Industrial Nanotech Enters Solar Energy Market after Completing Successful Field Trials
March 4, 2009 by editor
Filed under Solar News, Technology
Increase the effectiveness of solar greenhouses by coating the backs of solar collection panels and solar lights with Nansulate® Greenhouse to reduce heat loss.
Industrial Nanotech, Inc., an emerging global leader in nanotechnology, announced today that the Company’s “Nansulate Solar” is currently being specified on both solar panels and the pipes and tanks of solar hot water systems to increase efficiency and lower operating costs.
“Field trials of Nansulate Solar began a year ago in March of 2008 by Universal Energy Group, Inc., located in Stockton, California,” stated Francesca Crolley, VP of Operations and Marketing for Industrial Nanotech. “After twelve months of data collection, the product proved to successfully increase the efficiency and lower the operating cost of solar systems when used on the solar panels of solar energy systems and on numerous components of solar hot water systems. Universal Energy Group is now including Nansulate Solar as the standard in their solar installations and selling to other solar energy companies. Additional information about this product can be found at Nansulate.”
Sunsei GreenMeter Approved for Rebates in California
March 4, 2009 by editor
Filed under California Solar Initiative, Solar News, Technology
Sunsei GreenMeter Approved for Rebates in California
ICP Solar Technologies Inc., a developer, manufacturer and marketer of proprietary solar panels and products, today announced that the Company’s Sunsei® GreenMeterTM has been approved for certain solar-based incentives in the State of California. Specifically, the GreenMeterTM has been added to the list of approved products under California’s PMRS subsidy program, such that residents installing this unique ICP Solar application will qualify to receive rebates, tax credits, and other incentives under the “Go Solar California” initiative - a $2.2 billion program. The Sunsei® GreenMeterTM is now listed as an eligible Meter and the associated web service is listed as an eligible Performance Monitoring and Reporting Service provider.
“California installers can now offer their clients an advanced, accurate metering and monitoring product with an even more attractive value proposition - making it easier to spur adoption of this innovative, solar-powered solution,” said Sass Peress, CEO. “Expanding into the California solar market - the largest in North America - is critical to our successful rollout out of the Sunsei® GreenMeterTM and establishing it as the leading application of its kind.”
Los Angeles Solar Measure Falls Behind in Votes
March 4, 2009 by editor
Filed under Community, Solar News
A controversial ballot measure in Los Angeles to increase solar power installations in the city has fallen behind, and will be rejected unless thousands of late or provisional ballots swing the outcome.
At the moment, it appears that Los Angeles voters lacked confidence in the city utility's ability to manage massive solar installations.
Measure B, as the issue was known, would require the local utility - the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power - to ramp up solar power production dramatically by installing 400 megawatts’ worth of panels by 2014. (That is a substantial amount - nearly one-third of the size of a record solar deal recently signed by Southern California Edison.)
The controversy centered on how - not whether - Los Angeles should move forward with solar power.
Bright Future As Berkeley Starts Solar Program
March 1, 2009 by editor
Filed under Homes, Solar News
Homeowner Jeanne Pimentel shows off her new solar panels to Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. She'll pay for them over 20 years in property taxes.
Two Berkeley homeowners received checks for their new solar panels on Friday, becoming the first to flip the switch on the city’s much-ballyhooed, closely watched solar financing program.
“I’m a guinea pig, but there’s no way I could have afforded solar otherwise,” said Jeanne Pimentel, an editor who has 11 solar panels on her Allston Way home. “Because of this, I can help solve our energy problem without putting any money up front.”
Berkeley’s program allows property owners to pay for solar panels through a 20-year assessment on their property taxes. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. rebates and new tax breaks guaranteed in the federal stimulus package reduce the cost further, so most homeowners begin saving on electric bills immediately.
Twelve states, including New York, Washington and Colorado, and 50 California cities, including San Francisco and San Diego, are following Berkeley’s model and are closely watching how the program unfolds.
Cost of Solar Installation has Fallen in the Past Decade
February 20, 2009 by editor
Filed under Solar News, Technology
The cost of installing solar panels on homes and businesses plunged 27.6 percent from 1998 through 2007, according to a new study that questions some of the conventional wisdom about solar power’s price.
Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory examined the costs of 37,000 photovoltaic systems across the country and found the average price fell from $10.50 per watt in 1998 to $7.60 per watt in 2007. Those averages include residential systems as well as larger arrays installed on businesses and do not take into account financial incentives from the federal or state governments.
Workers from Los Gatos' Akeena Solar install panels on a home in the Oakland hills in 2008.
Smaller, home-size systems averaged $8.30 per watt in 2007, which was more than the average at commercial installations. At that price, a typical 3-kilowatt residential solar system would cost $24,900.
The study’s findings, released Thursday, contain one surprise.
California Solar Panel Installations Through The Roof In 2008
January 28, 2009 by editor
Filed under Installations, Solar News
California solar billboard sponsored by Pacific Gas & Electric
Despite a credit freeze that’s stunting renewable energy projects throughout the country, 2008 was a hot year for solar power in California.
Encouraged by state rebates, Golden State residents and businesses last year installed a record 158 megawatts of photovoltaic panels on their rooftops to turn the sun’s rays into electricity, the California Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday. That’s more than double the 78 megawatts installed in 2007.
Residential demand appears to be hanging tough in the face of the shaky economy. December saw the largest volume of homeowner rebate requests since the state launched the California Solar Initiative program two years ago.
California Company Shows Off Solar Technology in Surprise Arizona
January 17, 2009 by editor
Filed under Solar News
SunGrabber Electric Hot Water System Layout: The single tank configuration is applicable for electric hot water heaters. The diagram illustrates the easiest way to add solar. (Note: gas hot water heaters require a separate solar storage tank.)
A “Green Machine” made a pit stop this week in Surprise, showing off the latest in solar hot-water technology.
City building inspectors got a sneak peek at how the SunGrabber Electric Hot Water System works and how it’s installed. Fafco, the manufacturer, brought the mobile model to the site of the environmentally friendly City Hall building under construction near Bullard Avenue and Bell Road
Southern California Solar Company Phat Energy Sponsors Sundance Eco Event
LOS ANGELES - (Business Wire) Phat Energy has made it into the Sundance Film Festival. The Los Angeles-based company that designs and installs solar energy systems, is a co-sponsor of “2009: A Green Odyssey,” a part of the festival dedicated to environmentally-themed films. The largest eco-event in Sundance history, Green Odyssey will be held on January 16th from 8 p.m. to midnight at Village on Main in Park City.
Phat Energy sees itself as more than a supplier of renewable energy products; it’s also a promoter of environmentally responsible lifestyles. Its sponsorship of the Sundance event is a way to get its message to a particularly influential crowd. “The entertainment community can and must energize our green economy,” says Phat Energy General Manager Philippe Hartley. “We applaud the filmmakers who lead that charge; that’s why Phat Energy is proud to support this event.”
Financial Incentives Mean California Home Solar Is Hot
January 14, 2009 by editor
Filed under California Solar Initiative, Homes, Solar News
Sean Murphy, a designer and installer with Solar Universe, carries a solar module to be placed on the roof of Ernie and Doris Dobkins' home in Lincoln. Doris Dobkins said the federal tax credit pushed her to take the solar plunge. "All of my neighbors are watching," Dobkins said. "Someone had to take the first step."
While many in this troubled economy worry about making investments, Doris Dobkins didn’t think twice about sticking her money on her roof.
“Instead of paying PG&E, I’m paying myself,” said Dobkins, a Placer County homeowner who recently spent $36,000 for an electricity-generating solar system.
Based on projected savings in her electricity bills, a state rebate and a new federal tax credit, Dobkins expects to recoup her investment in six years.
The family anticipates saving $100 to $150 a month on Pacific Gas and Electric Co. bills, and the utility company will credit them for excess electricity generated, she said.
Akeena Solar Powers Largest Commercial Solar Installation in San Francisco
January 13, 2009 by editor
Filed under Large Solar Installations, Solar News, Technology
Solar Power Partners Supplies Power Purchase Agreement Securing Clean Renewable Energy for Next 15 Years
LOS GATOS, Calif., — Demonstrating continued robust growth in the commercial sector, Akeena Solar, one of the nation’s leading designers and installers of solar systems, together in partnership with Solar Power Partners, Inc. (SPP) today announced the completion of the largest commercial solar installation in San Francisco. Solar Power Partners financed, developed and will operate the system through a power purchase agreement (PPA), which allows the site owner to purchase power at a predictable rate from SPP. The project totals 385 kilowatts and spreads 1,500 solar panels across four commercial buildings in the Hunters Point/Bayview neighborhood.
“I commend Akeena Solar and Solar Power Partners for their commitment to find economically viable ways to blanket San Francisco with solar panels and solidify San Francisco as a beacon of American solar energy,” said San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who in June signed the nation’s largest municipal solar incentive program into law. “Private sector efforts such as these are equally as important as publicly funded efforts like GoSolarSF to advancing our city’s renewable energy initiatives.”
The systems will provide an estimated 60 percent of the commercial buildings’ annual power needs — the equivalent to taking 75 cars off the road each year for 30 years. Located at the intersection of US-101 and Interstate 280, the impressive solar installation is visible to motorists on both freeways. Read more
