International car manufacturer Nissan North America has begun the installation of 30 solar charging stations at its Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant in Franklin, Tennessee. This project is one of dozens that Nissan has invested in the state totaling more than $3.5 billion over 30 years. The solar chargers are designed to charge the Nissan LEAF, an all electric vehicle (EV) …
Offshore Wind Key Solution for UK
A new white paper has been released that details the role offshore wind could play for the UK. According to Shadow Energy Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies, along with Chairman of the Environment Agency Lord Smith, without investments along with skilled workers, the industry will not flourish to its full capacity. Today, only 3 percent of energy currently consumed comes from renewables …
New England Goes Solar
Con Edison Development now owns and operates the largest operating solar power system in New England. The ten-acre solar facility is located in the New Bedford Business Park, located between Dartmouth and New Bedford, Massachusetts. The 2-megawatt project consists of more than 8,000 ground mounted crystalline silicon panels generating enough electricity to power 2,000 average sized homes. “As New England’s …
1 MW Solar Farm Completed in North Carolina
Murphy, North Carolina a small community in Cherokee County, has a new 1 megawatt (MW) solar farm designed, engineered, procured, installed, and managed by ESA Renewables. The solar power system is located on 16 acres in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. In order to optimize the installation and ensure maximum energy generation, 26 feet of dirt was leveled. The …
Greening a Golf Course
There’s more green on this golf course than the “greens.” The Meadow Club in Fairfax, California has just completed a solar power system installation that consists of 2.057 square feet of Sharp solar panels. The project was a venture between Novato and SolarCraft, a solar energy contractor, and the operational solar system is located on the Club’s maintenance building. It …
UC Davis Strives for Zero Net Energy Campus
University of California, Davis is striving to become a zero net energy campus. The first development will be the UC Davis West Village. The development will combine advanced energy efficient design features that include a 4 megawatt (MW) SunPower solar power system. The solar system, comprised of both rooftop and solar canopies installed in parking areas, will generate the equivalent …
Book Review – Energy Myths & Realities
This week I decided to bone up on some energy 101 so I read “Energy Myths & Realities” by Vaclav Smil, an energy scientist. He discusses eight myths and attempts to set the record straight by disseminating the true facts around the issues. He believes several of the myths have been mired in the past while others are perpetuated by …
Nantenna to Improve Solar Capture Threefold
One of the drawbacks with solar energy is they only collect, on average, 20 percent of available sunlight. To address this problem, University of Missouri engineer Patrick Pinhero, an associate professor in the MU Chemical Engineering Department, is developing a flexible solar sheet that will capture more than 90 percent sunlight. Pinhero notes that energy generated using traditional photovoltaic methods …
Solar to Power Volt Assembly Plant
General Motors (GM) is in full production on the Chevrolet Volt, a flex-fuel electric car (FFV-EV). Since the Volt is more “sustainable” the company is also looking at ways to produce the vehicle in more sustainable ways as well. GM is currently in the process of installing the largest photovoltaic solar (PV) array in Southeast Michigan at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly …
FUJIFILM Adds Solar Power
FUJIFILM has completed the installation of a 483,391 kilo-watt hours solar power system at its branch office in Hawaii. The installation was completed by 21st Century Technologies and is comprised of 1,455 Conergy PowerPlus modules. The solar power system will produce the equivalent amount of energy needed to power 66 average sized homes per year and is the first Conergy …