Smart Grid Blog

ComEd said will letters go out this week to single family homeowners in the innovation corridor along I-290 – which includes 130,000 customers in Melrose Park, Bellwood, Maywood, River Forest, Oak Park, Forest Park, Broadview, Hillside, Berwyn and the Humboldt Park section of Chicago – asking for single-family homeowners to test solar panels.

The three-year photovoltaic pilot is partially funded by a $5 million U.S. Department of Energy grant and allows ComEd to install 100 solar arrays on residential homes in the corridor. The arrays produce enough electricity to power a small home and at the end of the pilot, the homeowners keep the panels, said Maryl Freestone, senior engineer and project manager for the PV pilot.

via ComEd seeks homes for solar panel test | Chicago Breaking Business.

Every time I fly over Phoenix, Las Vegas, or some other sprawling sun-scorched Southwest city, two thoughts come to mind: Who had the bright idea of putting black shingles on all those desert subdivisions, and why aren’t those roofs covered in solar panels?

Apparently the administrators at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System in Tucson had the same idea. This week REC Solar, a California company, announced a deal to install a 2.9-megawatt photovoltaic array on the hospital’s carports. That’s in addition to the 302-kilowatt system ground-mounted system REC Solar currently is building for the veteran’s hospital.

via They paved paradise and put up a (solar) parking lot | The Energy Collective.

Japanese electric companies plan to spend a total of 600 billion yen over the next decade to build smart grids, a technology essential to making optimal use of solar power. Given the output fluctuations inherent to renewable energy, stabilizing voltage in power distribution networks is key to accommodating wider use of solar power generation.

via Japan utilities invest in smart grids for PV.

Germany aims to have one million electric vehicles — powered by energy from renewable sources -on the road by 2020. And, within ten years, the German environment ministry expects “green electricity” to make up 30 percent of all power consumed. Arithmetically speaking, it would be possible to achieve CO2-neutral electromobility. But, in reality, it is a difficult goal to attain. As more and more solar and wind energy is incorporated in the power grid, the proportion of electricity that cannot be controlled by simply pressing a button is on the increase. In addition, there is a growing risk that the rising number of electric vehicles will trigger extreme surges in demand during rush hour.

via Charging Up Electric Car Batteries in Environmentally-Friendly Way | Technology Magazine Daily.

Ford’s (F) new Focus Electric Car and Plug-in Hybrid will be built in one of the auto industry’s greenest manufacturing plants. Ford is working with Detroit Edison (DTE) to install a 500-kilowatt solar photovoltaic panel system at Michigan Assembly. The system will be integrated with a 750-kw energy storage facility that can store two million watt-hours of energy using batteries.

The renewable energy captured by the project’s primary solar energy system will help power the production of fuel-efficient small cars, including Ford’s all-new Focus and Focus Electric going into production in 2011, and a next-generation hybrid vehicle and a plug-in hybrid vehicle coming in 2012. My test drive of the Ford Focus Electric.

via Cleantech Blog: Ford Focus Electric Cars from New Green Michigan Plant.

Ford may be trailing General Motors in the rush to produce an electric vehicle, but it’s hoping to run a cleaner race:  The automaker is outfitting its Michigan Assembly Plant in Wayne — which will produce the upcoming Electric Focus — with a 500-kilowatt solar energy production system.

via Using solar to build electric: Ford to revamp Wayne plant with focus on sustainability | MLive.com.

In the world of solar power, there are panels small enough to charge a cell phone and bigger panels installed on a roof by professionals, but not much in between. Clarian Technologies is shooting for that space in the middle.

The Seattle-area start-up is developing a kit that lets you dip your toe into solar-generated electricity without having to pay the hefty cost of a full array.

via Do-it-yourself solar panel kit aims to slow meter | Green Tech – CNET News.

Oregon’s power grid will need to be improved in the coming years as more wind and solar power comes online. The U.S. Department of Energy will help that happen with a $178 million project to test smart grid technologies in five Northwestern states, including Oregon.

via $178M project to test smart grid technology « Daily Journal of Commerce – Building and Construction News in Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.

Ever since Don Quixote tilted at wind mills, warfare and renewable energy have had a rough relationship.

It’s tough to erect wind turbines or solar panels when the enemy keeps blowing things up.

Still, Lt. Col. Brian Stevens of the Texas Army National Guard is determined to try.

Stevens leads a group of 66 soldiers who want to help bring sustainable agriculture and renewable energy to rural Afghanistan.

via NREL: News Feature – Renewable Energy at Work in War Zones.

Preliminary results of a test project in Minnesota for large-scale battery storage of wind energy – and possibly, in the future, solar electricity – show that it works, the multistate electricity company Xcel Energy says.

Several studies are under way in the United States, and more are ongoing in other countries, on using batteries to help integrate the intermittent and variable electricity production from solar and wind installations into the steady current flow of electricity grids.

via Battery Storage of Renewable Energy Looks Promising, Xcel Energy Says.

Enphase Energy Inc., a provider of solar micro-inverter systems, has introduced the Environ Smart Thermostat, which the company says is the world’s first solar-integrated smart energy device.

Environ is a thermostat that wirelessly connects to the Enphase micro-inverter system, allowing owners to simultaneously manage their solar installations along with their heating and cooling systems in a single We-based platform.

via Solar Industry:.

With a background in electrical construction, Steve Johnson opened Lightwave Solar Electric LLC in 2006, a full-service solar panel installation firm that has been involved with some of the largest such projects in Tennessee so far.

The Nashville-based company, which also designs rooftop photovoltaic systems, posted $2.7 million in sales last year and expects to double that in 2010 as the alternative energy source gains wider acceptance among consumers.

via Solar entrepreneur expects steady growth | tennessean.com | The Tennessean.

The Abu Dhabi Government’s efforts to transform the emirate’s electricity industry will create a multibillion-dollar market for goods such as solar panels and new computer software, power companies said yesterday.

The Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC), the emirate’s main electricity retailer, will by the end of the year install advanced electricity meters in every home in the capital and surrounding areas, said Abdulrahman al Dhaheri, the deputy managing director. At the same time, he said, the company had proposed a subsidy system for rooftop solar panels that was now under consideration by the Executive Council.

via Smart grid to recharge electricity industry – The National Newspaper.

This fully integrated combination of EV charging station, smart grid connectivity software and solar, renewable energy generation array represents the next, logical evolutionary step in the developing movement to transition a portion of the transportation sector away from traditional fossil fuels and toward cleaner and renewable domestic energy sources, including solar, wind, and geothermal.

via EV-Charge America Unveils Southeast America’s First Level II ‘ J1772 Enabled EV Charging Station System with an Integrated 20kW Solar Carport Array | Earth Times News.

SpectraWatt, a maker of crystalline silicon solar cells spun out of Intel back in 2008, has dusted itself off after funding troubles and manufacturing delays, and now says it has the capital necessary to finish work on its first factory, allow for capacity expansions and continue developing its technology. This morning the company announced that it has raised $41.4 million in convertible debt from a subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, Intel’s VC arm Intel Capital, and the PCG Clean Energy & Technology Fund. A portion of the new funds will be used to ready SpectraWatt’s factory in Hopewell Junction, New York, to produce cells for the company’s first customer shipments in the second quarter of this year.

via Intel Spinout SpectraWatt Snags $41.4M for Solar Cell Plant.

A well-dressed gentleman strode out of a utility-sponsored solar information class for homeowners and waved dismissively at the lineup of solar installers waiting to hand out their business cards and brochures.

“If you guys can’t give me a payback in less than seven years, I don’t want to hear it,” he said.

via Getting Consumers to Rethink Cost of Solar: It’s the Electricity.

Skyline Innovations, a one-year-old solar installation startup, feels straight out of 1999: Instead of a glassy downtown office, the seven-person staff operates out of a corner room in Affinity Lab, a communal workspace in Adams Morgan. Tasks are managed using a bulletin board covered with index cards, and typical work attire includes a T-shirt and flip-flops. So far, they’re rolling in venture capital, counting on profits down the road.

via Here Comes the Sun: D.C.’s Solar Power Industry Tries to Grow-Around Pepco – Housing Complex – Washington City Paper.

AT&T has signed a new agreement to combine Petra Solar’s smart grid and renewable energy technology with the telecom’s wireless network in order to offer utilities improved power quality and grid reliability. Petra Solar’s solution enables utility companies to simultaneously address Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements and invest in a smart grid technology.

via AT&T Teams with Petra Solar.

The Department of Energy launched a new blog this week, the aptly named (yet uninspiring) Energy Blog. Among other announcements and musings (OK, really more statements than deep thoughts) is a call to develop three Energy Innovation Hubs, one of which will drive research to turn sunlight into fuels.

via DOE Awards $122M for Fuel From Sunlight : Greentech Media.

AT&T continues to further its efforts in smart grid for utility companies with a new agreement with Petra Solar, a clean tech pioneer that combines solar generation and smart grid technology in a single system. AT&T will offer Petra Solar’s innovative technology, which allows utility companies to simultaneously address Renewable Portfolio Standard requirements and invest in a smart grid technology.

via AT&T and Petra Solar Team to Offer Smart Grid Solar System Technology — DALLAS, July 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ –.