Bakersfield Saluted As One Of Calif's Top Solar Cities

By Anne Stegen . 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.

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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, 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.

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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.
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Solar Powered Plane Lands in Washington DC after World Travels

Solar Impulse pilot Bertrand Piccard is congratulated by his fellow flier, Andre Borschberg, after the solar-powered plane's landing at Washington's Dulles International Airport early Sunday. Piccard and Borschberg have been taking turns in the cockpit during Solar Impulse's cross-country odyssey. The Swiss-made Solar Impulse plane made a smooth landing in Washington early Sunday, leaving just one more solar-powered hop to go in its cross-continent odyssey.  The 208-foot-wide (63-meter-wide) aircraft set down at Dulles International Airport at 12:15 a.m. ET, with Solar Impulse chairman Bertrand Piccard at the controls. The trip from Cincinnati Lunken Municipal Airport took more than 10 hours – an hour and a half longer than it would have taken to drive. But speed isn't the point. Rather, Solar Impulse is designed to demonstrate how solar power alone can take a plane across the country, and eventually around the world.
Although this trip didn't set any speed records, it did include a first-ever overnight "pit stop." Cincinnati was added to the itinerary just a few days ago when flight planners determined that cross winds and head winds would slow down the plane's progress too much to make it from St. Louis to Washington in one long stretch. Andre Borschberg, Solar Impulse's CEO, flew the first leg of the trip – and then let Piccard take the second leg.  "The mobile hangar wasn't deployed during this short 11-hour pit stop – an unprecedented tactic in the history of the project – because it would have required too much time to set it up and take it back down," the Solar Impulse team said. "For the first time, the solar airplane was able to enjoy a starry night under the watchful eyes of its bodyguard, the ground crew."  


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Enlisting the Sun: Powering the U.S. Military with Solar Energy 2013

 

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Military Sun: Army Announces $7B in Solar Contracts

Solar wins big over other renewables. The U.S. Army is putting money in wind, biomass, geothermal and solar, but it's the latter that is getting the lion’s share of Pentagon dollars in 2013. The Army announced $7 billion in power-purchase agreements (PPA) to nearly two dozen companies for solar energy on Wednesday. Last year, the Army said that it would spend about $7 billion on renewable energy contracts, and earlier this year it awarded the first five contracts to geothermal projects. The most recent announcement indicates that wind and biomass could be an afterthought following the Army’s spending on solar.

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Burbank's ESolar Company Picks Up $22M for Concentrated Solar For Oil and Gas Markets

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eSolar, the Burbank, Calif.-based builder of power-tower solar thermal technology, just raised $22 million led by Oak Investment Partners. Existing investors include Idealab, GE Energy and Google.org. GE purchased a stake in the startup in 2011. The company has raised close to $200 million since its founding in 2007.

US Solar Market Poised to Grow 30% in 2013

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Infographic: State of US Solar 2013. Mike Munsell: September 18, 2013  According to the recent U.S. Solar Market Insight report by GTM Research and SEIA, the U.S. will install 4.4 gigawatts of photovoltaics and 912 megawatts of concentrating solar power this year. The infographic below details some key milestones that the U.S. solar market will hit by the end of 2013. 

India: Reliance, Areva 500mw Concentrated Solar Thermal Plant

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A Reliance Power Ltd. (RPWR) solar-thermal power project will start in October after a five-month delay, the Press Trust of India reported, citing builder Areva SA. (AREVA)  The project was able to source 60 percent of its equipment in India, Siddhartha Ghoshal, managing director of Areva’s solar unit in the country, told a conference, according to PTI. All 10 of India’s proposed solar-thermal plants, comprising 500 megawatts of capacity, missed deadlines to start operating earlier this year, hobbled by escalating costs and difficulties importing equipment. Only Godawari Power & Ispat Ltd.’s 50-megawatt plant was completed in June after a lack of local components drove the project over budget by 20 percent. Reliance’s 21 billion-rupee ($338 million), 100-megawatt project missed a May deadline as authorities in Rajasthan state failed to lay a water pipe to the site in time, Reliance Power Chief Executive Officer Jayaram P. Chalasani said that month.  Solar-thermal plants focus sunlight on liquids to produce steam for turbines and are valued for their ability to deliver electricity around the clock.

India Breakthrough Solar Thermal Cooling System

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Gurgaon, an industrial hub in India, witnessed the inauguration of world’s most efficient solar thermal cooling system at the Solar Energy Centre there Friday. Minister of New & Renewable Energy, Dr. Farooq Abdullah inaugurated the facility in the presence of Minister of Power, Sushilkumar Shinde.

Solar Hot Water: Good Enough for Alaska

Californians have been using solar energy to heat their household water for more than a century, and up until 30 years ago or so you'd see as many solar water haters on Californian rooftops as you would photovoltaic panels. But with the burgeoning photovoltaic market of the last few years, it might seem that soaking water in rooftop sunshine is a bit antiquated. But a utility in northwest Alaska is pushing rooftop water heating lately, using it as a lifeline for its most vulnerable customers. Which raises the question: is there anywhere solar won't work? Even above the Arctic Circle on the shores of the Bering Strait, solar thermal water heaters -- which run water through a series of tubes that absorb solar heat -- turn out to be an efficient way to reduce fuel use not only to heat water, but to keep your living quarters warm as well.
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Bryan Cranston on SNL

The great actor Bryan Cranston, one of my solar customers, is hosting Saturday Night Live tonight! I know him to be an absolutely hilarious individual in person, not to mention his many great years on Malcolm In The Middle. Now, with several Emmy wins as best DRAMATIC actor in Breaking Bad, the chemistry and material to make this Saturday Night Live one of the best ever is in play. WATCH IT!!!