Solar Activity | Green Energy News

May 23, 2004 – Vol.9 No.9

SOLAR ACTIVITY.

A bevy of solar news.

Maui Electric Company (MECO), of the island of Maui, Hawaii, plans to install 300 - 400 solar thermal hot water systems in the next 2 -3 years, under the Solar for Molokai program, with a $1.1.million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In Hawaii, water heating accounts for the largest use of energy in a typical home. Applications for MECO ratepayers are available by calling 1-888-MECO-SUN (1-888-632-6786) Visit MECO at http://www.heco.com/MECO/page

The Glendale Water and Power-Glendale Community College Green Energy Partnership (GWP-GCC) will build a 400-kilowatt solar photovoltaic carport on two, open-to-the-sky floors of a parking structure soon to be under construction on the college campus.

Glendale Water and Power (GWP) will own and maintain the $2.8 million system, and be able to sell the power from it, in exchange for a 50-year, $1 per year lease for use of the space.

Additionally the GWP-GCC partnership will provide $500,000 in assistance for a new $2.3 million energy-efficient chiller plant that will provide cooling to five existing buildings. The new chiller will reduce electric costs compared with the old system by $43,000 each year.

The projects with the GWP-GCC Green Energy Partnership are part of GWP’s goal of providing 20 percent of its power from renewables by 2017. Visit GWP http://www.glendalewaterandpower.com/ .

Sun Power and Geothermal Energy has completed a 36.6 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system on the roof of the new headquarters of Royal Petroleum in Santa Rosa, California.

Output from the grid-connected system is monitored in real time by Sun Power’s SunSpot (tm) photovoltaic monitoring system. SunSpot sends solar electric output information over the Internet to verify performance and return on investment.

Royal claims it is the first commercial fuel supplier in the nation to be powered (its administrative operations) by solar power. Visit Sun Power and Geothermal Energy at http://www.sunpowergeo.com/ .

Scientists at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico think they have a way to increase the efficiency of solar photovoltaic cells to over 60 percent - think lead selenium nanocrystals.

When photons of sunlight come streaming in from space and hit the semi-conductor material in solar cell they’ll occasionally get lucky and knock an electron loose. One photon can knock one electron loose if its trajectory is good. Compared with the theoretical energy potential in sunlight, the odds aren’t in favor of electric current being generated in conventional PV cells:Cells are only 10 -35 percent.

If one photon could knock TWO electrons loose then efficiency would increase dramatically. Two-for-one should be possible, Los Alamos scientists say. Lead selenium nanocrystals are just the ticket they say and a practical solar cell (not commercialized but available for testing) could be only 2 -3 years away. See Technology Research News, week of May 19-26, 2004 at http://www.trnmag.com/