All About Solar | Green Energy News

July 2, 2006 – Vol.11 No.15

ALL ABOUT SOLAR.

This week’s news.

Lying in Europe’s Sunbelt, Italy would like to tap into the power of the Sun in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while increasing its power generation capacity. To tackle both, the country has launched a gigawatt-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar park initiative.

The initiative will mean business opportunities for solar companies operating in Italy, in Europe and as far away as the US.

In a contract that will help two Italian companies contribute to the solar park initiative, Spazio Energia and Sunergy Solar have signed a multiyear agreement with Auburn, Michigan-based United Solar Ovonic for the supply of 46 megawatts of PV solar products.

United Solar’s specialty is thin-film triple-junction solar cells and products that incorporate them.

Spazio Energia has been working with the Italian government to promote a solar economy. Sunerg Energy has 28 years experience in solar thermal energy and 14 years experience in photovoltaic solar systems.

Visit United Solar at http://www.uni-solar.com/ Spazio at http://www.spacenergy.it/ and Sunerg at http://www.sunergsolar.com/

It’s unfortunate that solar power systems are often mounted on flat rooftops where few may see them.

If more people were able to see the large areas of black or blue panels, more might make the connection between the solar power on the roof and clean electricity that’s being consumed inside. The more who make that connection, the more who might be willing to consider solar energy for their own buildings.

Solar installations on public buildings need to be solar educational installations. Some are, of course.

Solar Integrated Technologies has announced that it has now installed building integrated solar systems on roofs of 19 schools in San Diego, California. Solar Integrated’s solar roofing material provides weather protection as well as solar power to the buildings. Where visible, the solar installations provide an ongoing education to students.

For the solar school projects, GE Energy Financial Services provided structured finance options that allow the cost of Solar Integrated’s installations to be stretched over 20 years. GE has the right of refusal on up to $500 million to fund the company’s solar roofing projects. Only $25 million has been exercised to date.

For another solar education project, the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MTC) has announced that it has awarded a $700,000 grant from its Renewable Energy Trust for the construction of a 50-kilowatt solar system at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (Mass MoCa) in North Adams, Massachusetts.

The funds will be used for the system itself, energy efficiency improvements and an interactive display to educate visitors about the benefits of clean, solar energy.

A small portion of utility bills in Massachusetts is set aside for the Renewable Energy Trust. Through grants, the trust helps build renewable and efficient energy projects in the state.

Visit Solar Integrated at http://www.solarintegrated.com/ , GE Energy Financial Services at http://www.geenergyfinancialservices.com/ , the Renewable Energy Trust at http://www.masstech.org/ and Mass MoCA at http://www.massmoca.org/