Category: USA

As we all know, solar panels give electricity by absorbing sunlight and that is only half of the process. After the electrons are energizes, they must be transferred in the same direction, a process that is typically accomplished with the help of a panel with layers of two kinds of material.

But a recent study made public by the journal Nature, the scientists reported that they found a way to simplify the process with the help of a solar ceramic material that can take care of both processes.

Until now the researchers have developed only just tablet-size bits of the new ceramic but they are sure it can be turned into panels that can produce energy and are more cost effective that the traditional silicon based ones.

The scientist announced that their creation would be more environmentally friendly as is made of potassium, niobium, barium and nickel as opposed to “thin-film” solar panels made of rare and toxic materials. Silicon also needs a lot of processing and manufacturing to be used in solar panels. The researchers say their combination of materials will become cheaper.

“We’ve opened up a new category of ways of making a solar cell,” announced Penn chemistry professor Andrew M. Rappe, who supervised modeling and computation for the project.

Solar power is still a tiny part of the energy consumed in the U.S and it represents only 1 percent of energy consumed in 2012, as to the U.S. Energy Information Administration reports.

Still, the general view is optimistic as solar power generation is only going up driven in part by government incentives.
Theoretically, this ceramic material could bring a 50% efficiency, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

 

The $400 million cash and debt deal mean five California solar plants and one array built in Arizona that will have a combined capacity of 106 MW.

The private equity group KKR and Google have engaged in a deal to put money, $400 million to be precise, into a six solar plants installed in the U.S states of California and Arizona. The plants are to be constructed by Sharp Corp.-owned company Recurrent Energy LLC.

Google announced that the six plants, five in southern California and one in Arizona, are expected to function in the first trimester of the next year. Their capacity is sufficient to bring light for 17,000 homes.

Google reports that it would invest $80 million as part of the settlement. The total combined investment $400 million, is consisted of cash and debt.

The Internet giant said it would invest $80 million as part of the agreement. The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the total joint investment, pegged at $400 million, was a combination of cash and debt.

This project is the internet giant’s 14th investment in clean energy and the second time it has partnered with KKR and Recurrent on solar projects. Google has invested more than $1 billion in wind and solar endeavors projects.

The San Francisco-based Recurrent, that will operate the plants n the future, has contracts for a long time with three buyers.

Google is a giant investor. Last month company reported that it will team up with Silver Ridge Power for $103 million investment in a solar plant.

Roxana MORARU

California is the proud host of one of the largest solar photovoltaic power plants and it is now functional in California, as the U.S. Department of Energy reports.

The American solar project was finished on Thursday, it has 250-megawatt and it is capable of changing positions of panels wirelessly to track weather and increase the solar input in order to collect as much of the solar energy as possible.

California Valley Solar Ranch in San Luis Obispo County, is a construction of NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE:NRG) and SunPower Corporation (NASDAQ:SPWR). This solar project gave away hundreds of jobs and also $315 million into the local economy. The plant now provides energy for 42,000 homes.

Two years ago the DOE offered $1.2 billion loan to support the construction of the Valley Solar Ranch plant. The loan is part of a bigger program that helps finance large-scale projects.

“This isn’t just big news for California. It’s part of a broader clean-energy transformation that is taking place across the country,” the DOE reported on Thursday. “Solar energy facilities are now producing electricity at the scale of traditional power plants. These utility-scale projects show that solar power is no longer found just on rooftops”, it added.

This plant is the first one that uses a wireless trackers system for a 25% improvement. Another advantage of the project is that it avoids 279,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually, as much as emissions of 60,000 vehicles.

President Barack Obama plans to reduce greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020, from 2005 levels.

Part of President Barack Obama’s climate action plan is the reduction of greenhouse gases by 17 percent by 2020, from 2005 levels. Moreover, the administration is fighting carbon emissions by promoting renewable energy programs.

Indianapolis International Airport from the U.S.A is to have a 12.5 MW PV plant, meaning 41,000 solar panels. This puts it on the first place as the largest solar power system on any airport in the North of the continent.

Totaling a number of Comprising 41,000 solar panels, the biggest solar power plant on airport real estate in the U.S. is going to be put in use later in October. Totaling 41,000 solar panels, Indianapolis International’s 12.5 MW PV farm will be situated on 75 acres of land that has not been used before. The array will be providing power for the airport’s terminal.

The PV system is said to help the environment by bringing the airport’s carbon emissions down by 10,700 tons a year. In translation, this is going to be like getting rid of 2, 000 cars from the road. The produced energy is sufficient for about 1, 200 normal American homes per year. The system was built managed via a partnership between Telamon and Johnson Melloh Solutions, and will be wired to 20 Solectrica Renewables SGI 500XT inverters.

A 15-year old power purchase arrangement was made for the regional service company IPL over the plant, which will be connected to the airport terminal.

A raise in the collaboration between airports and solar plants has been noticed over the recent years. The pessimistic outlook about the bad influence induced by glare from the panels on the pilots has created general worry in regard with the combination of the two. Gradually this worry reduced. By 2012, an 8000-panel PV plant was completed within the security zone of the Dusseldorf airport.

The president of the U.S, Barack Obama has announced he will commit to his arrangement on installing solar PV on the White House. This step is seen as a big one for the industry, although he is not the first U.S president doing so.

Ronald Reagan was the first president to do that, 30 years ago. It was then when he took down the ones his predecessor, Jimmy Carter, installed.

The new solar panels are a little late, as the president announced his intention of purchasing new American-made solar panels at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 2010

To “improve the overall energy efficiency of the building”, the White house reported the installing begin this week.

The manufacturer, the supplier, or the costs were not revealed. Still, it is known that the PV system is an American one. One of the purposes of this project is to demonstrate the fact that historic buildings can incorporate solar energy an energy efficiency solutions. The cost will be amortized in eight years.

Three years ago, the Energy Secretary Steven Chu reported a plan to install solar panels on the White House.

“This project reflects President Obama’s strong commitment to U.S. leadership in solar energy and the jobs it will create here at home,” Chu announced at the time. “Deploying solar energy technologies across the country will help America lead the global economy for years to come.”

“Installing solar panels on the First Family’s official residence, arguably the most famous building in America, underscores the growing popularity of solar energy nationwide,” reported Rhone Resch, CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA).

“We applaud President Obama for, once again, leading by example. Today, solar is generating enough electricity to power more than 1.3 million American homes, and we’re extraordinarily proud to be adding the White House to this constantly-growing list,” Resch added.

The new PV system is said to generate 19,700 kWh in a year.

Roxana Moraru

Computer moddelers consider that $1/W can replace gas, nuclear and CCS and pay the price of introducing a carbon cap.

A computer model was designed by scientists of the University of California, Berkeley. The computer proves that solar PV power produced for US$1/W could supply one-third of the electricity needs in the western US.

The Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative plans to lower the costs of PV energy until to $1/W and the creators of the SWITCH computer model calculated if the purpose is achieved, solar power could replace gas as the provider of electricity generation in the ‘medium term’ and nuclear and carbon capture and storage technology by 2050.

The computer looks at the electricity grid of the western U.S. and predicts that solar will conquer even more if gigawatt-scale storage is used.

The Berkeley modellers also calculated the costs of introducing a cap or tax on carbon could be mitigated by the energy cost savings of $1/W solar supplying one-third of western U.S. electricity.

After SunShot Initiative’s calculations, $1/W solar energy can lower energy costs until 14% , leading to annual saving of up to $20 billion by 2050.

Furthermore, the Department of Energy also reports that the beta of two popular online solar tools developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will be launced.

Visitors can enjoy an upgraded version of launch- that can estimate the cost of of energy production and grid connected PV energy costs globally, and the System Advisor Tool (SAM) that developers use to estimate the performance and financial modelling of planned solar projects.