Solar Notes | Green Energy News

May 4, 2003 – Vol.8 No.6

SOLAR NOTES.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has included two solar projects powered with BP Solar modules in its list of Top Ten Green Properties of the year.

The five-story Colorado Court , an affordable housing project in Santa Monica, California, is on the list. Its solar array on a south-facing facade provides about 25 percent of the 44-unit project’s electricity.

The other is the Chicago Center for Green Technology with a roof top, grid-tied solar system that offsets 20 percent of the building’s electrical needs. One tenant in the building is Spire Solar who is BP Solar’s manufacturing partner in Illinois.

Visit BP Solar at http://www.bpsolar.com/ . For more information on Colorado Court visit the Santa Monica Green Buildings Program at http://greenbuildings.santa-monica.org/ , Chicago Center at http://www.ci.chi.il.us/Environment/GreenTech/ .

A megawatt class solar system will be installed by PowerLight at the California State University, Hayward. Covering 110,000 square feet of rooftop and campus grounds, the system when complete will be the largest solar system at any university in the world, as well as one of the largest solar systems in the U.S. At.1.05 megawatts output, the solar system will provide about 30 percent of the campus’ peak electric demand in the summer months. Visit PowerLight at http://www.powerlight.com/ .

A Habitat for Humanity home funded and built by the graduating class of St. John’s High School in River Oaks, Texas has received at 1.2 kilowatt solar array courtesy of Green Mountain Energy. The Solar Array Habitat is the first step in a partnership between Green Mountain and Houston Habitat for Humanity. Plans include more projects like this that offset 100 percent of the electricity needed for the home as well as other solar installation opportunities. Visit Green Mountain Energy at http://www.greenmountain.com/ and Houston Habitat at http://www.houstonhabitat.org/ .

Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) has received a $6 million dollar cost-shared subcontract from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) that will be used in a research and development program aimed at reducing the manufacturing cost of solar cells. NREL will fund half of the 3-year contract, ECD will be responsible for the other half.

The research program will be used to optimize ECD’s United Solar 30-megawatt thin film photovoltaic manufacturing line. Fine-tuning the process is expected to bring solar production costs down. Technology developed in the program will be available for other solar production lines in the future. Visit ECD at http://ovonic.com/