FLS Energy has outfitted many of the homes at the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base in North Carolina with assemblies to produce solar-heated water. Hopefully this is part of a larger trend on the part of the Pentagon, the world's single largest energy consumer, of embracing efficient and renewable energy.
Showing posts with label Solar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Solar. Show all posts
Monday, June 21, 2010
Green Marines: Camp Lejeune Buys Into Solar Power
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
NU in the American Solar Challenge
Check out this article about Northwestern's entry in the American Solar Challenge, a 1200 mile long race from Tulsa, OK to Naperville, IL. Also, mark your calendars for a celebration at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry June 27th.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Hybrid Power Plant
A Florida utility is adding significant solar generating capacity to its natural gas-fired power plant. This coupling of technologies simultaneously addresses solar intermittency and peak-load issues (inefficiently firing up additional turbines when we all have our air conditioners on full blast). All this while reducing the carbon footprint of the facility. The solar technology is not photovoltaic, but instead is a central-receiver system, in which an array of reflectors concentrate solar energy onto an oil-filled thermal mass, whose heat is then transferred to water in a steam generator.
Read More >>Thursday, December 3, 2009
NREL's State of the State report
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has released a detailed report looking into the status of each US state's renewable energies portfolio. Illinois tends to place low when looking at total renewables capacity, but fares much better when considering growth.
Read More >>Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Major thin film solar farm in China
Two gigawatt thin film solar farm planned for the Mongolian desert. This is a significant non-silicon-based solar cell project. Note that two gigawatts is on par with a large nuclear or coal-fired power plant.
Excerpt:
"Chinese government officials signed an agreement on Tuesday with First Solar, an American solar developer based in Tempe, Ariz., for a 2,000-megawatt photovoltaic farm to be built in the Mongolian desert. Set for completion in 2019, the project represents the world’s biggest photovoltaic power plant project to date, and is part of an 11,950-megawatt renewable energy park planned for Ordos City in Inner Mongolia..."
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sears Tower to Be Revamped to Produce Most of Its Own Power
Plans are in place to make energy-reducing improvements to Chicago's Sears Tower. The $350 million project is to begin immediately, and could include placement of wind turbines and photovoltaic panels on its recessed rooftops, as well as upgrading the glass exterior by replacing the 16,000 windows with panes having a reflective coating. Other improvements under consideration relate to internal lighting, heating, cooling and elevator systems. Once the 5-year project is complete, the Tower's electricity consumption is expected to decline by 80 percent from current levels. Additionally, a hotel to be constructed adjacent to the Tower will draw "net zero energy from the power grid."
Interesting note for the local energy enthusiasts: "the Sears Tower plans to open a first-floor center to educate the public about the redesign."
Friday, June 5, 2009
Solar in India
Could India Become a Solar Leader? (NYT article)
"India may be gearing to turn itself into the global leader in solar power generation, a sign that major developing nations could become renewable energy hubs to rival Germany and the United States . . ."
Read more here.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Interactive Map of Renewable Energy Facilities
The Natural Resources Defense Council just released a great interactive graphic section on their site to browse the geographic location of existing and planned facilities for a variety of renewable energies. You can pan the map and drill down to the county level using your mouse or just enter your zip code of interest. Included are nice summaries of the plotted technologies as well as a state-by-state breakdown of hot energy topics; currently, there are only five listed but they are planning to increase that number very soon. It's a great complement to Matt's recent post on the electricity grid.
Read More >>Thursday, April 23, 2009
Chicago To Get Urban Solar Array
Exelon announced plans yesterday for a $60 million solar array to be installed in Chicago's South Side. It would be the nation's largest urban solar installation.
It may only be an added 10 megawatts of power but it's a great use of otherwise shuttered industrial land and transmission will prove to be less of an issue than with non-metropolitan area solar farms.
Read the full article here.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Current Outlook for Solar
Watch this informative piece about the solar industry in the current economic climate, as reported on the Jim Lehrer news hour. It's the 4th video for the date of April 14th, and runs about 6 minutes.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Chicago Gets Nation's First Solar-Powered EV Charging Station
Recently unveiled to help bolster the city's image for IOC officials, the city is now the proud owner of the nation's first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station.
Read the full article here
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
NU Solar Energy Symposium, May 5 & 6
Mark your calendars for what looks to be an excellent symposium on solar energy. Hear from many of the scientific and technical leaders in the field.
Check out this flyer and the schedule for details.