MUNICH - A consortium of 12 European businesses outlined an ambitious plan Monday to build a massive solar power facility in North Africa that they said could satisfy 15 percent of Europe's energy needs by 2050.

The so-called Desertec project involves, among others, German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG, power companies RWE AG and E.ON AG, reinsurer Munich Re AG, Deutsche Bank AG, and Swiss-based electrical engineering firm ABB.

A memorandum of understanding signed Monday in Munich described Desertec as "a scientifically substantiated and economically feasible way of achieving" the stated energy production goal.

The project would be based largely on solar thermal power plants, which use mirrors to focus the suns' energy to heat a special oil, create steam and power generators. Such plants are already running in the U.S., Spain and elsewhere.

Power would be transmitted to Europe across a new 1,800-mile network.

A statement from the companies said that they have begun discussions about hosting and supporting the project with European and African governments, without naming any specifically.

The German Aerospace Center estimated in a study that the new electricity transport network alone could cost $63 billion, and that the entire project could approach $600 billion.

Some critics have questioned the projects' geopolitical feasibility.

Friedbert Pflueger, a member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, told Der Spiegel magazine's Web site that he wondered whether European officials outside Germany would support the project.

"The question now, above all, is the politics — particularly the EU Commission," Pflueger was quoted as saying.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Bureau of Land Management has opened a formal public comment period on issues and concerns to be addressed in an environmental study for a proposed solar energy project in southern Nevada.

Solar Millennium LLC is seeking a right of way to build two solar thermal power plants on public lands in Nye County, about 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas.


The project site would encompass about 4,300 acres in Amargosa Valley. Officials say each plant would generate 242 megawatts of power.


The BLM on Monday said public comments must be received by Aug. 12 to be considered in a draft environmental impact statement. The agency also plans to hold open sessions for the public to ask questions about the project.

It depends on what your circumstances are. If you live in an un-serviced area, then yes, solar power is a lot better then being hooked up to the grid. If you’re planning on building a home from scratch, then yes, you can design the home to be the most efficient at collecting solar energy. If you are living in a major city in a pre-built home or apartment, then no solar energy is not a good investment. So it really depends on your circumstances.

Solar energy will pay off in the long run, this means in years time. If you are capable in waiting that long then yes, it’s a good investment.

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Sandia National Laboratories scientist Chuck Andraka is excited about what's missing from a new generation of solar dishes that will be in the field by next year.

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Next generation of solar dishes use less steel


By SUE MAJOR HOLMES, The Associated Press
1:00 a.m. July 18, 2009

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories scientist Chuck Andraka is excited about what's missing from a new generation of solar dishes that will be in the field by next year.

There's far less steel – about 2 tons – in the structure that supports the SunCatcher, developed for Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Stirling Energy Systems, or SES. Overall, the design is 5,000 pounds lighter than its prototype.

"You've got to get the cost down because there's so little margin," said Andraka, lead engineer on the project. "Small changes ... impact profitability."

Sandia morphed the SunCatcher's original rectangular design into a radial structure that looks like a 37 1/2-foot diameter satellite dish with mirrors and allows "the same structural stiffness with far less steel," he said.

The lab's work on the SunCatcher was done with manufacturing in mind.

"The idea wasn't to enhance performance. It was to make it more manufacturable and get the cost down," Andraka said.

And that's the point. The project is part of a larger effort to make solar energy more affordable for utilities and other potential customers.

"This is an example of the momentum we're seeing in industry for incremental improvements to bring costs down across the entire supply chain," said Monique Hanis, spokeswoman for the 35-year-old Washington, D.C.-based Solar Energy Industries Association.

She said the industry sees "huge opportunities on the utility-scale front" with Monday's announcement by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar that his agency will designate 670,000 acres of federal land in Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah as study areas for utility-scale solar projects.

The newest SunCatcher version has fewer pieces, so there's less inventory to keep and fewer pieces to assemble. The design retains the functionality of the previous one but is far easier to repair.

"Something that was taking our technicians a week to service, they should be able to service in two hours now," Andraka said.

SunCatcher's developers also expect it to benefit suppliers in the hard-hit automotive industry.

"Parts of it are steel and mirrors and glass, all the things they use to make vehicles up in the Detroit area," said Janette Coates, spokeswoman for Tessera Solar, SES's Houston-based solar project development arm.

The design uses radiators for cooling. It's a closed system like those on automobiles, reducing evaporation, which Andraka said provides a huge advantage in a desert environment.

Sandia began working with SES on the project in 2002, and the next year, SES brought in a dish purchased from another manufacturer. In 2005, Sandia installed an SES-built system. That prototype proved the concept works, which led to the current design.

"It really was a crash course on redesign," Andraka said.

SunCatchers, each producing 25 kilowatts of electricity, will be placed in arrays covering many square miles to generate power for utilities.

"It has a huge potential to deliver real power to our country," said Andraka, who has worked on the project for much of the decade.

This is how Sandia explains the SunCatcher's workings: The modular design uses mirrors attached to a parabolic dish that focuses the sun's rays onto a receiver, which transmits heat to a Stirling engine, a sealed system filled with hydrogen.

As the gas heats and cools, its pressure rises and falls, and the change in pressure drives a piston inside the engine. That produces mechanical power, which drives a generator and makes electricity.

The structure rotates to follow the sun.

The solar collection dishes don't resemble the trough or solar panel arrays most people are accustomed to seeing.

"That's one of the confusions we have often. They think photovoltaic and rooftop," Andraka said. "These are not rooftop. These are utility scale, square miles (of dishes) in a location."

In a particularly bright area, a utility could remove mirrors that gather sunlight; in a cloudier coastal area, it could add some, Andraka said.

Tessera Solar plans a 60-unit generation plant in Arizona or California. The plant, expected to go into operation by January, would generate 1.5 megawatts.

The company also plans to use the technology in two large plants to go into operation by the end of 2012 in Southern California. Together, they would generate enough electricity for nearly 1.2 million homes, Coates said.

One under development with San Diego Gas & Electric in the Imperial Valley, would generate 750 megawatts. The second, east of Barstow with Southern California Edison, would generate 850 megawatts.

Tessera also is developing a 27-megawatt West Texas project with CPS Energy. That project is expected to begin operating by the end of next year.

Andraka said projects move faster in the investor-driven industry sector.

"The bulk of the money is coming from investors. It's not coming from the government," he said. "That's a huge change in pace ... because investors want results and they want them now."

Kolkata, Jul 18 : Century old St. Xavier's College today added another feather to its cap catching solar energy to power computers in its post graduate level courses.
St. Xavier's College catches solar energy to power computers

Kolkata, Jul 18 : Century old St. Xavier's College today added another feather to its cap catching solar energy to power computers in its post graduate level courses.


Switching on to computers from solar powered batteries, St.

Xavier's College principal Reverend J Felix Raj said it was a major milestone achieved by the institute. He said they would go ahead with research work for alternative sources of energy to power lights, fans and other gadets in the premises. It built the solar power system indigenously as it is far more economical and powerful than the conventional system.

''Initially we have planned to run ten computers from as many solar panels and in phases install about 100 such panels on our roof tops to run computer science courses,'' the college head said.

He said fund for research work for alternative sources of energy would be borne by the college and if needed they would approach other agency for funding.

The college, celebrating its 150th year, got autonomy three years ago.

Initially, a solar panel would produce ten volts to convert 74 watt to run a computer between five to six hours easily, Professor P K Chakroborty (Dean, PG studies), who led a two-year research work with other professors to set up the solar power system, said.

The autonomous institution has decided to launch solar innovation programme through the development of cost effective, eco-friendly photovoltaic power management system, principal Reverend J Felix Raj said today.

The project aims at connecting all electrical appliances like lights, fans, computers and water heaters in the college campus.

''Since this alternative energy system, harmonising solar power to usable one is in-house-built, we plan to move for patenting it with the approripate authorities,'' the principal said.

--- UNI

MARICOPA - The signing of Senate Bill 1403 last week by Gov. Jan Brewer provides tax incentives that could help lure solar energy companies to the Arizona desert.

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MARICOPA - The signing of Senate Bill 1403 last week by Gov. Jan Brewer provides tax incentives that could help lure solar energy companies to the Arizona desert.
Maricopa is hoping to be one of the communities to benefit from the move.


Despite an abundance of sunshine, Arizona has long been looked upon as a dark place for locating alternative energy industries due to the lack of state benefits to companies.

What SB 1403 will do is provide tax incentives, primarily aimed at companies on the manufacturing side of the alternative energy industry, with certain stipulations on the number and type of jobs that must be provided.

The Greater Phoenix Economic Council, of which Maricopa is currently a member, had pushed the bill since its birth and took part in a forum in March that centered on the bill's importance.

GPEC Vice President of Business Development Chris Camacho said at that March 20 forum that 276,000 jobs in the solar power industry were expected between now and 2016 - the year when the bill's incentives are set to expire.

"This industry is burgeoning," he said. "[The bill] will have a very serious impact to the state. It will level the playing field with other states.

"New jobs and new investment will catalyze the economy."

The state is seeking new industries to revitalize a struggling state economy that has dropped to dead last in the U.S. in job growth - thanks primarily to the near halt in the construction industry.

Danielle Casey, the city's economic development manager, said in an e-mail Tuesday that SB 1403 does not put Arizona at the top of the list incentive-wise, but brings it up to par with many neighboring states.

"It will not necessarily make us the most competitive state in terms of incentives, but we believe it will help us close the gap and close the deal," she said. "GPEC has a number of companies in the pipeline that were waiting for this bill's passage to locate in Arizona. For Maricopa, this is an important tool as it is a statewide incentive to be used by any community in attracting companies."

Maricopa City Manager Kevin Evans said at the March forum that two solar companies had approached the city about placing solar farms in the Maricopa area, though the real benefit behind this bill will be in attracting companies that actually produce the panels.

After getting word that the Legislature had passed the bill on to the governor, GPEC began moving swiftly, securing plans to meet with 25 solar companies this week at the Intersolar North America conference in San Francisco.

Solar concentrators, placed on an office building roof, will make heat to power an absorption chiller to cool Southern California Gas' energy research center.

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Southern California Gas company is testing how well the sun can cool buildings.

The Los Angeles-based utility said on Tuesday that it has chosen two solar concentrators to measure how effective they are at cooling. The units will be installed on the roof of its Energy Resource Center (ERC) in Downey, Calif.

Both products--one from Hawaiian start-up Sopogy and another from HelioDynamics in the U.K.--reflect and concentrate incoming sunlight onto a pipe to heat water. That heated water is used in place of gas or electricity to power an industrial absorption chiller, which creates cold air using a heat exchanger and compressor.

(Credit: Sopogy)Using the sun for cooling has long been considered an excellent application for solar energy because the air conditioning load corresponds with daylight hours Concentrators can be more efficient and take less space than photovoltaic panels which make electricity, according to Southern California Gas.

Sopogy's MicroCSP is essentially a shrunk-down version of the parabolic troughs used in giant solar power plants. HelioDynamics' concentrators can produce both heat and electricity.

Southern California Gas chose these concentrators because they are small enough to fit on an office building roof and are modular, said Hal Synder, vice president of customer solutions. Each unit is capable of providing enough cool air for three average-size homes. Air conditioning can be half of a commercial building's electricity use.

The utility plans to test these concentrators for two years and will add electricity production to the site in a year.

There are already a handful of companies developing concentrators for cooling. Chromasun, started by one of the founders of concentrating solar company Ausra, has developed a solar collector designed for commercial and industrial customers which can reduce energy bills significantly by cutting peak-time usage.

Meanwhile, there is already a solar cooler in operation. Late last year, famed piano maker Steinway & Sons installed a solar cooling system that uses reflective troughs. Like the SoCal Gas systems, the heat feeds an absorption chiller to provide cool air and dehumidify Steinway's buildings. In the winter, it provides heat.

Is it any surprise that a city known for its love of cheesesteaks, soft pretzels and cannolis would embrace a solar-powered trash compactor called a BigBelly?

In the largest rollout yet, Philadelphia has replaced 700 downtown trash bins with 500 of the high-tech compactors, which use solar energy to condense trash -- cutting down collection trips by 75 percent.

Facing a $1.4 billion, five-year budget deficit, the city estimates it will save $875,000 a year with the compactors, bought with state grant money. Cities from Vienna to Boston to Vancouver have tried the devices in smaller numbers, but Philadelphia put them along four collection routes in its heavily traveled downtown area.

Streets Commissioner Carmina Tolson said the compactors, the last of which was installed this month, usually need to be emptied five times a week -- as opposed to 19 times for a regular can. The change frees up 25 streets department employees, who are now filling vacancies on trucks that collect household recycling.

"We now can go all day," Tolson said of the 32-gallon compactors, which can hold 150 to 200 gallons of trash.

The devices are being piloted by governments and other entities in 40 states and 20 countries, but no other group is trying an approach as comprehensive as what Philadelphia is doing, said Richard Kennelly, vice president of marketing for BigBelly Solar, based in Needham, Mass.

The BigBelly is powered by sun, but it does not need direct light, Kennelly said. When trash gets to the top of the bin, it breaks an electronic beam that triggers a motor that pushes it down. As trash gets more densely packed, the machine senses the resistance and changes a light out front from green to yellow.

In Philadelphia, the cans also have a wireless monitoring system that notifies the city when they're full. In addition, the city is introducing curbside recycling containers next to many of the compactors.

Boston first got the solar-powered compactors in 2006 and now has 160, using them everywhere from historic Faneuil Hall to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox.

Solar power doesn't seem to get as much attention in Iowa as other renewable sources. But, more homeowners are starting to see it as a possibility. One business owner says you can power parts of your home with the sun. He's showing a variety of solar products at the Iowa State Fair this week.

Karen Safris says she wanted something to keep her Des Moines home's attic cool under the hot summer sun. She says, "It's very hot up there, the moisture is not moving through, and we're interested in green options as well as saving energy."

She looked at both traditional attic fans as well as solar powered fans and decided on this 20 watt attic fan powered completely by the sun. Gary Lass with Solar FX says, "You can see as soon as I bring this fan around (into the sun), it starts to run immediately."

The blades are made of heavy aircraft aluminum. Lass says, "Our solar powered fan is proactive, so when the sun hits the panel, the fan starts to run first thing in the morning, so you are immediately pulling cool air into the attic space."

Gary Lass started his company Solar FX based in Ames two years ago. He says he saw a need for solar products in the state. He says, "Solar power is huge on the East Coast and in Hawaii. These solar powered attic fans are shipped literally by the boat load. People in Iowa are becoming educated and understanding that the process does work in Iowa and it's gaining in popularity by leaps and bounds."

Another solar option is called the tubular skylight. It looks like any other light, but it's powered by the sun. Lass says, "That's how the fixture would look on your ceiling, and it brings pure sunlight into the home." Lass says the skylight filters out the sun's UV rays and provides light without electricity.

As for the attic fans, he says it costs $800 to $900, but can cut your energy bill by ten to thirty percent. He says, "It keeps your home cooler because the attic space is cooler and the air conditioner runs less. In the winter time, the benefit is it draws humidity out of the attic space, reduces mold and mildew issues so the home is actually safer."

That's something Safris says she's looking forward to as the sun helps cool her home.

Lass says these products are eligible for tax credits under the federal stimulus bill.

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CLE ELUM, Wash.- Cle Elum will soon be home to the second largest solar reserve in the world. The solar panel will provide energy to people who live in the area to as far south as California.

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