Chile is ramping up its renewable energy sector with two recent project announcements. SunEdison and the Chilean mining and steel group CAP have signed an agreement to construct what the two companies believe will be the largest solar photovoltaic power plant in Latin America and one of the largest on the world. The plant is designed to have an installed capacity …
DOE Announces New SunShot Projects
The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded seven data-driven projects focused on reducing costs and accelerating solar energy deployment as part of the SunShot Initiative. DOE said the goal of the projects will result in viable methods for dramatically transforming the operations of solar researchers, manufacturers, developers, installers and policymakers, and speed the commercialization and deployment of affordable clean energy. …
Rice Solar Energy Project Gets Green Light
SolarReserve has been given the green light from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to sell power from its 150 megawatt solar project under an amended 25-year power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). According to the company, the Rice Solar Energy Project will be the first large-scale solar project in the state to include energy storage capabilities. …
Regional Clean Energy Challenge Winners Named
Aerosol Control Technologies (ACT) of Washington University in St. Louis, has won the $10,000 Missouri Clean Energy Student Challenge. The team will compete for more than $300,000 in prizes in the second annual Clean Energy Student Challenge on April 4, 2013 in Chicago. ACT is developing an advanced particulate matter capture system that will significantly improve diesel engine efficiency using …
Battery Storage Project at Texas Wind Farm Completed
Duke Energy Renewables has completed a 36-megawatt (MW) energy storage and power management system at its 153 MW Notrees Windpower Project in West Texas. Development of the storage system began in 2009 with a $22 million grant matching from the Department of Energy and in December the project became fully operational. “Battery storage is an important innovation to address the …
Photovoltaics Versus Biofuels in Energy Conversion
How does energy produced by the sun (solar) compete with ethanol in terms of land use, life-cycle emissions and cost? These questions are being asked by University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Professor Roland Geyer. He wants to know what makes more sense, growing fuel crops to supply alternative-fuel vehicles with ethanol or …
VW Chattanooga Powers Up Largest TN Solar Park
Volkswagen (VW) has “powered up” the largest solar installation at an automotive manufacturing facility in the U.S. and the biggest solar installation in the state of Tennessee. The Volkswagen Chattanooga Solar Park is now part of the the company’s green auto plant and was the first in the world to receive the top LEED certification.The Volkswagen Chattanooga Solar Park occupies 33 …
Solar PV Atlas Report Released
The new report, “Solar PV Atlas: solar power in harmony with nature,” has been released by WWF. The report shows that even if all electricity is generated by renewable energy sources, using solar photovoltaic (PV) alone, it would take only an insignificant amount of total land area. The report shows, through seven cases in six countries and one region, that …
Sungevity Secures $125 Million
Sungevity has completed a series of venture capital and project financings securing up to $125 million. The funding includes $40 million in equity financings raised in 2012 led by Oakland-based impact investment fund, Brightpath Capital Partners, and home improvement retailer, Lowe’s. New equity investors Vision Ridge Partners, Craton Equity Partners and Eastern Sun Capital Partners, LLC, also participated. The funding …
Renewable Energy Installed Capacity Grows by Leaps and Bounds
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Office of Energy Projects has released its latest “Energy Infrastructure Update,” and finds that renewable energy sources including biomass, geothermal, solar, water, and wind, accounted by 49.10 percent of all new domestic electrical generating capacity installed during 2012. The total was 12,956 MW and more than a quarter of that new capacity, or 3,276 MW, …