CGI America Launches Feed-Out Program

Joanna Schroeder

The world is about to see the first market-based, fixed-price funding program for solar and renewable technologies through a Feed-Out Program. The program, the brain-child of the Clinton Global Initiative America (CGI America) and Demeter Power Group, has a goal of helping modernize the nation’s power grid with distributed energy. “The Feed-Out Program will bring together independent power producers and …

Carbon, Clean Energy, Climate Change, Electric Vehicles, energy efficiency, Energy Storage, Environment, Solar

CSP: ELEMENTS Awarded to Southern Research Institute

Joanna Schroeder

Southern Research Institute has signed a jointly funded cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the DOE’s new Concentrating Solar Power: Efficiently Leveraging Equilibrium Mechanisms for Engineering New Thermochemical Storage (CSP: ELEMENTS) funding program. The program is part of the SunShot Initiative. CSP: ELEMENTS supports the development of high-temperature thermochemical energy storage (TCES) systems that …

Alternative energy, Clean Energy, Energy Storage, Solar, Video

UCR Unveils Sustainable Grid Initiative

Joanna Schroeder

The University of California, Riverside has launched its Sustainable Integrated Grid Initiative to research the integration of intermittent renewable energy including photovoltaic solar panels, energy storage including batteries, and all types of electric and hybrid electric vehicles. The project is the largest of its kind in the state. “This project puts UC Riverside at the forefront of smart grid and …

Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Energy Storage, Environment, Smart Grid, Solar

Green Charge Networks Help Save Green

Joanna Schroeder

Green Charge Networks can help retail chain customers and city municipalities save some green. The company, which specializes in intelligent energy storage, has signed agreements for 1 MW of energy storage with several organizations that are looking to reduce their electricity bills via smart grid technologies. For example, it is common in California and New York City for business to …

Electricity, energy efficiency, Energy Storage, Smart Grid

Crescent Solar Energy Project Commissioned

Joanna Schroeder

SolarReserve has confirmed that the 110 megawatt (MW) Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project located near Tonopah, Nevada, has entered the plant commissioning phase. According to the company, Crescent Dunes is the first utility-scale facility in the world to feature advanced molten salt power tower energy storage capabilities. The Crescent Dunes Project is more than five times the capacity output of …

Alternative energy, Electricity, Energy Storage, Solar

Princeton Power, EnStorage Awarded BIRD Grant

Joanna Schroeder

Princeton Power Systems and EnStorage have been awarded a $950,000 grant from the Israel-U.S. Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation (BIRD). The grant will support the commercialization and deployment of an energy storage system based on EnStorage’s proprietary hydrogen bromide (HBr) flow battery and Princeton Power Systems’ inverters and site controller. The first system will be deployed to support a …

Alternative energy, Energy Storage, Smart Grid, Solar

Abengo’s Solana Solar Plant Acheives Milestone

Joanna Schroeder

World-wide renewable energy company Abengoa has announced that Solana, the world’s largest parabolic trough plant with a total installed capacity of 280 gross megawatts (MW) and also the first solar plant in the United States with thermal energy storage, has successfully passed commercial operation tests. Abengoa says this milestone marks a major accomplishment for the company and the Concentrating Solar …

Alternative energy, Electricity, Energy Storage, Solar

Airborne Wind Energy Systems See Advancements

Joanna Schroeder

According to Airborne Wind Energy Labs, a major problem stalling the advance of renewable energy is that electrical energy cannot be stored economically. However, the company says that an airborne wind conversion system, directly charging thermal energy storage, could become the first economical energy storage technology not dependent on specific and rare location features. The proposed system converts wind energy …

Electricity, Energy Storage, Wind

US Navy Battery Testing Facility Goes Solar

Joanna Schroeder

The Battery Innovation Center in Newberry, Indiana, adjacent to the US Navy’s largest battery testing and research base, is the home of an isola solar power carport developed by renewz sustainable solutions. The solar charging carport system is the first energy lab in the country to feature Silfab solar panel technology. “The completion and deployment took just a matter of …

Alternative energy, Alternative Vehicles, Energy Storage, Solar

UConn Establishes New Fraunhofer Center

Joanna Schroeder

The University of Connecticut (UConn), has established a new Fraunhofer Center for Energy Innovation (CEI). The role of the center is to develop advanced technologies related to energy storage, fuel cells, in-stream hydro, power management and distribution through contact research. “The sustainable, efficient and environmentally friendly use of energy is one of the major global challenges of the future,” said …

Alternative energy, Energy, Energy Storage