Photovoltaic Systems

Archive for April, 2008

Solar and Wind Power are catching on in Colorado which has become somewhat of a greentech or “green technology” hub. Boulder, which was at one point going to be the capital city of Colorado instead of Denver, has always been known as an entrepreneurial hub or hot spot ranked right up there with Silicon Valley, but with new discounts, rebates, and incentive programs including an Xcel energy Smart Grid test, Boulder is really taking off.

By some reports, the US solar industry has grown by nearly 50% over the past two and a half years since 2007. In many countries this increase has been even more substantial. Colorado has certainly experienced enormous growth in sustainable energy, including solar, over the past five years as new companies have relocated or sprung up to leverage the tax advantages that Boulder shares with it’s citizens. A big part of these rewards come directly from Xcel energy and their Solar*Rewards program. The dream and goal of many Xcel Solar Rewards program members is to actually receive a check from Xcel at the end of the year based on their own electricity generation. To date, Xcel has paid out nearly twenty million dollars to homeowners using solar energy!

It’s great that incentives exist to encourage solar adoption, rebates and rewards help to soften the blow of an initial fifteen thousand dollar system… The high end systems can cost as much as fifty thousand dollars. In Colorado homeowners who use solar can often recoup as much as fifty percent of their solar costs through local and federal rebates, but it isn’t guaranteed and in many cases it depends on exactly where your home is located. Being outside Boulder Cit limits might mean that you don’t qualify for the same incentive program.

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Solar, Green Daily, USA

Alright, so maybe some of the homebuilt solar-powered cars that we’ve shown here in the past aren’t the best-looking contraptions. Give then this, though: they certainly are useful. The latest example was made by a California man named Brent Hatch, who decided enough was enough when he got a $700 gas bill. With seven kids to drive to school and back along with record-high gas prices, it’s easy to see why Hatch was fed up. His solution centers around a four-wheeled, pedal-powered bike that has been equipped with three roof-mounted solar panels. These provide electricity to a small electric motor. Maintenance charges have also gone down considerably, with the only real wear item being the vehicle’s sole rear tire, which is powered. Perhaps it’s not the most elegant solution we’ve ever seen… but it’s hard to argue that it gets the job done. Watch a video of the machine in action here.

[Source: CBS 2 via Engadget]

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Xcel Energy is spending over one hundred million dollars on a new smart grid “beta test” in Boulder Colorado. The goal is to test out new forms of technology in the grid structure that will allow for wind, solar, and other alternatives to contribute efficiency. Eventually these technologies, having been tested and proven in Boulder, will trickle down nation wide.

The Xcel Smart grid is just one example of the work going on in Boulder since 2004 when the Climate Action Plan was put into place to strive for Kyoto Protocol compliance. The goal is to reduce greenhouse gases below 7% of 1990 levels and Boulder has made advancements towards this goal with biodiesel, natural gas, solar, and wind. In Boulder, private enterprise is responsible for ~59% of carbon emissions so these efforts have had to take place without cutting away profitability and the primary source of funding for these projects has come from an electricity tax which goes directly to the source of CO2 emissions but only amounts to about $10 a year for the average Boulder homeowner.

Boulder’s solar rebate program is setup to provide incentives to local homeowners (within Boulder city limits) to speed adoption of sustainable technologies and reduce Carbon emissions. There are two aspects of this program, basic discounts to businesses and home owners who put up solar panels designed to incentivize adoption and a second aspect which goes towards funding solar power for nonprofits and other organizations that might not otherwise have been able to afford solar. This is all funded by a sales and use tax in Boulder, both in the form of a rebates from the sales and use tax and also money directly from this fund. The fund has tremendously increased the number of solar users in Boulder and also lead to numerous solar companies moving to Boulder, making it a green-tech hub.

There are a large number of climate smart programs in Boulder to help educate the community and you can learn more at BeClimateSmart.com and from the following three interviews with Kevin Afflerbaugh, the Boulder Sustainability Coordinator. More on these topics at the CU Student Blog Front Range Environment

Last week on Earth Day (April 22) Governor David A. Paterson announced a major alternative energy project that would more than triple the state’s current solar power capacity by adding 50 MW of new photovoltaic generation throughout Long Island. Long Island Power Authority (LIPA) President and CEO Kevin S. Law said LIPA released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to initiate the project last week.

The new capacity would provide enough power to sustain more than 6,500 households and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 20,000 tons, and importantly it would add a critical burst of clean power right when the state needs it most – hot, sunny summer days. The solar energy would be produced by one or more developers of solar photovoltaic systems and will be introduced onto the LIPA grid and purchased by LIPA.

The project will meet 50% of a 100 MW-by-2011 goal that was set by Paterson last fall when he headed up the state’s Renewable Energy Task Force as Lt. Governor.

Solar One commends the Governor’s progressive leadership on this issue. The project marks an important step towards making solar a truly viable source in the Empire State over the course of the coming decade. Additional measures in the State Legislator must be advanced, however, for this end to ultimately be achieved. Please visit our I Heart PV campaign page to find out about simple ways in which you can help push for greater political support for solar power in New York today.

(click here for the official press release announcing the Long Island solar project.)