California Far Niente Winery Goes Solar with ‘Floatovoltaics’
May 29, 2008 by admin
Filed under Installations, Solar News
Nearly 1,000 Floatovoltaic solar panels are secured onto pontoons that float on the irrigation pond in Far Niente’s Martin Stelling Vineyard.
Take nearly 1,000 photovoltaic panels and mount them on 130 pontoons floating in a Napa Valley irrigation pond, and what do you have?
A first-of-its-kind solar power array and the latest example of why Northern California’s wine industry - with its scores of entrepreneurs and mavericks - is a leader in embracing solar power.
Representatives of the Far Niente Winery in Oakville pointed out the unique aspects of a $4.2 million solar venture during a tour Wednesday in advance of today’s ceremonial unveiling of the project.
In addition to the 994 floating panels, 306 panels are mounted on an acre of land nearby.
All told, the water- and land-mounted solar array can produce up to 477 kilowatts at peak output - providing more than 100 percent of Far Niente’s electrical needs. It provides power to the historic winery (built in 1885), the tasting room, a carriage house with a collection of classic cars, a commercial kitchen, expansive azalea gardens, fountains, irrigation pumps and 40,000 square feet of wine-aging caves that are three football fields long.
San Francisco’s New Five Megawatt City Solar Projects at Sunset Reservoir, Pier 96
May 14, 2008 by admin
Filed under Solar News
Solar array at the San Francisco City Distribution Division Yard.
SFPUC Projects Will More than Triple Total Municipal Solar Power Generation in San Francisco
Mayor Gavin Newsom today praised the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s (SFPUC) decision to authorize new projects that will create at least five megawatts of new solar energy generation at City-owned facilities. When completed, the new projects atop the newly seismically-retrofitted Sunset Reservoir and the Pier 96/Norcal Recycling Center will increase municipal solar energy generation in San Francisco by more than 300% from two megawatts to seven megawatts.
“These new solar power systems at the Sunset Reservoir and Pier 96 will more than triple the energy we generate from the sun atop City facilities,” said Mayor Newsom. “The innovative approach to developing these projects is another example of our efforts to dramatically accelerate and expand solar power and other renewable energy sources for San Francisco. With these projects, we’ll have larger-scale solar energy projects at City facilities and the resources to provide funds for residential and commercial solar energy systems through our proposed Solar Energy Incentive Program.”
