Public Funding Making Business Sector Solar Retrofits More Viable

Solar Energy Consultant Bob Gentile and large solar array. Photo courtesy of Abundant Energy Inc.

As solar technology in the United States becomes more refined and public funds in the forms of federal grants and state rebates become increasingly available, more and more business are starting to retrofit.

Over the last few months, Florida has seen some of the nation’s biggest growth in the development and use of solar power. Last month, President Barack Obama was on-hand at the Florida Power and Lights DeSoto Next Generation Solar Energy Center as it powered up for the first time.

With more than 90,500 solar panels, the plant is now the largest solar photovoltaic facility in the country, with the capacity to annually generate an estimated 42,000 megawatt-hours or enough power to serve about 3,000 homes.

By early next week, the installation of the largest privately owned solar array in Marin County, Fla. will be completed, according to Derrick Christenson, a real estate associate with Christenson Commercial.

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U.S. Renewable Energy Usage Trends Upward as Overall Power Usage Declines

Courtesy of the Energy Information Administration’s Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels.

Well it’s nice to know that real progress is happening in the renewable energy industry and not just a lot of speculative talk!

Consumer consumption grew by seven percent between 2007 and 2008, despite a two percent decline in total United States energy consumption, according to a newly released report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The total renewable energy consumption increased by 487 trillion Btu (British Thermal Unit) to 7, 301 trillion Btu.

The two biggest consumers of renewable energy were the electric power and industrial sectors, though the transportation sector is starting to take a bigger piece of the pie.

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Solar Joint Venture to Make a Footprint in the U.S. Southwest

An line-focusing parabolic trough collector. Photo from Solar Trust.

In the race for who will become the juggernaut of the emerging solar power market, two notable players in the industry have come together in a joint venture partnership to form Solar Trust of America, an integrated solar solutions company.

Parent companies, Solar Millennium and MAN Ferrostaal, jointly say that the new venture company will provide “a complete turnkey solution in connection with the development, construction, and financing of large-scale concentrated solar power plants in the southwestern region of the U. S.”

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Exploring the West- Seeking Out Top Places for Solar Energy Projects

Photo courtsy of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Surveying the West for suitable public lands to build utility-scale solar energy facilities is the latest initiative by the U.S. Department of the Interior in its efforts to move the country in the direction of renewable energy.

The initiative is part of the Obama administration’s New Energy Plan for America, which includes the goal to “ensure 10 percent of our electricity comes from renewable sources by 2012, and 25 percent by 2025.”

Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior, told a Las Vegas audience on Monday, “This environmentally-sensitive plan will identify appropriate Interior-managed lands that have excellent solar energy potential and limited conflict with wildlife, and other natural resources or land use. The two dozen areas we are evaluating could generate nearly 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity.”

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Industrial Polluters Will Have to Cleanup and Pay Hefty Fees for EPA Violations

Protesters against Massey Energy Co. Photo Courtesy of Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Regulated power and fuel companies found in violation of the Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement and compliance program in 2008 will have to clean up and pay out record amounts, according to David Ryan, EPA Washington press officer.

A total of approximately $11.8 billion will be paid out for pollution controls, cleanups, and environmental projects as penalties resulting from the conclusions of civil and criminal enforcement actions taken by the EPA this year. Beyond power and fuel companies, other violators included in this payout total were: home builders, manufactures, operators of hazardous waste sites, and chemical companies.

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