The 5 Megawatt (MW) multi-technology installation at AWC was recognized by the Solar Energy Industries Association and the Solar Electric Power Association as one of the three most distinct photovoltaic projects of 2012. The announcement and ceremony took place at PV America's annual conference in San Jose, Calif.

A subsidiary of Main Street Power will own and operate the system for the next 30 years, saving AWC an estimated $62 million based on current electricity rates. This landmark system is composed of five one-megawatt sites across the campus, and will offset nearly 100 percent of the campus' daytime electricity.

The PV Project Distinction Awards celebrate major achievements in the United States solar energy industry. Winners were selected by the size of impact they make on the industry. This is the second year of this award, which is presented annually at the PV America show.

AlsoEnergy joined APS, Main Street Power and AWC in the 5MW installation. The system integrates solar installation, management and metrics into the school's solar technology degree programs. AlsoEnergy provides sophisticated monitoring, diagnostics and power plant control, as well as product and system testing for solar technologies.

"This is an important program that will measure the panel-to-portfolio effectiveness of various products and system combinations," said AlsoEnergy CEO, Robert Schaefer.

"We're proud to be part of this effort to develop the data and methodologies that will help train the next generation of leaders and innovators in the renewable energy industry."

The system employs PowerTrackTM performance monitoring software developed by AlsoEnergy to provide complete utility scale site management that monitors and gauges solar array power productivity, financial metrics and operational efficiencies. This data analysis will help establish industry standards, product combinations and protocols for a growing international market.

Power-Track provides on-demand monitoring service that allows AWC to achieve system visibility and retrieve site information from anywhere in the world. Users can view the performance of the entire site instantly and over extended periods, or scrutinize more granular information from a site area, single rooftop, or string of panels.

This information allows AWC students, faculty and facility managers to react to and measure changing conditions of each solar site. This granular control over every component in the array - from a single string, to the inverter, to the power delivered to the grid - allows for quick identification of performance issues.

]]> Tue, 15 MAY 2012 18:35:44 AEST Mansfield NJ (SPX) May 14, 2012 - GeoGenix has announced that it has signed 20 new contracts to install rooftop residential solar systems at Four Seasons at Mapleton, an age-restricted single-family development in the Burlington County, N.J., township of Mansfield. GeoGenix started installing residential systems at Four Seasons at Mapleton in 2007.

Including the 20 new contracts, GeoGenix has - or will have - installed solar systems on 40 of the 428 homes in the community - or roughly 10 percent. The installations were made possible through "community solar," a concept that allows residents to band together to purchase solar for their individual homes at a discount.

"We're thrilled to announce 20 new projects at Four Seasons at Mapleton," said Gaurav Naik, principal of Old Bridge, N.J.-based GeoGenix. "Homeowners hear their neighbors talking about the benefits of solar and they want to join in. The savings on electricity, coupled with an appealing price made possible through state and federal subsidies and the 'community solar' approach, has solar spreading like wildfire."

GeoGenix, which has been installing solar since 2001, is an industry leader with a proven track record in residential and commercial solar installations. The community solar discount is made possible by operational efficiencies such as the streamlining of the permitting process, using one or two designs instead of creating a new design for each home and the efficient deployment of installation crews.

At the state level, the systems generate Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs), a financial incentive representing the environmental benefits of solar, each of which is the equivalent of 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity. SRECs, which are generated for the first 15 years of a system's life, are purchased by utilities from solar producers in order to meet a state-mandated requirement for solar electricity.

At the federal level, system owners receive a 30 percent tax credit for the full cost of the system within the first year.

Many of the homeowners funded their systems through the New Jersey utility Public Service Electric and Gas' (PSE&G) solar loan program. The loan is being repaid with the SRECs that the system generates.

Taking state and federal subsidies and the upfront check from the PSE and G loan program into consideration, the average payback for a residential system is dramatically reduced. Since the lifespan is typically 30 years, this means that homeowners will generate free electricity for another 20 plus years after the system has paid for itself.

"Installing solar is an extremely attractive deal, especially for seniors living on fixed incomes," said Naik. "While most of the residents at Four Seasons were originally motivated to install solar for financial reasons, including as a hedge against future rate increases, they have developed a greater appreciation of the environmental benefits as they have come to realize that they are leaving a cleaner world for their grandchildren."

On average, the systems at Four Seasons offset 85 percent of the homes' energy consumption. The total wattage of all the systems that will be installed is about 140 kilowatts, bringing the total wattage of systems to 280 kilowatts. This equates to the reduction of about 428,000 pounds of CO2 emissions per year, which is the equivalent of offsetting the power demand of 48 homes for one year, planting 5,030 trees or removing 36 cars from the road annually.

The receptiveness to solar has changed dramatically from 2007, when GeoGenix sought to install the first solar systems at Four Seasons. At that time, GeoGenix joined with homeowners interested in installing solar to challenge a decision by the homeowners association to prohibit solar. That challenge resulted in a state law - believed to be the nation's first - that prohibits homeowners associations from outlawing solar.

"Some members of the community's governing organizations who originally opposed solar now have it on their homes, which shows how far solar has come in terms of public acceptance," said Naik. "We are delighted about the role we played in the enactment of state legislation that has become a model for similar legislation throughout the country, and that has accelerated the adoption of solar."

]]> Tue, 15 MAY 2012 18:35:44 AEST Washington DC (SPX) May 14, 2012 - A detailed description of development of the first practical artificial leaf - a milestone in the drive for sustainable energy that mimics the process, photosynthesis, that green plants use to convert water and sunlight into energy - appears in the ACS journal Accounts of Chemical Research.

The article notes that unlike earlier devices, which used costly ingredients, the new device is made from inexpensive materials and employs low-cost engineering and manufacturing processes.

Daniel G. Nocera points out that the artificial leaf responds to the vision of a famous Italian chemist who, in 1912, predicted that scientists one day would uncover the "guarded secret of plants."

The most important of those, Nocera says, is the process that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. The artificial leaf has a sunlight collector sandwiched between two films that generate oxygen and hydrogen gas. When dropped into a jar of water in the sunlight, it bubbles away, releasing hydrogen that can be used in fuel cells to make electricity.

These self-contained units are attractive for making fuel for electricity in remote places and the developing world, but designs demonstrated thus far rely on metals like platinum and manufacturing processes that make them cost-prohibitive.

To make these devices more widely available, Nocera replaced the platinum catalyst that produces hydrogen gas with a less-expensive nickel-molybdenum-zinc compound. On the other side of the leaf, a cobalt film generates oxygen gas. Nocera notes that all of these materials are abundant on Earth, unlike the rare and expensive platinum, noble metal oxides and semiconducting materials others have used.

"Considering that it is the 6 billion nonlegacy users that are driving the enormous increase in energy demand by midcentury, a research target of delivering solar energy to the poor with discoveries such as the artificial leaf provides global society its most direct path to a sustainable energy future," he says.

]]> Tue, 15 MAY 2012 18:35:44 AEST Elkridge MD (SPX) May 14, 2012 - In recent years, sports arenas and stadiums have become champions of sustainability for both social and financial reasons. The STAPLES Center, home to the Los Angeles Lakers, has 5% of its total power provided by solar panels, while the Portland Trail Blazers' Rose Garden Arena saved 4 million kWh of electricity, roughly $424,000 in operational savings, between 2008 and 2010 with their own green upgrades.

This sustainability surge is even trickling down to recreational sports. Solar Energy World, Maryland's fastest growing solar energy systems provider, plans to install a solar energy system in Soccer Dome's newest recreational indoor soccer facilities, Soccer Dome II in Harmans, Maryland.

Expected for completion at the end of June, Solar Energy World will install a 13,067 square foot linked collection of 546 solar panels, known as a solar array, paired with a 126 kilowatt Photovoltaic Grid-Interactive system, on the facility. The PV Grid-Interactive system uses the light from the sun to generate electricity and feeds it into the main electricity grid.

Together they will produce approximately 130,000 kWh of clean electricity annually, the equivalent of eliminating the emissions of nearly 18 cars* or the amount of electricity used by nearly a dozen homes per year.

"We're installing the system because we're confident it will yield double bottom-line benefits by reducing our carbon footprint and our utility bill," said Soccer Dome President Clif Everett.

Upon completion, the solar energy installation is projected to reduce the sports facility's energy footprint by 85 percent. Soccer Dome can even profit from the solar panels, which will produce an excess of electricity in summer months that can be sold back to BGE.

"Forward-thinking organizations, like Soccer Dome, that increase our region's energy production by installing solar panel systems have a vital impact on their surrounding communities" said Solar Energy World Vice President Geoff Mirkin.

"More businesses and organizations are looking to cut costs and resources needed to build and operate sports venues. When they find ways to do so while reducing their environmental impact, they enhance the return on investment tenfold. It's a real win-win situation."

Across the country, more and more business owners are learning to harness the power of the sun as a way to keep their energy costs down. Solar panel installations by businesses increased by 69 percent in the first half of 2011 when compared to the same period in 2010, according to a recent report from U.S. Solar Market Insight.

These steps also prove more favorable in consumers' eyes according to a 2011 study showing that 88 percent of Americans value good corporate citizenship, while 80 percent believe it's important for the sports media and entertainment industries specifically to support social and environmental causes like solar energy.

]]> Tue, 15 MAY 2012 18:35:44 AEST Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany (SPX) May 11, 2012 - Q.CELLS has received an order for 7 Megawattpeak (MWp) of solar modules by IKEA. Q.CELLS' CIGS thin-film modules Q.SMART will be installed on the roof-top of the main warehouse of IKEA in the Northern Italian town of Piacenza within the coming months. The project was initiated by the Italian companies F.lli Zaffaroni and GreenPowerTech.

"We are very proud of this order, which not only emphasises on our strong Italian footprint but shows, that leading brands like IKEA identify themselves with the high-quality and long-performing products of Q.CELLS", said Ciro Ahumada, Senior Vice President of Q.CELLS Europe. "Our Q.SMART thin-film modules engineered-in-Germany convince by their strong output especially in the hot climate of Italy as well as by their fine black aesthetics."

Ideal for commercial and residential settings, Q.SMART holds the world record for thin-film modules in serial production since 2009 with efficiencies of up to 14.7% (aperture area) out of series production. The CIGS is the only photovoltaic thin-film technology that uses the so-called "light-soaking" effect to generate up to 8 percent power above standard test conditions after installation.

Q.SMART solar modules also come with the innovative Anti PID technology (APT), protecting the modules against potential induced degradation (PID). Next to providing high efficiency products, Q.CELLS has actively contributed to the design, professional planning and execution of the roof-top system.

Mr. Paolucci of GreenPowerTech, a consultant to the project, comments: "Q.CELLS not only offers best-in-class products but their people deliver an highly professional service support, which is becoming more important in a largely decentralized PV world and especially on roof-top installations for operating warehouses."

Marco Dona, Italian Head of Sales of Q.CELLS comments: "The order represents yet another milestone in Q.CELLS' process of international expansion. Q.CELLS is continuously working on strengthening its position as partner for customers and suppliers of quality PV products and system solutions for a wide range of business segments in Italy, which is one of the most important PV-markets in the world."

related report
Q.CELLS successfully completes Europe's largest solar project
Q.CELLS has completed the solar project Brandenburg- Briest to full extend. It is the largest solar installation in Europe. With the last outstanding financial installment being placed by the financing bank, the commercial part of the mega project has now been finished. Q.CELLS had completed the entire construction of the mega solar park in an astounding eight weeks at the end of 2011.

"We are very pleased by this lighthouse project to have demonstrated our experience and outstanding competence in the systems business", said Clemens Jargon, head of marketing, sales and product management at Q.CELLS. "Our customers and their banks continue to rely on the high quality of our products also in the current situation."

In Brandenburg-Briest, what was once a former military airbase covering some 200 hectares is now "home" to approximately 383,000 of Q.CELLS' crystalline solar modules. With a total output of 91 MWp, Brandenburg-Briest produces enough electricity for over 22,500 households' annual requirements, making it the largest solar power plant in Europe. The plant will also reduce annual CO2 emissions by approximately 50,000 tons.

The Briest solar part is subdivided into three different sections. Brandenburg-Briest West and Brandenburg-Briest East have a total output of 60 MWp: located on land that belongs to the municipal authorities of the town of Brandenburg, they were transferred to the ownership of Hamburg-based asset management company LUXCARA in November 2011.

The third section at the site produces 31 MWp and is located in the communal district Briest-Havelsee. It was bought by Berlin-based MCG Management 2 Capital Group for its own stock. Q.CELLS had developed the project together with the company "Module 24".

"Q.CELLS sets benchmarks when it comes to constructing large-scale plants, for example by deploying the megawatt-block standard that we had developed", says Frank Danielzik, Director Systems and Operations Germany. "With those standard blocks we ensure higher power output for the plant operator, we speed up the pace of construction work and at the same time minimise operating costs." This principle was also applied for the design of the Bandenburg-Briest solar park.

In the systems solution field, Q.CELLS provides its customers with an extensive range of services, from site and project development to support when securing financing, from professional and fast installation to the management, maintenance and upkeep of power plants when in operation.

The company has been demonstrating the extent of its expertise on the international markets, for example in North America. Q.CELLS has realised large-scale solar projects totalling to a cumulated power output of 548 MWp, of which around 20% were installed in North America.

]]> Tue, 15 MAY 2012 18:35:44 AEST Roseville CA (SPX) May 11, 2012 - SPI Solar has announced that it has entered into an engineering, procurement and construction ("EPC") agreement with a subsidiary of KDC Solar ("KDC Solar") to design and build multiple solar energy facilities ("SEF") for KDC Solar at the Mountain Creek Resort and Grand Cascades Golf Resort in Vernon, New Jersey. KDC Solar will own and operate the SEFs.

The SEFs being developed at the resorts will include a mixture of fixed ground mount and custom designed solar parking canopies and car ports located at three separate sites at the resort. The three SEFs will provide more than 8,000,000 kW hours of solar electricity generation per year to help power the resort's operations. The project is yet another large-scale solar installation for SPI as a result of its preferred provider agreement with KDC Solar.

"This will be our first installation at a major year-round resort," said Stephen Kircher, CEO for SPI Solar.

"We are extremely pleased that it will be Mountain Creek and Crystal Springs and that our finished work will be seen by the thousands of visitors the resorts draw from the tri-state area. We look forward to getting started."

"We are very happy to have the opportunity to provide the Mountain Creek and Crystal Springs Resorts with clean, low cost, long-term solar energy," said Hal Kamine, KDC Solar's CEO. "These installations are an example of the resort's commitment to the environment, and a complement to KDC Solar's commitment to "behind-the-meter" solar electric systems for businesses and jobs in New Jersey."

Located in Vernon, NJ, Mountain Creek is the tri-state area's premier destination for mountain recreation. Only 47 miles from the George Washington Bridge, Mountain Creek is easily accessed by residents of New York, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania seeking a world-class resort with year-around recreation activities.

Among other activities including golf, mountain biking and water park attractions, the Mountain Creek resort offers over 167 acres of terrain on 4 mountain peaks with 100% night skiing and the region's highest vertical peak at 1040'.

The project is scheduled for completion by the end of this year.

]]> Tue, 15 MAY 2012 18:35:44 AEST Toronto, Canada (SPX) May 10, 2012 - Northland Power and Aecon Group have announced Aecon's wholly-owned subsidiary, Miwel Construction Limited, has been awarded a contract to construct six 10MW solar photovoltaic (PV) generation projects in Ontario. Each of the six projects will be constructed on approximately 85 acres of land, and will consist of over 40,000 PV solar modules mounted on fixed structural supports.

The solar modules will generate direct current electricity from the sun's energy, which will then be converted into alternating current, and subsequently transformed and injected into the Hydro One distribution system. The projects will sell the electricity under Ontario's renewable energy Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program, and will use Ontario-made equipment and local Ontario labour.

The projects are located near Smiths Falls and Belleville in Eastern Ontario, and Burk's Falls near Huntsville. Work on the sites has begun, with completion of all six sites expected in 2013.

"Renewable energy sources like solar are essential to ensure a strong, sustainable energy grid," said John Brace, President and CEO of Northland Power.

"With a long history of generating clean and green, intelligent energy, Northland's contract with Aecon will further our mission to provide renewable energy to power Ontario homes and businesses."

Northland has received more than 130 MW of FIT contracts for solar projects that will be constructed from 2012 to 2014. With experience in both rooftop and ground mounted solar projects, Aecon has previously constructed Peterborough Utilities' 10MW Lily Lake Solar Park, and rooftop systems on IKEA, Home Depot and Canadian Tire stores.

"Aecon has a long-standing commitment to being a leader in the construction of innovative, renewable and sustainable energy solutions," said Teri McKibbon, Aecon's Chief Operating Officer.

"We are pleased to be working with Northland Power, and are confident this contract will showcase our abilities in delivering customized solutions for solar projects."

]]> Tue, 15 MAY 2012 18:35:44 AEST Ulm, Germany (SPX) May 10, 2012 - Heliatek Gmbh has set a new world record for organic solar cells. The company has commissioned SGS, an accredited and independent testing facility, with a measurement campaign of its latest organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells. The result of this campaign is a new world record for OPV with 10.7 % cell efficiency on 1.1 cm2. It also confirms the superior low light and high temperature performances of OPV compared to traditional solar technologies.

The key to Heliatek's success is the family of small organic molecules - oligomers - developed and synthesized at its own lab in Ulm, Germany.

Dr. Martin Pfeiffer, co-founder and CTO of Heliatek, explains: "Heliatek is the only solar company in the world that uses the deposition of small organic molecules in a low temperature, roll-to-roll vacuum process. Our solar tandem cells are made of nanometers thin layers of high purity and uniformity. This enables us to literally engineer the cell architecture to systematically improve efficiency and lifetime."

The measurement campaign of SGS included efficiency measurements under standard testing conditions (STC) of the solar industry as well as performance measurements at low light and high temperatures of up to 80 degrees C. The test results not only set a new world record for OPV with 10.7 % cell efficiency, but the additional measurements highlight the superior performance of Heliatek's OPV cells under real life conditions.

The measurement results for low light established that the efficiency not only remains constant, but even increases gradually. At an irradiation of 100 W/m" the efficiency is 15 % higher compared to the standard efficiency measured at 1,000 W/m". Additionally, the measurements at high temperatures confirmed that the efficiency remains constant. This behavior is unique for OPV technology in contrast to traditional solar technology which efficiency drops 15 % to 20 % at elevated temperatures.

These technology advantages translate into a higher harvesting factor under real life conditions. First outdoor tests have shown that the harvesting factor of Heliatek's organic solar cells is 15 % to 25 % higher than crystalline and thin film solar.

"When Heliatek was founded in 2006, the technology roadmap set out ambitious milestones for efficiency, and yet we have hit every single one of them," says Thibaud Le Seguillon, CEO of Heliatek. "Thanks to the close cooperation between the close cooperation between our research teams in chemistry and physics, we are now on our path to achieving 15 % efficiency within the next few years."

Heliatek is currently working on its first roll-to-roll manufacturing line installed in Dresden, Germany, to go in production in the third quarter of 2012. It has also kicked off a third financing round to raise euros 60 million from current and new investors for a new roll-to-roll 75 MWp production line.

]]> Tue, 15 MAY 2012 18:35:44 AEST New York NY (SPX) May 10, 2012 - Solar thermal hot water and space heating systems are an attractive option for commercial enterprises who want to incorporate renewable energy into their operations.

These systems harness the free power of the sun to directly heat the water and air that circulates in their processes, buildings and offices. While solar thermal is gaining in popularity in the commercial sector, recent developments in combined systems have shown the potential for even more innovative growth for solar thermal.

"Business owners are sometimes concerned that solar thermal may not provide enough energy for their needs," said Nigel Cotton, OEM Team Leader for the International Copper Association (ICA) and founder of Solarthermalworld.org, a leading international website on solar thermal energy.

"But there are many ways to combine solar thermal with other types of renewable energy that will allow it to provide more energy while continuing to refrain from adding carbon emissions to the environment."

One interesting system with a high level of synergy is solar thermal combined with geothermal pumps. Geothermal heat pumps bring heat up from under the ground to combine with the heat of the solar thermal system.

And at other times, the geothermal exchanger can serve as a storage tank for excess heat from the solar thermal system. These kinds of innovations in solar thermal systems can be used in settings where hot water is either essential or secondary to the operations of the organization.

At an aquatic center at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, a hybrid system of solar thermal and PV provides heat for the building and hot water for the swimming pool. Combining the two solar technologies thusly has proven a great boon to the technology, and could possibly be a big step forward for the industry.

"Solar thermal is an extremely versatile technology," said Cotton. "Combination systems are the next step in the application of solar thermal as a leading renewable energy technology."

]]> Tue, 15 MAY 2012 18:35:44 AEST Bitterfeld, Germany (SPX) May 10, 2012 - REC Systems has sold a 6 MW solar power plant that it successfully developed, financed, and constructed in Bitterfeld, Germany to two investment companies in the Chorus Group.

Originally developed by Grune Energien GmbH, REC Systems took full control of the project in September 2011 - when it was less than 50 percent developed - and provided the necessary project development, financing, and streamlined construction. REC completed construction of the plant in December 2011, ensuring the plant's eligibility for the higher 2011 feed-in tariff.

The ground-mounted system in Bitterfeld consists of 27,096 high performance REC modules installed on an area of 13 hectares, with an annual capacity of approximately 6,101 MWh and 3,435 tons of CO2 emissions saved each year.

The project was sold to two investment companies in the Chorus Group, with project financing from DKB AG (Deutsche Kreditbank AG).

"We are extremely happy to acquire yet another state-of-the-art solar power plant from REC Systems," said Thomas Laumont, Managing Director, Chorus Cleantech Management GmbH.

"REC Systems' management of the development and building of this project ensures the reliability of this solar power plant for the years to come."

"Chorus is a knowledgeable and experienced investor in solar energy plants, valuing REC's efficient modules and high-quality solutions. We are delighted to be their partner once again," said Terje Pilskog, Senior Vice President, Systems and Business Development, REC.

]]> Tue, 15 MAY 2012 18:35:44 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D