All About Solar | Green Energy News

November 5, 2006 – Vol. 11 No. 33

ALL ABOUT SOLAR.

This week’s news.

When one thinks solar energy one usually thinks low latitudes, bright sunny days and warm climates. Yet countries like Germany, Japan, The Netherlands and now China - not exactly tropical countries - are hotbeds for solar energy.

In the US solar energy is certainly popular and growing in the sunny Southwest, but it is just getting started in the Sunshine State, Florida. Go figure. But often cloudy, higher latitude New Jersey has a booming solar industry. (It was really government incentives that got solar moving in New Jersey. Government also had a hand elsewhere in the world.)

Now decidedly-not-tropical Canada may become a new hotspot for solar.

SunEdison of Baltimore, Maryland has joined forces with SkyPower of Toronto Ontario in a goal to build and operate 50 megawatts of solar energy capacity in Ontario. While no sites have been chosen, the companies pledge to build large solar power plants such as those seen in Germany, the US and Spain, for instance.

SunEdison provides turnkey solar power plants for businesses and government. SkyPower is also in the development phase of 27 wind and hydro projects in Canada as well as over 1000 megawatts of wind development in India. Visit SunEdison at http://www.sunedison.com/ and SkyPower at http://www.skypower.com/

Known for it’s sunniness, Spain is a hot bed of solar energy, both solar photovoltaics and solar thermal energy.

PowerLight has begun construction of a solar project in Spain that will add another 20-megawatts of clean power to the grid. The project, known as La Magascona, is being constructed in the town of Trujillo, Caceres and is owned by Fotowattio Energia Solar.

The project incorporates PowerLight’s PowerTracker (tm) single axis solar tracking system which the company claims is the most widely deployed tracking system of its type in the world.

PowerLight will be busy in Spain in 2007 as well, with a 12-megawatt tracking solar system scheduled to be deployed. Visit PowerLight at http://www.powerlight.com/

Conergy claims to be Number One in solar energy sales in Europe, has a global presence in 22 countries and is in the process of expanding its sales efforts in the US. The latest step is to open subsidiaries in not-overly-sunny Pennsylvania. Voltwerk will handle renewable energy project development and financing and SunTechnics will handle solar engineering and installation.

The company chose Pennsylvania because of the state’s aggressive Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard that ensures at least 18-percent of electricity generated in the state comes from advanced and renewable sources by 2020. The state’s commitment to solar energy will lead to 700 megawatts of solar energy in the state by 2021.

Conergy will create up to 50 new engineering, financing and management jobs and up to $100 million in solar and renewable business in the state in the next three years. Governor Edward G. Rendell welcomed Conergy to the Pennsylvania in a news conference that also focused on alternative and renewable energy benchmarks. Visit Conergy at http://www.conergy.us/ , Pennsylvania Office of the Governor http://www.governor.state.pa.us/