Three new solar projects have been fired up by OCI Solar Power adding 45 MW of solar energy. The newly operational Alamo 4 project in Brackettville, Texas, generates 39 MW for CPS Energy, San Antonio’s community-owned utility. The solar farm features more than 150,000 solar panels and covers 600 acres of privately-owned land. Alamo 4 is OCI Solar Power’s first …
US Solar Nears 16GW of Installed Capacity
According to a new report from GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), the U.S. installed 1,133 MW of solar photovoltaics (PV) in the second quarter of this year. Q2 2014 U.S. Solar Market Insight report finds that more than half-million homes and business are now generating solar energy and they account for nearly half of all solar …
Kyocera’s Largest Floating Solar Farm Underway
Kyocera Corporation, Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation and Ciel et Terre International will begin construction this month on what they say is the world’s largest floating solar installation. Kyocera TCL Solar will develop and operate utility-scale floating solar power plants utilizing Ciel et Terre’s Hydrelio floating solar platforms in two installations, totaling 2.9 megawatts (MW) at Nishihira Pond and Higashihira Pond …
SunShare Helps Students Learn with Free Solar
David Amster-Olszewski, founder of SunShare, Sally Sorte, principal of Academy 360 public charter school and Denver, Colorado Mayo Michael B. Hancock recently announced a new program to provide free solar energy to all families of children to attend the school. “We are grateful to SunShare for helping us bring green, sustainable solar energy to our families. Not only are we …
Texas A&M Students Help African Villages with Solar
Three senior Mechanical Engineering students at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Bryan Hunt, Cody Collins, and Andrew Schippers recently returned from Hanga, Tanzania where they brainstormed ideas for several renewable resource projects including the use of solar energy for refrigeration, lighting, Internet and improving hydroelectric power. Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering Michael Cornachione is assisting the students with their projects. “The …
Natural Gas, Solar & Wind Biggest Power Generation Additions
Some clean renewables and alternatives to petroleum have added the most power-generating capacity in the first half of this year. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says out of the 4,350 megawatts of new utility-scale generating capacity to come online in the first six months of 2014, natural gas plants made up more than half of the additions, with solar and …
Renovagen Uses Crowdcube to Raise Funds
UK company Renovagen has used the crowd funding website Crowdcube to raise £263,000 with the support of 160 investors. The fundraising campaign was 76 per cent oversubscribed and coincides with the successful completion of a 6kW prototype version of Renovagen’s patented “Roll-Array” transportable solar power system that enables large rollable solar arrays to be conveniently and quickly deployed from small …
Verizon Goes Big With Solar
Verizon is set to become the number one solar producer among U.S. communication companies. They have announced an investment of nearly $40 million to expand their onsite green energy program. This year, the company will install 10.2 MW of new solar power systems at eight Verizon network facilities in five states: California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. This …
CEC Commissions Mass Community Solar Project
Clean Energy Collective (CEC) has commissioned a community solar project in Massachusetts. The 1 MW Southeastern Massachusetts Community Solar Array in Rehoboth, Mass. is now open to all ratepayers in the NGRID territory. An event was held to mark the occasion and attendees heard from Jeffrey Ritter, Town Administrator for the Town of Rehoboth; Meg Lusardi, Acting Commissioner of the …
Solar Cells You Can See Through
Did you know that you can have the best of both worlds? Solar energy and a view. A team of researchers as Michigan State University (MSU) have done just this- developed a new type of solar concentrator that when placed over a window, creates energy but doesn’t block the view. It is called a transparent luminescent solar concentrator and can …