Solar Manufacturing | Generating Jobs in San Antonio

San Antonio Alamo at Sunrise

"Nexolon America LLC says it plans to build a manufacturing facility at Brooks City-Base that will produce solar panels and create more than 400 manufacturing jobs at an average annual salary of more than $44,000.

The company plans to invest more than $115 million in a 10-year ground lease of some 86 acres of land on the Brooks City-Base campus. In addition, it will contribute $500,000 over five years to Alamo Colleges for solar energy workforce training programs.

The Nexolon America project is the result of a 400 megawatt Power Purchase agreement signed on July 23, 2012, between CPS Energy and OCI Solar Power. To secure the bid, CPS Energy required OCI to establishment an anchor facility to manufacture solar energy products, invest at least $100 million and create at least 805 solar energy-related jobs."

San Antonio Business Journal

Solar Energy | Who's thinking about the oceans of undeveloped rooftop space?

"Softbank Corporation is Japan’s Tokyo-based and third-largest cellphone carrier, but it has been getting into the energy game since the Fukushima disaster really shook up its CEO. In September, it was announced that Softbank and Mitsui would team up to build the largest solar power plant in Japan. Now, Softbank has announced that it intends to install solar panels on the rooftops of 1,000 homes in order to take advantage of the country’s incentive program for clean energy.

Softbank is using Sharp and Suntech solar panels for this project, and it will sell the electricity generated by them to utility companies."

Clean Technica

Solar Energy Farms Generate Electricity & Cash

Water utility expected to rake in close to $100,000 to benefit ratepayers

"Two solar energy farms owned by Marlboro’s Water Utility Division are expected to once again generate cash, in addition to electricity, for the municipally controlled entity.

While the two solar panel fields have reduced the cost of the water utility’s operations by about $150,000, the farms also yield SRECs, which can be sold to energy companies to satisfy state quotas related to the production of solar energy, township Business Administrator Jonathan Capp wrote in a memo.

'The impact of solar generation relative to water rates charged to customers has been substantial,' Capp said of the combination of monetary savings and SREC sales."

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News Transcript

High-Voltage DC Breakthrough Could Boost Renewable Energy

The largest power plant in the world: Three Gorges Dam, China

"Thomas Edison championed direct current, or DC, as a better mode for delivering electricity than alternating current, or AC. But the inventor of the light bulb lost the War of the Currents. Despite Edison's sometimes flamboyant efforts—at one point he electrocuted a Coney Island zoo elephant in an attempt to show the technology's hazards—AC is the primary way that electricity flows from power plants to homes and businesses everywhere.(Related Quiz: "What You Don't Know About Electricity")

But now, more than a century after Edison's misguided stunt, DC may be getting a measure of vindication.

An updated, high-voltage version of DC, called HVDC, is being touted as the transmission method of the future because of its ability to transmit current over very long distances with fewer losses than AC. And that trend may be accelerated by a new device called a hybrid HVDC breaker, which may make it possible to use DC on large power grids without the fear of catastrophic breakdown that stymied the technology in the past.  (See related photos: "World's Worst Power Outages.")

Swiss-based power technology and automation giant ABB, which developed the breaker, says it may also prove critical to the 21st century's transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, by tapping the full potential of massive wind farms and solar generating stations to provide electricity to distant cities."

National Georgraphic Daily News

U.S. Solar Surges 44% in Q3 Driven by Rooftops

“Developers installed 684 megawatts of solar panels in the U.S. in the third quarter, 44 percent more than a year earlier, as residential projects rose to a record, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

About 3.2 gigawatts of solar energy will be installed in the U.S. this year, the Washington-based trade group forecast today in a statement.

Installations in the current quarter may almost double from the third quarter to 1,200 megawatts, which would be the most ever in a three-month period. Fourth-quarter installations have accounted for more than 40 percent of the annual totals in the past two years, driven in part by developers racing to qualify for expiring incentives, according to SEIA.

‘While Q3 2012 was remarkable for the U.S. PV market, it is just the opening act for what we expect to see in Q4,’” 

BloombergBusinessweek

Dual Harvest Plantation | Largest Rooftop Solar Installation in France

"Korea’s Hanwha Solar has delivered 7.7MW of PV modules for a Ginseng plantation which has become the largest rooftop solar installation in France.

French construction contractor Solvéo Energie has built the plant in the municipality of Rion-des-Landes, which is designed to create ideal cultivation conditions for Ginseng – a medicinal plant whose roots need four years before they can be harvested and which only thrives in shady areas.

Equipping the plantation rooftop with solar modules also helped secure financing for the project.

'The Rion-des-Landes plant demonstrates how synergies with solar energy can successfully bring innovative projects forward,” says Charles Kim, president of Hanwha Solar.'"

Recharge

Iconic Brands Go Solar

Solar Means Business: Top Commercial Solar Customers in the U.S.

"What do Walmart, Costco, IKEA, McGraw Hill, Johnson & Johnson and FedEx have in common? They know a smart investment when they see one, and are all adopting solar energy in a big way.  From the largest corporations to small businesses, U.S. companies are installing solar energy to take control of their energy costs and improve their bottom line." 

Solar Energy Indrustries Association

Solar Beer | Powering Jobs for Milwaukee's Unemployed

“The brewery expects to install the system in early 2013. It will save the company about 27 percent in energy costs during the brewing process.

Milwaukee Shines, the city’s solar program, helped Milwaukee Brewing Co. find partners for the project. The state’s Focus on Energy program, Me2 and Milwaukee Shines all provided grants for the system.

The Me2 grant stipulates that 40 percent of labor hours on the project will be awarded to historically underemployed or unemployed Milwaukee residents.

‘Milwaukee is demonstrating that investing in clean energy and energy efficiency is not only good for the bottom line, but puts our citizens back to work,’ said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.”

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BizTimes.com

Educators | Solar Entrepreneurs

Irvine Unified School District in California

"Say you're an educator and you had an opportunity to save money, do something beneficial for the environment and provide an excellent teaching opportunity for students.

It would be a no-brainer, right?

So why isn't every school district in California racing to imitate Irvine Unified's successful solar panel project?

The answer is that too few school districts are run like IUSD. That is, they lack the vision, flexibility and willingness to experiment, and the entrepreneurial framework.  And yes, I'm using the word ‘entrepreneurial’ in reference to public schools, for it is a quality considered rare in any public-sector setting, but which all districts would do well to encourage.

The results of the project so far have been impressive, with both savings and energy production surpassing initial projections. IUSD figures it has cut $240,000 a year from its energy bill, and that's at a time when the district has continued to grow.”

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Read more @ the Daily Pilot

Solar Education | Environmental Plus Financial Conservation

Aerospace Museum of California

"Pacific Power Renewables has completed a 177.7 KW solar PV project that will provide all the energy needs for the Aerospace Museum of California in McClellan, California, just north of Sacramento. As part of the project, the museum is using the solar system to help educate children and adults about solar energy.

'Going solar was a strategic move for the Aerospace Museum of California. We save on energy costs and we can use this as an educational tool for our students,' said Roxanne Yonn Executive Director of the Museum.

'I am happy to have been a part of helping the Aerospace museum achieve a green initiative and at the same time reduce their electricity expense,' said David Dwelle, president of Pacific Power Renewables."

DomesticFuel.com

Off-The-Grid | Solar-Powered Mansions

Melody Key Island, Summerland, FL

Forbes

Pizzeria Goes Solar | Utilities Second-Largest Cost After Labor

"The Pizza Oven, a longtime neighborhood pizzeria in Lockport, on Monday became the first private business in the city to win Planning Board approval for a major solar power project.

Owner John Rinaldo said 37 solar panels will be mounted next Monday on the just-replaced south side roof of his business at 54 Vine St.

Rinaldo said the $53,000 project, about $10,000 of which is being funded by a grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, will allow him to use solar power for up to 60 percent of his pizzeria’s electrical needs.

'My accountant says in six years, I’ll have a 14 percent return [on his $43,000 investment],' Rinaldo said. 'I don’t know why more people don’t do it. Utilities are your second-largest cost after labor.'”

The Buffalo News

Rooftop Solar | New York

Kawasaki Rail Car

"City officials will unveil a massive new solar-panel installation atop the downtown i.Park Hudson commercial complex Wednesday.

The $5 million rooftop installation is one of the largest in the state, featuring 3,700 solar panels covering a space the size of two football fields. It will generate up to 15 percent of the power for the office-and-industrial complex, where tenants include heavy electrical users like Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc."

lohud.com

Navy Completes Largest Solar Energy Project in Virginia

"The $21 million project was part of President Barack Obama's stimulus package. Obama and former President George W. Bush both signed executive orders for the Department of Defense to pursue alternative energy. One mandate calls for each base to be using renewable sources for 50 percent of its power by 2020."

WSLS 10

Why Cell Phones Are Driving Off-Grid Solar Revolution

"There are now over 6 billion cell phone subscriptions in the world and cell phone penetration in developing countries is over 80 percent. There are more cell phones out there in the world than there are toothbrushes!

However, there are 600 million people with cell phones that have no access to electricity. To charge cell phones, people often have to walk hours to charging stations where they can plug their phone into a car battery. While kerosene may be a very poor lighting source, it is a source of light. For cell phone charging, there is often no local option.

Simply put, charging cell phones is emerging as the the number one reason people with no electricity want solar energy."

Read more how creative entrepreneurs are making it happen @ GIGAOM