All About Solar | Green Energy News

October 22, 2006 – Vol.11 No.31

ALL ABOUT SOLAR.

This week’s news.

Every time a new solar electric project goes online it represents thousands of kilowatt hours of electricity that won’t need to be generated by conventional sources.

Honeywell, a corporate name not typically associated with solar energy (yet anyway), has announced it has completed a 375-kilowatt solar system at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona.

The solar roof is part of a $13.8 million energy conservation project that also includes new, more efficient lighting, new automated technology to maintain the base’s chilled water/air-conditioning units, a centralized energy management system and HVAC occupancy controls which allow temperatures to rise when buildings are not in use.

The project is expected to save the Air Force $21.8 million over twenty years and Honeywell is guaranteeing its work: The project was built with a performance contract. Visit Honeywell Building Solutions at http://www.honeywell.com/buildingsolutions

SunEdison has completed a 1848 panel, 359-kilowatt solar electric system at California State University, Chico. enough power for 70 homes.

SunEdison claims to be North America’s largest solar energy services provider. According to the company’s website it has installed 12.13 megawatts of solar electric capacity in commercial installations since September 2003. Visit SunEdison at http://www.sunedison.com/

The City of Champions, Brockton, Massachusetts, is now the solar champion of that state. The city has commissioned its 425-kilowatt solar electric system built on a 3.7 acre remediated brownfield.

The project uses 1395 Schott Solar modules built at the company’s production facility in nearby Billerica. The $3-plus million project was built for about $7 per watt. Plans are already in place to expand Brockton Brightfield to one megawatt.

Brockton is also the site of Johnson Square Village, the first 100-percent solar condo project in New England; and the roof of Brockton's high school sports a 2.4kW solar power system as well.