Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Why China is building a massive solar power plant in the middle of nowhere?

FROM: QUARTZ by Todd Woody 12.31.13  Back in 2009 when China announced it would build the world’s largest photovoltaic power plant in the Mongolian desert, it choose a US company, First Solar, to construct the 2,000-megawatt (MW) project. Yesterday, China unveiled plans for another huge solar power plant, a 1,000 MW project in the remote Xinjiang Region. This time, though, a homegrown company, Trina Solar, won the contract.  That marks a significant shift in the global solar market, one that will accelerate in 2014. Over the past two years, China has emerged as one of the biggest markets for photovoltaic panels in addition to being the world’s solar manufacturing hub. In an effort to wean itself from coal-fired power polluting its cities, the government this year announced ambitious renewable energy targets, including the construction of 10,000 MW of solar projects.  The new policy came as China’s photovoltaic panel makers faced falling revenues and multibillion-dollar deficits after embarking on a manufacturing boom that allowed them to corner the global solar market but sent prices plummeting. Projects such as the power plant in Turpan Prefecture announced yesterday help soak up China’s excess manufacturing capacity while creating jobs for local workers. As part of the deal with local government, Trina will build a factory in Turpan.  

Monday, December 30, 2013

Utilities fight back as rooftop solar heats up

http://bloom.bg/1g3jWt4 By Mark Chediak, Christopher Martin and Ken Wells Bloomberg News If you wonder why America’s utilities are rattled by the explosive growth in rooftop solar — and are pushing back — William Walker has a story for you. A flip-flop wearing Walker stands in his driveway pointing to a ubiquitous neighborhood feature – solar panels on the roofs of five of six houses nearby. He lives in Ewa Beach, a development on the sultry leeward coast of the Hawaiian island of Oahu built on land cleared of sugar cane fields. Shade is scarce and residents here call their homes “hot boxes,” requiring almost round-the-clock air conditioning. Hawaii, which imports pricey oil to power its electricity grid, has the highest utility rates in the nation — at 37 cents a kilowatt-hour, they’re more than double California and triple the national average. With bills for 1,600 square foot houses like these running as high as $400 a month, solar is seen as less a green statement than an economic no-brainer given state and federal tax credits for as much as 65 percent of installation costs. Almost every day since Walker and his wife Mi Chong moved in last April, solar installers came rapping on the door, hawking a rooftop system. They finally bought one: an 18-panel, $35,000 installation producing 5.9 kilowatts of power financed for $305 a month. It would be connected to the grid under a system known as net metering that essentially lets residents deduct the value of their solar-produced electricity from their power bill and even be paid for electricity in excess of that.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Google Glass Does Solar Panel Installs in the California Sun

WIRED Magazine. By Klint Finley Michael Chagala. Photo: Sullivan Solar. You might think of Google Glass as one of those tech creations that’s more intriguing than practical. You might see computerized eyewear as a Silicon Valley nerd fantasy that’s unlikely to change the way the rest of the world works. You would not be alone. But that’s not how Michael Chagala sees it. Chagala is the director of IT at Sullivan Solar Power, which is slipping Google Glass onto the heads of the field technicians who install its solar panels atop homes and businesses across Southern California. Because every building is unique, these field techs need ready access to all sorts of specs and plans describing the job at hand. In the past, they’ve carried three-ring binders onto the roof, but those are so hard to handle — particularly when the wind is blowing pages. They’ve lugged laptops up there too, but that comes with its own problems, including, well, the sun. So Chagala and company are switching to Glass, allowing their techs to browse documents simply by looking through the eyewear. For the most part, they can do this without using their hands — though you do have to tap the side of the glasses to move from doc to doc. “When you have someone on a roof, safety is your primary concern,” Chagala says. “Having both hands free is significant.” Though Google Glass has limitations — including an undeniable geekiness — it can be quite useful. Some are exploring how it can serve people with autism and other disabilities. Tech outfits such as Workday and Fiberlink are building Glass apps for corporate workers. Now Sullivan Solar is taking the digital eyewear into the world of blue collar work. Lead by Chagala, the company has built a custom Glass app that taps into a database housing its customer records, information about particular job sites, and its inventory of parts and equipment. But its technicians also will use other tools available with the eyewear. A field worker can, say, call headquarters with questions or transmit live video of a roof installation to get some feedback.
See original article

Monday, December 23, 2013

Are Utilities Wilting From Heat of Solar Competition?

FROM National Journal. By Clare Foran. December 23, 2013. Solar energy has become increasingly powerful. Its rise to the top, however, hasn't been without a few bumps along the way. Regulatory battles over solar power payment models played out in several states this year. And as the dust settles, solar providers are claiming victory. Utilities, on the other hand, are trying to reframe the conversation entirely by insisting they aren't an enemy of solar. Much of the debate so far has centered around a policy on the books in 43 states called net-metering. Net-metering allows rooftop solar owners to sell excess electricity back to the grid, with utilities issuing full retail credit to the customer based on the amount of power they provide. Utilities have started pushing to scale back or get rid of net-metering, calling it a subsidy that solar has outgrown. Solar-industry groups, on the other hand, have resisted the fight to dismantle net-metering and say it's an equitable way of paying for power generation. In a series of high-profile cases this year in Arizona, California, Idaho, and Louisiana, state lawmakers and regulatory commissioners sided with industry and moved to either uphold or strengthen net-metering. "The national story right now is quite clear," said Bryan Miller, the president of the Alliance for Solar Choice, a solar-advocacy organization. "There have now been four major verdicts on net-metering, and in every case proposed regulatory changes to the policy have been rejected." A second point of contention has been whether utilities should charge solar customers extra. Utilities say additional fees are needed to defray the cost of grid upkeep. Opponents say they're unfair.
See original article

Friday, December 20, 2013

The Pros Pick Four Solar Stocks For 2014

By Tom Konrad, Contributor. FORBES. 12/20/2013. With the average solar stock having doubled in 2013, it’s much harder to find bargains in the solar industry than it was a year ago. But two of the professional green money managers think there is still value to be found. When I asked them for their top three green stock picks for 2014, they came back with two solar picks each. You can also read about my panel’s green income stock picks and green information technology picks the earlier articles in this series. Shawn Kravetz is the solar expert on my panel. He is President of Esplanade Capital LLC, a Boston based investment management company one of whose funds is focused on solar and companies impacted by the emergence of solar. Last year, he had the top pick of all my panelists, Amtech Systems (NASD:ASYS), which was up 160%. This year, Kravetz says “Finding extreme values is challenging” but he still was able to find two that he considers “quite compelling.” Shawn Kravetz His first pick is Meyer Burger (Swiss:MBTN), a “Leading solar equipment manufacturer whose business has finally troughed.” Kravetz thinks the company’s business is about to make a “substantial turn” for the better, but the stock has hardly advanced despite the large increase in price for other solar stocks. Even after a strong 2013, Kravetz says “Global solar installations will likely grow 20% in 2014. With demand finally nearing an equilibrium with cost efficient supply, this will drive leading players to modernize and expand. The hangover of the solar nuclear winter and a poorly timed acquisition of competitor Roth & Rau is ending, leaving Meyer Burger extremely well positioned for 2014.”
See rest of article

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Utility-Scale Solar Power To Be Cost Competitive With Natural Gas By 2025

By William Pentland, Contributor. 12/3/13.  Utility-scale solar power is poised to become cost competitive with natural gas by 2025, according to a new report by Lux Research. The report, “Cheap Natural Gas: Fracturing Dreams of a Solar Future,” evaluated the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for unsubsidized solar, natural gas, and hybrid solar/gas technologies through 2030 under a range of future natural gas price scenarios and across 10 different parts of the world. The bottom-up cost model assumed a 39% decrease in utility-scale system costs by 2030 and a delay in shale gas production due to anti-fracking policies in Europe and high capital costs in South America. The key take-away: the LCOE for unsubsidized utility-scale solar globally will be only about $0.02/kWh above the price of power produced by combined cycle gas turbines by 2025. “On the macroeconomic level, a ‘golden age of gas’ can be a bridge to a renewable future as gas will replace coal until solar becomes cost competitive without subsidies,” said Ed Cahill, an associate at New York City-based Lux Research and the lead author of the report. “On the micro-economic level, solar integrated with natural gas can lower costs and provide stable output.”
See original article

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Move over wind? Solar energy market ‘exploding’ in Iowa

Posted on 12/18/2013 by Karen Uhlenhuth Workers install solar panels on a hog farm near Grinnell, Iowa earlier this year. (Photo by Moxie Solar) Iowa is well established as a national leader in wind energy and biofuels. And now the state is poised for serious growth in solar as well. “The market is exploding in Iowa,” says Tim Dwight, a former Iowa Hawkeye and NFL star who has become one of his home state’s most visible solar energy advocates. Homeowners, farmers, businesses and at least one school district in Iowa are going solar. Also, over the past year, several municipal utilities and rural electric co-ops have put up solar arrays, inviting customers to buy a share of the power generated. “Solar growth in Iowa is where wind was in the first decade of the 2000s,” says Bill Haman of the Iowa Energy Center. “We saw an explosion in wind.” In Frytown, just outside Iowa City, the Farmers Electric Cooperative has been steadily adding on to a community solar project established on its property in 2011. And a few weeks ago, the co-op announced plans to put together a 750-kilowatt solar farm, which would be the largest solar-energy project in the state. It’s projected to meet about 15 percent of the co-op’s demand for power. In September, the Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities put an 18-kilowatt array on the roofs of several buildings at its headquarters in Ankeny. And in November, several organizations snagged a $1 million grant from the Department of Energy to streamline local permitting and zoning codes, and improve standards for connecting solar generation to the grid. The aim: to cut the time and costs of adding solar generation. State lawmakers who attended a recent solar tour have pledged to help.
See original article

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Haiti switches on to solar power as sustainable electricity solution

Tuesday 17 December 2013.  By Rashmee Roshan Lall in Port-au-Prince.  Solar energy is clean, green and can help to solve Haiti's power crisis. Now the world's largest solar hospital is lighting the way.  The new hospital in Mirebalais has 1,800 rooftop solar panels. Solar energy could offer a solution to Haiti's power problems. Mirebalais is just an hour's drive north-east of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, but in terms of technological distance travelled, the town might as well be on another planet. On moonless nights, much of the capital is dark; its shacks and makeshift roadside stalls are lit only by flickering candles or small kerosene lamps. It could hardly be otherwise in a country where only about 20% of the 10 million population are estimated to have access to electricity, the lowest percentage in the Caribbean. But Mirebalais is home to a new, well-lit public hospital that can hum with activity round the clock. Seven months after the world's largest solar hospital opened its doors, its 1,800 rooftop solar panels have generated enough energy to charge more than 19,000 electric cars, run six surgical suites, attend to 60,029 patients and safely deliver more than 800 babies. "The number of deliveries is a pretty substantial fact considering that approximately three-fourths of women in rural Haiti give birth at home. The hospital is helping to meet a substantial unmet need," said Jeff Marvin, of Partners in Health, which built the Mirebalais facility in partnership with Haiti's health ministry. For Haiti, the hospital is a shining symbol of what the future might look like, powered by the island's plentiful sunshine. More than 60% of electricity generation is unsustainably based on imported diesel, mainly from Venezuela. The overwhelming majority of Haitians rely on charcoal and wood for fuel, contributing to rampant tree-felling that has reduced forest cover to the perilous level of 2%. The search for cleaner, greener alternatives has become increasingly urgent. This is driving an initiative to literally light up Haitian lives, especially in poor off-grid areas such as the camps that sprang up around Port-au-Prince after the devastating 2010 earthquake, as well as deep in the rural hinterland.
See original article here

Monday, December 16, 2013

Commercial Solar Hot Water Rebates & Tax Credits - Yields Profits for Apartment Owners in SoCal

By Ted Bavin. December 16th, 2013. For the first time in history, commercial solar hot water systems will pay for themselves in 1-3 years, yielding huge cost savings over gas. This is due to simultaneous incentives (cash rebate and tax credit) now being offered by the state of California and the Federal government. Ted Bavin, owner of All Valley Solar in Los Angeles, a true solar expert with over 30 years in the business, states, “this perfect storm of incentives has aligned to make this the most profitable time for businesses and apartment owners to invest in solar hot water systems. By the end of 2013, All Valley Solar will have secured over $940,000 in CSI rebates for SoCalGas customers; and this will continue to be a very popular program into 2014.” Eligibility for the commercial solar rebate includes: owners of multi-family apartment buildings and condos, schools, government buildings, military barracks, restaurants, Laundromats, food processors and other commercial hot water users. All Valley Solar are the solar experts, we are listed on google search under the keywords: solar Los Angeles, solar North Hollywood, solar hot water Los Angeles, solar thermal los angeles, solar companies los angeles, los angeles solar installer, los angeles solar panels.

So let’s take a look at how the economics of this “perfect storm” of incentives works. First, the Gas Company, through the California Solar Initiative, pays an average of 50% to 60% of the total cost (received within 30 days of completion). Then the IRS pays you back another 30% as a tax credit, even toward AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax). Finally, bonus depreciation lets you write half of it off in 2013, with the other half depreciated over the next five years.  But in order to reap these benefits, the first step is to find a competent solar thermal contractor. Nine out of ten Internet search results will yield solar electric contractors who know little to nothing about solar thermal… but they may be hungry for business, so beware!  The CSI Thermal website (http://www.csithermal.com) has a map showing all the rebated projects in your area and the company that installed each system. Those companies may be looked up on the CA Contractors State License Board website (https://www2.cslb.ca.gov/OnlineServices/CheckLicenseII/checklicense.aspx) to ascertain their experience, specialty and whether there are any active complaints against them.  Bavin says, “look for a company with a C46 license (solar) with at least 15 years of experience, not just a C10 (electrical), C36 (plumbing), C39 (roofing), or B (general). Keep in mind, however, that the C46 (solar) license encompasses both thermal and photovoltaic electric solar disciplines, and most contractors are masters of one or the other...not usually both.” Bavin also suggests that “when hiring a company to install a solar hot water system, ask for a list of at least ten Thermal multi-family installation references and contact at least three.” Additional Tip: the six digit CA State License number is sequential from date of licensing, so the lower the number the longer the experience.
See rest of article

Friday, December 13, 2013

Wearable Solar Clothing: fashion with embedded solar panels to charge your cell phone

. Wearable Futures: flaps in this range of clothing by Dutch fashion designer Pauline van Dongen open up to reveal solar panels, enabling the wearer to become a walking mobile phone charger (+ movie).  Pauline van Dongen collaborated with Christiaan Holland from the HAN University of Applied Sciences and solar energy expert Gert Jan Jongerden on the Wearable Solar project, which aims to integrate photovoltaic technology into comfortable and fashionable clothing. "Wearable Solar is about integrating solar cells into fashion, so by augmenting a garment with solar cells the body can be an extra source of energy," Van Dongen told Dezeen at the Wearable Futures conference in London. "It's really about the true integration of technology and fashion, which can transcend the realm of gadgets."  The dress features 72 flexible cells attached to panels on the front of the garment that can be folded outwards to capture sunlight. Forty-eight rigid crystal solar panels are incorporated into leather flaps on the jacket's shoulders and waist so they can be revealed when the sun shines and hidden when not in use. A standard charging plug connects the solar panels directly to a mobile device, and Van Dongen claimed that a garment exposed to direct sunlight for one hour could capture enough energy to charge a typical smartphone to 50 percent capacity.
See rest of original article

Thursday, December 12, 2013

2013 is a ‘record-shattering’ year for solar power in America

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Bakersfield Saluted As One Of Calif's Top Solar Cities

 . BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - While gas prices are on the rise, it is no surprise that people are turning to alternatives.  Bakersfield is among the top cities in the state when it comes to installing solar panels.  According to a report by the website Sunible, Bakersfield had t he second-most solar installations in the first quarter of the year, right behind San Diego and ahead of Fresno. Los Angeles was in fourth. Sunible reports nearly 4,000 homes in Kern County used solar power and many of the leading solar cities are modest median-income communities.
Posted: 12/10/2013  Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today saluted Bakersfield for becoming one of California’s top solar cities. PG&E also recognized its customer, First Congregational Church, UCC, whose solar installation was instrumental in Bakersfield’s ranking. The finding, recently announced in an Environment California report, rated Bakersfield 6th in the state in solar generation with 16 megawatts (MW). First Congregational Church, UCC, one of 1,943 PG&E customers that installed solar in Bakersfield, contributes to Bakersfield’s solar generation by supplying 44 kilowatts of clean, solar power to its facilities. First Congregational Church, UCC will receive $50,000 in rebate incentives from PG&E through the California Solar Initiative (CSI) program. “With our new solar installation, we are realizing real energy savings through a clean and reliable source of energy,” said Pastor David Stabenfeldt, First Congregational Church, UCC. “This would not have been possible without rebate incentives provided by PG&E and the California Solar Initiative. We are proud to help Bakersfield become one of California’s top 10 solar cities.” By interconnecting solar customers, PG&E is able to provide cleaner energy to the state and help lower the cost of solar energy systems. To help further drive this effort, PG&E provides rebate incentives through the CSI program that will help bring the benefit of carbon-free power to residential and business customers.
See original article

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

US solar power sector small but growing: Solar Thermal growing at 3.6% per year

US President Barack Obama speaks on his energy policies following a tour of the Copper Mountain Solar Project, the largest photovoltaic plant operating in the country in Boulder City, Nevada on March 21, 2012US President Barack Obama speaks on his energy policies following a tour of the Copper Mountain Solar Project in Boulder City, Nevada on March 21, 2012US President Barack Obama speaks on his energy policies following a tour of the Copper Mountain Solar Project, the largest photovoltaic plant operating in the country in Boulder City, Nevada on March 21, 2012US President Barack Obama speaks on his energy policies following a tour of the Copper Mountain Solar Project in Boulder City, Nevada on March 21, 2012.  Solar panels cover the roof of a Sam's Club store in Glendora, California that was toured by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Wal-Mart officials before their press conference on Earth Day, April 22, 2009Solar panels cover the roof of a Sam's Club store in Glendora, California that was toured by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Wal-Mart officials before their press conference on Earth Day, April 22, 2009

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at the installation the last of 1,727 solar panels on the rooftop of the Staples Center sports complex in Los Angeles, California on October 28, 2008 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at the installation the last of 1,727 solar panels on the rooftop of the Staples Center sports complex in Los Angeles on October 28, 2008  Solar power, only a minuscule part of the energy mix in the United States, is getting a boost from cheap panels, growing acceptance by large companies and chances for homeowners to rent solar systems.  Analysts expect a phenomenal growth for renewable solar power over the next two decades, after huge gains in the past two years: 60 percent growth in 2012 and 30 percent on top of that this year.  Heavily reliant on oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear, the United States only gets 12 percent of its power from renewables, of which solar is the smallest part, less than one percent.   But the sector is expanding faster than any. There's no question, says Charles Ebinger of the Brookings Institution, that solar energy "will continue to grow quite dramatically."   The US Energy Information Administration predicts that photovoltaics -- the semiconductor technology that converts sunlight into electricity -- will grow 11.6 percent a year through 2040. On top of that, it also predicts 3.6 percent annual growth for solar thermal energy, which uses vapor from water heated by the sun to drive turbines.
See rest of original article

Monday, December 9, 2013

Los Angeles Goes All In on Rooftop Solar Panels - CLEAN LA Solar PV


first-project_CleanLA Solar 
By Bill DiBenedetto | July 10th, 2013 Don’t think it’s possible to provide clean and renewable energy that creates jobs and fuels private investment? Think again and then check out CLEAN LA Solar.  A program developed and supported by the Los Angeles Business Council, a coalition of environmental, business, health and research organizations, and the CLEAN LA Coalition, it’s the largest urban rooftop solar program in the nation. Its five-year goal is to power more than 34,000 homes while creating some 4,500 construction, installation, design engineering, maintenance and administrative jobs in Los Angeles.   CLEAN LA Solar allows businesses and commercial property-owners to generate energy for the city’s power grid through rooftop solar panels, and then sell the power to the Department of Water and Power (DWP). This policy is known as a feed-in-tariff (FiT), and is a great way to promote clean, solar energy.  California has a legislative requirement to generate 33 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Currently, most of L.A.’s renewable power is generated outside the L.A. basin and transmitted inefficiently to customers. By contrast, the CLEAN LA Solar program will provide incentives for clean-energy production within city limits. The result will be more efficient power delivery and a reduction in the city’s reliance on polluting, coal-fired power plants. The FiT also does not require new or upgraded transmission lines.  The goal is to generate 150 megawatts of solar electricity, or enough power for 30,000 homes. The business council hopes to attract investments totaling about $500 million from a group of companies that want to invest in the city’s push to go green. The program’s first project site is an 80-unit apartment building in North Hollywood that went online with 336 250-watt panels (for 84 kW of installed capacity) on June 26, 2013.
See rest of original article

Arizona's Solar Water Heating Industry on Verge of Collapse without Incentives

By Ryan Randazzo The Republic | azcentral.com Sat Dec 7, 2013. For the veterans of Arizona’s small solar water-heating industry, staring down an industry-crippling crisis is nothing new. Dozens of companies that installed about 130,000 solar water heaters in the state in the early 1980s were wiped out overnight when the government cut federal tax credits in 1985. Few companies withstood that blow, although dozens sprouted in 2005 when federal tax credits for the industry were reinstated. Now another potentially devastating policy change looms as the state’s biggest utility has ended its incentives for solar water heating. Arizona Public Service Co. is required to get 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025, and to accomplish that goal, it has provided rich incentives for rooftop solar electric and other technologies, including water heating. But because APS is ahead of schedule reaching its renewable-energy mandates, it has stopped offering incentives for solar water heating. The money the utility provided to offset the initial cost of the rooftop systems ran out in September, and APS is not seeking to repeat the offering in 2014. Along with federal and state tax credits, the utility incentives created a boom in recent years among the solar water-heating and solar electric, or photovoltaic, installations. The cost to manufacture photovoltaic solar panels has dropped dramatically, allowing that industry to thrive despite eliminating its APS incentives. Solar water heating, though much more affordable than solar electric, has not been able to reduce manufacturing costs as much and remains a difficult sell without incentives.

Friday, December 6, 2013

Kenya, Africa: Schneider Electric's Solar technology for producing electricity, drinking water and heat simultaneously

Schneider Electric a market leader in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, inaugurated the MiCROSOL project aims to develop a single, modular standard technology for producing electricity, drinking water and heat simultaneously, primarily to benefit micro-industries located in rural areas of countries with high levels of sunshine, especially in Africa.  MiCROSOL is based on the principle of cogeneration of electricity and heat, applying a new approach to a technology that is already widespread - solar thermodynamics. The solution focuses its constraints on the design of thermal storage that only uses environmentally-friendly products.  Its purpose is to simultaneously meet three basic needs regularly expressed by these people: Access to electricity that is reliable, efficient and inexpensive; Clean drinking water that is produced economically and consistently; and Heat generation that is continuous and environmentally sound. Microsol can help micro-producers in the food, textile and paper industries with processing their raw materials by automating some of their processes (e.g. drying, washing, pasteurization, etc.). In the tertiary sector, Microsol can help the tourist industry by providing the energy needed for many premium services: electricity for HVAC, refrigeration or security; heat for hot water, laundry or heating; water for drinking or cooking.  Located in a rural village, Microsol can also meet some or all of the production needs of local residents: water supply, electrification of communal areas, and so forth.

A Microsol solution produces 50 MWh/year of electricity, 1,000 m3/year of drinking water, and around 800 MWh/year of thermal energy. The solution has an expected life of at least 20 years. "That technology can help Africa's poorest countries", said Pradeep Monga, Director of the Energy & Climate Change Branch of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), while attending the inauguration of Microsol solution. For the environment, Microsol is a green solution that guarantees zero greenhouse gas emissions, reduced deforestation and health problems owing to the clean production of heat and electricity. Also, Microsol use easily recyclable steel and aluminum components. Gilles Vermot Desroches, Senior Vice-President, Sustainability, Schneider Electric, announced: "All countries with high levels of sunshine are potential targets for marketing Microsol. However, because of its infrastructure needs, geographical location and economic models, Schneider Electric and its partners decided to focus their efforts on Africa". 

See Rest of Original Article

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Overlooked but not forgotten, solar thermal deserves a second look

By Pierre Bull. Posted December 4, 2013.  When Kevin Virkler’s daughter Megan takes a shower—the kind of long, hot shower that only an adolescent can take—he doesn’t worry anymore about how much warming up all that hot water is going to cost. The reason? Solar hot water heating. Solar hot water and heating, sometimes called solar thermal or, also, solar heating and cooling (because some cooling technologies are activated by heat), is a technology that’s more than 100 years old, invented first in Baltimore in the 1890s. Passed over in many of our attentions by its sexier cousin - solar photovoltaics, solar thermal has much to offer. In fact, a recent report by the Solar Energy Industries Association estimates that solar heating and cooling (SHC) in the U.S. could, by 2050:
  • Generate almost 8 percent of the nation’s heating and cooling.
  • Create more than 50,000 good paying jobs.
  • Save $61 billion annually on energy.
  • Cut carbon dioxide emissions by 226 million tons every year(the equivalent of taking 64 coal-fired power plants offline for good).
How it works: solar hot water heating, and SHC in general, are based on a simple principle, one we know well from parking our cars in the hot sun. “Something left out in the sun is going to get hot. And if you put glazing over it, that’s going to trap the sun’s heat,” explains Tim Merrigan, a solar thermal expert from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.   Residential solar thermal collectors, the most common type of solar thermal technology in use today, are pretty simple devices, usually just 4’ x 8’ black, metal boxes with glass covers that are mounted on roofs. Water or another liquid is piped through the box, to pick up the trapped heat. The hot water can be stored in a water tank; other liquids can be used to transfer that heat, or can power radiant heating systems or heat air to heat buildings or use as process heating in industry.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Stevens Tech award-winning "solar smart house" to be C.S.U. San Marcos veterans center

By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal December 03, 2013 at 6:50 PM, updated December 04, 2013. An award-wining “solar smart house” designed and built by Stevens’ Institute of Technology students in Hoboken has been donated to California State University, San Marcos, to serve as a veterans’ center at the campus located near Camp Pendleton. “The opportunity to turn ‘Ecohabit’ into a functioning facility for returning veterans made the Solar Decathlon competition a truly meaningful experience for our students,” Dean of Stevens’ School of Engineering and Science Michael Bruno said in a statement. The building constructed in Hoboken won fourth place overall and second place among United States entries for the team in October’s U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, which tasks global university teams with creating affordable, energy-efficient solar-powered houses. The 19 entries included teams from the Czech Republic, Canada and Australia. The team of 61 students from various disciplines built the high-tech house in Hoboken over the course of two years. It was built in two modules to facilitate shipping cross country. A groundbreaking for its installation was held at the campus on Nov. 8 and the house is to open next fall. It will function as a facility for veterans, service members and reservists to obtain GI benefits, register for courses, and access campus and career services. The 1000-square-foot home is equipped with solar shingles, a rainwater harvesting system and energy-saving heating, cooling and plumbing systems. And it was designed to learn from its occupants. “The smart detection system might notice that every morning at 7 a.m., you’re getting hot water for a shower, so it’ll learn that every day at 7 a.m., it should have hot water ready for you,” explained team communications manager Zak Moy. Every room in the house has a detector that monitors humidity, temperature and movement, and responds to maximize efficiency. Occupants can track how much energy they’re producing and using, and what appliances are drawing the most power.
See rest of original article

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

San Bernardino County Ends Moratorium on Commercial Solar Development


BY JANET ZIMMERMAN December 02, 2013. San Bernardino County supervisors on Tuesday, Dec. 3, will consider new regulations for commercial solar energy projects — including where they should be built — and end a temporary moratorium on such development. The ban has been in effect since June, when county staff was ordered to develop location criteria, design standards and rules for processing applications. Bright Source Energy's Ivanpah solar development covers 3,500 acres of federal land in San Bernardino County. Supervisors on Tuesday, Dec. 3, will discuss new regulations for commercial solar development that would effect future projects on private property and other land in the county's jurisdiction. The Board of Supervisors also is expected to vote on a per-acre fee schedule for renewable energy projects. Officials said the move was prompted by a rush of applications from developers and complaints from desert residents and environmental groups about the projects’ impacts on sensitive species, and increased dust, blight and reflected light. The California Desert Coalition, a grassroots organization that advocates building renewable energy projects on previously disturbed land and rooftops instead of pristine desert, has urged its members to speak at the meeting. See rest of original article

Monday, December 2, 2013

Build Solar Farm on Moon's Circumference - Beam Microwaves Back to Earth

By NextGov.com  Shimizu, a Japanese architectural and engineering firm, has a solution for the climate crisis: Simply build a band of solar panels 400 kilometers (249 miles) wide (pdf) running all the way around the Moon’s 11,000-kilometer (6,835 mile) equator and beam the carbon-free energy back to Earth in the form of microwaves, which are converted into electricity at ground stations. That means mining construction materials on the Moon and setting up factories to make the solar panels. “Robots will perform various tasks on the lunar surface, including ground leveling and excavation of hard bottom strata,” according to Shimizu, which is known for a series of far-fetched “dream projects” including pyramid cities and a space hotel. The company proposes to start building the Luna Ring in 2035. “Machines and equipment from the Earth will be assembled in space and landed on the lunar surface for installation,” says the proposal.
See rest of original article

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Salt Lake City to build 1 megawatt solar farm

(Chris Detrick | The Salt Lake Tribune) Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker speaks during a ground-breaking ceremony on a solar farm in Salt Lake City Tuesday November 26, 2013. On completion, the solar array will produce 1 megawatt of renewable energy from 3,000 panels covering roughly four acres. The project was financed as part of the publicly approved new Public Safety Building and will help that facility achieve a net zero energy rating. Solar energy will help power the new $125M Public Safety Building. By Christopher Smart | The Salt Lake Tribune First Published Nov 26 2013. Let the sunshine in. Salt Lake City announced Tuesday it will build a solar farm that will increase by tenfold the municipality’s ability to create energy from the sun.  The four-acre facility at 1955 S. 500 West should go online by late winter or early spring. At a brief ceremony Tuesday, city officials said it would produce 1,000 kilowatts — or 1 megawatt — the energy equivalent to power about 150 homes for a year. The $3 million farm is to be constructed on a former four-acre landfill site that would be cost prohibitive for other types of development because it would require excavation. The solar project will pay for itself in 10 years, said Vicki Bennett, the city’s sustainability director. After that, the energy created by the facility will be free, except for maintenance costs. The solar farm will help power the new $125 million Public Safety Building, Bennett said. The building, which opened earlier this year, had space on its roof for enough solar panels to create about 40 kilowatts. Upon its opening, city officials said the Public Safety Building would be "net-zero" — creating as much energy as it uses. The net zero rating will soon be attained with the addition of the new solar farm, said Mayor Ralph Becker.
See rest of original article

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Solar Dominates New US Generating Capacity

Big solar’s big year just keep getting bigger.  The monthly energy infrastructure report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [PDF], which tracks utility-scale projects, shows that through October, 190 solar units totaling 2,528 megawatts in installed capacity had been added in 2013. That’s more than double the 1,257 MW for the same period in 2012, and constitutes 21 percent of all new electrical generating capacity this year. Through the first three quarters of last year, solar had accounted for just 7 percent of new capacity additions in the year.  Solana Generating Station, Gila Bend, Ariz. (image via Arizona Public Service) October, in particular, was a huge month for utility-scale solar, with the five projects with capacities in double figures coming online – the 280-MW Solana Generating Station in Arizona; 139-MW Campo Verde Solar project in Imperial County, Calif., a 36-MW final phase of the 249-MW California Valley Solar Ranch in San Luis Obispo County, Calif.; the 30 MW Spectrum Solar project in Clark County, Nev.; and the 10-MW Indianapolis International Airport Solar Farm Phase 1.  As the Solar Energy Industries Association gleefully pointed out on Monday, “12 new solar units accounted for 504 MW or 72.1 percent of all new capacity last month” in the United States.
See rest of original article

Monday, November 25, 2013

Elon Musk’s Latest Innovation: Bonds Backed by Solar City's Rooftop Solar Power

We all know that Elon Musk is one of the world’s great innovators. The South African-born developer of PayPal, and current CEO of both Telsa Motors and Spacex may well be a legend in his own time. In 1992, he dropped out of a Ph.D program in Physics at Stanford to pursue entrepreneurial aspirations in the Internet, space exploration and renewable energy. To date, he has achieved major successes in two out of three. And now, as the Chairman of SolarCity, he might have achieved a Triple Crown. The solar installation company has just become the first of its kind to offer bonds backed by rooftop solar panels. This financial innovation will allow solar companies to move away from becoming manufacturers and distributors of solar equipment, into energy companies, selling solar power as a service to their customers. The move is reminiscent of the move Xerox Corporation made back in the 60s, when they moved from selling copiers to selling copies by the click through leasing arrangements. The move proved to be critical to the company’s long-standing success. SolarCity sold $54.4 million worth of bonds last week based on the 68,000 contracts they currently hold. Bloomberg states that the company might raise an additional $200 million early next year.
See rest of original article

Friday, November 22, 2013

Are 90 Companies Responsible For Nearly Two-Thirds Of Global Warming?

The Huffington Post | By James Gerken Posted: 11/21/2013. Can climate change be blamed on a handful of corporations? A new study from the Colorado-based Climate Accountability Institute suggests that 90 companies are responsible for almost two-thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions since the start of the Industrial Revolution. The top 90 emitters include 50 investor-owned energy companies like BP, ExxonMobil and Shell, along with 31 state-owned companies and some nation-states themselves. 83 of the 90 are coal, oil and gas producers and the remaining seven are cement manufacturers. The researchers argue that this group is responsible for the equivalent of 914 gigatons of carbon dioxide, explained the Guardian, which accounts for 63 percent of industrial carbon dioxide and methane emissions between 1751 and 2010. In fact, half of the greenhouse gas emissions analyzed in the the study were reportedly emitted in the past 25 years.
See rest of original article

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Via Trucks Solar Tonneau: an Electric Truck that Doesn't Need a Plug


By Sebastian Blanco Posted Nov 20th 2013 7:20pm. Via Motors knows a thing or two about standing on the shoulders of others. The plug-in hybrid utility vehicle company's entire business plan is to take big General Motors vehicles and convert them to something with a plug, with the support of Bob Lutz (pictured, with the VTrux, a converted Chevrolet Silverado). Here at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the company isn't on the press release schedule until tomorrow, but the brand new solar tonneau cover is just sitting out on the convention center floor. So we went to take a look. Jeffrey Esfeld, Via's director of national fleet sales and business development, told AutoblogGreen that the the idea is to use all the real estate available over the truck bed to increase the vehicle's efficiency. The industrial-grade solar panels will take a "fair amount" of abuse, Esfeld said. The new solar tonneau will be available in two versions, 800- and 400-watts, that will both help power the car's battery or, if used at a work site, any power tools running off of the truck's outboard power outlet. If you park the truck in the sun all day, the solar panels can add up to six (in the 400-watt model) and ten (800) miles of range to the battery pack. That's why the company's slogan is "an electric truck that doesn't need a plug." Via will not be announcing the price tomorrow, but since the truck and tonneau will be available in March, we don't expect we will have to wait too long. The truck is supposed to start at $79,000.
See original article

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Why China's Solar Building Boom Is Good for the United States

By Todd Woody Nov 19 2013. China will install a third of the world's photovoltaic capacity next year—and that means cheaper solar panels for the U.S. China is on track to install a record 12,000 megawatts of solar panels in 2014, according a report released today. At peak output, that’s the equivalent of a dozen huge nuclear power plants. The panels won't just give energy to China, though; they will also fuel a photovoltaic power shift in the United States. The solar boom of recent years has largely been the result of a flood of cheap solar panels from China, home to about 80 percent of the world’s photovoltaic manufacturing capacity. But that came with a price: Chinese solar manufacturers vastly expanded production, saddling themselves with billions of dollars in debt just as revenues collapsed along with solar panel prices. Suntech, once the world’s largest photovoltaic manufacturer, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year. The company’s rivals, meanwhile, have struggled to survive, cutting corners to save money and prompting worries about a spike in the number of defective solar panels that have begun to appear in the U.S. and elsewhere.
See rest of original article


Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Solar Thermal System Splits Water for Hydrogen Fuel

A laboratory model of a multi-tube solar reactor at the University of Colorado Boulder that can be used to split water in order to produce clean hydrogen fuel (Credits: University of Colorado Boulder).
Researchers from the University of Colorado have designed a novel water splitting solar-thermal system to produce hydrogen fuel. This research is being funded by the National Science Foundation and by the U.S. Department of Energy and it will lay the foundations for the use of hydrogen as a green fuel. The simplified reaction sequence may also provide new opportunities to produce hydrogen fuel in space. The system uses an array of mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto single point on a huge tower. This generates temperatures as high as 1,350 Celsius, which is then transferred to a reactor containing metal oxides. Due to the high temperature, the metal oxides release oxygen, forming a new compound which seeks out oxygen atoms. When steam is introduced to this compound, the oxygen from the steam adheres to the surface of the metal oxide, and freeing up the hydrogen from steam. “We have designed something here that is very different from other methods and frankly something that nobody thought was possible before,” said Alan Weimer a Professor from the University of Colorado Chemical and Biological Engineering department, Executive Director of the Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels (C2B2), and research group leader. He added that, “Splitting water with sunlight is the Holy Grail of a sustainable hydrogen economy.”
See rest of original article

Monday, November 18, 2013

Solar-panel sunglasses recharge your iPhone in the evening

By Tim Hornyak November 16, 2013. Slap some solar panels on your Ray-Bans and soak up some juice for your iPhone 5. Could these Ray-Ban Shama Shades be a portable power pack? This may have been suggested before, but if not it's a great idea that's been sitting on our noses all this time.Designer Sayalee Kaluskar has turned a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses into an iPhone charging device by adding solar panels to them. The Ray-Ban Shama Shades are part of a student project at Miami Ad School--San Francisco. The shades have a small solar panel on each arm, and that's apparently enough to charge an iPhone 5 when the sun goes down.We've seen solar panels on wearable gear like Ralph Lauren backpacks, and we've also seen a recent Apple application for a patent on a system to outfit mobile devices with their own solar power converters. It seems people are keen on tapping solar energy on the go, provided they can harness enough of it to be useful. 

Friday, November 15, 2013

Benefits of Solar Thermal for Laundromats - new article by Ted Bavin in Coin Laundry News!

Check out my article on the Benefits of Solar for Laundromats that was just published in the Coin Laundry News magazine November, 2013.

Dauphin County Pennslyvania - Prison could get solar hot water system

By
Jeff Frantz on November 13, 2013. 
On Wednesday, the Dauphin County Commissioners heard a proposal to replace aging hot water heaters at the county prison with new, high efficiency hot water heaters and pumps and a solar hot water system.
Dauphin County Prison is on the verge of getting more efficient. On Wednesday, the county commissioners heard a proposal to replace aging hot water heaters with new, high efficiency hot water heaters and pumps and a solar hot water system. The project would follow other energy upgrades at the prison, and would save the county an estimated $3,021 a year. The $349,00 cost would be paid for with Act 39 money, which allows municipalities to borrow against projected energy savings. After factoring in the $114,392 in additional savings from previous projects at the prison, plus an expected $47,355 in future additional savings from those projects, the new hot water system would pay for itself in 4.66 years, said Mitch Dexter of Constellation. When Dexter finished his presentation, Commissioner George Hartwick III asked what other county buildings could reap similar savings.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Japan Goes Solar: This is what happens when a country confronts the real costs of nuclear and fossil fuels.

By Will Oremus.  It looks like some idealistic architecture student’s vision for the future of sustainable energy production. In fact, it's a photo of a real-life solar plant that went into operation on Nov. 1 in Japan. This is what happens when a country confronts the real costs of nuclear and fossil fuels. The Kagoshima Nanatsujima Mega Solar Power Plant, built by the electronics manufacturer Kyocera, boasts postcard views of Kagoshima Bay and Sakurajima volcano. It’s also Japan’s largest, with a capacity of 70 megawatts. That’s enough to power some 22,000 Japanese homes. The $280 million project is part of a national effort to invest in clean, renewable energy as the country continues to grapple with the fallout of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The country’s new feed-in tariffs have made it one of the world’s fastest-growing solar markets.

This sort of sprawling solar-panel farm is hardly the most efficient form of power generation in terms of either cost or the amount of land required. Still, it makes more sense when you consider that Japan has been dealing with soaring energy prices in the wake of a disaster that threw into question its entire nuclear-power program into question. While solar is clearly more expensive than nuclear power, the Washington Post noted in June:  Most consumers think that sacrifice is worthwhile, and they say nuclear power has hidden cleanup and compensation costs that emerge only after an accident. Fossil fuels, meanwhile, release harmful greenhouse gases and must be imported from Australia, Russia, Indonesia and the Middle East. In other words, this gorgeous solar plant is what happens when a country comes face-to-face with the full societal costs of more traditional power sources.

See rest of original article

Google to invest in six more large solar panel farms in the Southwest

By Katie Fehrenbacher Six more solar panel farms in the deserts of California and Arizona are getting Google as a backer. Google’s over a billion dollar commitment to clean energy projects — a Hoover’s Dam worth of renewable energy — keeps growing. On Thursday Google announced that it will invest $80 million into six solar panel farms in California and Arizona. The solar panel farms have been under developed by project developer Recurrent Energy, which was bought by Sharp a few years ago, and has been rumored to be soon sold off by Sharp (though Sharp denied that rumor this Summer). The solar panel farms have a combined capacity of 106 MW, which can generate enough electricity to power 17,000 homes, and five of the projects are in Southern California, while one is in Arizona. Google teamed up with investment group KKR to purchase the plants –which will be operational next year — outright for a total cost of $400 million. Back in late 2011 Google made a similar deal with KKR and Recurrent Energy for some solar panel farms in Sacramento.
See rest of original article


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

LA Could Create Tens of Thousands of New Jobs if Solar Were on 5% of Rooftops

By Marc Lifsher November 13, 2013. Los Angeles County could create tens of thousands of new jobs and reduce global-warming-causing carbon emissions if solar-voltaic panels are installed on just 5% of available rooftops, says a just-issued report. The study by the Environmental Defense Fund and the Luskin Center for Innovation at UCLA, released Wednesday, predicts that 29,000 installer jobs would open up. Carbon emissions would be reduced by 1.25 million tons, the equivalent of taking a quarter of a million cars off the roads each year.  Researchers came up with the data doing the Los Angeles Solar and Efficiency Report (LASER), which includes detailed maps of nine sub-regions that have the potential for cost-effective and efficient solar arrays on buildings. The "Solar Atlas" is to be used as a guide for local government officials, building owners and investors in planning to expand the use of renewable energy and to mitigate the effects of climate change. The three zones with the best potential for expanding rooftop solar power are the San Fernando Valley, East Los Angeles and downtown Los Angeles, researchers said. All three areas have many large roofs and enjoy many sunny days, they said.
See rest of original article
See LA Solar & Efficiency Report 2013

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Solar in Italy - Renewable Energy Provides 25% of Power for the Country


By Mark Smith of Solar Forward. Italy is a beautiful country, and it gets over 25% of its electricity from renewables! I'm greatly enjoying my visit to Italy, and touring solar installations across the picturesque countryside. From the looks of it, the solar panels are from China with no labels on them. Windmills are everywhere spinning faster than I have ever seen. As I travel the Italian countryside, I’m hearing great stories of energy independence. There seems to be more wind and sun power here, than anywhere in Europe. I’ve been told there is never a problem passing an inspection for a solar installation, there is no 3 foot or 4 foot rule on top or side for homes or businesses ("who wants to walk on burning building and you have insurance, no?"), and up time is great once the projects get finished. Sicily has done more in less time for renewable energy, and can even export electricity on a good day. The National Research Council released Sicily’s Solar Report 2012, showing that there are 250 PV companies, 20,000 solar plants employing 3,000 people, and 5 million solar panels on the island, of which 93% are installed on the rooftops of private homes which supplies 10% of the electricity need in the region. I’m impressed.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Solar Power International 2013 Recap

By Solar Builder Magazine. The solar energy industry was in high gear at Solar Power International 2013 (SPI), on October 21-24 at the McCormick Place in Chicago, where participants plugged into the technologies, personal connections and professional insights that gave rise to new business and learning opportunities. Widely regarded as the don't-miss industry event of the year presented by the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), SPI drew more than 15,000 professionals in solar energy and related fields from 75-plus countries. Nearly 700 companies representing the entire solar industry spectrum exhibited on 300,000 net sq ft of space. SPI presented a full range of opportunities to make connections, and to build their network face to face in SPI’s general sessions, conference sessions, receptions and training workshops or on the dynamic exhibit floor. 
See original article

How to Market Solar Energy to Women, and Why It's Important

By Rosana Francescato. At Solar Power International last week, Russo and Wiseman unveiled their preliminary findings. After reaching out to 150 women in solar, they looked outside the industry. In just a couple weeks they heard back from 200 women consumers.  Their survey posed 20 questions based on Marti Barletta’s five stages of buying. Answers in so far confirm that women are crucial to the solar market:
  • Stage 1: Deciding when to enter the market. About 63% of women surveyed said that if they’d had the discussion about going solar, they were the ones who initiated it. About 27% of discussions were initiated by both partners, with only about 11% by men alone. The numbers were similar for doing the legwork and research.
  • Stage 2: The short list. Over half -- 56% -- of respondents who had pursued solar for their homes talked to 2 – 3 companies once they were serious about it. While this result is not specific to women, it shows that we need to start by selling consumers the idea of solar, not a specific company.
  • Stage 3: In-person meeting. Choosing a contractor was more of a joint effort, with 67% of respondents doing that with their partner. When just one partner made the decision, though, it was far more likely to be the woman: women picked the contractor by themselves in 30% of cases, compared to 3% for men.
  • Stage 4: Paying bills. As noted previously, in most households, women are the ones who pay the bills and track the budget. That was borne out in this survey: 83% of respondents said they’re the ones who pay the bills.
  • Stage 5: Word of mouth. Women like to share information with their friends, family, and co-workers. But we don’t like to do it for money. When asked to rank the gifts they’d prefer as a thank-you for going solar, 76% of women said they'd like a check back, while only 26% preferred a check for each friend they referred -- numbers were even lower for non-monetary gifts (the numbers reflect that each woman could rank multiple options). Given that women are such an important part of the market, solar companies may want to rethink giving referral checks.
See original article

Friday, November 8, 2013

Solar Radiant Floor Heating Benefits Allergy Sufferers

Solar Radiant Floor Heating - All Valley Solar installs home heating systems that supply solar radiant heat from heated water flowing through PEX tubing inside a concrete slab under your floor - it can’t be seen or heard, but it’s certainly felt! Radiant-floor heating systems commonly involve PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) tubing embedded in a concrete slab; hot water is pumped through the tubing. The slab warms up and slowly radiates heat into the room. Radiant-floor heating systems can also be achieved with tubing under wooden floors. Solar radiant heating is more energy efficient than electrical or gas heat, and provides a warm cozy feeling without the uneven drafty feeling that forced air heat often produces. Radiant floor heat also provides relief from asthmatic conditions as there is no dirt, viruses, or dust being blown around the home. Energy experts calculate that you can easily save 25% of your heating costs with a radiant heating system. A hybrid solar system on new construction can provide year-round hot water, winter radiant floor heating and spring-summer-fall pool heating all in one system.  Call All Valley Solar for a Solar Radiant Floor Heating Estimate for your Home!

Thursday, November 7, 2013

1192-unit Maryland Condominium Gets Solar Hot Water

By Anne Fischer 4 November 2013. In the past, solar and condos have not had a good relationship because many condominium associations veto the installation of any type of solar. But in Maryland (US) the Greenbriar Condominiums is a unique community in that it has a sustainability plan. The 1192-unit community in Greenbelt, Maryland is getting its electrical needs met 100% by wind power and recently flipped the switch on a 59-collector solar hot water system that uses state-of-the-art, low-cost technology. The solar equipment installed at Greenbriar by Skyline Innovations is designed to pre-heat the city water supply before it reaches the conventional natural gas fired boilers. Because the water is warmer when it reaches the fossil fuel-powered water heater, that water heater turns on less frequently and the residents of the community save energy and money. To pre-heat the domestic water supply, fluid is pumped through fifty-nine TEVA MaxG2 solar energy collectors on the roof of the Greenbriar plant, collecting heat like a garden hose left in the sun. A Polaris double-walled heat exchanger transfers the heat from solar panels into the cold potable water supply. At night, when the sun is gone and the outdoor temperature is cold, a Resol pump controller senses the temperature of the solar panels and turns off the solar pump leaving the gas-fired water heater to function normally.
See original article