Solar Power Use Ramping Up In NYC With New Installations On 10 Community Service Buildings

Rooftop solar panels in New York City. Photo courtesy of AtisSun Inc.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is projecting that with the newly approved 10 photovoltaic energy systems scheduled for installations on 10 city-owned community service buildings, the city’s annual solar power production will increase to 648 kilowatts (kWh) – tripling the city’s current solar energy production.

The mayor also said this will “cut 205 metric tons of carbon emissions, as well as save on annual energy costs.”

The solar power installation sites will be the:

• NYC Police Department, 48th Precinct – Bronx
• NYC Police Department, 114th Precinct – Queens
• NYC Police Department, 115th Precinct – Queens
• NYC Fire Department R&T Repair Shop – Queens
• NYC Fire Department Engine Co. 168 – Staten Island
• NYC Department of Sanitation Garage – Brooklyn
• NYC Department of Sanitation Garage – Queens
• NYC Department of Transportation Maintenance Shop – Queens
• Brandeis Educational Complex – Manhattan
• New Horizon Middle School – Brooklyn

The projects are being funded through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grants distributed through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

In addition to the solar installations, the federal grants have help fund other energy efficiency projects. “High efficiency lighting has been installed on 12 sites throughout the city to cut more than 917 metric tons of carbon emissions and save more than $332,000 each year,” said Bloomberg as an example.

“Since the launch of PlaNYC, the city has completed a total of 143 energy retrofits and clean energy installations, and has another 99 projects in design and construction,” added Bloomberg.

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KYOCERA To Combine Solar With Lithium Ion Battery Power For Residential Use In Japan

By this summer, residents in Japan will have a new clean and cost-effective option for powering their homes.

Photo courtesy of Green Solar and Wind Power.

The partnership between KYOCERA Corp. and Nichicon Corp. has finally born results. They’ve created a new – home installed - power generating and energy management system, using solar power combined with lithium ion storage capacity required for meeting Japan’s growing residential energy needs.

KYOCERA says that the new system will offer multiple operating modes to meet the varying energy uses needed of different consumers.

The system is designed to accommodate customers “whether their peak energy consumption occurs in the daytime or at night; and for families who want to prioritize reducing their energy bills,” says KYOCERA, adding that system should also be considered by “those that place a premium on having a guaranteed electricity supply.”

KYOCERA says that the “system automatically switches to independent operation in the event of a natural disaster or electricity blackout. In the event of a prolonged blackout, the battery can be charged directly by the solar modules during the day, allowing users to draw from the battery at night or during inclement (severe) weather.”

The lithium ion battery has a high capacity of 7.1 kWh, which KYOCERA says can roughly last five times longer than conventional lead-acid batteries.

KYOCERA believes that it has a strong market projection for the new energy system, expecting that “up through the fiscal year ending March 31, 2012, more than one million homes in Japan will have installed solar power.”

The company bases its projections on the hope that residents in Japan will feel an incentive toward solar stemming from Japan’s restart of the national subsidy program for residential solar power generating systems in January 2009, and the feed-in tariff, which were started in November of the same year.

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Multi-State Solar Rooftop Project for Bolstering U.S. Electric Grid Getting $1.4 Billion in Fed Loan

With the finalizing of a $1.4 billion partial loan guarantee from the U.S. Department of Energy, Project Amp is ‘green-lighted’ to go.  The solar generation project will be installed across about 750 commercial rooftops across 28 states, and the District of Columbia.

Project Amp. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy’s loam programs office.

“The energy generated from those panels will contribute directly to the electrical grid, as opposed to powering the buildings where they are installed,” said the energy department.

Prologis – an owner, operator, and developer of industrial real estate – will provide the rooftops, and will also act as developer, construction manager and program sponsor, in addition to making an equity investment in the project.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said this project “will help us meet the SunShot goal of achieving cost competitive solar power with other forms of energy by the end of this decade.”

The project is expected to produce an annual output of about 1 million megawatt-hours, with enough power to provide clean, renewable electrical energy for approximately 80,000 homes for a year, according to the energy department and affiliated experts.

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Renewable Energy Production For Electricity Usage Surpasses Traditional Fuels

Montage courtesy of Go Green with Renewable Energy and Solar Power.

Despite naysayers, who for years have predicted that renewable energy would never gain a foothold the United States, a newly released report by U.S. Energy Information Administration found that more renewable energy has been produced for electrical usage over the last recorded 12-month period than at any other time.

The report looked at the production levels of renewable and traditional energy resources in March 2011 compared to their respective production levels during the same time last year.

The energy resources specifically looked at were: hydroelectric, natural gas, wind, nuclear, coal, and petroleum.

Overall, what the report found was that renewable energy resources grew in production and use, while traditional energy resources experienced slight declines, though the country’s electrical energy needs are still primary fuel by coal.

“About 93 percent of U.S. coal consumption is in the electric power sector,” said the EIA.

What’s significant is the slight shift in preferences for renewable energies as opposed to traditional energies, which could be a signifier of a more extended trend in this direction.

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Progress Slow Going For European Union’s In Reaching Its Energy Efficiency Targets

Stock photo.

While there’s a lot of talk within the European Union about the need to develop large scale renewable energy infrastructures to lessen reliance on foreign fossil fuels, progress continues to move at a snail’s pace.

Among the disappointments was the EU’s failure as a whole to reach its 2010 targets for renewable energy in the electricity and transport industries.

The EU reached just over 18 percent for the electricity share of renewable energy in 2010 rather than the predicted target of 21 percent. For the transport industry, the EU reached 5.1 percent instead of 5.75 percent.   

Fueling the transport industry with renewable energy is a vital priority. Energy consumption in this industry currently depends almost exclusively on imported fossil fuels, and contributes to “the insecurity of Europe’s energy supply,” says the European Energy Commission.

The concern is over recent estimates which suggest that the EU will only achieve half of its targeted energy efficiency improvements by 2020.

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