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World's First Zero-Energy Climbing Gym
Boulder CO (SPX) Jun 29, 2009 Lighthouse Solar has announced a power purchase agreement (PPA) with a new cutting-edge climbing gym. This ground-breaking agreement raises clean energy standards through a financing structure that pays investors while reducing the building owner's energy costs. When the world's first solar-powered climbing gym, Movement Climbing and Fitness, opens in Boulder in July, its electricity will be produced by a 100-kilowatt photovoltaic array and its water will be heated with a 90-square-foot evacuated tube solar thermal system. The project was financed in part by the PPA, in which Lighthouse Solar owns the system and the building owners purchase the electricity it produces. The building owners benefit from a fixed power cost 10% below the current grid electrical rate, with savings increasing as electrical rates rise. Lighthouse Solar benefits by taking advantage of local, state and federal incentives and tax breaks which, combined with the monthly revenue stream from selling the electricity, provide investors in the PPA with a solid and predictable return on investment. Scott Franklin, CEO and President of Lighthouse Solar explains, "The PPA concept is not new but by serving as both owner and installer Lighthouse Solar has streamlined third party ownership of clean energy systems, maximizing the value for everyone involved by avoiding distributor and subcontractor markups on both materials and labor." The installation utilizes highly efficient and cost-effective photovoltaic panels and evacuated tube solar thermal collectors from Lumos, a division of Lighthouse Solar's parent company Clean Energy Solutions. Tim Harrington, the gym's general contractor said of the Lighthouse Solar PPA, "It is a state-of-the-art deal. Now I want to do it on my office. The biggest problem with commercial real estate is the utility bills - they're enormous." To most effectively utilize the sun's power, the gym was designed by Jim Logan Architects, a renowned zero-energy design firm. A smart-lighting system senses the ambient light and increases or decreases the interior lighting accordingly. A heat exchanger will utilize outside air to cool or warm the interior. Using Lightgauge, Lighthouse Solar's proprietary web-based data monitoring system, electrical production versus consumption will be prominently displayed on a monitor at the entrance of the building. Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Lighthouse Solar All About Solar Energy at SolarDaily.com
Europe eyes giant desert solar power plantBerlin (UPI) Jun 26, 2009 As the world's reserves of hydrocarbon fuels dwindle, a German-led consortium is pushing ahead with a revolutionary plan to build a giant thermal solar power plan in the North African desert that would provide up to 15 percent of Europe's electricity needs. The ambitious project, known as Desertec, is expected to cost $555.3 billion. It would generate inexhaustible and affordable ... read more |
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