efforts. While the state and regional SEIA chapters remain wholly independent entities, this partnership brings additional resources and coordination on efforts that align with SEIA’s policy goals in the states.

Current SEIA staff and resources dedicated to federal legislative and regulatory work will continue at the same level to direct policy efforts in Washington.

“The focus on state-level policy allows SEIA to speak as the voice of the solar industry in all government arenas. We have important work to do to ensure solar energy has access to energy markets across the country and that solar is cost competitive in all 50 states. This is a major step in that direction,” added Resch.

In 2012, SEIA will present a unified voice in policy issues ranging from international trade, extension of the Section 1603 Treasury Program, and improved access for solar developers on public lands to the policy efforts in the states. State efforts will entail a number of different policy efforts including net metering, a financial tool for recognizing value of distributed generation on the gird, and removing barriers to grid interconnection and permitting.

http://solarbuzz.com/industry-news/seia-and-solar-alliance-merge

10 Solar Trends to Watch for in 2012

December 28th, 2011

10 solar trends to watch for in 2012

It’s an understatement to say solar tech companies have suffered in 2011. The year has been marked by financial losses, layoffs, factory closures, trade complaints and bankruptcies afflicting solar manufactures in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The drama will continue in 2012, and here’s a look at what to expect next year:

1. Lining up the right dance partners: Raising more private equity means diluting share values, but many next-gen thin film startups remain in the perilous stage of entering mass production at a time when demand lags. They need money and more. We’ve already seen some of them lining up corporate investors – such as ambitious Korean conglomerates – who also can help them with technology development and sales and marketing. HelioVolt was rescued by SK Group and GreenVolt found help from ABB. Others, such as MiaSole, is still searching.

2. Buyer’s market: For companies with financial muscles, it’s a good time to invest in solar, be it taking a share in a tech company or a power project. Many big energy companies have done just that, from Exelon in the U.S. to Total in France. Google got rid of its solar research effort but has made some big investments in solar power projects this year, including the $94 million in four solar projects near Sacramento, Calif., that it announced last week. There are many firsts. Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings is buying its first solar farm and has agreed to purchase a 49 percent stake in a second one. Investment firm KKR made its first renewable energy investment in the U.S. by putting an undisclosed sum in the same Sacramento-area solar farm. Hey, maybe we will see Chinese oil giants gobbling up some solar and wind projects abroad.

3. Game over: We know of seven companies that have declared bankruptcy or have shuttered their solar businesses. Energy Conversion Devices temporary suspended production last month and are doing massive layoffs, and though it hasn’t filed for bankruptcy or otherwise announced its exit, the company’s prospect is bleak. If there are truly hundreds of solar panel manufacturers in China, then many of them won’t live much longer and some should have expired by now. The Chinese government’s own research recently concluded that the number of domestic solar panel makers could fall to 15 before this decade is over. LDK Solar, a silicon producer who then added solar cell and panel manufacturing in recent years, is one of the struggling Chinese companies – Wells Fargo recently dropped its coverage of LDK because the solar company no longer presented “a viable solar investment.”

Although some of the high-profile U.S. solar startups have lined up big investors, as we mentioned earlier, their survival is far from assured and, well, Solyndra won’t be the only big VC-backed solar investment that flame out.

4. New entrants keep on coming:Sure, times are tough now, but the solar market is supposed to grow and grow, right? So here you have Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s largest contract

maker of consumer electronics such as the iPhone, plotting its entry into the solar market planning on starting trial production next year. Other solar manufactures should be worried because solar panels are commodities and margins are shrinking quickly. Foxconn will join some of the largest consumer electronics makers who also have vowed to become major solar manufacturers: Samsung and LG (and Sharp and Panasonic already are big players in solar).

Although government incentives have played a key role in boosting the solar market growth, they are falling, drying up or changing too often, and many project developers and installers are looking forward to the day when they can build without subsidies (meaning they can do it more cheaply).

5. Changing strategy: It’s interesting to see how companies change their strategies during tough times. We have seen more money devoted to boosting the sunlight-to-electricity conversion efficiencies by companies that have historically spent more heavily on expanding factories to drive down costs. First Solar, which is laying off workers and throttling back its factory expansion plans, is undergoing a major strategy shift to focus on projects that serve utilities and in markets that aren’t so driven by government subsidies. All eyes will be on First Solar to see how it plans to tackle that in 2012.

6. The bane of election year politics: The U.S. is the third largest solar market in the world, and it still has a lot of room to grow. The growth so far has been propped up by government incentives, and the expiration of a key federal subsidy this month and an going trade complaint against Chinese manufactures have stoked worries of a slower increase in installations in 2012. Add that to the fact that Republicans and Democrats both are trying to show who can manage the country’s finances better and cut spending. Getting more government help in 2012 will be as difficult as getting Newt Gingrich to be humble.

7. Emerging markets: China and India have been among the most talked about new markets this year, and the conversation will continue. But we also will hear more about other, lesser known markets such as Middle East and Africa, where the necessary ingredients for solar development – money and interest from utilities and government – are increasing. Latin America is starting to show signs of solar power development activities, though they are tiny still.

8. What will IPO market bring? Not much. This year has proven a terrible time for making that public market debut. Companies that filed this year to go public, such as BrightSource Energy and Enphase Energy, are waiting for the right time. Until we see successful solar IPOs in the U.S. – and it’s been a while – very few will try their luck.

9. Beyond solar: Some solar installers see opportunities in the emergence of electric cars – both businesses promote their cleantech cred and sell to consumers directly. Companies such as REC Solar and SolarCity are selling electric car charging stations (SolarCity has erected solar power charging stations for Tesla owners). Automakers such as General Motors and Nissan are building electric car charging stations that use solar power. Up until now, solar retailers have largely focused on selling solar energy equipment and installation services. But as they grow in size and generate more money, they might want to diversify to offer other cleantech equipment and services.

10. Solar’s impact on the grid: The increase in solar energy generation has nudged utilities and electric grid regulators to give more thought and investment to the impact of solar in their mission to deliver electricity reliably. Since solar production can ebb and surge depending on the time of the day and the weather, new technologies and policies are cropping up to monitor solar energy production and minimize interruptions of power delivery. Storing solar energy in batteries and discharging it into the grid when needed is one solution that is being considered or tested in pilot projects. Inverters will play a greater role in regulating solar power’s flow into the grid. Some of the technologies already exist because of technical requirements in Germany, and they will make their way into the U.S.

Photo from GigaOm, First Solar, Enphase Energy, Duke Energy, Solaria.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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Google Ends the Year with Another Clean Energy Investment

December 20th, 2011

Ending the year with another clean energy investment

We’ve made a new $94 million investment in a portfolio of four solar photovoltaic (PV) projects being built by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, California. This brings our portfolio of clean energy investments to more than $915 million. We’ve already committed to providing funding this year to help more than 10,000 homeowners install solar PV panels on their rooftops. But this investment represents our first investment in the U.S. in larger scale solar PV power plants that generate energy for the grid—instead of on individual rooftops. These projects have a total capacity of 88 MW, equivalent to the electricity consumed by more than 13,000 homes.


Solar panels at one of the Recurrent projects

We’re investing alongside global investment firm KKR and Recurrent Energy, a leading solar developer. Google will provide a $94 million equity investment and SunTap Energy, a new venture formed today by KKR to invest in solar projects in the U.S., will provide the remaining equity. We’re joining KKR on their first renewable energy investment in the U.S. We believe investing in the renewable energy sector makes business sense and hope clean energy projects continue to attract new sources of capital to help the world move towards a more sustainable energy future.

The energy produced by these projects is already contracted for 20 years with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). SMUD recently created a feed-in tariff program (FIT) to help green the grid for Sacramento-area residents. We’re excited that these projects are the first to be built under the program.

We’ve had a busy year at Google. Since January, we’ve invested more than $880 million in clean energy projects. We believe the world needs a wide range of solutions—from wind, to transmission, to solar PV and concentrated solar—and we look forward to new opportunities next year to further expand our portfolio of clean energy investments.

Posted by Axel Martinez, Assistant Treasurer, Google Treasury

http://googlegreenblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/ending-year-with-another-clean-energy.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FIZOuQ+%28Google+Green%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

IKEA Expands their Solar Commitment in the Southeast

December 8th, 2011

IKEA Expands their Solar Commitment in the Southeast

Swedish furniture retailer IKEA has decided to bring solar power to 33 of its 44 stores, distribution centers and office buildings in the U.S. in its latest expansion of an ambitious renewable energy initiative.

IKEA told of its plans this week, saying that it will add 10 installations in the South and Southwest to the 11 that are already in the company’s pipeline for construction and the 12 solar power systems now in place within the firm’s U.S. property portfolio.


One of IKEA’s rooftop installations

The company’s solar program has swiftly grown since it was announced in 2010. Nine of the 12 systems that are on line were completed this year. Spokesman Joseph Roth told me the ones in the project pipeline as well as the installations announced Tuesday are expected to be built by the end of summer 2012, pending completion of the permitting process for the latest batch of arrays.

Falling prices for systems, as we’ve written about this year, have made solar installations more attractive to businesses and have sweetened arrangements for retail chains, which often partner with solar or energy service companies and host installations. The deals enable businesses to obtain electricity at cheaper rates and have the green marketing benefit of sporting a PV-topped roof for relatively little or no costs.

However, IKEA purchases the systems that are placed at its properties. So even though the price for systems isn’t as steep, increasing the number and frequency of purchases adds up to a greater investment. I asked Roth about the company’s bullish stance on solar.

IKEA’s strategy, like the company’s approach to sustainability, is “part of the Swedish culture of controlling and being responsible for your own destiny,” Roth said. “We own our land and we own our buildings, and we want to own the systems on our roofs — we don’t host them and we don’t lease them. We think it’s a big difference regarding the extent of our commitment to renewable energy and sustainability.”

IKEA doesn’t disclose specifics on such investments or their paybacks as a privately held company. That status also allows IKEA to function without the concerns for shareholders, stock market and other financial issues that can hamper publicly held companies when it comes to pursuing a triple bottom line, Roth noted.

And although he could not provide relative cost figures, he added, “Part of the reason for our doing this is that it is good business sense to reduce electricity consumption, reduce energy costs and decrease operating costs.”

The 10 planned projects involve installations at three stores in Texas, three in Florida, one each in Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia, and one at a distribution center in Georgia. Collectively, the sites are expected to have 10.7 megawatts of solar generating capacity and provide more than 15.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year. Almost 45,360 photovoltaic panels will be installed for the arrays.

IKEA has a long-term goal of having all of its buildings run only on renewable energy, an aspiration the firm articulated in 2006. Ultimately that would mean installing solar power on some 150 stores, distribution centers and other company buildings around the world, according to IKEA’s latest sustainability report.

Goals to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions are being developed for company operations country by country this fiscal year, the report said.

IKEA also is making progress on its program to install EV charging stations at nine stores in Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington in partnership with ECOtality. IKEA and ECOtality had completed installations at four stores as of Wednesday. The project, begun during the summer, is expected to run through next year and will make about 30 Blink EV chargers available at the nine locations. ECOtality is overseeing the EV Project, a coalition effort to build the support network for electric cars in the U.S.

http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2011/12/08/ikea-expands-solar-initiative-75-percent-us-locations

Images courtesy of IKEA

SCE&G completes solar project at Boeing plant

December 5th, 2011

SCE&G completes solar project at Boeing plant

Cayce-based South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. flipped the switch on the largest single rooftop solar installation in the Southeast during a dedication ceremony last week at The Boeing Co.’s North Charleston plant.

Friday’s ceremony, held at Boeing’s new final assembly plant for the 787 Dreamliner, signaled the start of the rooftop photovoltaic system.

The 2.6 megawatt system is made up of more than 18,000 thin-film photovoltaic solar laminates that cover 10 acres on the roof of the 14-acre building.

“This project is a classic example of working with our customers to supply their energy needs, but with a new twist,” said Kevin Marsh, chairman and CEO of SCANA, parent of the power company. “SCE&G for the first time is supplying a facility with 100% green power.”

Electricity generated for the site is enough to power about 250 homes, SCE&G said.

The power company began installation of the solar system on May 16, the same day Boeing workers started moving into the building.

Under the arrangement with Boeing, SCE&G will own and maintain the solar generation system and will supplement the solar-generated energy with power from its system resources, coupled with green attributes from its North Charleston biomass generator, to meet all of Boeing’s energy requirements.

The North Charleston plant is the only location in the world capable of assembling commercial aircraft with 100% green power, said Jim Landreth, SCE&G vice president of fossil/hydro.


Kevin Marsh, chairman and CEO of SCANA, and Jack Jones, Boeing South Carolina vice president and general manager, flip the switch on the rooftop solar project. (Photo/SCE&G)

http://www.charlestonbusiness.com/news/41866-sce-amp-g-completes-solar-project-at-boeing-plant

Solar Trees Installed at GM Tech Facility

December 1st, 2011

Envision Solar, a San Diego-based renewable energy company, has installed its trademark ‘solar trees’ at General Motors’ Tech Facility in Warren, Michigan. And they look fantastic. The solar tree is an innovative concept that takes advantage of idle space (parking lots, rooftops) to generate energy. Each of those trees pictured above will charge 6 electric cars, as wells as feeding power into the GM facility.

Envision released the following announcement in the wake of the ribbon-cutting ceremony last week: “The deployment includes Solar Tree structures which incorporate Envision’s CleanChargeT CIT, “column-integrated” electric vehicle charging stations. The Solar Tree structures also incorporate Envision’s EnvisionTrakT multi-axis solar tracking technology which should increase the efficiency of the installation by as much as 25%.”

You can see the innovative tracking mechanism at work in the video above. The trees will also provide shade for non-EV cars, and have the benefit of making the GM Tech Facility look appropriately futuristic.

And so, it appears that when the Times asked ‘Will Solar Trees be Sprouting in Parking Lots?’ a while back, the answer is a definitive ‘Yep’.

http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/sun-tracking-solar-trees-installed-gm-tech-facility.html

South Carolina Stingrays have a New Opponent

November 17th, 2011

Not only is the solar industry the fastest growing industry in the country, it is edging its way into the professional sports sector. Our own South Carolina Stingrays will have a new opponent soon: the Orlando Solar Bears. Seems fitting that the sunshine state would be the first to give a mascot a solar reference, and we couldn’t be more pleased.


Bringing awareness and knowledge of solar energy is a benefit in that we all can celebrate and the trend is becoming more popular. Earlier this year, the Washington Redskins erected a solar bowl to produce 20% of the power the stadium needs on game days and 100% on non-game days.

Many notable companies not connected to professional sports making sustainable and renewable energy choices are also setting the benchmark for other companies to follow in suit. Apple Inc. was granted patents for solar charging modules, which was one of Steve Jobs’ last crusades. Facebook is installing solar panels on their fitness center that will produce energy and hot water. Outerwear Company, Patagonia continues to commit to renewable energy by installing a solar array to produce electricity.

As more companies make the commitment to renewable energy sources, the movement will become widespread, and we are happy to be right in the thick of it. Solar energy excites us, and by the looks of how rapidly the industry is growing, the excitement is growing among other industries as well.

Facebook Going Solar

November 3rd, 2011

Facebook is teaming up with Cogenra Solar to put a solar cogeneration system in at its headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.



According Cogenra, one of the company’s dual energy-production systems – which use photovoltaics to produce electricity and solar heat to make hot water – will go on the roof of Facebook’s renovated fitness center.


Whether the move is part of a concerted effort to curry favor with the green crowd or not, this marks Facebook’s second pro-renewables move in the past week.

Earlier, Facebook got a thumbs-up from Greenpeace, a frequent critic, when it confirmed it would build a giant data center near the Arctic Circle in Sweden that would rely almost wholly on renewable energy.

Like other solar-power systems, Cogenra’s starts with mirrors to focus sun energy. But it then turns that sunlight on photovoltaic panels, producing electricity, while also capturing the heat energy in liquid-chemical filled tubes to produce hot water. 



The company says its proprietary technology snares up to 80 percent of the sun’s delivered energy and produces five times the energy of traditional PV systems.

According to Cogenra, Facebook will be getting a 24-module installation with combined electric and thermal output of 60 kilowatts (kW).

This will be enough to displace more than 60 percent of the fitness center’s natural gas needs, as well as a portion of its grid-fed electricity consumption, Congenra said.


Cogenra was in the news a year ago when with much fanfare – former British Prime Minster Tony Blair was in attendance – it showed off a 272-kW solar cogeneration system at a Sonoma winery.

* Pete Danko, EarthTechling


PV Systems Cost Declining

October 27th, 2011

PV Systems Have Gotten Dirt Cheap

Something strange has happened to the price of photovoltaic (PV) systems in the last year. PV has gotten dirt cheap.

Honestly, it’s gotten cheaper faster than our office has realized, and we try to stay up on these things. Worse, we’ve realized we haven’t been making proper recommendations to our clients because of it.

It’s also shifting some of the underpinnings of our typical design analysis in strange ways, and it looks like there are some unexpected consequences we haven’t yet figured out.

In April 2010, a PV system cost $8 a watt

Here are the numbers. I have a note from April 2010 listing installed residential photovoltaic systems as costing $8,000 per kW capacity before state and federal tax credits, currently 30% off retail. In our area, a one-kilowatt PV system (about 4 – 5 solar modules) generates about 1,300 kWH per year. If you bought 1,300 kWH of electricity from our local utility (burning natural gas, fuel oil, hydro and coal), they would charge you $0.16 / kWH, or $208 / year.

If we’re conservative in our expectations, the PV array you bought would last you 25 years, and make you $5,200 of electricity over its working lifetime, assuming electricity prices never increase. No one believes costs will stay where they are, but it makes the math easier, and we’re being conservative, right? Isn’t that’s what us green builders and designers do?

So there’s the issue: we paid $8,000 for a system that only makes us $5,200 of electricity over its lifetime, and we have to start piling on tax credits and inflation assumptions and lots of other complicated financial math to make those panels “worth it” to our clients. It’s been a stretch.

Now, the cost of a PV system has dropped to $4.50 a watt

Now for 2011: the latest prices we’ve been getting for PV are $4,500 per kW before tax credits. It’s dropped 45% since last year. A colleague who posts here, John Semmelhack, recently got a quote for a ground mounted 9 kW system of $4,100 per kW!

So now our system that makes us $5,200 of electricity costs us $4,500. See where we’re going? PV is now cheaper than dirty electricity in our area. Why aren’t we all crying this from the rooftops? This is a really big deal!

Let’s try the math a different way: 1,300 kWH * 25 years = 32,500 kWH generated over the life of the panels. At $8,000 / kW, that’s $8,000 / 32,500 kWH = $0.25 / kWH, 53% more expensive than dirty electricity, but good for the planet.

That’s been our sales pitch: virtuous, but not for everyone. But $4,500 / 32,500 kWH = $0.14 / kWH, which is 15% cheaper than dirty electricity. PV is the cheapest electricity you can buy in our area — before you take tax credits into account!

So that’s Maine. Let’s take those same panels to New York City, where electricity can cost $0.25 / kWH, pile on the generous NYC tax credits and federal tax credits, and the final figure is $0.10 / kWH. You’ll end up 60% cheaper than utility electric. It boggles the mind.

We are rapidly approaching grid parity

So, what does this all mean?

• It means we’re not far off from PV being the cheapest source of electricity you can buy everywhere in the whole country, even in the parts of the country with access to cheap and toxic coal electricity. Is that time five years away? Ten years away? It doesn’t really matter; either one is a very short length of time, and we should get ready for that and pay attention.

• We have a financing problem, not a PV cost problem. Add a 5% loan at 25 years onto that $0.14 / kWH system, and the price rises to $0.24 / kWH. If you and I had access to the 1% loans the federal government is giving Goldman Sachs, we’d be all set, but we don’t. So let’s start considering the tax credits a financing rebate instead of a solar system rebate, because if you take your tax credit and pay down your principal you’ll end up right around $0.17 / kWH in our area, and that’s close to what our utility charges right now. This is where policy can help: to advocate for solutions to this financing issue.

• Our design sequence might change. Roof size will be a big design limitation for net (plus)-zero single-family housing design, and we might be using this to decide on our optimal insulation packages instead of kBTU / SF / year, and this comes from a certified Passive House consultant who has spent years in the efficiency trenches.

• The tax credits worked and should be celebrated. Let’s claim success on this one. Government encouragement did kick-start the industry and allow it to gain enough strength to compete head-to-head against dirty fuels. This is good thing, it worked exactly like it was supposed to. Let’s not forget this in our discussions: PV didn’t get cheaper all by itself, but it sure did it faster and cheaper than nuclear, fossil or bio-fuels did in their history. Take a look at this graphic for some context.

• All of us in the green building community need to start talking about this more to our clients and friends. We didn’t believe the math when we first saw it, but our local solar installer backed me up and says his biggest problem is getting the word out, not proving it works. This change has happened fast, it’s not common knowledge yet.

Anticipating the naysayers

And to speak to the quick and easy responses:

• Yes, I know net-zero doesn’t mean you make enough electricity in the winter to power your own house, and something else has to power up to fill the gap. But please, this is a problem we would love to face. Personally I think that Spain, who just made 30% of their entire electricity production from renewables, will figure this out nicely for us before we face this issue.

• As well, I know that net-zero is not enough, and we need to be working on restorative design and surplus renewables production to make up for the last century of fossil fuel damage. But please, anyone who uses this as an excuse not to do the right thing needs to be spending their free time at their state capital arguing for feed-in tariffs to allow homeowners to be allowed to sell a surplus. Right now, any surplus our clients make gets a nice thank-you note from CMP, they don’t get to earn a cent for helping out their neighbors’ electricity supply.

• Insulation is tougher than PV. Sure! Don’t stop building high-quality houses; the need for better buildings isn’t going to change. A building built to Passive House standards will be a tougher, more resilient and durable house than one built to a lesser standard. I would build to that standard myself if it was my new house, but let’s not use greenhouse gas destroying insulation methods to do it. That’s just absurd at this point.

• Stop talking about payback. Please. I haven’t seen a client yet get excited about payback. It’s almost always used instead as an excuse for inaction. Cheaper electricity than the electricity they are buying from their utility right now? That is something that gets our clients excited…

If you don’t believe me, do the math yourself

Lastly, don’t believe me; I’m just an architect, and we’re famous for not being that good at math. At our office, we’ve developed a PV cost calculation spreadsheet to speed these calculations.

Everyone needs to add their own recent experience, and back check this analysis to make sure we’re not just blowing smoke.

But, other smart people are saying the same thing. I didn’t pull it out of thin air.

Perhaps a better future is actually possible?

Jesse Thompson is an architect at Kaplan Thompson Architects in Portland, Maine.
Original article found on Green Building Advisor

Oregon’s King Estate Winery puts the shine in its wine with new PV array

October 20th, 2011

Oregon’s King Estate Winery puts the shine in its wine with new PV array

Like the grapes for wine, it’s taken some time for the King Estate Winery’s plans for a solar array to reach fruition. But after five years, its new photovoltaic array is beginning to see the light of day.

It’s not the first winery in the U.S. to go solar—other wineries, like the Sonoma Wine Co. in California and Corrales Winery in New Mexico beat them to the punch. But the system will be one of the biggest at a winery in the U.S. and the largest at a winery in the Pacific Northwest.

The organic winery, which makes Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir outside of Eugene, Ore., is installing a 973.84-kilowatt photovoltaic array. Advanced Energy Systems began installing the fixed ground-mount system this month, which should be complete in mid December, said AES General Manager Craig Strobeck.
King Estate and AES began talking about installing solar at the winery in 2006, according to Strobeck.
“There were starts and stops and roadblocks,” he said.

The project was ready to go in 2008.

“Then the stock market went south, and a financier pulled out,” he said. “Like a lot of projects, they had to go back to the drawing board.”

Ultimately, the winery found a project financier in SolarCity. King Estate will purchase the electricity produced by the system through a power-purchase agreement with SolarCity, according to Strobeck.
“We actually brought SolarCity into the mix,” Strobeck said. “This is the first time we’ve worked with SolarCity with any project, and our experience so far is very good.”

The nearly 1 megawatt array will supply roughly 60 percent of King Estate’s electricity load, according to Strobeck. When it’s producing more electricity than the winery can use, the system will feed excess electricity into the grid through Lane Electric Co-op. When it’s not producing enough, it will purchase power from the local utility.

Lane will use the power produced through the system to help it meet its requirements under Oregon’s renewable portfolio standards.

“This project is very exciting in that it dovetails perfectly with Lane Electric’s mission and vision for renewable energy as we look to the future. It is good for our members, the co-op and the environment,” Rick Crinklaw, Lane’s general manager, said in a press release.

Patagonia Goes Greener at CA Campus with Solar Array

October 12th, 2011

Patagonia goes greener at CA campus with solar array

Patagonia, known for its high-quality outerwear, flipped the switch on 27 kilowatts of newly installed solar photovoltaic power at its headquarters in Southern California on Monday.

The SunPower system will supply about 50 percent of the energy needed at one of the campus’s three main buildings—the firehouse.

“We have an existing solar system in the parking lot, 69 kilowatts,” said Elissa Loughman, who works on Patagonia’s environmental group. “It’s like a carport structure.”

That installation, made in 2005, supplies about 70 percent of the power needed at one of the campus’s biggest buildings, Loughman said.

While the campus has three large buildings, it’s also scattered with several other smaller buildings, Loughman said.

“We still use a lot of power,” she said. “We wanted to have some control over where that power comes from and how much it costs.”

That wasn’t the only reason the company decided to invest in a second solar array.

Patagonia is named for the glacier-covered Andes region at the southern tip of Argentina and Chile. Its reputation is wrapped around outdoor sports and winter activities. The company’s loyal customers and biggest supporters tend to be more environmentally aware.

And Patagonia tries to be aware, as well. It’s not every company that has an environmental department these days.

“We’re aware that solar is an emerging technology,” Loughman said. “And we want to be supportive of it while also reducing the amount of power we pull from the grid.”

Patagonia invited three solar companies to evaluate two of the biggest rooftops at the facility. The childcare facility didn’t have quite as much capacity as the firehouse, Loughman said. And it was more shaded by trees.

“We like our trees around here,” she said. “We didn’t want to be cutting any of the trees down.”

The firehouse itself was a good option for solar. It’s an energy-efficient replica of a turn-of-the-century building that stood just where it’s currently located. The only major retrofit Patagonia had to complete before installing the new array was a new roof, Loughman said.

Installation of the company’s new 27-kilowatt system went quickly. It covers almost the entire roof with a few walkways between the panels, which were required for emergency access, Loughman said.

“It’s really exciting,” she said. “It’s so great to see it finished.”

Image courtesy of Patagonia.

Solar Decathalon 2011 Winners: Affordable and Efficient Designs

October 6th, 2011

Solar Decathalon 2011 Winners: Affordable and Efficient Designs

The challenge – to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The results are in. The University of Maryland has won the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon for 2011. Team Maryland, a runner-up back in 2007, took the top spot with WaterShed, a concept home using water and energy efficiency solutions in addition to solar design, inspired by the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

Collegiate teams spend almost two years creating houses to compete in the Solar Decathlon. The winning team produces a house that meets several criteria. The home should be affordable, attractive, and easy to live in, maintains comfortable and healthy indoor environmental conditions, supplies energy to household appliances for cooking, cleaning, and entertainment, provides adequate hot water and most importantly, produces as much or more energy than it consumes.

WaterShed’s award winning home featured a holistic approach to water conservation, recycling, and storm water management as well as innovations to foster the sustainable lifestyle. Key elements includes:

A modular constructed wetland that helps filter and recycle greywater from the shower, clothes washer, and dishwasher
A green roof that slows rainwater runoff to the landscape while improving the house’s energy efficiency
A garden, an edible wall system, and a composting station to illustrate the potential for improved health, energy, and cost savings with a complete carbon cycle program
The liquid desiccant waterfall, which serves as a design feature and provides humidity control
An engineering system that harnesses excess energy generated by the solar thermal array
A home automation system that monitors and adjusts temperature, humidity, lighting, and other parameters to provide maximum function with minimal impact on the environment.
Their plan also contains a menu and recipes for dinner parties and a midnight snack menu with locally harvested, seasonal ingredients from the Watershed’s edible garden or local purveyors.

You can check out a video walk through of the University of Maryland’s Solar Decathlon house.

This year’s competition had University of Maryland with 951 out of a possible 1,000 points, followed by Purdue with 931 points. New Zealand‘s First Light, Middlebury College’s Self Reliance and Ohio State’s enCore entries rounded out the top five.

University of Michigan Commits $100 Million to Sustainability

September 29th, 2011

University of Michigan Commits $100 Million to Sustainability

The University of Michigan will add 37 hybrid vehicles to its fleet of buses and install solar panels on its North Campus as part of an additional $14 million commitment to greening the campus.

The plan, announced yesterday by President Mary Sue Coleman, brings the University’s expenditures on behalf of sustainability to almost $100 million.

The University has already devoted $64 million for green buildings and $20 million to support the Office of Campus Sustainability and M-ride, a free campus transportation system that aims to lower emissions and noise pollution by reducing vehicular traffic.

The expenditures announced yesterday followed a two-year study, known as the Campus Sustainability Integration Assessment, to which more than 500 students, faculty, and staff contributed.

The 37 vehicles – the first of which will be delivered in December – will result in one of six University buses being a hybrid. And in addition to the solar panels, a new golf course on the South Campus will be powered by geothermal energy, a first for the University.

“I want the message to be clear: sustainability defines the University of Michigan,” Coleman says.

Coleman also says that by 2025, the University will reduce carbon emissions 25%, and reduce waste sent to landfills 40%. UM will also reduce reliance on landscaping chemicals by 40% and adopt state-of-the-art storm runoff strategies to protect the Huron River.

A cogeneration facility supplies half of the energy for its Ann Arbor campus, and UM has pledged to meet LEED Silver standards for major new construction projects of $10 million or more. Its Dana Building is rated LEED-Gold and Ross School, LEED-Silver.

Planet Blue Operations, its energy efficiency program, has retrofited 70 campus buildings so far, saving $4 million annually. Up to 120 buildings will be completed by FY 2012.

Another priority is to promote sustainable agriculture and support local Michigan farmers. From the residence halls to the unions and hospitals, the university is introducing purchasing guidelines to ensure at least 20% of its food comes from local, sustainable sources.

UM is also proud of its recycling program, now in its third decade. 30 tons of recyclable waste are collected each season at Michigan Stadium, and nearly five times that amount is gathered when students move out of the residence halls.

However, Coleman says UM can’t sign the American Colleges and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, an agreement to eliminate emissions on college campuses nationwide.

“We have concluded we cannot set a date by which we will achieve carbon neutrality,” she explains.

It will join STARS, she says, which measures sustainability on college campuses worldwide. And, in a further effort at transparency and to track effectiveness, the university will turn to its Institute for Social Research. ISR, the world’s largest survey research organization, to measure the sustainability attitudes and behaviors of students, faculty and staff, as well as identify where improvements can occur.

In addition to meeting the requirements of its campus operations through green energy, the University is intent upon sending a new generation of sustainability experts out into the world. It offers 640 courses that feature content about sustainability, and 670 faculty members have expertise in the subject. The College of Literature, Science, and the Arts offers a minor in sustainability.

It launched Planet Blue Ambassadors, which trains students and staff to teach the 80,000 members of the Michigan community to save energy, reuse and recycle, and reduce waste.

“The goal commitments are certainly important, but more impressive to me is the emerging culture shift on campus,” says Donald Scavia, director of the Graham Institute and Special Counsel to the President on Sustainability.

“I believe the high levels of focus, energy, and collaboration now in place throughout the university are the most significant steps in driving progress toward all of our sustainability goals-in education, research, and operations,” he says.

Coleman also emphasizes the role UM students play in moving the university toward sustainability. She cites the Student Sustainability Initiative, in particular, for pulling together dozens of student groups together to address the issues.

“But of equal importance is the collaborative manner in which our students, faculty and staff come together to work on this difficult challenge,” says Terry Alexander, executive director of UM’s Office of Campus Sustainability. “That’s something you just don’t see in other large, diverse institutions like UM, and it is what sets us apart as a world-class leader.”

UM got an “A” grade for its work on climate change and energy in the latest College Sustainability Scorecard.

In the recently published Beyond Grey Pinstripes survey of green MBA programs, the University’s MBA program ranked among the top programs in the US.

SustainableBusiness.com News

Walgreens Marks Its Continued Commitment to Sustainability With its 100th Solar Power Installation

September 23rd, 2011

Walgreens Marks Its Continued Commitment to Sustainability With its 100th Solar Power Installation

Drugstore chain on track to have the most solar power installations among retailers nationwide

DEERFIELD, Ill., Sep 23, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Walgreens WAG -0.93% WAG -0.93% today marks its continued commitment to sustainability with its 100th rooftop solar power system installation in Mason, Ohio.

Since its first solar installation in 2007, Walgreens has expanded its plans to include stores and distribution centers in Connecticut, New Jersey, California, Oregon and Ohio, for a total of more than 130 installations nationwide by the end of the year, more than any other U.S. retailer. Typically, rooftop solar systems help offset energy usage by an estimated 15 to 20 percent.

“This is an important milestone for us as we continue to explore ways to expand our use of environmentally-friendly technology to reduce our energy consumption,” said Mark Wagner, Walgreens President of Community Management and Operations. “Our use of solar power across Ohio is a great example of how businesses, state officials and developers of green technologies can work together to help make a difference in our communities and for the planet.”

In Ohio alone, the company has 53 installations in 20 counties, making this the largest rollout of solar in one state for one entity. Walgreens is working with SoCore Energy which will own, maintain and monitor the rooftop systems. SoCore and Walgreens have teamed up with First Energy Solutions to manage the Renewable Energy Certificate process.

Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, will join officials from SoCore Energy, state and local officials and Walgreens for a community celebration marking its 100th solar installation today at the Mason Walgreens located at 8060 S. Mason Montgomery Road. The event will feature a dedication ceremony, samples of eco-friendly products and a green bag giveaway.

“Solar energy solutions cut costs and promote emerging clean energy jobs and markets in communities across America,” said Sutley. “It is leadership from private sector companies like Walgreens and the commitment of this Administration to building a cleaner, greener economy that will help to ensure America is second to none.”

“Walgreens’ impressive sustainability efforts include this substantial commitment to solar power and on-site renewable energy,” said Pete Kadens, SoCore Energy president. “These projects are not only producing solar power, they are also generating solar renewable energy credits and reducing energy costs for Walgreens, which in turn saves money for its customers while benefitting the broader community.”

The Ohio Air Quality Development Authority in May provided a $5.2 million loan to SoCore for development of the 53 rooftop solar systems across the state, including five in northwest Ohio. The remainder of the project’s $9.9 million cost is being funded by SoCore and a federal solar tax credit.

Walgreens has a long-standing commitment to reducing energy usage and expanding its renewable energy initiatives. The company became the nation’s first drugstore chain to install a geothermal energy system at one of its stores in Oak Park, Ill., last November. The company’s Mira Mesa, Calif., location became the first drugstore to receive LEED gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. In addition, the company utilizes an energy management system that monitors electricity, water, heating and cooling and waste management at more than 1,100 stores to help reduce energy usage and maintenance costs while extending equipment life.

About Walgreens

Walgreens ( www.walgreens.com ) is the nation’s largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion. The company operates 7,760 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services include retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.

SOURCE: Walgreens

Walgreens
Tiffani Washington, 224-723-3440
tiffani.washington@walgreens.com

http://news.walgreens.com

www.twitter.com/WalgreensNews

Copyright Business Wire 2011

National Football League, NRG to debut Washington’s ‘Solar Bowl’

September 12th, 2011

They’re calling this coming Sunday’s game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Washington Redskins the “Solar Bowl” … and it’s got nothing to do with Arizona’s reputation for hot, sunny weather.

Instead, the name refers to the 8,000-odd solar panels that will make their debut at FedExField, home to the National Football League’s Redskins team. Installed by NRG Energy, the photovoltaic system is the largest solar power installation in the Washington, DC, area.

The system is expected to generate enough electricity to meet around 20 percent of the stadium’s energy needs on game days. And on days when games aren’t played, the panels should produce all the electricity the stadium needs. Three different types of solar panels installed either in the stadium or the parking lot will together have a generation capacity of up to two megawatts.

The installation will also feature an NRG-branded entry plaza showcasing clean-energy technologies and 10 electric vehicle charging stations from NRG’s eVgosm charging network.

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DOE Invests $145 Million into Solar Energy Technologies

September 6th, 2011

DOE Invests $145 Million into Solar Energy Technologies

This Thursday, United States Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that the DOE will be investing over $145 million into solar energy technologies projects, specifically 69 projects in 24 different states.

The $145 million in funding will come directly from the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy through the SunShot Initiative. In addition to providing funding, the program will also provide materials and supply chains that will help the projects develop more efficient, affordable, and cutting-edge solar power technologies.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu spoke about the DOE’s investment and what it means for pursuing renewable energy in the U.S. Chu said, “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. 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 projects announced this Thursday fall under one of six categories: Extreme Balance of System Hardware Cost Reductions (nine projects to receive $42 million), Foundational Program to Advance Cell Efficiency (18 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 (23 projects to receive $22.2 million), Reducing Market Barriers and Non-Hardware Balance of System Costs (seven projects to receive $13.6 million), and SunShot Incubator (four projects to receive $5.8 million).

The largest individual funding is going towards Solexel and Owens Corning for projects in both Milpitas, California and Granville, Georgia for $12,967,200 to develop a building-integrated photovoltaic roofing shingle and other installation accessories. The Dow Chemical Company in Midland, Mich., will also be receiving $12.8 million for a project that will develop more efficient photovoltaic application. Additionally, California has the most individual projects with a total of 15 and several universities are also receiving a portion of the funding, including Stanford University, Colorado State University, the University of Delaware, Georgia Tech, Boise State University, Illinois State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The DOE has made other recent investments in renewable energy. According to Yahoo! News, the department, along with the USDA and the Navy, is investing $510 million into developing biofuels for military and commercial transportations. Additionally, another Yahoo! News article reported that the DOE finalized a $852 loan guarantee earlier this week for a California-based solar energy project that will power over 48,000 households and will help avoid 320,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.

Apple Granted Patents for Solar-Powered Charging

August 29th, 2011

Apple granted patents for solar-powered charging, method of video navigation

Lately, Apple’s become synonymous with a flurry of hotly-contested patent disputes, but in a nice change of events, the company’s actually been granted a bunch by the USPTO. The recently awarded patents range from the mundane to the utilitarian, covering designs for a customizable docking peripheral, in addition to a solar-powered solution for charging those iDevices. But the real additions to Cupertino’s legal arsenal are its patents for what appears to be cover flow-like navigation for video, and display rotation for images captured via iOS cameras. Alright so none of these patents are particularly revolutionary, and they certainly aren’t tipping us off to the next iteration of the iPhone, but think of the lawyers, will you? This is the stuff their litigious dreams are made of.Apple granted patents for solar-powered charging, method of video navigation

Traveling The World on a Solar Powered Catamaran

August 29th, 2011

Traveling The World on a Solar Powered Catamaran

August 18, 2011—The PlanetSolar Tûranor catamaran’s world tour is not only squashing world records, but its goal is to inspire the fuel driven shipping industry to look toward renewable energy to power ships across the world.

Designed in Switzerland and built in Germany, the Tûranor’s massive dimensions contain 5,380 square feet of solar paneling. These solar panels trap energy from the sun to power two electric motors in the hulls of the ship.

Assisted by the wind, the ship travels an average speed of 15mph, while storing any unused energy in a lithium-ion battery inside the ship. The amount of unused energy stored in the battery, can power the ship for up the three days in cloudy weather.

Since it’s launch on March 31, 2010, the Tûranor has demonstrated that a motorized ship can travel without the use of fuel. Its goal is to promote renewable energy all over the world by docking in harbors ranging from Miami to the Panama Canal to the Philippines and now Hong Kong.

This solar powered ship has already set two world records while promoting renewable energy. The Tûranor has become the fastest boat to cross the Atlantic Ocean using solar power and has also traveled the longest distance of any other solar electric vehicle.

Article found on SustainableLifeMedia.com, http://www.sustainablelifemedia.com/news_and_views/articles/traveling-world-solar-powered-catamaran

Top 15: Greenest Buildings

August 29th, 2011

15 skyscrapers with integrated energy generators

Greener Buildings? Future’s most thought greener buildings and concepts providing a better tommorow and sustainable living.

The world today is facing two kinds of crisis; the one is the energy and second is the land. Due to lack of land and increasing population, lots of skyscrapers have sprawled up and each one has tremendous power needs. The sustainable energy architectures can solve this problem fully. Since these skyscrapers are very tall, a lot of wind energy and geothermal energy can be harnessed from them using wind turbines on roof and water turbines on the ground. Here we have listed 15 of such green building:

1. Sun harnessing high-rise wins ‘Shenzhen 4 Tower in 1’ competition

Build for Chinese Insurance group, it is 49 story building spread in 1600 square meters. It has a stylish facade and beneath the outer layers, there are photovoltaic cells to harness solar energy.

2. Anara Tower – A 700m-high green structure for Dubai’s congested skyline

Built in Dubai by British Architects, this building has LEED silver rating and is working tremendously on maximizing water saving. It has provision of using renewable energy to cut short its whopping need for energy. It will have 125 floors with a sky garden after every 27 floors with shops, offices, markets and even a hotel.

3. Gesterbine self-sufficient skyscraper features a mesh of wind turbines

Built in greater Poland, the tower will have wind turbines on the top to harness the wind energy, human kinetics and water to provide for part of its requirement. Wind will power the day needs, while water turbines will run the pump to carry water from river to land. They have a plan to build reservoirs and plant trees for preventing soil erosion and ground water depletion.

4. The Strata: World’s First Skyscraper With Built-In Wind Turbines

148 m tall building in London has a nickname of Razor due to its trio wind turbines. English architects are expecting to solve out at least 8 percent of the energy need via the wind turbines. They have attached wind turbines directly on facade. The building is 42 floor high can thus utilize 35mph wind and wind flow from other building obstruction.

5. Spiraling solar-powered skyscraper helps cool the environment

It is an Eco-tower with gardens and a beautiful facade. It also uses solar powered cells to harness electricity for its daily use and has provision for collection of rain water. It will also have cooling units to make the building more greener and environmentally friendly. The architects have plans to build several such towers which will certainly reduce the global warming

6. Vertical Park: Stackable Solar Skyscraper for Mexico City

It is modular skyscraper with series of stacking units. It is solar powered and has sky-gardens, and it recycles all its water for reusing. Each module is in itself a small building with its own solar power generation.

7. Bahrain houses World’s First Integrated Wind Turbines

This is among the very first in Bahrain. The tower utilizes wind energy via the turbines and is expected to fulfill at least 10 percent of energy needs. It has three blades of 29m length and is expected to be working 50 percent of time.

8. Aviapolis Tower – A self sufficient, aesthetic and sustainable landmark

It is 70m high building with spherical crevices as meeting areas and garden. It is capable of harnessing both solar and wind energy. The tower engineers claim it to be self sufficient with array of solar panels and wind turbines.

9. Self-sufficient Oasis Tower feeding 40000 people

To be built in Dubai, the tower has sustainable residences and urban farming provisions. It will be having vertical wind turbines and a ETFE photovoltaic facade which can fulfill a high percentage of its daily needs. The farming area will generate sufficient food for 40,000 people. The tower top will be built in hexagram shape which will nullify the positive and negative effect to have a equilibrium.

10. Faceted Ecological Skyscraper incorporates renewable energy generating systems

The Madrid skyscraper will have facade fitted will solar cells and designed with folding solid panes to cool the inner climate of facade. This will also allow reducing the energy requirement. It will have residences, offices and hotels all built inside, so that people have to use lesser fuel to go meet the daily needs.

11. 10MW skyscraper in Dubai will feed the electric grid with renewable energy

The tower is equipped with a 5MW wind turbine, a 3MW concentrating solar system and a 2MW solar updraft system. They are even expecting it to send the residual electricity back to grid after fulfilling their energy needs. The south facing facade has 1600 heliostatic mirrors to collect sunlight and focus it back to the receiver attached to it via a mechanical arm to produce electricity.

12. BURJ AL-TAQA: Zero-Energy Tower for the Middle East

The proposed tower will use air conditioning using Iranian wind tower designs. The wind will sprinkle seawater between two glass layers covering the wall of the building. The ceilings also have special turbines to run cool water to cool them more. Built for the Middle East, the 68 story high building will have wind turbines and stack of solar cells with vacuum glazing technology to harness solar energy.

13. Food City – A self-sufficient metropolis planned for Dubai

Built for Dubai, the building will be a small city with aquatic farming, artificial landscapes and renewable energy harnessing. It will have solar cells on outer walls and roof. They also have provision of using piezoelectricity by using piezoelectric pad in pedestrian areas. They will also have methane generation from septic tanks and sewage disposal. The water will be recycle.

14. Self-powered Eco-Cybernetic City interacts with the surrounding environment

The conceived 150 story high building will be a live machine with bio-climatic walls for supporting vegetation purifying air. It has photovoltaic arrays for solar energy harnessing, rainwater and atmospheric water collection unit and will also be utilizing air flow between towers with aerogenerators.

15. 600m tall dragonfly wing designed for New York

The building inspired with dragon fly will have 132 floors and will have 28 agricultural farm fields to grow cereal to vegetables. They will have offices and residences between the orchards. The glass roofing and steel structure are there to ensure the greenhouse effect for the plants to grow even in New York winter. It will be using rain water and domestic liquid wastes to grow the plants and will have solar panels and wind turbines to power its own needs.

Article on EcoFriend.com: http://www.ecofriend.com/entry/green-architecture-15-skyscrapers-integrated-energy-generators/

Solar Popularity Continues to Expand

August 25th, 2011

City plans to install solar panels at public works buildings

Indianapolis plans to install solar panels at three of its public works buildings in an effort to make those facilities more energy efficient.

The city has put out a request seeking companies or teams of firms qualified to install solar photovoltaic systems at operations buildings and garages. The winning respondent will be required to finance, build, own and operate the system, according to the request for proposals released Monday.

The initiative is the third solar-energy project Indianapolis has undertaken. The city has installed solar-thermal systems, which help to heat water, at three parks facilities, and has put solar panels on the downtown City-County Building.

Those efforts are part of a push started after Mayor Greg Ballard took office in 2008 to make 61 city-owned buildings more efficient with $18 million in upgrades to lighting, HVAC equipment and building controls.

John Hazlett, director of the city’s Office of Sustainability, said the city may examine installing solar-energy systems in additional buildings. An incentive through Indianapolis Power and Light Co., which pays for renewable energy that’s generated and sold back to IPL, has made solar-energy opportunities a bigger priority.

“That makes deployment of renewable energy really attractive,” Hazlett said. “It’s certainly having us take a closer look at solar.”

Hazlett wouldn’t discuss specific details about the cost or expected savings from the latest solar endeavor before companies submit responses to the request for proposals.

The deal’s financial structure would be similar to that of the park facility improvements. In that arrangement, the city issued a bond at 3.2-percent interest to cover the roughly $391,000 upfront cost for the improvements. That bond will be repaid over about a decade with annual energy-cost savings of about $34,000.

If the city doesn’t achieve the level of savings needed in a given year, the company that installed the solar-thermal systems is required to cover the difference, Hazlett said.

For the latest solar project, the city plans to enter into a contract of up to 10 years with two 10-year options to renew. Potential providers include equipment manufacturers and companies that install and design solar panel systems.

A handful of solar companies are based in Indianapolis, including Ermco Inc., Earth-Solar Technologies Corp. and Johnson Melloh Solutions.

More local solar energy projects have begun to crop up in recent years as technology has improved and utilities have offered incentives, said Patrick Flynn, program manager at the state’s Office of Energy Development. Still, the state lags behind others with sunnier climates or more generous incentives or renewable energy standards.

Some examples of local buildings with solar-energy components include the Major General Emmett J. Bean Federal Center on East 56th Street; the Hilton Garden Inn downtown; and the Broad Ripple Brew Pub on East 65th Street.

“Solar has been around for a long time,” Flynn said. “But it’s becoming more and more of a viable option for companies and government entities.”

http://www.ibj.com/city-plans-to-install-solar-panels-at-public-works-buildings/PARAMS/article/29115

Solar Energy International Celebrates 20 Years of Education

August 23rd, 2011

Solar Energy International celebrates 20 years of education

Solar industry experts from around the country celebrated Solar Energy International’s 20th anniversary in Carbondale, Colo. Aug. 13 to 15.

Solar Energy International offers training programs for solar industry workers. And it has offered training opportunities for 20 years. Many solar industry veterans got their starts with SEI in the days when they had to go in person to classes and learn about everything from the science behind what makes solar panels work to how to install them on a roof and connect them to the power grid through a homeowner’s meter, said SEI spokeswoman April Clark.

More than 200 people from around the country descended on little Carbondale over the weekend to honor the institution that helped them get their start and that is providing training for their current and future work force.

“We made a weekend of it,” Clark said.

The group went whitewater river rafting on Aug. 13, celebrated with a picnic, live band and party on the 14th.

The party was complete with a beer from Revolution Brewery named after the solar organization, SEI.P.A.

Founding members Johnny Weis and Ken Olson spoke about the evolution of the organization that started as a support network for a niche market and has become a training ground for workers in one of the fastest-growing industries in the world.

“We had a lot of alumni come as well,” Clark said.

She said many of the alumni spoke about the impact that the organization had on them.

“It was a chance for the old timers to catch up,” Clark said, “and to bring in some of the newcomers.”

The party featured some solar-cooked goodies, including several vegetarian dishes. They even used solar cookers to melt crayons and make their own wax crayon creations, Clark said. A solar-powered bubble machine filled the air with soapy bubbles for most of the day and the group congratulated Solar Energy International on all of its accomplishments.

On Aug. 15, staff took visitors to tour SEIs solar photovoltaic laboratory in Paonia and finished the day with a meal at an orchard.

“It was a good opportunity, especially for a lot of people who took classes online and had never seen the SEI campus,” Clark said.

http://www.cleanenergyauthority.com/solar-energy-news/solar-energy-international-celebrates-20-years-082211/

GE Invests in Solar Thermal Company

August 15th, 2011

GE Invests in Solar Thermal Company

GE has agreed to invest up to $40 million in eSolar, a California-based developer of large solar thermal power systems. The investment follows a licensing agreement that GE struck with eSolar in June that will see the two companies supplying technology that combines solar-thermal and natural-gas power systems. The hybrid technology reduces carbon emissions and pollutants that would otherwise come from a stand-alone natural-gas plant.

GE wants to package eSolar’s solar-thermal technology, which uses a large field of mirrors to focus the sun on a central tower to produce steam, with a new line of natural-gas plants known to as “combined cycle” systems because they capture their own waste heat to power a steam cycle. This process increases the plant’s operating efficiency. The combined-cycle plants achieve up to 61 percent efficiency and use a new type of gas turbine that can more quickly adapt to the variability of some renewable energy sources, such as solar.

Adding eSolar’s technology could boost that efficiency even further. Its precisely positioned mirrors achieve temperatures of up to 580 °C and produce enough heat to turn water into steam. When the sun is shining, the steam augments the steam cycle of GE’s natural-gas plant, increasing overall plant efficiency to around 70 percent.

Such hybrid facilities, called integrated solar combined-cycle plants, are considered one of the most economical ways to introduce solar energy to a country’s power mix. This is especially true in Africa, the Middle East, and the sunnier parts of Europe and the United States, where GE and eSolar plan to focus their sales efforts.

Integrating solar-thermal technology with gas plants means they can share the same steam turbines, generators, and switch gear, potentially cutting the cost of solar thermal in half, according to Justin Zachary, a solar thermal expert with Bechtel. “This is a natural fit,” says Zachary. But he says there is still plenty to learn. “It will take some time to prove the current technologies,” he says. “The integration of the two systems in terms of controls and water quality still represents serious challenges.”

Areva and Alstom, both of France, and Germany’s Siemens have made similar investments over the past two years, and each have a hybrid solar-gas plant offering. There are several integrated solar-gas plants under construction in North Africa and the Middle East. GE’s first project is a 530-megawatt plant in Turkey that will include 50 megawatts of eSolar’s solar thermal technology. The project, expected to be operational in 2015, will also integrate 22 megawatts of wind energy.

Denver International Airport Expands Solar Generation to Become Largest in U.S.

August 8th, 2011

DENVER, USA — With the completion of a 4.4-megawatt ground-mounted solar power system, the Denver International Airport now has more than eight MW of solar power – more than any commercial airport in the U.S. It now receives over 6 percent of its electricity via solar power.

DIA hopes to continue its green initiatives and cost savings with the project. “We support alternative energy applications at DIA because these projects are good for the environment while positively impacting our bottom line; they are financially sustainable,” said Kim Day, aviation manager at DIA, in a press release. “This airport was built with a goal of being green, and with this additional solar array, Denver International Airport now has one of the largest solar installations in North America.”

Constellation Energy built, owns and maintains the solar PV system for this project. And the DIA signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with the utility to buy the electricity produced. The airport expects to receive approximately 7,000 megawatt-hours annually from 19,000 Yingli solar photovoltaic panels.

This is the third solar project for the DIA, the first two being 2-MW and 1.4-MW installations that were built and managed by Quanta Services Intermountain Electric. In total, the DIA installations cover 45 acres of farmland near the airport.

Push Is On To Fold Energy Office Into Commerce

August 2nd, 2011

Push Is On To Fold Energy Office Into Commerce

Moving the S.C. Energy Office into the Department of Commerce would help the state recruit “green” jobs, such as making solar panels and wind turbines.

That was the message delivered by Deputy Secretary of Commerce George Patrick at a statewide renewable energy forum held Wednesday at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

“Energy would be an attractive tool in our toolbox,” he said.

Recently, both BMW and Boeing made green news – the Upstate automaker for tapping a local landfill for methane to create 37 percent of its electricity, and Boeing for turning the roof of its new North Charleston assembly plant into the largest solar farm in the Southeast. Also, in January, California-based AQT Solar announced that it would build a plant in Blythewood that would build solar cells for solar panels. The facility could hire 1,000 people by 2014.

Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said the state had the highest month-to-month jump in unemployment in the nation, to 10.5 percent from 10 percent. And the combination of companies wanting to go green and firms wanting to help them do that is a job creator, from metal fabricators to installation helpers to electrical engineers, forum attendees said.

“It’s a wonderful idea,” Erika Myers of Baker Renewable Energy, one of the event’s organizers, said of the idea to fold the energy office into Commerce. “Because what we are talking about are jobs.”

Presently, the energy office is part of the State Budget and Control Board. Legislation backed by Gov. Nikki Haley eliminating the board and forming a department of administration, places the office under that new Cabinet agency.

However, that legislation never came to a vote in the S.C. Senate during the past session.

Patrick said the governor still would be open to having the office in her Cabinet. “But the long pole in the tent is how difficult it would be (politically) and if there a sense (in the General Assembly) to change the legislation.”

Haley spokesman Rob Godfrey also said the governor was open to the idea, “but all discussions are very preliminary.”
He added that there is “tremendous business development potential in renewable and other forms of energy and we are already starting to see that.”

Much of what the 22-employee energy office does is assist businesses with energy conservation and integrating renewable energy systems, as well as staying abreast of whatever incentives might be available for going green.

“So there’s a certain value to having that expertise in the department,” Patrick said.
Myers said the move also would allow Commerce and the governor to form a more comprehensive energy policy that would attract new green companies.

At least nine bills were introduced this year dealing with green energy, according to the S.C. Policy Council, a government watchdog group. Last year there were 16.

Myers, a former renewable energy program manager at the energy office, noted that North Carolina, where her company is based, and Georgia have corporate solar tax credits that a company can leverage for up to $2.5 million over a period of years. South Carolina has a tax credit maximum of $35,000.

“That’s not even close,” she said.

Patrick noted that since 2008, Commerce has been involved in the recruitment of $1.41 billion in investment and more than 3,000 jobs in the alternative energy and renewable sector. Those numbers do not include nuclear plants.

And he noted that “the important features about the green jobs found in South Carolina are that the vast majority of them are permanent.

“Only 4 percent of the green jobs we see are part time and only about 1 percent were created as a result of the stimulus – the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” he said. “Those facts indicate that green jobs are firmly rooted in our state’s economy and will be around for years to come.”

Push is on to fold energy office into Commerce – Business – TheState.com

N. Idaho Company Gets $750K for Solar Parking Lot

July 21st, 2011

N. Idaho company gets $750K for solar parking lot
By JOHN MILLER

SAGLE, Idaho
A northern Idaho company that aims to transform U.S. highways into a vast, energy-producing network is getting $750,000 from the federal government for the next phase of its project: a solar parking lot.

Solar Roadways of Sagle announced Wednesday that it won a Small Business Innovation Research grant for the project from the Federal Highway Administration. 

With the money, company founders Scott and Julie Brusaw aim to create a prototype parking lot for testing, but their real dream is for a road system built of 12-foot-by-12-foot solar panels rather than traditional asphalt.

“This will give us the funding needed to continue our research and development,” said Brusaw, in a statement from the company distributed through the Idaho Department of Commerce.

Previously, Solar Roadways received $100,000 from the federal government for its startup project, which remains in its infancy but offers an alluring alternative to helping supply electricity amid increasing demand.

The company envisions panels encased in sturdy, break-proof glass and connected by underground wires. Its so-called “Solar Roadway” is made of structurally engineered solar panels that are driven upon.
They contain LEDs for illuminating the road lines from beneath the surface and a heating element to prevent snow and ice accumulation in rugged northern climates like Idaho’s far north.

There’s also microprocessor board embedded in the panel for real-time control and communications with those controlling the power grid.

Brusaw, an electrical engineer, is hopeful that after completing this next phase, he’ll be closer to his goal of commercial production of panels for parking lots, driveways, walkways and other surfaces in locations like playgrounds, amusement parks, patios, bike paths and even airports.

It’s in these places where the products will have to be tested before the company is ready to move on to highways that will require even more-robust durability standards, he said.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9OJIL3G0.htm

Washington Redskins Go Solar in a Hurry

July 14th, 2011

FEDEx Field parking lot will be home to large NRG Solar system

The Washington Redskins are installing solar power at their FedEx Field and will be able to get a portion of their game-time energy from the sun and power the entire stadium during off times entirely with 8,000 NRG solar panels.

The football team joins a short list of other professional athletic teams leading the charge toward renewable energy 

“We’re going to be one of the first teams to do this,” said Tony Wylie, spokesman for the Redskins. “This is really going to enhance the game experience for our fans.”

To date, only two other teams, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Seattle Seahawks, have installed solar systems.

The Redskins signed a deal with NRG in June, and the solar panels are expected to be installed and producing energy by September. They’ll all be installed in the stadium’s Platinum A1 Parking lot and will cover 850 premium parking spaces.

Along with powering the stadium, the panels will provide energy to 10 electric car charging stations. Of the 10, four will be reserved for premier parking pass holders who are allowed to reserve preferred spaces, Wylie said. The other six will be available on a first come, first serve basis, and all of them will offer free electric car charging.

FedEx Field is located in Landover, MD., not far outside of Washington, D.C.

“There is nothing like homegrown, in this case stadium-grown, energy,” Fred Smith, chairman, president and chief executive officer of FedEx Corporation and part owner of the Washington Redskins, said in a statement. “Solar can be a very smart investment. I am pleased to see FedEx Field moving in this direction and increasing its own energy independence.”

The team didn’t spend a long time contemplating the idea, Wylie said. The idea was put out there that the stadium could get some of its energy from solar power, and the team’s leadership started working on the project right away.

From the time the Redskins began talking with NRG, a New Jersey-based subsidiary of Reliant Energy, to the time the panels will be fully installed and functional is just three months, Wylie said.

“It’s happening pretty fast,” he said. “We’re doing this because it’s the right thing to do. We’re being part of the solution.”

Washington Redskins go solar in a hurry : Clean Energy Authority.

GSA Moves to LEED Gold for All New Federal Buildings and Major Renovations

July 5th, 2011

GSA Moves to LEED Gold for All New Federal Buildings and Major Renovations
Agency’s higher green building standards help deliver on President’s push for sustainability.
GSA # 10691
October 28, 2010
Contact: MaryAnne Beatty, (202) 494-728
maryanne.beatty@gsa.gov

WASHINGTON – The U.S. General Services Administration’s upgraded requirement for LEED Gold certification as a minimum in all new federal building construction and substantial renovation projects will move the government’s federal inventory into a more sustainable future. By using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Green Building Rating System established by the U.S. Green Building Council, GSA can evaluate and measure achievements in sustainable design. 

“Sustainable, better-performing federal buildings can significantly contribute to reducing the government’s environmental footprint,” said Robert A. Peck, GSA’s Commissioner of Public Buildings. “This new requirement is just one of the many ways we’re greening the federal real estate inventory to help deliver on President Obama’s commitment to increase sustainability and energy efficiency across government.”

With a portfolio of more than 361 million square feet of space in 9,600 federally owned and leased facilities, GSA’s goal is to provide sustainable, healthier, more productive workspaces for the federal workforce, while being a responsible asset manager using taxpayer dollars wisely.
For projects funded prior to FY 2010 that are in design, GSA is requiring that LEED Gold be incorporated into ongoing designs where possible, after considering budget and schedule constraints on the current design and construction contracts. GSA’s Facilities Standards will be updated to reflect these changes by the end of calendar year 2010. For GSA’s leased properties, the requirement remains at the LEED Silver certification for new construction lease projects of 10,000 square feet or more. For leases in existing buildings, LEED for Commercial Interiors is optional, at the request of the tenant agencies.

For more information, visit gsa.gov/sustainabledesign.
###
As the federal government’s workplace solutions provider, the U.S. General Services Administration works to foster an effective, sustainable and transparent government for the American people. GSA’s expertise in government workplace solutions include:
• Effective management of government assets including more than 9,600 government-owned or leased buildings and 210,000 vehicles in the federal fleet, and preservation of historic federal properties;
• Leveraging the government’s buying power through responsible acquisition of products and services making up more than 11 percent of the government’s total procurement dollars;
• Providing innovative technology solutions to enhance government efficiency and increase citizen engagement; and,
• Promoting responsible use of federal resources through development of governmentwide policies ranging from federal travel to property and management practices.

IREC Releases U.S. Solar Market Trends Report for 2010 | Interstate Renewable Energy Council

June 29th, 2011

IREC Releases U.S. Solar Market Trends Report for 2010

Thanks to strong consumer demand and financial incentives at the federal and local levels, the U.S. solar market is booming. The Interstate Renewable Energy Council released today the Solar Market Trends report for 2010.
The report includes 2010  installation data for solar electric (photovoltaic), solar heating and cooling, and concentrating solar technologies.  

“The capacity of photovoltaic systems installed in 2010 is double what it was in  2009,” said Larry Sherwood, chief author of the annual report.  According to Sherwood, 2010 saw more than 124,000 new solar heating, cooling and solar electric installations, the majority of which were concentrated in a few states.

Growth in the photovoltaic utility sector was the most dramatic– the capacity of installed by utilities quadrupled in 2010. In addition, photovoltaic installations in the both residential and commercial sectors grew by more than 60%.  “State renewable portfolio standards are a big reason for that huge growth in the utility sector,” said Sherwood, “and other state and federal incentives helped fuel the dramatic growth of solar installations on homes and businesses.”

California still ranks as the largest U.S. market, with some 28% of installed capacity completed in 2010, but faces some competition as other states embrace renewables. Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Texas made huge strides, at least doubling their installed photovoltaic capacity since 2009.

The number of solar heating and cooling installations also increased for 2010.  “Solar water heating installations were up by 6% in 2010, with 84% in the residential sector,” said Sherwood.

And despite being below the peak achieved in 2006, the capacity of solar pool heating installations increased by 13% in 2010, compared to 2009.

Two new CSP plants were connected to the grid in 2010, with a combined capacity of 76 MW.  Most of this capacity was at a 75 MW Florida plant, the largest U.S. CSP installation since 1991.

Given the long-term extension of the federal solar investment tax credit (ITC), Sherwood is optimistic about solar’s continued growth.

“Besides the ITC,” he said,  “a deadline to start construction in 2011 to participate in the federal cash grant program will continue to spur market growth in 2011.”

Additionally, several companies have already announced plans for many large solar electric projects, including both PV and CSP projects.  According to Sherwood, some of these projects are under construction and will come on-line between 2011 and 2014.

You can read the full report on the IREC website.

IREC Releases U.S. Solar Market Trends Report for 2010 | Interstate Renewable Energy Council.

Five Predictions For the Future of Energy

June 27th, 2011

Five Predictions For The Future Of Energy

It seems like a new prediction pops up for how we will use renewable energy in the coming decades every day. Will we be using all solar in two years? In five? Will we use more nuclear, or less? Experts love making predictions. Here, we round up some of the most exciting (and upsetting) predictions that have been made in the last few months. We don’t have a crystal ball to say which of these will end up being correct, but with so many options, someone is going to look like a genius.  

Prediction: Solar Energy Will Be More Economical Than Fossil Fuels In 10 Years

So says the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). According to the organization, solar PV systems may end up being the most economical form of electricity within the decade–but only if the solar industry continues to rapidly improve solar cell efficiency and create economies of scale. “As the cost of electricity from solar continues to decrease compared to traditional energy sources we will see tremendous market adoption, and I suspect it will be a growth limited only by supply. I fundamentally believe that solar PV will become one of the key elements of the solution to our near- and long-term energy challenges,” said James Prendergast, IEEE Executive Director, in a statement.

Prediction: Solar Power Will Be As Cheap As Coal in Two Years

No need to wait a decade–the researchers over at Bloomberg New Energy Finance think that solar power could reach grid parity (the point at which solar is as cheap for utilities as fossil fuels) in the next two years. In ultra-sunny regions like the Middle East, the researchers contend that solar power is already competitive. Coal currently costs approximately 7 cents a watt, compared to 22 cents for solar. By 2013, these costs are expected to be equal. But what of our natural gas glut? Will that slow solar development?

Prediction: Natural Gas Will Kill Renewables

Natural gas produced from shale will kill the economics of renewable energy in the coming years, according to a report from Reuters. As solar and wind prices continue to fall, natural gas will stay on top. Because even if, say, offshore wind costs the same as natural gas by 2015 (as predicted by German utility E.ON), there is still an extra cost of building backup power for when the wind doesn’t blow. As long as prices are cheap, it’s simply easier for utilities to opt for always-on fossil fuels instead of intermittent renewable sources.

Prediction: Renewable Energy Use Will Grow, But So Will Coal And Natural Gas Use

The good news: The International Energy Association believes that renewable energy will grow from 8% of total energy use in 2009 to 13% in 2035. The bad news: Coal and natural gas will also grow–energy generation from coal will increase by 25% from 2009 to 2035, and shale gas production will grow nearly fourfold during that same time frame. So much for cutting down on carbon emissions.

Prediction: We Could Power 100% Of the Planet With Renewable Energy By 2050

Sure, it’s unlikely, but a Stanford research team believes that we could power the planet entirely with renewable energy by 2050–if we mandate that all new energy production plants use renewable energy by 2030 and convert existing plants by 2050. In this happy-go-lucky prediction, 90% of energy production would come from wind and solar energy, and the other 10% would come from hydroelectric, geothermal, and wave/tidal power. Cars, trains, ships, and other forms of transportation would use hydrogen-powered fuel cells, and aircraft would run on hydrogen fuel. The only problem: somehow beating back the fossil fuel industry to a point of nonexistence. This is a pipe dream at best–but one that we should at least aspire to. Check back in 2050.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1760900/five-energy-predictions-for-the-future

Reach Ariel Schwartz via Twitter or email.

Local Companies Setting the Benchmark on Sustainability

June 22nd, 2011

Not only has Charleston, SC been voted the most attractive and friendliest city in the United States, we are beginning to notice a trend with companies adopting a more environmentally conscious and energy saving attitude.

We already know Boeing is going to be the largest renewable energy warehouse on the East Coast, but local outdoors company, Half-Moon Outfitters is adopting the same philosophy. So much so, they constructed a solar tree located in the states capital, Columbia, SC to partially power their new store at 2920 Devine St. The decision to build a solar tree derived from the fact the building was not suited for a solar rooftop array.

Renewable energy and green construction is part of Half-Moon Outfitters company’s brand and mission. The renovated Half-Moon Outfitters corporate office and warehouse located in North Charleston, SC was awarded the US Green Building Council’s LEED Platinum. The building’s exterior utilizes photovoltaic panels on the roof, rainwater collections tanks in back, and extensive native vegetation while the interior boasts locally harvested wood, salvaged materials and rapidly renewable agrifiber boards.

In addition, not only are local restaurants using fresh, local ingredients, like 17 North who grow their own herbs and vegetables out back, they are also looking to reduce their operating costs by installing solar water heaters, such as Runaway Bay. Organizations such as Lowcountry Local First and The Sustainability Institute are leading efforts to increase awareness and action among Charleston’s residents. It’s a trend we are noticing pick up steam, and one that makes us excited. Not only is Charleston the most attractive, it’s business owners and residents realize giving back to the community is what makes this beautiful city thrive.

Google invests $280 million in partnership with SolarCity

June 15th, 2011

Google invests $280 million in partnership with SolarCity

When Google throws its considerable influence into a new arena, people tend to notice. When that influence comes with $280 million, well, people may start to act. That’s what the iconic Internet giant hopes is the result of its new partnership with SolarCity. Google has now entered the residential solar industry with its largest investment into the renewable energy industry. And they did so by partnering with another Silicon Valley company that is changing the way we do business.  

San Mateo-based SolarCity offers its customers the opportunity to purchase full residential solar rooftop installations. It’s the company’s other model, however, that led to the partnership with Google. SolarCity offers different leasing and power purchase options for customers who don’t want to take the financial plunge of buying the installation upfront. Instead, SolarCity owns the equipment, and the homeowner trades in a higher monthly energy bill for a lower bill and solar lease payments.

Benjamin Cook, vice president of project finance at SolarCity, said the deal will allow his company to “provide financing to thousands of homeowners at or below the cost they currently pay for electricity.”

The funding will open opportunities for homeowners in the 10 areas its serves — Arizona, California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas.

“Google is setting an example that other leading American companies can follow,” said Lyndon Rive, CEO of SolarCity. “The largest 200 corporations in the U.S. have more than $1 trillion in cash on their balance sheets. Investments in solar energy generate returns for corporate investors, offer cost savings for homeowners, create new, local jobs for jobseekers, and protect the environment from polluting power sources. If more companies follow Google’s lead, we can dramatically reduce our nation’s dependence on polluting power.”

SolarCity has teamed with seven partners to finance $1.28 billion in solar projects. The Google deal represents the company’s largest partnership.

Google has now invested more than $680 million in a wide range of clean energy technologies. This marks Google’s first investment in residential solar.

“We believe the world needs a wide range of clean energy options in the future, each serving different needs,” wrote Rick Needham, Google’s Director of Green Business Operations, on the company’s blog. “We’ve already invested in several large-scale renewable energy projects, so we’re excited that this new partnership with SolarCity helps people power their homes directly with solar energy, too. We think ‘distributed’ renewable energy (generated and used right at home) is a smart way to use solar photovoltaic (PV) technology to improve our power system since it helps avoid or alleviate distribution constraints on the traditional electricity grid.”

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2011/06/google-invests-280-million-in-partnership-with-solarcity?cmpid=rss

It’s Time! It’s Time! Spoleto Arts Festival is Near!

May 16th, 2011

Buy your tickets, grab your binoculars, and prepare yourselves for the influx of tourists that will flock to our great city as we prepare for the annual Spoleto Arts Festival. Entering its 24th year, Spoleto celebrates the performing arts in opera, dance, theatre, classical music and jazz. For nearly 3 weeks multiple performances occur lending young artists the experience of the more seasoned directors, designers and performers.

Established back in 1977, founders Gian Carlo Menotti, Christopher Keene, and others selected Charleston, SC as the American counterpart to their annual Festival dei 2 Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. Historic Charleston, SC boasts theatres, churches and other performing spaces that offer the intimate yet enthusiastic city feel vital for the success of America’s premiere performing arts festival.

Spoleto begins the 17-day festival on Thursday, May 26, 2011 with a classical Khmer dance evolved into modern dance. Every day thereafter will boast performances in dance, music and theatre. For a complete schedule of the performing acts, you can check out http://www.spoletousa.org/category/date/.

A few acts we are sure to be checking out: Circa – Australia’s most innovative circus company, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones – a master of the banjo, Trombone Shorty – Grammy nominated contemporary jazz, and Khmeropedies I & II – classical Khmer dance evolved for modern age.

So, make sure you don’t miss out on America’s premiere performing arts festival: Spoleto Arts Festival 2011.

Want to Go Solar, but Financially Conscious? CharlestonWISE can help!

May 3rd, 2011

We know that the benefits of using solar power to heat your water or power your home are intriguing. You receive a lifetime of free power, except its not technically free. The materials and labor needed to go solar can often times be the prohibiting factor. You hear words like tax incentives, pay back and return on investment (ROI), but that doesn’t help your immediate need to come up with the initial investment, which can often times be more than you can afford. Well, you now have a new option: CharlestonWISE.

CharlestonWISE is a new low-interest rate financing option offered to businesses and homeowners in Charleston, SC. It is a financing option dedicated to those who are interested in making improvements to your home or commercial property to use more renewable energy and become energy efficient. To learn more about the CharlestonWISE program, please visit www.charlestonwise.com.

At Sustainable Energy Solutions we offer free site consultations so you can assess your energy and financial needs to make improvements on your home or commercial property. You can visit www.sccleanenerrgy.com to schedule you site consultation today.

Boeing: Not Just Airplanes Anymore

April 26th, 2011

In 2009, when Boeing announced the arrival of an assembly plant in North Charleston, SC, I bet the furthest thing from anyone’s mind was that Boeing would become the largest solar installation in the Southeast and the sixth largest in the nation. Local Charleston residents often discuss the size of the plant asking, “Have you seen how large the building is?” To put it in perspective, according to an article on www.TheTandD.com, 18,000 solar panels will cover the roof, spanning about the size of 8 football fields. That’s a lot of solar power. 

Leading the way in what we hope to become the norm, Boeing is committing to operating on 100% renewable energy. It’s a trend that we are seeing become more common, but with the size of Boeing’s building and the national recognition this project has received, we hope more companies take note and follow suit.

So, what does this mean to you? Being a business minded individual, it’s clear that Boeing feels using solar power will ultimately decrease their overhead, which in turn directly increases their bottom line. During this time of economical strain, finding ways to cut costs and save money is more important than ever. By using solar energy to heat your water or power your home, you will begin to receive FREE power, as the sun is most certainly not going anywhere.

Currently, the tax incentives are there for consumers to reduce the cost of installation and begin feeling the effects of the savings almost immediately. In South Carolina alone, you receive 55% back in tax incentives. With that kind of savings, why wouldn’t you look in to going solar? Sustainable Energy Solutions offers free site consultations so you can get a better idea of your potential savings. Sign up for one today and start saving money on your energy costs.

December in Charleston

November 30th, 2010

December starts tomorrow!  We can’t believe that we are right in the middle of the 2010 holiday season.  It feels like Christmas just ended, and here it is again.  Even though it’s been in the 70’s for the past few weeks, it’s time to start getting in the Christmas mood.  That’s why we put together this post.  There’s a lot going on in Charleston, so here are just a few things. 

We understand how hard it can be to buy presents for some people at Christmas.  We came across this page on Charleston City Paper’s website highlighting great gift ideas from local businesses.  Many of these gifts are great ideas for your family or friends that live out of town.  We also can’t stress enough how important it is to support local business in Charleston, so check this website out! 

Another great gift idea that will get you out of the house is the “Be a Tourist in Your Hometown” initiative.  The initiative, spearheaded by the Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, allows locals the chance to visit tourist attractions for a fraction of the normal price during the month of January.  The pass, which costs $20 for singles and $50 for families of four, offers admission to 28 attractions including the Carolina Ice Palace, Charles Towne Landing, the Gibbes Museum of Art, Magnolia Plantation, and the Powder Magazine. In addition, pass-holders get discounts at 22 local restaurants, including 82 Queen, Blu, Home Team BBQ, and the Library at Vendue.  This is a great opportunity to get out of the house and spend some quality time with the wife and kids in our beautiful city.  Click here for some more information.  

If you like Christmas shows and theater, we recommend the Charleston Christmas Special 2010 at Charleston Music Hall.  Produced and directed by Broadway performers Brad Moranz and Jennifer Moranz, this years show is guaranteed to get you and the whole family into the spirit of the season, as 20 of the country’s most talented singers, dancers, and musicians perform all your favorite Christmas songs. You can check out this website for more information on dates and ticket prices and this website for purchasing tickets.  

If you’ve lived in Charleston for any period of time, we’re sure you’ve heard of the Holiday Festival of Lights at James Island County Park.  If you’ve never seen the Festival of Lights, you have to check it out!  There’s also the Charleston Sleigh Ride in Charleston Harbor, the 5K Reindeer Walk/Run, and the Charleston Parade of Boats.  All these events, among others, are going on in December.  You can read more about each of these events here.  

Finally, the Charleston Tree Lighting Ceremony in Marion Square is December 4th from 4:30 – 6:00.  Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr. and Santa Claus are lighting the 60-foot Tree of Lights….A great way to kick off the Christmas season.  What about your tree?  Do you go with the fake tree you have to dig out of your attack or do you purchase a real one every year?  Do you put it up the day after Thanksgiving or are you still waiting?  Regardless of how you use December to celebrate Christmas, we hope you have some time to enjoy some of the great Charleston events and gift ideas provided in this post.  Happy December!

What’s Thanksgiving All About?

November 25th, 2010

Thanksgiving is today!  Who’s having turducken this Thanksgiving!?  Don’t sit at your computer and think we’re crazy, but apparently these things called turduckens are becoming more and more popular these days.  A turducken is a de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which is then stuffed with a de-boned chicken. The cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are filled with stuffing!  Now who’s hungry?  As good as that sounds, we’ll be sticking to the traditional turkey this year.  Maybe next year though.  

Turduckens aside, Thanksgiving is a day of delicious food, possibly a few drinks, and definitely some NFL football.  Just in case you’re wondering, the Green Bay Packers are visiting the Detroit Lions, the Oakland Raiders are at the Dallas Cowboys, and the New York Giants are visiting the Denver Broncos.  After stuffing yourself full of turkey, stuffing, and potatoes, let us know how much of those games you make it through.  

We also think it’s important to not forget the real reason for Thanksgiving and where it originated, so here is a brief history lesson.  As we all know, it began with the Pilgrims, but how much do you truly know about the Pilgrims?  The Pilgrims were a separatist Christian group that came to America in order to separate themselves from King James I who was persecuting anyone who didn’t conform to the Church of England’s views and authority.  “Separatist” sounds bad, but all it really means is that they didn’t like the way organized religion was going in England, and they wanted to separate themselves from it in order to practice what they believed in their own way. 

Led by William Bradford in 1620, the Pilgrims arrived in America (of course it wasn’t called America at the time) excited about their opportunity to practice their religion freely.  Upon arrival, they developed the Mayflower Compact, which established all members of the community as equal.  Despite their enthusiasm and excitement, about half of the pilgrims died that first winter due to lack of food and shelter.  The Pilgrims didn’t begin to prosper until the next year when Bradford assigned each family their own plot of land to work and manage independently.  

They found that they had more than they needed and began trading the surplus with the American Indians.  This allowed the Pilgrims to pay back their loans to England and multiply even faster due to the word getting back to England about the abundant and free life in America.  The Pilgrims feast celebrating their excess food is what we know today as Thanksgiving.  

For the Pilgrims however, this celebration has a very specific meaning.  The Pilgrims recognized that everything they had was a gift from God – even their sorrows.  Their Thanksgiving tradition was established to honor God and thank Him for His blessings and His grace.  So what does Thanksgiving mean to you?  What is it this Thanksgiving that you are thankful for?  Maybe it’s turduckens.  Maybe it’s NFL football on a full stomach of turkey.  Maybe it’s your family.  Whatever it is that you’re thankful for this year, we hope you have a great Thanksgiving!

Solar Energy: Information from the Manufacturer

November 23rd, 2010

Karen Allain is the marketing director for Alternate Energy Technologies, a solar thermal manufacturer in Jacksonville, Florida.  Sustainable Energy Solutions is using all AET equipment for their project at Camp St. Christopher installing solar hot water heaters and solar collectors.  We connected with Karen on Skype to ask her a few questions about AET and the future of renewable energy.     

As you’ll hear Paul say, South Carolina is much more reactive in raising tax credits and awareness compared with states like North Carolina and Florida.  While that is true, there are still companies like SES pushing for more funds for renewable energy in South Carolina to make the installation and purchase cheaper for you.  Karen has some interesting things to say about what Florida is doing on this front.  Why are some of us pushing so hard though?  Karen mentions that there is no more cost effective, efficient way to heat water than with thermal products.  That’s true whether you live in a single family residence or own a large office building.  

Check out our blog we recently posted titled “The Future is Now.”  This blog talks a lot about the specific things going on in our government, school, and community related to solar renewable energy.   What questions do you have?  Let us know so we can clear the air or make you better aware of your future with solar energy.

Meet Erica Myers

November 18th, 2010

Hello everyone!  We’re back with a few video blogs that we hope you find interesting and valuable.  Erica Myers, manager of renewable energy programs for the South Carolina Energy Office, met with us to discuss the $3.3 million dollar renewable energy grant program that awarded Camp St. Christopher funds for the solar hot water project we’ve been working on since summer.  

If you haven’t been following along with us, we’re finishing the final touches on a renewable energy project for Camp St. Christopher including 17 solar hot water heaters and 42 solar collectors.  The funds were awarded through the program Erica is discussing in this video.  You’ll hear Erica talk about the high return on investment of this project and the educational component.  We’re expecting the camp to save in the ballpark of $10,000 per year thanks to these solar water heaters! 

St. Christopher wasn’t the only non-profit awarded funds.  In total, there were 12 projects funded through the renewable energy grant.  The thing is, there’s still more funds being offered by our government for anyone who may be interested in investing in solar energy or some other form of renewable energy.  If that’s you, your company, or your non-profit, get in touch with us so we can help you through the process. 

You can connect with us by responding to this blog or by finding us on Facebook.

The Future is Now!

November 11th, 2010

As you know, we’ve been advocating solar hot water heaters on our blog for about four months now.  We hope you enjoyed all our video blogs documenting our installation of solar water heaters at Camp St. Christopher on Seabrook Island.  By now,  you probably understand that solar water heaters are available for large corporations as well as single family homes, and they result in savings regardless of the size of the system. 

However, maybe you didn’t know about all the colleges and universities making the move to solar energy.  A new installation of solar panels at the Herman W. Lay Physical Activities Center (PAC) at Furman University is expected to quadruple the solar energy output on campus!  The South Carolina Energy Office recently awarded Furman a $340,000 grant to install 304 photovoltaic solar panels at the PAC, expecting to save the university $9,300 per year based on today’s electric rates. 

In July of 2010, a four-collector solar thermal system was installed at Porter-Gaud.  This system, with 160 gallons of storage, feeds to tankless water heaters.  The South Carolina State Energy Office  has awarded Columbia College $193,530 in federal stimulus funds to install a solar thermal water-heating system for student dormitories and the college athletic center.  This 37 panel system is a part of the same grant awarded to Camp St. Christopher.  We are also set to install a system at Ben Hazel Elementary School in Hampton, SC!  They too were awarded grant money from the SC Energy Office.  By the way, there is still grant money available! 

Because of the increasing awareness and demand of solar energy, Trident Tech was awarded a grant to begin the first solar training programs in South Carolina.  Additionally, nearly all the technical colleges in South Carolina are designing programs that focus on energy efficiency and renewable energy.  Why would our colleges and universities be designing entire programs for renewable energy if renewable energy wasn’t the future of energy consumption in our country? 

Hopefully you checked out our last post about the government tax credits available for solar hot water heaters.   Just in case you didn’t, here’s a review of what we are seeing:

1.  The government is offering hundreds of thousands of dollars for businesses and homeowners to install solar water heaters.

2.  Colleges, Universities, Non-profits, and homeowners all over South Carolina are seeing the advantages, financial and environmental, of renewable solar energy and are taking action.

3.  Colleges are implementing solar training programs to begin training the next generation about how these systems work. 

If our government is pushing it and paying for it, colleges see the advantages of it, and training programs are being instituted around it, don’t you think that just maybe solar hot water is something worth looking into?  It really is the future.  Check it out on our website today.  Register for a free solar site inspection.  It’s honestly 100% free.  End of story!  Check it out!

Want $3,500 in April?

November 6th, 2010

As many of you may know, the U.S. Government has been encouraging energy efficiency for our nation more and more each year.  In order to incentivize a shift in energy consumption, there are countless tax credits and rebates available for renewable energy products, such as solar water heaters, for both business and homeowners.  DSIRE is the “Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency.”  

The purpose of this post is two-fold:  First and foremost to create awareness that many of these government tax credits are still available to you today.  While some expire in 2016, some of these tax credits don’t even have expiration dates.  One tax credit specific to our state is the Solar Energy Tax Credit for South Carolina.  South Carolina taxpayers may claim a credit of 25% of the costs of purchasing and installing a solar energy system or small hydropower system for heating water, space heating, and air cooling to name a few.  The most you can take in any year is $3,500, and for larger investments this can be carried forward for 10 years totaling $35,000!  

$3,500 is a big number!  There are also federal tax credits available as well.  One such credit is the Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credit.  Under this credit, a taxpayer may claim a credit of 30% of qualified expenditures for a system that serves a dwelling unit located in the United States and is used as a residence by the taxpayer. 

We hope you realize the large savings provided by these credits.  Hopefully you’ll be intrigued enough to investigate these two incentives and make a decision to move forward with a solar site inspection.  

As we mentioned earlier, there are two reasons for this post.  The second is simply to remind you that the tax year is almost over.  As hard as it is to believe, it is November!  Most of these incentives don’t expire for quite some time, but if you want to take advantage of the credit on your 2010 returns, the time to act is now!  With the purchase of a new solar water heating system, you’ll be on the road to lower energy bills and have $3,500 coming in the mail this April between the State and Federal Incentives.  

If this has sparked your interest but you aren’t sure how to get started, please let us know.  We can do a free inspection of your home and walk you through this entire process.  Look us up on Facebook or visit our website.  You can also respond to this blog post and we’ll get back in touch with you.  

Hopefully, you will jump on board.  We have.  Our government has.  Many residents of Charleston have already installed solar hot water heaters at their homes and businesses.  Will you be next?

Your Electric Bill is About to Increase!

October 28th, 2010

It has been approved.  Beginning October 30th, there will be a 2.3% increase in SCE&G’s retail electric rates.  That means that your electric bills will be going up just before we hit the holiday season.  

According to an article in the “Daniel Island News,” SCE&G filed for the increase in May under provisions of the South Carolina’s Base Load Review Act (BLRA).  The BLRA is a law that was enacted in 2007 to regulate how electric utilities build nuclear power plants.  Currently, SCE&G and Santee Cooper are working together to build two 1,117-megawatt nuclear electric-generating units in South Carolina.  The President of SCE&G, Kevin March, said that “paying financing costs while construction is ongoing lowers the cost of the new nuclear units” which is why they applied for the rate increase. 

There is no proof to back up the claim we are about to make, but we expect that the cost for electric energy will continue to increase.  There’s nothing that points to the fact that one day it will get any cheaper.  This rate increase is foreshadowing of more to come.  However, there is still a solution.  Solar energy….surprise, surprise! 

While electric prices are increasing, solar energy actually reduces energy costs.  At the same time, using solar energy reduces the amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.  You can check out additional advantages of solar energy on our website.  

The fact is, your electric bill will be increasing beginning on October 30, and there’s nothing that you can do or say to the government or electric company to change that.  You can however, begin to investigate the option of a solar hot water heater for your home.  Government incentives are still available for homes and businesses.  More environmentally friendly at a lower cost is what solar can do for your home.  Check it out!

Coal Companies: Up Against the Wall

October 21st, 2010

Awareness for solar energy and action for installing solar water heaters is definitely on the rise.  It decreases waste used from other energy sources such as coal and fossil fuels while being cheaper and less strenuous on your monthly energy expenses.  Who wouldn’t be excited and interested about solar energy? 

Well, there is a few people who aren’t.  Coal companies.  Check out this article written on August 14 about the battle between coal and solar energy.  As the article states, more resources need to be focused into making solar energy more affordable.  The fact is that congress is doing just that.  You can check out DSIRE’s (Database for State Incentives for Renewable Energy & Efficiency) website to review all the government tax rebates and incentives available in your state.  

If you still have questions, let us know.  We’ve worked with Camp St. Christopher and many homeowners in the greater Charleston area on installing their solar water heaters and panels.  Before we installed them, we always spend time educating them and answering their questions about savings, rebates, and our processes.  In fact, you can go to www.sccleanenergy.com to sign up for a free solar site inspection where we do a comprehensive analysis of your home absolutely free.  You can find tax information on our website as well.  Check it out today or simply comment on this blog with your questions.

Maintenance Free Warranty Service!

October 18th, 2010

Our systems are designed to be maintenance free!  Over the life of the system, there shouldn’t be any necessary replacements other than a few minor parts.  If, for some reason something does go wrong, we will be out to fix the problem immediately.  

That’s a huge benefit when you’re talking about 17 hot water systems and 44 solar panels!  Our same maintenance free guarantee that applies with Camp St. Christopher will apply with your business, non-profit, and even your home.  Just another perk of working with Sustainable Energy Solutions on your solar hot water heater installation project!

Giving Back Through Service

October 14th, 2010

Camp St. Christopher is all about service.  Meet Jason, a volunteer who has been working at the camp for years.  In this video, you’ll hear what he has to say about the camp and our renewable energy project in which we’re installing 42 solar collectors for 17 hot water heater systems.  

One of the best parts of this project for us is knowing the impact it will have on the camp and the people who visit it.  As Jason says, it’s an environmental education camp.  This project is a huge part of their future curriculum in educating children from all over the country about environmental responsibility and renewable energy.  We’re thankful we can be a part of educating the future on how to be more energy efficient.  

There are other things you can do daily to contribute to being more energy efficient.  It doesn’t always take the installation of a solar water heater.  Visit www.sccleanenergy.com and sign up for regular green saving tips in your email.  It’s free, and it can make a difference on our planet and in your pocketbook.  You can also check us out on our Sustainable Energy Solutions Facebook page where we regularly post energy saving tips and news.

The Huge Savings of Solar

October 11th, 2010

It’s September 1 at this point in the project.  Three full systems are complete with work on four other systems near completion.  We’re making some great progress on the solar hot water project at Camp St. Christopher.  Paul talks about the savings of just one of those systems, about $500 – $600 per year!  With 17 systems going in, the minimum amount expected to be saved is $10,000 per year for the camp. 

You may or may not know that St. Christopher Camp & Conference Center, is a great summer camp, has an educational environmental program, and hosts many amazing ministries.  They are a non-profit that has been around over 70 years.  $10,000 is a lot of money to anyone, but for a non-profit, it’s huge.  We’re thrilled to be a part of bringing these savings to an organization with such an amazing purpose and outreach. 

If you’re involved in a non-profit, you have to check out our story and relationship with Camp St. Christopher.  We documented the process in this previous blog on www.sccleanenergy.com.  We can provide the same help and potentially the savings for your facilities as well.  Check out www.sccleanenergy.com for contact information or simply respond to this blog.  We want to hear from you today!

What Hurricane?

October 7th, 2010

If you’ve been following our renewable energy project at Camp St. Christopher outside Charleston, SC, you may know that we’re installing a total of 42 solar collectors!  This video documents collectors #13 and #14.  Notice we are a little rushed because of the forecast.  Hurricane Earl was hammering the Gulf and had some 35 mph winds headed our way.  35 mph winds don’t mix well with walking up ladders with a solar collector in your hands. 

You’ll hear Greg talk about the 195 mph wind rating for our solar panels.  Basically, that means that the roof is going to be ripped off the cabin before the the solar panel is off the roof!  Check it out!

Solar Panels Up!

October 5th, 2010

We’re back with some more video blogs documenting the renewable solar energy project at Camp St. Christopher.  This is one of our favorite videos we created.  We’ll take a look at cabin #9 and show you what it looked like before and then what it looks like now.  If there was ever a video that showed every aspect of installing solar water panels in 2:28, this is it!  

You’ll see some of the tiny details and measurements that go into piping and retrofitting these units to a building.  If you have questions, we definitely want to know.  Solar water heating is beginning to catch on, but we understand it’s still somewhat of a foreign concept.  Respond to this blog with questions and comments, or check out all the valuable information we have on www.sccleanenergy.com.

October in Charleston

September 30th, 2010

One of the perks of working at Sustainable Energy Solutions is that we are headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina.  One thing about Charleston is that there is always something going on.  Our city, as many of you know, is a very historic city.  It was originally called Charles Town in 1670, then changed its name to Charleston in 1783.  There are two events happening this weekend celebrating that history that are worth checking out.  

The Fall Tours of Homes and Gardens began on September 23 and runs through October 24 from Thursday – Sunday every week.  Put on by The Preservation Society, this is the 34th annual Fall Tour.  The Preservation Society was founded in 1920 by a small group of Charlestonians concerned with the increasing threat of losing the architecture of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries in Charleston. They seek to educate, plan and encourage the preservation of Charleston’s architecture, history and culture every day.  This event is their biggest fundraiser every year and helps them continue preserving the history of our amazing city.  Tickets are $45 per person, per tour.  We suggest checking this out.  You will see some of the most beautiful and historic houses that our city and country have to offer.  Check out the Preservation Society’s website for information on purchasing tickets. 

If you are more of an artistic person, maybe you should check out the Moja Festival that also began last week and runs through October 3.  The Moja Festival is a celebration of African-American and Caribbean Arts.  The MOJA Arts Festival is a multi-disciplinary festival produced and directed by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural.  The Festival highlights the many African-American and Caribbean contributions to western and world cultures. MOJA’s wide range of events include visual arts, classical music, dance, gospel concert, jazz concert, poetry, R&B concert, storytelling, theatre, children’s activities, traditional crafts, ethnic food, and much, much more.  Nearly half of MOJA’s events are admission-free, while some are offered at ticket prices ranging from $5 – $20. 

Both the Fall Tours of Homes and Gardens and the Moja Festival were both selected by the Southeast Tourism Society as Top 20 Events in 2009.  We’re lucky to have these kinds of things in our own backyard.  We hope you check them out!

Carl Voeker Drops By

September 27th, 2010

One of the initiatives of Seabrook Island, the location of Camp St. Christopher, is to maintain the native flora rather than becoming a very suburbanized community.  That’s how we met Carl Voeker.  Carl is a volunteer in Seabrook’s property owners association and is on the environmental committee.  

Carl came out to talk with us during one of our solar energy system installs.  Check out what he has to say regarding how Seabrook feels about the solar hot water heaters being installed at Camp St. Christopher.  

By the way, Carl was right about recouping your investment on a solar hot water heater system for your home.  You don’t have to be a huge non-profit to cash in on the benefits of solar energy.  Sustainable Energy Solutions works with many homeowners to install smaller units built for single family residences.  If you’re interested in learning more or curious as to whether you can save money by installing a system, visit www.sccleanenergy.com and register for a free solar site inspection.  We’ll come to your house absolutely free and let you know if we can help you out.

A Break in the Weather

September 23rd, 2010

You’ll notice that our last post was describing what happens inside a building when a new renewable solar energy system is installed.  There was a reason for that….the weather wasn’t too cooperative for outside work!  Once the Charleston rain subsided, we were able to get back outside under the sun.  

This next post will show you how the plumbing and piping works on the outside of the house.  We’re back working on Jaime’s Lodge, the biggest single building we’re working on at Camp St. Christopher.  This project includes 8 solar panels and 480 gallons of water storage!  As Paul said, we’re thankful for the help of Sean Roberson on this project.

How Solar Panels Work

September 21st, 2010

The next few video posts will be focused on the largest installation we’ll be doing for Camp St. Christopher.  Because it’s the largest system we’re installing, it also produces the largest savings in terms of dollars.  This building requires 8 solar collectors and 480 gallons of water storage.  Remember, all these buildings we’re installing solar energy systems on have always heated water.  So what do we do with the old water heaters once we’ve installed a solar water heating system?  

This post will show you how we’ll still be able to use the tanks from the old systems.  Paul will also explain how it is that water is actually heated and then available when someone takes a shower.  Pretty interesting stuff!  Let us know what you think or if you have questions.  You can also check out our How Does Solar Work video on www.sccleanenergy.com.

S.C. Pushing Renewable Energy

September 18th, 2010

“New energy-efficiency standards in South Carolina have the power to create 22,000 new jobs in the next 15 years, six times the number to come from the Boeing Co.’s expansion in North Charleston, efficiency promoters said.” 

That quote comes from an article published in the Post & Courier on August 25.  The South Carolina Businesses for Clean Energy organization held a roundtable discussion in late August discussing ways to help promote the interests of South Carolina’s businesses to create new energy policies for the state.   

The push for renewable energy is becoming more and more urgent everyday.  Currently, 30 states have renewable energy policy standards in place.  South Carolina is in the process of talks, and we’re proud of Charleston leaders including Glenn McConnell and Paul Campbell who have been leading discussions on how to meet the state’s energy needs.  

As we move towards consumption of more renewable energy as opposed to using coal and fossil fuels, the benefits will be three-fold.  First, individuals and businesses will save loads of money on monthly bills associated with energy consumption.  Second, the use of renewable energy avenues such as solar energy is much more environmentally friendly.  Third, as the awareness increases and more people begin to “go green” with regard to energy consumption, more and more jobs will be created in an economy where jobs are in high demand.  

The article suggests that an ideal energy policy requires legislative support on many different levels including the need for South Carolina to invest in its higher education institutions, including technical colleges, to develop research and a base of expertise in new graduates. 

At Sustainable Energy Solutions, we completely agree with that statement and agree that the push for renewable energy needs to become more urgent and more publicized.  We also believe that you can be a big part of that push.  As more homeowners and businesses begin to install solar energy products, the awareness WILL increase. 

That’s why we  are currently offering FREE solar site inspections on your home.  No strings attached.  There’s no hidden charges.  There’s no taking down of credit card information just in case, and there’s no obligation whatsoever.  We will come to your house and do a site inspection completely free.  Yes, we do this because we sell solar energy systems and it sometimes results in sales, but we also realize the local and global benefits of a community that uses renewable energy.  

When it comes to renewable energy, SES is pushing for it aling with our local, state, and national governments through discussions, research, grants and tax incentives.  It must be important!  So we’re not going to ask you if you’re pushing for it, but rather, are you open to it?  If so, let us know by responding to this blog or visiting www.sccleanenergy.com and signing up for a free solar site inspection.

The Grant Process

September 16th, 2010

By now, you’ve seen the installation of multiple systems out at Camp St. Christopher.  For us, it’s been an awesome project to be a part of.  Like Paul says, over the next 30 years, a quarter of a million people will experience the first hand effects of this project.  

17 solar water heating systems on 15 buildings and over $111,000 in grant money didn’t come easy.  While it may sound too good to be true for many non-profits out there, this project is evidence that it’s not.  The purpose of this video is to inform you of what the process looked like before we actually started the installation.  You’ll hear about everything we did to get St. Christopher in a position to be awarded the funds. 

After they were awarded the grant, there was even more work to be done before we could actually begin the installation of the solar energy systems.  You can read about that process in a previous blog we posted.  

What you need to know now is that there is still more grant money out there for non-profits to sign up for alternative energy projects, and we can help you out from the grant writing process, to approval, to legal issues, and final installation just like we did with Camp St. Christopher.  

If you’re interested in hearing about how your company or non-profit can experience the benefits of renewable energy on the government’s dime, get in touch with Sustainable Energy Solutions today.  Look us up on Facebook or respond to this blog.  You really do have an opportunity to be government funded for an entire solar energy system.  Even if it sounds too good to be true, and it may be, it really can happen.  We hope to hear from you soon. 

Tour of Camp St. Christopher

September 14th, 2010

Hopefully you found our last post describing how a solar energy system works interesting.  We’ll be installing systems just like the one in the last video all over Camp St. Christopher, a non-profit camp and retreat center run by the Dioces of South Carolina.  Our hope is that you’ll follow along with this project, ask questions and make comments.  

This next video was designed to give you a spin around the camp and a better understanding what the layout and homes look like that we’ll be installing renewable solar energy systems on.  That’s Paul, one of our Sustainable Energy Solution’s founders and managing partners.  Notice what he says about how many people use the camps facilities regularly.  That’s a lot of people!  The addition of these systems will not only help educate those that come to the camp on solar energy, they will also help St. Christopher save hundreds of thousands of dollars on energy bills over the life of the systems.  

It’s a cool thing to be a part of.  We hope you’ll have a better visual picture of what the camp looks like after watching this video.  Don’t forget to check us out on Facebook!

St. Christopher Install Up Close

September 9th, 2010

We hope you enjoyed our first video blog post documenting our renewable energy project at Camp St. Christopher.  Have you ever wondered what a solar panel is made of?  Bet you didn’t know it was copper!  Have you ever wondered how a solar energy system works?  Check out this video blog.  We’ll explain some of the steps involved in creating free hot water via solar energy.  We’ll also take a closer look at our first residential install at the Camp and try to teach you a little about how one of our renewable energy systems actually work.

We also want to encourage you to check out our website, www.SCCleanEnergy.com or visit us on Facebook.  We make sure to post interesting and useful facts for you like our “7 Ways in 7 Days to be Greener” post.  You will also find pertinent news and information from the renewable energy industry that has an affect on you.

Camp St. Christopher Video

September 7th, 2010

Welcome to our first video blog documenting our Camp St. Christopher renewable energy project!  Did you know that more solar energy hits the earth in one day that all of humanity can use in one year?  That solar energy will be used for Camp St. Christopher to heat their water through our solar water heaters.  

This video documents the installation of our first unit at the camp.  St. Christopher brings over 10,000 people every year, all of which will experience solar heated hot water thanks to this project.  And of course, Camp St. Christopher itself will save hundreds of thousands of dollars thanks to the installation of the water heaters. 

We’ll periodically be posting videos to keep you up to date on our installation progress.  We hope you’ll follow along with us and let us know what you think or what questions you have about the project.

St. Christopher Project Updates

August 23rd, 2010

We introduced a large project we’re working on with Camp St. Christopher in a previous blog.  Camp St. Christopher is a non-profit complete conference center on the Atlantic Coast just south of Charleston.  It offers over 300 acres of beach, marsh and maritime forest and multiple facilities including meeting and conference centers, lodging, and worship centers.  We’re excited about keeping you up-to-date on our progress and informing you about how this project was made possible. 

The process began last August when the State Energy Office put out information that there were going to be $2.9 million available in grants for alternative energy projects for non-profits.  As soon as we found out, we immediately started getting in touch with local Charleston non-profit organizations to inform them about the opportunity.  When St. Christopher responded about being interested, we setup a meeting for late September 2009 and went out to view the grounds and start planning.

The RFP from the State was issued in early September.  The government was looking at multiple factors before approving a non-profit like St. Christopher for the grant.  These included visibility of project, potential job creation, overall benefit in terms of investment and payback of the project (they needed a minimum return of $2.50 dollars to $1 spent). 

The grant writing process was long and hard, but St. Christopher didn’t have to worry about that.  Sustainable Energy Solutions took care of making sure the grant was completed correctly and on time.  Anything we were able to do to make the process easier for them, we did!

After submitting the grant, we found out in March that St. Christopher was awarded the money!  After that, it was really time for us to get moving.  It took till June to actually get the contracts squared away with the state.  We then went through the permitting process.  We put together architectural drawings done by the camp director, roof mounting drawings, basically everything that needed to be done to the camp to get it ready for installation.  The buildings needed some retrofits to make the project possible.  For example, the roofing mounts had to be able to withstand 130mph winds with 150 mph gusts…..just one of many details to iron out.  We were permitted by the 2nd week of July and started work the next week.   

Needless to say, the past year has been full of paperwork and phone calls, red tape and patience.  One of our main goals when working with a non-profit to obtain funding or a grant is to shoulder as much of the work as possible.  So far, it’s been a very successful project with St. Christopher. 

Stay tuned in weeks to come for pictures and videos on the construction, retrofits, and installation.  We want you to follow along with this project with us.  Also, if you’re involved in a non-profit, there are still government moneys available for your organization.  Even if you aren’t sure if you qualify, get in touch with us and we’ll help you get moving forward on an alternative energy project.

Advantages of Net Metering

August 20th, 2010

The Green Power Network (GPN) provides news and information on green power markets and related activities. They provide up-to-date information on green power providers, product offerings, consumer protection issues, and policies affecting green power markets as well as relevant papers, articles and reports. The Green Power Network is operated and maintained by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.

The reason for green power marketing is to provide consumers with options to purchase their electricity from environmentally preferred sources. The term “green power” is used to define power generated from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, geothermal, hydropower and various forms of biomass.  According to the GPN, in many survey’s, customers have expressed a preference and willingness to pay more, if necessary, for cleaner energy sources.

If being environmentally friendly isn’t enough incentive for you to begin researching Sustainable Energy’s solar energy products, maybe Net Metering will push you over the edge.  Net metering is a low-cost, easily administered method of encouraging customer investment in renewable energy technologies.

Net metering enables customers to use their own power generation to offset their consumption over a billing period by allowing their electric meters to turn backwards when they generate electricity in excess of the their demand.  Every utility company in SC runs its net metering program a different way, but essentially you can bank the extra power your Solar Photovoltaic System produces during day and use it when the system isn’t producing at night or on a rainy day.

If you have questions about Net Metering, let us know.  We’d be happy to answer any questions you have.  If you can see the pure benefits of solar energy and Net Metering, give us a call or visit www.sccleanenergy.com for a free solar site inspection.

Tax Incentives for Renewable Energy

July 19th, 2010

Have you given thought to moving towards a more energy efficient lifestyle in Charleston but thought the cost was too high for the rewards?  Maybe you haven’t even considered installing a solar water heater because your pocket book just can’t handle it.  If this is you, there’s something we’d like to tell you about.  The government offers tax credits for anyone who wants to install energy efficient equipment into their home, and solar water heaters qualify!

Energy Star is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping Americans save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.  Results are already adding up. Americans saved enough energy in 2009 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 30 million cars while saving nearly $17 billion on their utility bills.

These tax credits are available for homeowners as well as businesses.  For homeowners, energy efficient choices can save families about a third on their energy bill with similar savings of greenhouse gas emissions.  For businesses, a strategic approach to energy management can produce twice the savings for the bottom line and the environment.  Check out this website for a complete list of incentives available.

It’s very simple when it comes to obtaining the tax credits.  Simply save your receipts and the Manufacturer’s Certification Statement for your records.  When you fill out your 2010 tax returns next April, submit Form 5695 with your taxes.

The tax credit applies from anything to insulation and roofs to wind turbines and solar energy systems.  You can check out www.energystar.gov to get information on the amount of savings for each tax credit.  For solar energy systems, the government will cover 30% of the cost with no upper limit!  That’s a nice chunk of savings back in your pocket, plus the savings on your energy bill every month!  Oops, almost forgot.  South Carolina gives you a 25% tax credit on top of the 30% from the government.  That’s 55% off the cost of your solar energy system!

Sustainable Energy Solutions has the experience and capabilities to partner with you to make your home or business more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.  If you don’t know exactly where to start, get in touch with us or simply respond to this blog and we’ll contact you.  The entire process is actually a lot easier than it may seem.  You can be on the road to lower energy costs within the month.

Camp St. Christopher Project

July 13th, 2010

Sustainable Energy Solutions is very excited to announce our Camp St. Christopher project!  St. Christopher is a complete conference center on the Atlantic Coast just south of Charleston.  It offers over 300 acres of beach, marsh and maritime forest and multiple facilities including meeting and conference centers, lodging, and worship centers.

St. Christopher Camp and Conference Center was recently awarded an $111,500 stimulus fund to install 17 solar hot water systems on 15 housing structures and in the conference center.  In addition to the awarded funds, Camp St. Christopher and Sustainable Energy Solutions have also pledged in-kind contributions of almost $45,000, which will go towards building retrofits. The new solar systems will be incorporated into student orientations, coursework and conference planning tours. Approximately 400,000 teachers, students, and visitors will study and/or use these systems which will help the center save more than $363,000 over the life of the project. 

The stimulus was awarded by the South Carolina Energy Office (SCEO) who provides a broad range of resources designed to help citizens, businesses, and public entities save energy and money.  In recent years, the SCEO has helped save South Carolina over $250 million through public and private energy-saving measures and new energy technologies

This project is a true team effort between the State Energy Office, St. Christopher and Sustainable Energy Solutions to install these 17 solar hot water systems, and we couldn’t be more excited to head up this project.  We have been instrumental in the application process and planning.  We’re now beginning implementation.  We plan to use our blog to keep you updated along the way with information, photos, and video on our progress, so stay tuned! 

Also, we have access to MANY state and government offered grants for non profit organizations for renewable energy projects.  If you’re involved in a non profit and are interested in hearing about how SES can help you obtain funding for renewable energy similar to St. Christopher, respond to this blog and we’ll get in touch with you right away.  You can also visit www.sccleanenergy.com or contact us directly.

Welcome to the SES Blog

July 1st, 2010

Welcome to the Sustainable Energy Solutions blog!  We’re excited you stopped in to check us out.  At Sustainable Energy Solutions, we design and install high performance, clean, affordable, maintenance free solar water heating systems that provide a lifetime of free hot water.

Our goal is to bring alternative energy technologies and expert energy consultation to homes and businesses in the area. The driving force behind our company is the desire to spread environmental consciousness by promoting responsible energy consumption practices. At Sustainable Energy Solutions we firmly believe natural energy creates clean living, and that these practices will help pave the way to a more energy conscious future.

This blog is designed to do just that; spread environmental consciousness by telling you about responsible energy consumption practices to create a more energy conscious future for the Lowcountry.

We’ll use this blog to relay information regarding government tax incentives for homeowners and non-profits, news about clean energy, as well as a reporting tool.  We are very excited to chronolog two exciting projects we’re working. One is with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and the other with Camp St. Christopher on Seabrook Island. We can’t wait to bring you more information, pictures and regular updates on these great projects… stay tuned!

We would love your feedback and comments on both our posts and what you would like to hear about in the future.  Respond to any of our posts and we’ll get in touch with you!  Or contact us directly.

St. Christopher Camp

May 18th, 2010

St. Christopher Camp and Conference receives full grant award to install Solar Water Heaters with the help of Sustainable Energy Solutions.
St. Christopher Camp News Release

Charleston Outdoor Adventures

May 18th, 2010

Check out Charleston Outdoor Adventures, the Lowcountry’s newest Ecoadventure Outfitter.