SOLARTODAY May 29, 2014
SOLAR 2014
Stanford’s Mark Jacobson to Speak at ASES Banquet
Mark Jacobson, director of the Atmosphere and Energy Program at Stanford University, is the featured speaker at the American Solar Energy Society’s awards banquet, to be held Wednesday, July 9,at 43rd National Solar Conference (SOLAR 2014), hosted by the American Solar Energy Society in San Francisco (July 6-10).
Dr. Jacobson will describe a plan to convert American electricity production to wind, water and solar. He co-authored an influential article on the subject in Scientific American (November, 2009), titled “A Plan to Power 100 Percent of the Planet with Renewables.”
Jacobson’s work focuses on computer modeling and analysis of air pollution, weather and climate. He is a professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, and a senior fellow at both the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy. More
NRDC: New EPA Standards Can Create 274,000 Jobs
The first-ever limits on carbon pollution from power plants can save American households and business customers $37.4 billion on their electric bills in 2020 while creating more than 274,000 jobs, a Natural Resources Defense Council analysis shows. In the study released today, NRDC said the federal carbon pollution standard could fuel a surge in energy efficiency investments, creating new jobs filled by electricians, roofers, carpenters, insulation workers, heating/air conditioning installers and heavy equipment operators, among others. More
Q1 Installations Up 79% Over Q1 2013
The United States installed 1,330 megawatts of solar photovoltaics (PV) in the first quarter of 2014, according to the Solar Market Insight Report released today by GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industry Association. That includes 232 MW of residential PV, exceeding the non-residential (commercial) market’s 225 megawatts for the first time in the history of the report. Q1 was also the largest quarter ever for concentrating solar power (CSP) due to the completion of the 392 megawatt (AC) Ivanpah project and the Genesis Solar project’s second 125 megawatt (AC) phase. With a total of 857 megawatts expected to be completed by year’s end, 2014 is on pace to be the largest year for CSP in history. More
Xcel, SunPower Plan 50 MW PV Farm in Colorado
Xcel Energy and SunPower have signed a power purchase agreement to build a 50 MW PV plant on a 320 acre site in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Xcel Energy estimates that the plant will generate enough electricity to serve the needs of approximately 13,500 average Colorado homes. More
Kansas City Ikea Gets 869 kW Rooftop System
Ikea will put a 92,000-square-foot solar array on its store in Merriam, Kansas. The company says the 869.25-kW system will be the largest rooftop array in the state. SoCore Energy of Chicago will build the system for commissioning in Q4. More
First Solar Sells Silver State South to NextEra
First Solar has completed the sale of the 250 MW Silver State South Solar Project to a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Silver State South is located on approximately 3,000 acres of federally managed land in Clark County, Nevada. The project is adjacent to the 50 MWSilver State North project, which was developed and built by First Solar and commissioned in 2012. More
SunEdison Launches Long-Life Module
SunEdison has introduced the Silvantis R-series solar module featuring Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) technology, promising improved resistance to degradation and 17 percent conversion efficiency. More