Solar Ivy Installation to ‘Climb the Walls’ at University of Utah
Photo Credit: Courtesy SMIT
Solar-generated electricity is taking a new form – that of solar panels shaped like artistically fashioned ivy leaves decorating a wall’s surface. The first location in the United States to apply this colorful array is the University of Utah (the U) in Salt Lake City . This new product called Solar Ivy was developed by Sustainably Minded Interactive Technology (SMIT), a company in New York.
The idea and most of the cash for the project comes from the U’s student-led Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund (SCIF), which is funded by student contributions. Each year, students compete for grants to finance projects that have a positive environmental impact and help educate the campus community about developing earth-conscious habits.
Bringing Solar Ivy to the U was spearheaded by Tom Melburn, an environmental studies major. His project was awarded a grant for roughly two-thirds of the $42,000 cost of the project. The remaining third will be raised from the campus community in a drive being announced today to generate funds and awareness of the many ‘green’ efforts taking place all over campus.
“Students are becoming so engaged in creating a sustainable campus that we could only partially fund all the projects submitted this year,” says Whitney Williams, SCIF coordinator. “So, we’re turning to others in our community to partner on this one. By buying a leaf on the array, donors will make possible not only a novel energy-saving device, but also a highly visible reminder on campus to conserve electricity.”
Donations to the project can be made online at http://tiny.utah.edu/solarU.
Solar Ivy is a composition of small photovoltaic panels shaped so that they can be installed in an attractive arrangement, much like ivy growing over a building’s surface. The panels generate electricity that is used by the building, offsetting the amount of power the building buys from the utility company. Panels can be shaped and colored to suit the installation.
“We’re considering Orson Spencer Hall for the array because of its solar exposure and its visibility,” says Melburn, who is coordinating the project with campus facilities managers. “The south-facing brick façade receives high levels of unobstructed sun all year. Its location at the center of campus means high levels of traffic.” SCIF and Project Manager Archie Phillips also are considering the south façade of the Olpin Student Union building, which also receives significant solar exposure. The decision as to which building to use will be decided during the design phase of the project over the coming weeks.
The installation of the prefabricated panels is expected to begin late this fall and projected to take a few weeks to complete.
About the Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund (SCIF):
SCIF is a student-led enterprise directed by the Office of Sustainability. The fund provides financial support for real-world projects that improve the University of Utah’s environmental quality and make the campus more sustainable. SCIF allocated $171,000 to 14 projects for the 2011 school year. For more information, explore the SCIF website at www.sustainability.utah.edu/SCIF.
About Solar Ivy:
Solar Ivy is a product of the Brooklyn , N.Y. firm SMIT that has been challenging accepted notions about solar power collection throughout the world.
Running on Sunshine: Watch a Solar Field Being Built
DURHAM, NC – GE Aviation’s Durham, North Carolina facility, cut the ribbon on its new $3 million, seven acre solar power field that will provide enough renewable energy to power 1/3 of the facility’s electrical power during daylight hours.
The new solar power field, located next to the Durham facility, will utilize products from GE Energy’s growing portfolio of solar solutions. The field is the first complete Utility Scale Solar Power Plant installed by the company and includes a Brilliance™ Inverter, monitoring and controls, and racking and cabling in addition to more than 9,000 thin film panels that provide the renewable energy. The field will produce 700 KW of power for the Durham facility or enough energy to power 200 homes. The solar power field will also help GE Aviation Durham reduce its CO2 emissions by more than 400 million tons a year, which is the equivalent of removing 77 cars from the road each year.
“The solar power field is one of more than 200 energy reduction projects that GE Aviation Durham has implemented in the last few years,” said Mike Wagner, plant manager of GE Aviation Durham. “These projects have enabled the site to reduce its electricity bill by 30 percent while increasing its production level by 50 percent.”
The solar power field is part of GE’s ecomagination initiative, which includes a commitment by GE to reduce its absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25 percent, water usage by 25 percent and energy intensity reduction by 50 percent. For more information about GE’s ecomagination, visit: www.ecomagination.com.
GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE (NYSE: GE), is a world-leading provider of jet and turboprop engines, components and integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. GE Aviation has a global service network to support these offerings. GE Aviation Durham assembles commercial engines for commercial aircraft. For more information, visit us at www.ge.com/aviation. Follow GE Aviation on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GEAviation and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/GEAviation
GE Launches New Digital Magazine – First Issue all Solar
Photo Credit: General Electric
General Electric (GE) has just launched a new weekly digital magazine called Txchnologist. The first issue, devoted entirely to solar energy, is entitled Solar Power, A Look at the ‘Sun Motor’ from Past to Future.
Articles include:
1) Polar Solar
2) Data Points: Solar’s Declining Cost Per Watt
3) Unexpected Solar Cities
4) Comment: Solar’s New Era of Optimism
5) Space Race: Will Space-Based Solar Take Off?
6) Hawaii’s Solar Paradox
7) The Take: A Quirky History of Solar Power
8) How it Works: CdTe vs cSI
Future issues promise to offer “an optimistic, but not utopian, take on the future and humanity’s ability to tackle the great challenges of our era through industry, technology and ingenuity.”
Looking forward to it GE!
SoloPower Receives Offer Of Conditional Commitment for a $197 Million Loan Guarantee from U.S. DOE to Build Thin Film Photovoltaic Module Factory
SAN JOSE, Calif., February 17, 2011 – SoloPower, a San Jose, California-based manufacturer of flexible thin film solar cells and modules, announced today that it has received a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Programs Office for a $197 million loan guarantee. The funds will support construction of a facility that, when completed and at full capacity, is expected to produce approximately 400MW of thin film Photovoltaic (PV) modules annually.
“This announcement is the latest confirmation that when it comes to energy policy, Oregon is on the right side of history,” said U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. “The project in Wilsonville will hire hundreds of highly skilled, highly paid Oregonians to manufacture the latest in renewable energy technology. Oregon is already an epicenter for renewable energy projects. A loan guarantee to help companies such as SoloPower get important projects off the ground is the right approach that will keep Oregon where it belongs – at the forefront of technology. I look forward to working with the folks at SoloPower in putting Oregonians to work creating the products that represent the future of renewable energy.”
SoloPower CEO Tim Harris added, “We appreciate and commend the DOE’s emphasis on supporting innovative, clean-tech companies as a way to further the goal of energy independence while stimulating employment and helping secure our nation’s manufacturing base in this important emerging industry.” Mr. Harris stated: “This backing allows us to rapidly ramp up our production and to promote the spread of clean, distributed solar power to the rooftops and on the ground, while providing hundreds of quality manufacturing jobs using some of the most advanced technology in the world.”
SoloPower announced earlier this year that it had come to an agreement to construct its first large-scale high volume manufacturing plant in Wilsonville, Oregon. Retrofit of the existing building is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2011. The factory is expected to provide direct employment to approximately 500 people once it is running at full capacity. About 270 construction jobs will be created to build the plant, and additional jobs are also likely to be generated in the local supply chain.
SoloPower’s family of lightweight flexible modules are certified to both UL and IEC standards with up to 260 Wp/panel, and are being sold in small volumes to leading customers in five countries.
For more information on SoloPower, please visit www.solopower.com
Verengo Solar Plus Receives $9.7 million Expansion Investment from Angeleno Group
January 13, 2011 -Orange, CA. – Verengo Solar Plus, the leading home solar provider in Southern California, today announced it received a $9.7 million investment from Angeleno Group, LLC, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm that invests in high growth alternative energy and energy-related companies.
“Over the past three years, Verengo has established a track record of impressive sales and revenue growth,” said Angeleno Group Managing Partner and Co-Founder Zeb Rice. “Furthermore, Verengo has demonstrated that it not only can grow quickly but also manage the operational complexities of scaling its business while continuing to provide swift and high quality customer service. We are thrilled to be partnered with the company we believe has the most successful business model in residential solar.”
“The timing is right to take our business to the next level,” said Verengo Solar Plus President Ken Button. “Angeleno Group has been a preeminent renewable energy investment firm for the past decade and we are excited about working with them to make solar power the first choice of every American home.”
“It’s amazing to be able to offer a product that saves people money, saves the environment, and makes the U.S. more energy independent,” said Verengo Solar Plus CEO Randy Bishop. “When we started this company, we wanted to prove the business model locally and then expand. We’re excited to begin this new phase with this financing.”
Seven Hills Partners LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to Verengo in this transaction.
ABOUT VERENGO SOLAR PLUS
Verengo Solar Plus is the leading residential solar integrator in Southern California offering comprehensive financial options and superior customer service consistently earning an A+ with the Better Business Bureau. Verengo has reduced carbon emissions through its solar systems, accomplishing the equivalent of planting 72,000 acres of trees, taking more than 28,800 cars off the road and saving homeowners $60 million in energy costs over the lifetime of Verengo’s installed systems to date. For more information, visit www.VerengoSolar.com
ABOUT ANGELENO GROUP
Angeleno Group is the leading Los Angeles based private equity firm focused on high growth investments in the energy sector. It makes investments broadly across the energy industry to support innovative, well-managed, early to expansion stage companies. Areas of particular interest include advanced generation, energy intelligence and control, clean transportation, renewables, transmission and distribution, power storage, and energy efficiency and conservation technology. To learn more about Angeleno Group visit www.angelenogroup.com
Tackling Haiti’s Cholera Epidemic with Solar Power
From GEReports.com
After a massive earthquake struck Haiti earlier this year, relief agencies worried that epidemics could easily strike the hobbled country. But few expected an outbreak of cholera.
Haitian health officials first confirmed an outbreak of cholera on Oct. 20 in the Artibonite region. Since then, there have been more than 7,700 confirmed cases in the country, and at least 500 deaths, according to figures released Nov. 5. Local hospitals are being overwhelmed, and the World Health Organization says nothing can stop the epidemic from reaching Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital.
Cholera can kill within a few hours, draining its victims of fluids through violent bouts of diarrhea. The cause: tainted drinking water. The cure: something people in the developed world take for granted— clean water (and some salts and sugars to replenish lost nutrition).
Because cholera is waterborne, the most effective deterrent is clean drinking water for the populations most at risk — in this case, Haiti’s refugees.
Jack Barker, founder of Innovative Water Technologies, a partner of GE, has just returned from Haiti after spending four months installing water purification systems in villages and hospitals. Even before the outbreak, Barker sampled the country’s water sources with a portable microbiological lab and couldn’t find a single safe drinking source.
“Their choice isn’t drinking good or bad water,” he says. “It’s drinking bad water or dying.”
Barker has spent the last three years designing a solution, not just for Haiti, but for any community suffering from waterborne diseases. It’s called the Sunspring. Picture a tall steel cylinder topped with a pair of solar panels. Weighing only 900 pounds, one unit can purify 5,000 gallons of water a day — enough to serve an entire Haitian village. And it only takes two to four hours to install.
Fast pour: Sunspring units can be operational in just 3 hours after arrival.
Powered by the solar panels, Sunspring pumps water from either well or surface water into the tall cylinder where it’s passed through the GE-designed ultrafiltration membrane. A series of vertical fibers with microscopic pores, the membrane allows water molecules to pass while blocking toxins and pathogens. From there, the water moves to two spigots on the sides of the exterior. The unit even carries solar-charged batteries onboard, so it can pump clean water at night.
Of the 17 Sunsprings Barker has stationed across Haiti (10 of which were donated by GE), one sits in the town square of Roche Blanche, at the foothills of the Chaîne de la Selle Mountains. Local officials say the moment it was installed, admissions at the nearby hospital dropped drastically. “These are the kinds of results we’re looking for,” says Barker.
In the aftermath of the earthquake, governments began flying palettes of bottled water into Haiti — an expensive donation because of the weight, and one that has to be replenished repeatedly. Barker says that with minimal maintenance, Sunspring can pump water for up to 10 years. “The system can fill 19,000 bottles of water a day.”
Innovative Water Technologies has rolled out water-filtering systems in India, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico, and even camping grounds in the United States, with about 100 so far in operation. Next, Barker hopes to put another 100 units in schools across Haiti: “Even if they don’t have electricity, they’ll have safe water.”
U.S. Stadiums Go Solar: Major Pro Sports Leagues Support Renewable Energy
The nation’s major professional sports leagues are collectively sending an important cultural message in the battle against climate change by encouraging and endorsing the use of solar power and clean energy in arenas and stadiums throughout the United States.
Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, and Major League Soccer delivered a letter encouraging their teams and facilities to begin using solar power as they continue the effort to green North America’s professional sports. The leagues also distributed a comprehensive solar development guide produced on their behalf by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF) outlining the work necessary for each stadium to add on-site solar power generation to its energy mix. Having all professional leagues engaged collectively in this manner is an extraordinary event, pointing to the growing cultural transcendence of the fight against climate change.
“Our sport was born outdoors, in winter weather, and many of our players began skating on frozen lakes and ponds,” said Gary Bettman, Commissioner of the National Hockey League.”We are acutely aware that our League, as well as all sports leagues, need to be responsible stewards of our planet. Utilizing solar energy is an important and efficient environmental action that sends a broader signal to the culture. It not only conveys a critical message to all sports fans, it improves the efficiency of our facilities and protects the environment.”
The embrace of solar power sends a strong message to millions of fans and event-goers throughout the country—and it could have a big impact on the teams’ bottom lines too. In most American cities, solar panels can pay for themselves, potentially offsetting significant energy costs in the long-term. Los Angeles’ STAPLES Center, for example, currently addresses 5% of the facility’s total energy needs with a solar array.
“The distribution of solar power development guides by all professional sports leagues reflects a real cultural shift in our thinking about energy that is taking place throughout the business community and the nation at large,” said NRDC Senior Scientist Allen Hershkowitz, PhD. “Throughout US history professional sports leagues have stepped up on behalf of our troops. They have stepped up for civil rights. And now they are stepping up for the environment. It’s not about politics; it’s about what is right for America. This is really a remarkable moment and effort coming from our professional sports leagues. The private sector does not have to wait for government action in order for them to address the urgent issue of climate change.”
The solar development guide co-authored by NRDC and BEF leverages the examples set by the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and US Airways Center data in Phoenix, two leading arenas already taking advantage of solar panels. If all arenas and stadiums had solar installation equal to the STAPLES Center, they would:
~ Reduce carbon emissions by approximately 86.6 million lbs/yr, comparable to taking 8,340 cars off the road;
~ Create enough electricity to power roughly 4,812 American homes for a year;
~ Save the equivalent of 33,970 barrels of crude oil per year.
The benefits of solar are not limited to hot and dry geographies such as Southern California and the Southwestern U.S. The Boston Red Sox have installed 28 solar panels at Fenway Park which currently generate 37% of the electricity used to heat water in the park. The stadium, built in 1912, is a great example of how solar power can augment any facility regardless of age or climate. Panels are also being used in Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Cleveland.
“You expect solar on the Staples Center, but maybe not in Seattle,” said Darryl Benge, Assistant General Manager of Qwest Field and Event Center (home to the Seattle Seahawks). “But despite our town’s reputation for rainy weather, we are excited to generate some of our own electricity and show that renewable energy can work everywhere. We used the information provided by NRDC and BEF to evaluate our sites and build an RFP for the system we will be putting on our event center roof.”
The NRDC and BEF document is intended as a resource for teams and facility operators across the country to help teams embrace the leagues’ direction. It offers a step-by-step outline on how to begin moving forward with on-site solar panels, including an overview of the advantages and challenges that come with various technologies, ideas on locating panels and their dimensions, cost estimates and suggestions on financing the initial installation costs, as well location-specific estimates on output (time for the energy generated to payback initial costs) and CO2 savings for each pro team market.
The league letters and development guide are available online at
http://www.nrdc.org/greenbusiness/guides/sports/solarguide.asp
“This guide is essentially a playbook for stadium owners interested in building on-site solar energy production,” said Margie Gardner, CEO of the Bonneville Environmental Foundation.
