Penn State to Compete in 2007 Solar Decathlon
Penn State to Compete in 2007 Solar Decathlon
The Department of Energy sponsors the solar decathlon, and next year there’s going to be a team from Penn State entered. The student teams will compete by building a solar powered home.
This is a great way to promote solar awareness, and the winner will receive $100,000.
January 19th, 2006 - Posted in Solar Technologies | | 0 Comments
California PUC Approves Nation’s Biggest Solar Program
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today approved the California Solar Initiative, a program to install 3,000 megawatts of solar on California homes, businesses, farms, schools and public facilities over 11 years. The initiative is the nation’s largest solar power investment, designed to make solar power mainstream and affordable. It will add clean energy to the state’s peak demand resources, reduce risk by diversifying the state’s energy portfolio, and establish a world-class solar market in California.
“With this initiative, California has taken a major step toward energy independence. This long-term, visionary policy will save ratepayers money, create high-paying jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy. The CPUC should be congratulated in creating a decade-long initiative that will drive the US solar industry to invest in technological innovation and scale up manufacturing,” said Rhone Resch, president of the national Solar Energy Industries Association. “California will be a leader in the next great high-tech growth industry - solar energy.”
The California Solar Initiative creates 11 years of funding for consumer rebates. The CPUC will provide $2.8 billion in customer incentives for solar projects on existing residential buildings, as well as all public buildings, industrial facilities, businesses, and agricultural facilities. The California Energy Commission, meanwhile, will provide $400 million in incentives for new homes, specifically targeting collaborations with the builder / developer community. Incentives are to be gradually reduced over time and phased out by 2016 under the CPUC proposal. The money will come from existing funds already earmarked for solar power and a de minimis additional surcharge on monthly electric bills over eleven years.
The historic initiative will provide the power equivalent of six large natural-gas fired power plants, while reducing the need for costly updates to California’s congested electric grid. According to a staff report prepared by the CPUC in the summer of 2005, the state’s investment in solar power will save California ratepayers billions of dollars net of incentives over system lifetimes. These energy savings come at a critical time for California consumers, as record-level natural gas prices continue to add to citizens’ heating and electric bills.
“The CPUC’s solar plan is a practical and affordable solution to skyrocketing electric rates,” said Barry Cinnamon, president of the California Solar Energy Industries Association. “Rooftop solar provides electricity where people need it — for their homes and businesses — and when they need it most — during peak daytime hours. The California Solar Initiative will help one million homeowners and businesses install solar energy systems that will provide reliable power for 25-plus years, while at the same time achieving billions of dollars in savings for California ratepayers.”
“As huge energy bills hit California mailboxes this month, there is no better time to jumpstart a mainstream solar power market,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, clean energy advocate for Environment California. “Today’s vote promises to eclipse expensive and imported fossil fuels with clean and homegrown solar power.”
“The public pressure to implement this program has been nothing less than inspiring, added David Hochschild of the Vote Solar Initiative. “Over the last three months, 50,000 people wrote to the Public Utilities Commissioners to ask them to pass this program - more public comment than the CPUC has received on any issue they have ever considered, including the 2001 energy crisis. It shows that public support for solar and renewables has reached a new threshold.”
January 12th, 2006 - Posted in Solar Energy News | | 0 Comments
Space Applications
Space Applications
Solar arrays work well for generating power in space and power virtually all satellites. Most satellites and spacecraft are equipped with crystalline silicon or high-efficiency Group III-IV cells, but recently satellites have begun using thin-film amorphous-silicon-based solar panels.
January 12th, 2006 - Posted in Photovoltaics | | 0 Comments
Grid-connected Photovoltaic Systems
Grid-connected Photovoltaic Systems
Grid-connected photovoltaic systems, also called grid interface systems, supply surplus power back through the grid to the utility, and take from the utility grid when the home system’s power supply is low. These systems remove the need for battery storage, although arranging for the grid interconnection can be difficult. In some cases, utilities allow net metering, which allows the owner to sell excess power back to the utility.
January 10th, 2006 - Posted in Photovoltaics | | 0 Comments
