Apple wants to go 100% green

Apple has plans to embrace green energy

Apple adopts a green policy in order to reduce pollution

Apple goes green

Apple announced initiatives Monday to offer free recycling of its products, as well as plans to use renewable energy sources at its 420 worldwide stores.

Apple is willing to recycle freely all the old products and promises to use green energy for all the stores, offices and data centers in order to bring down the pollution level made by tits devices and online services.

The technology giant gave more details about a greener Apple company in a special section at the section made especially for clean energy launched on Monday. This section’s purpose is to accentuate the iPhone and iPad producer is enlarging confidence in renewable energy and is polluting less with its used electronics.

Apple goes green policy

The electronics company has been rewording its customers from the over 400 stores if they brought iPhones and iPods that could be recycled. They were rewarded with gift card. The company founded by Steve Jobs is now recycle any used Apple device with zero costs.

Taking into account the fact that Apple sold more than 1 billion iPhones, iPods, iPads and Mac computers, this comes as a huge progress. The procedure is valid for electronics that cannot be thrown away as they contain toxins. Their products sand for about 2% of the emissions in 2012 as the statistics from Greenpeace say. Some of the largest electricity demands come from data center that house the stacks of computers that process search requests, store photos and email, and stream video. These services often consume more electricity than China, the U.S., Japan, India and Russia. Being the world’s largest technology company, Apple wants to bring more environmental solutions than problems.

Moreover, the company is not doing this just for good publicity. As a recent review says, Greenpeace is praising Apple and it describes it to be “the most innovative and most aggressive in pursuing its commitment to be 100 percent renewably powered.”

A new line of PV related products will be unveiled by Solar Edge Technologies

The North American market would be provided with end-to-end solar power optimization systems and monitoring solutions as announced by SolarEdge Technologies, a global supplier.

The new line of Pv related products will be available for starters for commercial applications in North America.

The global provider offers: a line of 3-phase solar inverters from 9kW to 20kW in size; a 600W capable power optimizer enabling a two-to-one connection for 60 cell modules; and a new gateway for site communication and PV monitoring.

Among with the implementations of the new line, comes the possibility to alter a simpler photovoltaic system design. Above all this is the lowering of the installation cost.

“Lower LCOE [levelized cost of energy] with a differentiated and optimized solution is the key to winning in the commercial market, Improved energy harvest, superior operation and maintenance capabilities, and a simplified system design have already led to the successful installation of 150MW of 3 phase systems in Europe and we expect to encounter similar high demand in North America” announced Peter Mathews, Vice President of Sales for SolarEdge North America. “

The new Pv related products line allows the installation of a much longer module strings. The new inverters reach a high weighted CEC efficiency of up to 98%, with the help of string voltage design that can guarantee an optimal dc/ac conversion.

The new power optimizer reaches a maximum efficiency of 99.5%. SolarEdge can also optimize the PV system by developing the magnitude of energy harvest and allowing module level monitoring and enhancing system safety.

Roxana Moraru

PV wafer production would increase to 19% in 2013, according to recently released estimates

Because in Japan there is a growing demand for photovoltaic wafers, the 2011 wafer production levels will be reached again in 2013.

Despite its fall to 15% in 2012, photovoltaic wafer production increase to 19% this year, the most recent data provided by Wafer Supply Chain Quarterly and NPD Solarbuzz Polysilicon state that photovoltaic wafer production will increase to 19% this year, mostly because in Japan there is a growing demand for such products.

“Supported by attractive solar PV incentive rates, Japan will account for more than 10% of global PV demand in 2013,” are the words of NPD Solarbuzz Vice President Charles Annis.

The progress of Japan in particular is said to urge the need for premium efficiency modules that use mono c-Si wafers.

“Multi c-Si wafer manufacturers are constantly improving casting approaches and developing new high-efficiency multi-wafers. Leading wafer manufacturers are now selling high-efficiency multi c-Si wafers with efficiencies as high as 18%, which is in the range of low end mono c-Si wafers, and thus helps maintain the competitiveness of multi c-Si based products,” added the Vice President.

However, if the mono c-Si wafers would increase their market share in comparison to multi c-Si wafers, improvements in mono ingot production and module efficiencies are needed, informs NPD Solarbuzz.

To sum up NPD Solarbuzz predicts that by 2015, mono c-Si cell production will develop much faster than multi c-Si cell production, creating more applications.

Roxana Moraru

Renewable energy brings power to the rural corners of Argentina

Since 1999, the Renewable Energy in Rural Markets Project (PERMER) has aimed to put an end to this situation. Supported by the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the initiative connects homes and schools to clean energy sources such as solar panels and windmills.

So far, around 25,000 residential customers and nearly 2,000 schools have been reached, and 300 solar thermal stoves, furnaces and water heaters have been installed.

Also 2,000 users in small, isolated communities have benefited from small power systems (generation and distribution networks). The project has also included almost 400 public buildings, such as health centers, community centers, as well as Gendarmerie (Police force) and National Parks Administration’s stations.

In PERMER’s proposed scheme, photovoltaic or wind system are installed for the user, who then pays for its operation and maintenance dependent on their means.

“The project ensures that someone is responsible for the proper functioning of the systems at the provincial level, which allows it to be sustainable in the long term,” said Lucia Spinelli, Manager of PERMER on behalf of the World Bank.

Many rural Argentineans in 19 provinces found their quality of life improved through access to electricity.

“In the Impenetrable Chaco, the population is very spread out and so solar panels have had a significant impact, as they have managed to supply 14% of users,” said Raul Garcia, an Official in the Secretariat of Energy for the Province of Chaco who has been participating in PERMER over the last 12 years.

With an area spanning 12,000 square km of islands, the province of Entre Rios was an ideal candidate to join the initiative. It did so in 2010 and since then, two schools and 850 rural households have received photovoltaic systems.

“The children of fishermen can now go to school twice a week and do chores at home, it is not necessary to travel several miles to buy kerosene and it is much easier to charge mobile phones,” said Alberto Alcain, Alternative Energies Coordinator in Entre Rios.

“People have adapted well to technology and began to ask for solar panels instead of electricity lines,” asserted Graciela Pedro, who’s in charge of the Alternative Energies office at the Energy Agency of Neuquén.

There, all the rural schools and nearly 2,000 homes have solar panels. “The impact is rewarding. Families have more hours in the day to do their activities, such as women weaving and other crafts,” Pedro added.

NRG Energy launches new solar powered playground

New solar canopy will demonstrate how solar can contribute to a new generation of sustainable projects.

Solar company NRG Energy has developed a new solar canopy which has been installed over a playground at the Dr Martin Luther King Jr School for Science and Technology in New Orleans. The company donated the canopy which is intended to enhance sustainability education for the students and demonstrate the viability of solar PV for a whole range of new and exciting projects.

As part of the launch, NRG hosted a panel discussion on the future of solar power. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, was among those attending along with Don Smolenski, President of the Philadelphia Eagles, Matt Petersen, President and CEO of Global Green USA and Laura Spanjian, Director, Office of Sustainability for the City of Houston.

“The new solar installation at the Martin Luther King School demonstrates the applicability and versatility of solar power in urban environments,” said David Crane, NRG CEO and President, who dedicated the new installation alongside the New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Rees and the school CEO and Principal Dr. Doris Roche’-Hicks. “In addition to reducing the energy costs of the school, the solar panels will provide shade and shelter to students and teachers while on the school grounds.”

NRG has recently championed flagship projects at several key locations including Arizona State University, FedEx Field, the home of the Washington Redskins and various other stadiums across the US. The solar canopy at the school consists of 397 solar panels generating 112kW of power which will be enough to supply one-third of the building’s peak electricity demand. The installation also incorporates playground upgrades and various educational components including fans, drinking fountains, a garden irrigation system, prisms and inspirational quotations.

“More than just a source of energy, this playground will serve as a source of inspiration, education and fun for years to come,” said Dr. Hicks, the school principal.

3.5 MW solar farm in Saudi Arabia completed

Phoenix Solar says that it has completed the largest open-land solar installation in Saudi Arabia.

The solar farm has a capacity of 3.5 MW and has been constructed on land belonging to the world’s largest oil research centre, the “King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center” in Riyadh.

On an area of 55,000 m² a total of 12,684 Suntech modules were installed in a construction time of 20 months. They will produce 5,800 MWh of solar electricity annually and thus save 4,900 tonnes of CO2 emissions. The central inverters were supplied by SMA.

In order to combat the expected high temperatures and sand storms, Phoenix Solar placed the generator connection boxes, which are normally in the solar field, in the well-insulated and air-conditioned inverter building.

According to the planners, this measure will enable significantly easier maintenance as well as extending the lifetime of the solar power station.

Ron Shen, Suntech Vice President Asia Pacific, declared that this project is an important milestone for the development of the solar industry in Saudi Arabia. Andreas Hänel, CEO of Phoenix Solar, added: “It was recently announced that Saudi Arabia plans to install 41 GW of solar capacity over the next 20 years. With this first-class reference project we are now well-established here in the region.”

San Francisco Bay Bridge Celebrates 75 Years With LED Light Up

To commemorate 75 years of the San Francisco Bay Bridge, an $8 million public art installation will light up the iconic structure for the next two years.

Conceived by creative agency head, Ben Davis, and designed by New York-based artist Leo Villareal, Bay Lights will see the San Fran bridge illuminated by 25,000 white LED lights. The lights are programmable, so that different animations and abstract patterns can be created and will be visible from afar.

They will cover a massive 1.5 miles along the length of the bridge, and 500 feet in height.

The installation is scheduled for light up on March 5th 2013, until some time in 2015

Japan planning world’s largest offshore wind farm

Nearly two years after a massive offshore earthquake and the tsunami which devastated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor and the mostly agricultural communities that surrounded it, the Japanese Agency for Natural Resources and Energy has unveiled plans to build the world’s largest offshore wind farm adjacent to the disaster zone.

The initiative comes part of a plan to reconstruct the area stricken by the disaster in March 2011.

By 2020, the government said, a total of 143 wind turbines on platforms 16 kilometres off the coast of Fukushima. The wind farm will generate 1 GW of power once completed, officials said.

Following the disaster at the Fukushima plant, all 54 of Japan’s reactors were shut down, and only two have been brought back online in the 21 months since as the government has tried to move closer to fulfilling its pledge to increase the use of renewable energy across the nation.

Among the unique features of the plan is Japan’s intention to rely on massive floating turbines which will be stabilised with ballast and anchored to the 200-metre-deep continental shelf that surrounds the Japanese coast via mooring lines, according to an analysis of the project by New Scientist.

The magazine also reported the wind farm will supply electricity to the powerful grid which Fukushima’s two nuclear power plants were connected to, reducing transmission costs.

The project is being overseen by Takeshi Ishihara of the University of Tokyo.

Wind Powered Battery Storage Pilots in Texas

Duke Energy Renewables has developed a way of saving extra power generated by batteries at its Notrees Windpower Project in Texas.

The $44 million battery-storage system holds excess energy from the 153-megawatt Notrees farm and releases it when power supplies dip. This innovation is particularly helpful because winds often blow more strongly at night, when power needs are less, and more gently during the day, when power demands are higher.

With this battery storage system, wind generated power can be kept and used, as and when needed, thus stablising the grid. Data from the project is being collected and analysed for scale-up by the US Department of Energy, who helped fund Duke Energy Renewables’ wind power, storage battery.

France starts the second offshore round

On 8 January, the French government declared the second bidding round for offshore wind farms off the French coast. This time a total of 1,000 MW are up for tender, divided into two farms.

These are the sites Le Tréport in the English Channel and the newly added area Noirmoutier south of the Saint-Nazaire project in the Atlantic, which were left empty-handed in the first bidding round. In both areas, there will be between 480 and 500 MW generated.

France expects investments of approximately 3.5 billion € through the projects for tender and to create 10,000 promising jobs through industrial development of this sector. The costs for the public will amount to 500 million € per year.

In the first round of bidding, approximately 2,000 MW were contracted at the beginning of 2012. That capacity is divided into four projects. The area Le Tréport was already tendered at the time. However, GDF Suez was the sole bidder – and was turned down by the French government due to the high price. To prevent this from happening in the second round, the price of the projects will gain more relevance. Overpriced offers will be excluded immediately.

In March, the second bidding round will open officially; applications must be submitted by September. The French government will award the contracts by January 2014.