A requests is made by Eleven firms and groups to Israel’s national Public Utility Authority Electricity (PUA) to build large solar energy generation installations in areas near the Gaza Strip, solar thermal and photovoltaic.
Two solar power plants ” Gaza Envelope” communities will use solar thermal technology to generate180 MW of electricity along with nine others utilizing large-scale photovoltaic solar installation for a combined output of 500 MW.
The Authority’s map shows that 25 out of the 87 electricity generating conditional licenses were awarded to medium-size installations to be constructed in the Gaza Envelope. This area solar fields will supply 70 megawatts, more than 50% of the electricity to be produced under the conditional licenses awarded so far.
Nearly all the planned solar fields will be constructed in the periphery, and non are planned for the Dan region or Jerusalem. “We expected to see the entire south of the country covered in solar fields, but, to our surprise, we discovered that deployment is not uniform, with the Gaza Envelope standing out, compared with the Beersheva area,” Public Utility Authority – Electricity licensing head Moshe Sheetrit said.
Solar energy could provide a clean alternative to fossil fuels but solar cells aren’t cheap. The high cost of solar power has been one of the main factors in keeping solar energy adoption rates down. Researchers at Stanford could lead to less costly and more efficient green energy production. They have found that adding a single layer of organic molecules to a solar cell can increase its efficiency three-fold and could lead to cheaper, more efficient solar panels.
Professor of chemical engineering Stacey Bent first became interested in a new kind of solar technology two years ago. These solar cells used tiny particles of semiconductors called “quantum dots,” they have been a subject of research for several years due to their potential for providing much more efficiency than traditional cells using materials like silicon. Quantum dot solar cells are cheaper to produce than traditional ones, as they can be made using simple chemical reactions involved in their production are simpler than those used in building existing solar cells.
A Stanford researcher in US has developed a synthetic electronic ‘super skin’ that is solar powered, ultra-sensitive that can detect everything from touch to certain chemicals and could bring about huge technological advancements in the medical and technology sector. Stanford researcher Zhenan Bao has developed a stretchable, flexible sensors solar power cell system that are ultra sensitive to pressure and biological molecules that is capable of increasing and decreasing in size – much like human skin does that can generate their own electricity to power these sensors. The technology could be incorporated into artificial skin for robots and human prosthetic limbs, among other uses. These cells can be stretched up to 30 per cent beyond their original length, snapping back into shape without any loss of power or damage. "With artificial skin, we can basically incorporate any function we desire," Ms Bao explained.
Bao’s skin is part of a flexible organic chemistry that is built on a thin polymer layer; when pressure is applied to the skin, the current flowing through the transistors changes and the skin reacts by either contracting or expanding. "There are parts of the body, at the elbow for example, where movement stretches the skin and clothes. A device that was only flexible, not stretchable, would crack if bonded to parts of machines or of the body that extend when moved."
One site in Canton, Massachusetts will get Solar Treatment of 5.6 megawatts of solar photovoltaic panels over the top of a capped landfill along with Southern Sky Renewable Energy.Which is expected to generate $70 million in combined savings and revenue over the next 25 years. The report says it will be the largest solar installation in New England once completed.
The land lay unused until last year, when the town decided to turn it into a largest solar power array
“Capped landfills have turned out to be a prime location for solar panels since they tend to be raised, can’t be built on and have to be clear of trees to protect the integrity of the lining.”
Across the state many communities including Attleboro and Norfolk, are planning to install solar panels on their landfills. Norfolk expects to save about $250,000 a year in energy costs from a solar energy project – also by Constellation Energy – planned for the former town landfill site off Medway Branch Road.
In Norton, a firm last year had been looking into a solar energy farm at the townn’s capped Hill Street landfill. Voters at a June 2009 special town meeting authorized selectmen to lease the landfill for a solar project.
In 2011, the Ocean County Board of Freeholders is going to count on the sun to fulfill its energy needs at the downtown government complex. The project will begin by April 2011 by installing 155 solar panels on top of 119 Hooper Avenue, which houses the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
The solar panel installation project will take about 30 days to complete and will be inspected by the state Board of Public Utilities before generating the power.The cost of the project will be covered by a $284,000 grant from the U.S. Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.
“This is all part of Ocean County’s efforts to tap into proven alternative energy sources so we can offset our power needs and save money at the same time,” Vicari said.
William Santos, director of the Ocean County Department of Buildings and Grounds said that the savings in electric usage charges will be $14,000. In addition to the amount received from the sale of Solar Renewable Energy Creditsabout $24,800 making the combined annual savings about $38,800.”The total estimated savings over the life of the panels will be about $722,000,” Santos told the board. Read the rest of this entry »
The Ontario Power Authority through province’s clean energy Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program, has approved 40 new large renewable energy projects including solar, wind and water. This will create 7,000 direct and indirect jobs, including construction, operation and maintenance, and attract $3 billion in private sector investment.
The projects will generate more than 872 megawatts of renewable power enough electricity to power more than 200,000 homes or a community the size of Burlington. The authority says this builds on the 180 FIT projects under development from contracts the OPA announced in April 2010, which represent more than 2,400 MW of power – enough electricity each year to power more than 600,000 homes.
The Feed In Tariff means Ontarians are paid a guaranteed rate over 20 years or 40 years (for water power projects) to produce renewable energy that is used to feed into the electricity grid. Over that 20-year period, electricity ratepayers will be paying higher costs -or subsidies -worth somewhere between $4.1-billion and $5.6-billion. Average subsidy for each of the 27,000 man-years of work: between $152,000 and $207,000.
California utility PG&E Corp (PCG.N) said it has grand plans for a 15-megawatt solar power plant near Fresno expected to begin serving Central Valley residents by October, the first phase of a plan to build 250 megawatts of solar power over the next five years.
SOLON Corporation, a unit of German solar company SOLON SE (SOOG.DE), was recently awarded a contract through Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on the 160-acre project with construction set to begin in April. The will build one 15 MW plant, while engineering and construction company Cupertino Electric Inc will build the remaining two plants of 15 MW and 20 MW. The system will use SOLON’s Velocity MW cluster concept with fixed tilt mounting and its SCADA system for remote control and monitoring. The construction is likely to begin this month and should be complete in the third quarter.
The company OPDE ITALIA, a multinational Spanish solar energy Group OPDE and specialized in the promotion, construction and maintenance of photovoltaic solar farms there, has declared that it will be constructing six new solar farms in cities such as Pedrosa, Alessandria, Tortona in the region of Alessandria and Fosano located in Cuneo region that will reach a total power of 26 MW.
The new solar power farms will be constructed with an investment of over 120 million Euros. The projects will be finalized before the end of March this year.
The new farms are located in the cities of Tortona, Alessandria, Pedrosa (in the region of Alessandria) and Fosano (in the region of Cuneo).
During the construction of the six farms more than 91,000 Trina module units of 230 Wp, 2,027 inverter units SMA model 11000 TL and 2,027 1-axis MECASOLAR trackers model MS-1E PLUS will be used, The modules are assembled at the factory owned by the company in Turin along with the other requirements. According to OPDE, a number of investment funds have shown interest in taking over the new projects that are under construction as well as the 17 MW power generation facility the company has completed in 2010.
Eco Marine Power Co. Ltd. (EMP) today has declared that it is proceeding with the development of the Aquarius Solar and Wind Marine Power System for ships and ocean going vessels. The marine power solution are going to use rigid sail panels fitted with solar modules to collect wind and solar energy onboard ships to lower their fuel consumption, lessen the vessels noxious gas emissions and reduce carbon emission.
Before taking the decision to proceed with the development of the Aquarius System a strong study was conducted in 2010. This study found that the use of wind and solar power in the ocean going ships and found its viability to harness such energy to power the ships.
The Aquarius Solar and Wind Marine Power System will use an onboard computer system to manage the deployment of rigid sail solar panels for the wind push as well as for the collection of solar energy. These rigid sail panels will help the large vessels such as oil tankers and bulk carriers to become part solar ships and part sailing ships. The rigid sail panels can be used when the ship is at anchor or alongside in port.
One of the world’s most famous multimedia company Fox Film Corporation has installed solar power on its California headquarter to generate electricity in an effort to become more carbon neutral.
The project built, Designed and constructed by Solar Power, Inc, used photovoltaic solar panels generating 160KW electricity per year for the film and television company that used both traditional racking and commercial rooftop systems.
Steve Kircher, CEO for Solar Power, Inc said “We are very pleased to have completed this project for Twentieth Century Fox and they have been a pleasure to work with from the very beginning. Our system is a perfect fit for their needs and now they can begin to enjoy the savings and environmental benefits the system will deliver.”
