Solar Power Project News

"I’d put my money on the Sun and Solar Energy, what a source of Power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out, before we tackle that." -Thomas Edison

From time to time I like to check up on what is going on for new solar power projects in the planning stages or the construction phase across America. It is simply amazing to me to see how large some of the proposed solar projects are going to be when just a few years back a large project was a few solar panels on a companies roof that pushed out a few watts. Now they measure the size of a new photovoltaic power generating plant in (MW) mega watts and thousands of homes that it could power. Even twenty years ago (1990 if you do the math) it was a rarity to even hear about a solar powered electric generation plant unless it was a science fiction story.

Is it time to change the old saying “Now your cooking with gas.” to “Now your cooking with Solar?” Here is a win-win situation that construction and installation of solar panels across an entire school district is slated to start in March of 2010.

Largest District Solar Project Planned
Will save district an estimated $17 million over the next 20 years.

The Irvine Unified School District in Southern California has confirmed plans to install solar panels in 21 of its 38 facilities. The installation is predicted to save the district some $17 million over the next 20 years.

In November 2009, Irvine finalized an agreement with SPG Solar, Inc., project developers and designers of solar power systems.

“Irvine was groundbreaking,” says Thomas Rooney, CEO and president of SPG Solar. “It was the largest and most ambitious solar project for a K12 school in the country.”

Irvine agreed to lease solar panels through SunEdison, a solar energy company that finances, operates and monitors solar plants, and purchase the electricity generated at each site at a fixed rate over a 20-year payout. - District Administration

Moving over to the private sector we come to the tech industry with the mover and shaker Intel Corp bellying up to the solar power bar. Intel is gearing up for eight new solar projects in four states that they are planning to complete in seven months.

Added factoids from this article are that Walmart is the largest retail chain with on site solar power generation in the country. And check out this link to the EPA.gov that tracks green power use from all businesses within the United States.

Intel is building 2.5MW of new solar generation in 8 states; continues to lead all US companies in green energy purchases.

The world’s largest chip maker, Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), made a huge incursion into solar power generation today with the announcement that it is adding to its clean energy portfolio with 2.5 megawatts worth of new solar power projects at eight U.S. locations in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Oregon.

In addition to the new on-site generation, Intel is also upping its renewable energy purchases by 10 percent to 1.43 billion kilowatt-hours a year of renewable energy certificates. The move solidifies the company’s position as the largest voluntary purchaser of green power in the United States. - Earth and Industry 1/27/2010

Not to be outdone by Intel Corp is the United States Army where being all that you can be is going to be a 100% self sufficient solar powered electric way of life by 2022 at Fort Irwin in California. Typical of anything the military does the price tag is rather large at $2 Billion USD.

Far from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Department of Defense is setting its own target list to achieve energy independence for the Army's biggest bases.

First, California's Fort Irwin has just begun a multi-year march toward 1,000 MW in solar energy capacity and self-sufficiency from the desert sun. - Green Chip Stocks 10/2009

Then we have Arizona Public Service (APS) is heating up the race for the biggest solar concentrating plant in the world with its Solana plant 70 miles west of Phoenix.

It will produce enough energy to serve 70,000 APS customers when operating at full capacity. The plant will be built by Abengoa Solar Inc., and is scheduled to provide renewable energy beginning in 2012.

Spanish for “sunny place,” Solana will not emit greenhouse gases and will provide APS with more solar electricity per customer than any utility in the U.S. The facility also would be the largest solar power plant in the world if in operation today. - APS Green Choice 2/21/2010

Next up is great news coming from the federal government on putting the deserts of the United States to work generating solar power for 140,000 homes in California starting in 2012. Again, a huge price tag but we've all heard the stories about a certain amount of acres in the desert if used for just solar power generation could power all of the country...

The Energy Department on Monday announced a "conditional" $1.4 billion loan guarantee for a solar thermal power complex in the Mojave Desert that would ultimately produce as much as 392 megawatts of electricity. - Washington Post 2/23/2010

Break out the marshmallows because the solar power market is on fire. I'm off to fetch another bag of marshmallows seeing that the first ones keep burning to a crisp.

Papamoka

Email us at papamoka (at) hotmail (dot) com with your companies latest news if you are in the solar power industry or want to advertise your company here on this page.

Solar Farm in my Hometown

Central Mass is putting its feet firmly down in support of green energy. Worcester already has one huge wind turbine at Holy Name High School and another proposal for another wind turbine at College of the Holy Cross in the study phase, Worcester Envelope is also studying a wind turbine power option. Douglas is looking at a proposed mega wind farm on leased land from the state parks. And this list goes on and on in renewable energy projects across Worcester County.

Now a private company is looking at 150 acres in my hometown at Worcester Airport for a solar panel farm. Over at the Worcester Telegram they have this on it…

Friday, January 16, 2009
Company eyes land at airport for solar farm

Up to 150 acres may be used for production of electricity
By Martin Luttrell TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
mluttrell@telegram.com

WORCESTER — A solar energy company is in discussions with city officials and Massport to lease up to 150 acres at Worcester Regional Airport to build a solar farm that could produce 33.3 megawatts of power.

Ansar Energy LLC of Scituate is also negotiating with officials in Attleboro and Greenfield for solar power production there, officials in those communities said.

Assistant City Manager Julie A. Jacobson said the talks, which began in December, are preliminary, but the solar farm, if built according to the company’s plans, would be a $250 million investment.

Junaid Yasin, president of Ansar Energy, is out of the country and could not be reached for comment. - Worcester Telegram

Every single one of these projects is great to see when you think about how energy dependent we are on other nations for our electricity. Each one adding to the negative column the number of barrels of oil per year we import. If you happen to work in the construction industry, it means jobs down the road for qualified trades people too. Not to just build them initially but to maintain the systems as well for the long haul.

Mega Watt Kudo’s goes out to Mass Technology Collaborative!

Papamoka

Oil Price Tank Threatens Green Energy

One of the biggest factors for many industries and people to go with green energy was the high cost of oil. They went solar, they went with wind power, hydro, bio-fuels, hydrogen fleets, electric cars, and the green energy movement was born again. What happens now to that green energy drive when oil is once more affordable? Should it be abandoned or pursued more feverishly?

In my little corner of the world it was great to see one small Catholic high school put up a wind turbine on its campus from their pristine location on a high hill in our city. Seeing that turbine whip around and feed the school all of its electric energy needs is just amazing to behold. I would love to see the seven hills of Worcester, MA look like the Gray Goose about to take off. That would be a Howard Hughes reference to an aircraft that he proposed and the government prosecuted him over that it could never fly. It did fly and so will the green energy mentality.

America has been burned over the last few years with the speculation on oil and we frankly are late on getting on the green energy bandwagon. We never learned from the oil embargo of the 1970’s but we sure as hell will never forget the oil desecration of our financial system once the oil bubble burst.

Over at the Guardian and from Chris Goodall they have this amazing piece on "The Ten Big Energy Myths". I loved it! This is a must read article and you might find yourself amazed at the myths and what the truth actually is…

Myth 1: solar power is too expensive to be of much use
Myth 2: wind power is too unreliable
Myth 3: marine energy is a dead-end
Myth 4: nuclear power is cheaper than other low-carbon sources of electricity
Myth 5: electric cars are slow and ugly
Myth 6: biofuels are always destructive to the environment
Myth 7: climate change means we need more organic agriculture
Myth 8: zero carbon homes are the best way of dealing with greenhouse gas emissions from buildings
Myth 9: the most efficient power stations are big
Myth 10: all proposed solutions to climate change need to be hi-tech

Guardian.co.uk

I’m hoping that we in America will continue the fight for energy independence. We can not prosper as a people when any foreign entity controls our power needs. If we can not supply our nation with the energy we need to continue the fight that is right for human rights then we are dead in the water. If we as a people espouse to be the conscience of the world then we had better be able to feed the energy needs of that mind set. Otherwise, we need to start kissing the butt’s of some of the same folks that reaped the largest financial gains in history from the American people.

Keep up the fight for clean energy and chuck the bird at the people that told us we can not survive as a nation without the product they have to sell us. Thus dragging us collectively as a people into their political wars that have not made any sense for centuries.

Papamoka