Super Bowl Teams are competing in the Solar Bowl too!

It appears that the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks are competing in another type of championship.  In what some are calling the “Solar Super Bowl,” the stadiums of the Patriots and Seahawks rank third and fourth respectively among all NFL stadiums in installed solar capacity.  Ranked by total cumulative capacity in kilowatts, only the stadiums of the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins beat Sunday’s Super Bowl rivals.

A growing number of sports facilities are going solar not only to be good citizens and protect the environment, but because solar is much cheaper than conventional energy!  Twenty seven major professional sports teams have solar venues.  To put that in perspective, last year in the U.S. nearly 30 million sports fans attended an event at a facility powered by the sun.

According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (http://bit.ly/1JIUA2i), the solar systems installed at sports facilities across the United States saved nearly 20,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of planting half a million trees, or offsetting the equivalent CO2 emissions of 2.2 million gallons of gasoline.  

We commend the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks for recognizing that teams win when they go solar! May the best team win on Sunday, but we hope that the Solar Super Bowl continues to make champions for our planet earth, one solar system at a time.

Dear Ted, For the fourth time in just three years, a major professional sports championship will be decided on Sunday by teams which have invested significantly in clean, dependable solar energy. In what some are calling the “Solar Super Bowl,” the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, whose stadiums rank fifth and sixth among all sports franchises in installed solar capacity, will play for the NFL championship in Super Bowl XLIX on Sunday, and bragging rights for fans of clean energy. According to a new, first-of-its-kind analysis conducted by SEIA, 25 stadiums, arenas and raceways in 12 states – which are home to 27 professional sports teams – now have either a solar photovoltaic (PV) or solar hot water system, with construction underway at two additional stadiums. Today, all leading sports leagues in the United States, including professional football, baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, NASCAR and the IndyCar Series, boost sizeable solar assets. To put that into perspective, last year nearly 30 million sports fans attended events across the U.S. at facilities powered by the sun. In 2014, total PV capacity in professional sports facilities soared to 21.7 MW, generating a combined 28,000 MWh of electricity a year and offsetting nearly 20,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions. That’s the equivalent of saving 2.2 million gallons of gasoline or planting half a million trees. On behalf of the 173,000 workers in our industry, we're extremely proud that solar energy has helped 'light up the scoreboard' for both the Patriots and Seahawks on their march to the Super Bowl. For more breaking news and important data updates, please follow us on Twitter and Facebook.  Thank you for all that you do, Ken Johnson, Vice President, Communications Solar Energy Industries Association

Proposed decision on Natural gas cap and trade...

The CPUC has just issued a proposed decision on the first steps of bringing natural gas under the state’s cap and trade program. This allows the utilities to participate in auctions and begin complying in January. The decision sides with the one recommendation we made — to not limit the percentage of allowances that utilities have to pay for after 2015. In 2015, they only have to pay for 25%, which is CARB’s minimum requirement. For 2016 and beyond it remains to be decided.

We have two interests in this. We want the price of natural gas to incorporate GHG impacts and we want some of the auction revenue to be used to continue the CSI-Thermal program after the CSI money starts drying up.

Next step in the proceeding is to decide how much of the auction revenue should be used for programs versus given to customers as bill credits.

For a complete free full copy go to  http://docs.cpuc.ca.gov/SearchRes.aspx?ProposedDecisions=1&DaySearch=30 

U.S. ranks 13 of 16 in ACEEE ratings.

The World Cup of Energy Efficiency

Germany Tops the Chart This year, Germany won the World Cup of soccer in Brazil. What a tournament. I was stunned by how many people were excited about it. Germany also won the World Cup of Energy Efficiency, a ranking developed by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). It evaluated 16 leading world economies on 31 categories. These 16 economies represent 81% of global gross domestic product and 71% of global energy consumption. The ACEEE ranking system looks at both "policy metrics" and "performance metrics" to measure a country's overall energy efficiency. Examples of "policy metrics" include the presence of a national energy savings target, fuel economy standards for vehicles, and energy efficiency standards for appliances. The "performance metrics" measure energy use and provide quantifiable results. Examples of "performance metrics" include average miles per gallon of on-road passenger vehicles and energy consumed per square foot of floor space in residential buildings. New metrics for this year's edition include water efficiency policy, agricultural efficiency, building retrofit policies, heavy-duty fuel efficiency standards, and investment in energy efficiency by the private sector. 1. Germany 2. Italy 3. European Union 4/5. Tie: China and France 6/7. Tie: Japan and United Kingdom 8. Spain 9. Canada 10. Australia 11. India 12. South Korea 13. United States 14. Russia 15. Brazil 16. Mexico ACEEE divided the 31 metrics across four groupings: those that track cross-cutting aspects of energy use at the national level, as well as the three sectors primarily responsible for energy consumption in an economically developed country -- buildings, industry, and transportation. The top-scoring countries in each grouping are: E.U., France, and Italy (three-way tie for national efforts); China (buildings); Germany (industry); and Italy (transportation). ACEEE noted that the United States, long considered an innovative and competitive world leader, has progressed slowly and has made limited progress since its last report, even as Germany, Italy, China, and other nations surge ahead. The EPA's new carbon pollution standards for existing power plants proposed this June would be a major stride in raising the US score. ACEEE documents dozens of other international best practices that the U.S. could implement to improve its score. U.S. Congressman Peter Welch (Vermont) said: "There's really no excuse for the U.S. lagging behind other nations on energy efficiency. States like Vermont have demonstrated that energy efficiency saves money, reduces environmental impact, and creates jobs. And, in an environment of gridlock, there is bipartisan common ground on this issue in Congress." In fact, Vermont recently increased its net energy metering cap, nearly quadrupling the percent of power that the state's utilities can accept from distributed resources. Vermont's bipartisan cap is now a whopping 15%!

The World Cup of Energy Efficiency

Germany Tops the Chart This year, Germany won the World Cup of soccer in Brazil. What a tournament. I was stunned by how many people were excited about it. Germany also won the World Cup of Energy Efficiency, a ranking developed by the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (ACEEE). It evaluated 16 leading world economies on 31 categories. These 16 economies represent 81% of global gross domestic product and 71% of global energy consumption. The ACEEE ranking system looks at both "policy metrics" and "performance metrics" to measure a country's overall energy efficiency. Examples of "policy metrics" include the presence of a national energy savings target, fuel economy standards for vehicles, and energy efficiency standards for appliances. The "performance metrics" measure energy use and provide quantifiable results. Examples of "performance metrics" include average miles per gallon of on-road passenger vehicles and energy consumed per square foot of floor space in residential buildings. New metrics for this year's edition include water efficiency policy, agricultural efficiency, building retrofit policies, heavy-duty fuel efficiency standards, and investment in energy efficiency by the private sector. 1. Germany 2. Italy 3. European Union 4/5. Tie: China and France 6/7. Tie: Japan and United Kingdom 8. Spain 9. Canada 10. Australia 11. India 12. South Korea 13. United States 14. Russia 15. Brazil 16. Mexico ACEEE divided the 31 metrics across four groupings: those that track cross-cutting aspects of energy use at the national level, as well as the three sectors primarily responsible for energy consumption in an economically developed country -- buildings, industry, and transportation. The top-scoring countries in each grouping are: E.U., France, and Italy (three-way tie for national efforts); China (buildings); Germany (industry); and Italy (transportation). ACEEE noted that the United States, long considered an innovative and competitive world leader, has progressed slowly and has made limited progress since its last report, even as Germany, Italy, China, and other nations surge ahead. The EPA's new carbon pollution standards for existing power plants proposed this June would be a major stride in raising the US score. ACEEE documents dozens of other international best practices that the U.S. could implement to improve its score. U.S. Congressman Peter Welch (Vermont) said: "There's really no excuse for the U.S. lagging behind other nations on energy efficiency. States like Vermont have demonstrated that energy efficiency saves money, reduces environmental impact, and creates jobs. And, in an environment of gridlock, there is bipartisan common ground on this issue in Congress." In fact, Vermont recently increased its net energy metering cap, nearly quadrupling the percent of power that the state's utilities can accept from distributed resources. Vermont's bipartisan cap is now a whopping 15%!

ATTENTION ALL APARTMENT OWNERS, DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS FREE GUIDE

It's here! A 100% free guide written by Solar expert Ted Bavin for the apartment owners. Just click for your free copy!

http://whitepaper.allvalleysolar.com

Interested in how to buy solar for your apartment building? Do not miss Ted Bavin's next article in the September issue of AOA Magazine.