Solar Energy/PV | Green Living Ideas

Solar Leasing Makes Solar Power Affordable

Posted on Aug 17, 2010 by Scott James.

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Anyone I know who is interested in solar power usually has two thing that make them tilt their head, clench their teeth and do the breathe-in hesitation- high up front costs and maintenance. It can cost a lot of money to buy solar panels, and even more to keep them in optimal shape once you install them. But the new Solar Power Purchase Agreement (SPPA) program from the EPA aims to change all that. The idea is simple- whole companies will exist that buy large amounts of solar panels, maintain them, generate the energy, and lease it to homeowners.
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Could Obama Administration’s ‘Big Solar’ Grow Up to Beat Big Oil?

Posted on Aug 10, 2010 by Susan Kraemer.

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One of the reasons that this nation is unable to pass meaningful legislation to get us off fossil fuels is that the Federal treasury has long relied on income from oil leases amounting in the billions per year. So it is hard for the US government to actually truly stand up to Big Oil.

But what if renewable energy contributed as much money to the Federal treasury… wouldn’t that create a new and powerful energy interest to successfully battle the Godzilla of Big Oil and get us to a new world where government decision-making is just as much influenced by renewable, clean and safe energy? Could we create Big Solar to fight Big Oil?

The Obama administration appears to be doing just that. It recently proposed extremely high new land fees totaling in the billions, annually. These will fatten the Federal treasury as much as those paid by oil drillers, from 200 solar projects proposed on desert lands, under Salazar’s Bureau of Land Management. Huge yearly income from all of these per-acre land rents and per megawatt yearly fees could have the effect of doing just that by creating ‘Big Solar’.

Even just one source will add $9.5 million a year to the nation’s common wealth from the 1,000 MW Solar Millennium parabolic-trough solar thermal project near Blythe, to supply LA.
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Puma Steps Into Mobile With Solar Powered Phone

Posted on Jul 27, 2010 by Scott James.

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Puma has decided to lace up their eco-shoes and step with both feet into the smartphone market- and their first offering is an eco-friendly one. The German Puma company, known well for their football gear and ties to old-school hip hop, launched their phone last week in partnership with Sagem Wireless of France. It even has its own website. Key green features will be an integrated solar cell on the back of the phone for charging and a built-in eco-metering function that will display how much energy the user is saving.
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NREL to See if Solar and Deserts Can Get Along

Posted on Jun 01, 2010 by Susan Kraemer.

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To test to see how desert ecosystems can get along with industrial-scale solar installations, NREL scientists have re-seeded native grasses under one half of the 1 MW solar installation at their National Renewable Energy Laboratory site near Boulder, Colorado.

Boulder’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory scientists and environmental experts are developing best management practices that re-establish habitat, minimize weed invasion, prevent erosion and protect wildlife.

With this study, the scientists are hoping to establish some guidelines that will enable clean solar power and desert habitats to coexist amiably. Many solar projects in the Southwest, where solar is ideal, are furloughed by two and three year delays over environmental reviews.

Some of the controversy revolves around the grading of the land. Typically, solar companies propose to grade the land under utility-scale solar arrays, treat it with pesticides, or cover it with gravel. NREL wants to see if an alternative is possible.

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Californians to Get a New Way to Go Solar

Posted on May 19, 2010 by Susan Kraemer.

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Sometimes homeowners wanting to go solar are held back by an unlikely opponent. A spouse who just can’t get past the aesthetics of adding solar panels on a roof.

The unique traditional tile-shape of this integrated solar PV module being developed by SRS Energy might bring a solution to that problem if they can overcome some technical issues.

Rather than adding solar panels on top of existing roofs, these tiles would be used to seamlessly replace the roofing itself.
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