U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has announced the offer of a conditional commitment for a $105 million loan guarantee to support the development of the nation's first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant. Project LIBERTY, sponsored by POET, LLC, will produce up to 25 million gallons of ethanol per year and will be located in Emmetsburg, Iowa. POET estimates the project will generate approximately 200 jobs during construction and 40 permanent jobs at the plant.
Ontario-based solar installation company Solar & Alternative Technology Corp. has partnered with solar panel manufacturer Soventix Canada Inc., and liquor company Hiram Walker & Sons, to design and build the largest rooftop solar photovoltaic plant in Canada. The 7.9MW installation is to be built under the province's feed-in tariff program.
Industrial real-estate manager Avidan Management has announced that a new 4.26-megawatt solar panel system in Edison, N.J., is already paying huge dividends for tenants by significantly reducing their energy costs. Completed in April, the solar system and other energy efficient investments reduced the building’s total power costs by nearly 70 percent in May 2011 compared to May 2010.
Industrial gas supplier Air Products has flipped the switch on the company's new 2MW solar farm, which is capable of supplying enough energy to power more than half of Air Products' administration buildings. The installation, built with panels supplied by Astronergy and ENN Solar, is the largest silicon thin-film project in the United States.
Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, Calif., is to be partially powered by natural gas from a landfill adjacent to the base. The project, which was a partnership between city of San Diego, Fortistar Methane Group LLC, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Southwest, and MCAS Miramar, will provide 3.2 MW of renewable power to MCAS Miramar, and will produce about 25,000 MWh – around half of the the base’s needs.
Unirac Inc. has announced today that it has teamed with Kyocera Solar Inc. to update the historic Masonic Lodge of New Jersey with a 1.16MW solar installation. The installation is framed with Unirac's PV mounting solution, the ISYS Ground Mount (IGM), and equipped with 5,656 Kyocera Solar KD205 modules. It will generate approximately 1,547,412 kWh of solar energy a year.
A report has found that concentrator photovoltaic solar systems have distinct environmental advantages as compared with other energy technologies, in most cases using less land, water and materials than other solar technologies. The report was released by the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at UC Berkeley, and commissioned by the CPV Consortium, a global non-profit organization that supports the development of the CPV industry.
DelSolar Development USA, has completed a 1.15 MW solar photovoltaic project for U.S. Foodservice in La Mirada, Calif. This project is currently the largest in a series of similar projects for the food distributor. The solar system installed at U.S. Foodservice-Los Angeles will generate approximately 1,656,774 kWh per year, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of about 150 U.S. homes.
New solar power installations integrated into the stadium and parking lot of pro football team the Washington Redskins will be unveiled in September. The solar power system at FedEx Field (pictured) will provide a portion of the stadium’s electricity needs on game days and can generate enough power to serve all of its electrical needs on non-game days.