Recently in Commercial Solar Energy Category

Community solar continues to attract a lot of attention as a means to expand participation in distributed solar energy generation.

Massachusetts New Metering

In the past year, Massachusetts has implemented a statewide neighborhood net metering program approved in 2008 legislation.

• Under the final rules, all net metered systems, including neighborhood net metered systems, may over-generate relative to on-site load.
• Regular net metered customers may either rollover credits in perpetuity or allocate excess generation credits to other customers of the same distribution utility.
• Neighborhood net metered customers must have a minimum of ten residential customers identified for distribution of excess generation credits and all customers served must be within the same municipality, ISO-New England's load zone, and service territory of one distribution utility.
• Regular net metered system credits are based on a fully bundled retail rate, excluding customer charges and a public goods charge.
• Neighborhood net metered system credits are based on the fully bundled rate minus the distribution portion and also exclude the customer charge and public goods charge.
• Excess generation credits are allocated as a dollar amount and are based on the rate class for which a host customer takes service.

A number of states continue to discuss community net metering programs in various contexts including California, Colorado, New Jersey and Washington.

Given the potential promise community solar programs offer in expanding solar markets and the intersection of community solar policies with net metering, IREC anticipates being involved in these states as they move forward with implementation. As part of those efforts, IREC has begun development of a community net metering model designed to incorporate the best practices of net metering within the larger framework of community solar.

SOURCE:  IREC 2009 Annual Report

The Solar Electric Vehicle Company is using an innovative business strategy and partnering with corporations committed to combating climate change and dependence on foreign oil.

The Solar Electric Vehicle Company is using an innovative business strategy and partnering with corporations committed to combating climate change and dependence on foreign oil.

The event will take place in San Diego, CA, September 14-16, 2009 at the Marriott Del Mar.  As a sponsor of this event, I am pleased to be able to invite you to attend the summit at a 33% discount.

You can register on the event website at http://www.infocastinc.com/utility09 or by calling Infocast directly at 818-888-4444.  To take advantage of this special offer, just enter discount code 097112  (to receive 33% off).You may either enter the discount code toward the end of online registration or mention the code to Infocast's customer service representative.  This offer does not apply to individuals already registered.

About the Utility Scale Solar Summit

Utility Scale Solar 2009 is the business hub where decision-makers--from project developers, technology providers, utilities, investors, lenders, EPC contractors and other industry players--who are rapidly expanding the utility scale project pipeline come to work out how to move these projects over the finish line.

This is a great chance to Network with over 150 Dealmakers from these organizations:

• 8minutenergy Renewables, LLC
• Abound Solar
• Acciona Solar Power Inc.
• Advanced Green Power Solutions
• Albiasa Corporation
• Black & Veatch
• Boeing
• Borrego Solar
• Borrego Solar Systems Inc.
• Bright Source Energy Inc.
• BrightSource
• Bureau of Land Management
• Chadbourne & Parke LLP
• Chico Electric
• CoBank
• Confoe
• CP Energy Group, LLC
• DAI Management Consultants
• Dewey & LeBoeuf, LLP
• Dexia Credit Local
• Duke Energy
• Edgewood Management, LLC
• Edison Misssion Energy
• EMCORE
• Energy 5.0 LLC
• Enfinity Corp
• enXco Development Corp.
• Esolar
• Eurus Energy Japan
• Fidelity National Title
• Foley & Lardner LLP
• GE Energy
• Gemini Solar Development Co.
• groSolar
• Helio Micro Utilities
• Helio Power
• Hunt Construction Group
• Hunton & Williams LLP
• Iberdrola Renewables
• K&L Gates, LLP
• Keenan Development Associates
• Landesbank Hessen Thuringen (Helaba)
• Maco Tech, Inc.
• Marathon Capital
• Mortenson Construction
• New Energy Finance
• NextEnergy
• NRG Energy, Inc.
• O2Energies, Inc.
• Orrick
• Pacific Gas & Electric
• Pacific Valley, LLC
• Rabobank
• Rabobank International
• Renewable Energy Week
• RMT, Inc.
• RMT, Inc.
• Robert W. Baird & Co.
• Rowths Soare
• Ryan Russell Ogden & Seltzer PC
• Sempra
• Senior Vice presiden of North American Markets eSOLAR
• Signet Solar Inc.
• Siliken Renewable Energy, Corp.
• Simple Solar
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP
• Skyfuel
• SMA America, Inc.
• SMUD
• Solar Energy Initiatives
• Solar Millennium, LLC
• Solar Power Partners, Inc.
• Solar Reserve LLC
• Solar Turbines
• Solar Turbines Incorporated
• SPG Solar
• Starpoint Solar
• Starwoof Energy Group Global, LLC
• Stewart Title Guaranty
• Stirling Energy Systems (SES)
• Stoel Rives LLP
• Sunergy Systems
• Sunpower
• Suntech America
• Suntech America, Inc.
• Swinerton Green
• TD Banknorth Project Finance
• The Boeing Company
• Trina Solar
• Triple M Development
• Turner Industries
• Unirac, Inc
• United Rural Development Organisation
• United Solar Ovonic
• Wanzek Construction
• White Construction Inc
• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati
• Xantrex Technology Inc

Brian Hurd is a vocational instructor at the East Los Angeles Skills Center (ELASC), an employment preparation and training center.  Recognizing that the demand for photovoltaic installers was poised to explode, Hurd developed a course of study to prepare ELSAC students to enter the growing field. "The main reason we started our photovoltaic installer program," said Hurd,  "was to partner with solar contractors to provide a well-trained entry-level work- force to help meet this growing demand."

ELSAC became a NABCEP Entry Level Certificate Program provider in 2007, and since that time, ELSAC continues to see a growing demand for its 'green' energy classes.

 Hurd's "Hands On Solar, Inc.," in collaboration with IREC,  offered a half day workshop for schools in the Southern California area interested in starting programs in solar electricity.  "This workshop included information on NABCEP's PV Entry Level Certificate of Knowledge, and how schools can become provider institutions," said Hurd.

CONTACT:
Brian Hurd
Hands On Solar, Inc.
14341 Chandler Blvd. Suite 10
Sherman Oaks, CA 91401
brian@handsonsolar.com  
818-780-8567

The solar panels on top of the community center at Colonia San Martin, in Sacramento, CA is the newest project of the housing nonprofit Mercy Housing California, will produce six times more power than the average residential solar electric system. This is the first solar-power system on an affordable housing complex in Sacramento, and the housing complex was built in a partnership with the AIDS Housing Alliance.

An essential part of a total energy solution is to back up solar installations with energy efficiency so that the total amount of energy required for heating, cooling, and water service is optimized...before determining the size of the PV installation required or effective.

Each low income housing unit in this exemplary solar and efficiency project, has high-efficiency water heaters and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. The units  also have windows, insulation and radiant heat barriers rated to reduce energy use. The energy efficiency measures exceed California's Title 24 building codes for energy efficiency by at least 25%.  And that's significant because the Title 24 requirements include a 25% savings over conventional construction!

The 12-kilowatt solar PV system will generate an estimated 18,700 kilowatt-hours per year, cutting electric bills at the complex by an estimated $2,000 per year.

The photovoltaic solar system qualified for California state rebates, and SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility Department) negotiated a rebate package that helped the developer install the energy-efficient equipment.

Solar panels for photovoltaic energy and solar water heating have been steadfast components of green building design and construction.  That doesn't change in the 2009 update of the USGBC's green building LEED program. 

The U.S. Green Building Council is rolling out its new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines, updated for 2009 and newly approved by the USGBC membership.

Described as some of the most significant changes to the LEED system, LEED 2009 has re-weighted certain actions, based on scientific research, in favor of increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions in new and existing buildings. It also entails a new set of regional credits, which are points tailored to match environmental priorities in certain geographic areas.

The USGBC will also introduce new processes for amending its LEED standards, including a pilot period for individual credits that can be tested and incorporated on their own.

The nonprofit USGBC organization received more than 7,000 comments on how to update its 8-year-old, much-used green building rating system before LEED 2009 passed through its 18,000-member voting ballot.

Get LEED information at USGBC.
U.S. Green Building Council

An Australian company, Solar24 Inc., has developed a solar thermal system that holds heat for 14 hours, long enough to sustain through a cloudy winter night.  One big problem with solar has always been the retention of the heat overnight.

While sunshine is only available during daylight hours, and no renewable energy source is without drawbacks, all forms of renewable energy can be a useful addition to the general power supply that would eventually stabilize and lower costs.

Wind farms do create a cost issue with transmission, and large commercial size solar installations can have that same drawback -- but so did natural gas and crude oil before the pipelines were built to handle distribution. Transmission solutions are just part of the challenge of energy business.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, the United States added more wind energy to its grid in recent years than any other country, and U.S. wind power capacity grew by 45 percent to 16.8 gigawatts in 2007.

Renewable energy is a high priority for President Elect Obama.  His jobs program emphasizes rebuilding the infrastructure, including roads and bridges, schools and weatherizing homes.  This slideshow synthesizes the energy priorities established by Obama during his campaign and in the days of the transition. Renewable energies, including solar figure prominently in his energy plan.