Sol Inc. Installs Commercial Solar Outdoor Lighting at Trails Around the Country

PALM CITY, FL --(eSolarEnergyNews)--

Sol Inc. has announced that it recently completed the installation of commercial solar outdoor lights along the Maria Ygnacia Creek Trail, a 3.22-mile path in Goleta, Calif. The trail is popular with pedestrians in West Santa Barbara and Goleta, as well as with recreational and semi-pro cyclists, and bicycle commuters traveling the Pacific coast route in Santa Barbara County.

The City of Goleta, home to approximately 80 high tech research and development firms, is adjacent to the University of California at Santa Barbara. The trail offers a convenient way for students and commuters to avoid busy streets, as well as the chance to experience the wildlife and birds of the native riparian habitat along the creek. The latest installation brings the total of solar lights installed to more than 300.

"The addition of reliable safety lighting through the City of Goleta's portion of the bike path will complete the project, providing lighting along the entire bike path and will dramatically enhance the safety for commuters using the facility during dark hours," according to the city's "Project Goleta" website.

The solar LED lighting was installed by the County of Santa Barbara along a 1,750-foot portion of the trail from the Hollister Avenue undercrossing north to the trail bridge crossing of Maria Ygnacia Creek.

"Tucked away from the main roads, this path is just heaven for the thousands of cyclists, walkers and joggers who travel the bike path each day," said Matt Dobberteen, Alternative Transportation Manager of the County of Santa Barbara, Department of Public Works. "Solar lights have made it possible for our residents to take full advantage of the bike path day and night in a safe environment."

Goleta and Santa Barbara County are just two of many communities around the country that have installed Sol solar lighting along pedestrian or bicycle paths. Palm City, Fla.-based Sol specializes in commercial solar outdoor lighting, with more than 60,000 installations in 60 countries on six continents.

"Solar lighting is ideal for outdoor trails because the payback is there from Day 1," said Dibs Tailor, CEO of Sol. "Unlike traditional commercial outdoor lighting, solar outdoor lighting eliminates the cost of trenching, wiring and other expenses associated with connecting to the grid. Plus there are no electricity bills. Also, the elimination of trenching means that natural landscapes can be preserved."

Another California City using Sol's commercial solar outdoor lighting is the City of Visalia, which recently installed nearly 30 lights along the 3,600-foot Packwood Creek Trail. The installation is the third solar lighting project that Visalia has installed in recent years.

"The Packwood Creek Trail has been a great asset for the city," said Vaughn Melcher, community development project manager for Visalia, which is located in the San Joaquin Valley approximately 190 miles north of Los Angeles. "The location adjacent to the popular Packwood Creek Shopping Center means that it is heavily used, with the addition of solar lights enhancing its utility by promoting its use in the evening hours."

About Sol Inc.  

Sol Inc. is a global leader in commercial outdoor LED lighting solutions powered by solar energy and the market leader in North America. Sol Inc. has provided reliable, cost-effective, customized and esthetically pleasing solar lighting solutions for a wide range of lighting applications including roadways, parking lots, paths and trails, perimeter security, campuses, military bases, storage areas and for ad lights or monument signs. For more information, please visit www.solarlighting.com.

Solaire Generation and IRC Install First Long Span 360 Solar Carports at Danversport Yacht Club

DANVERS, MA--(eSolarEnergyNews)--  Solaire Generation's first Long Span 360 solar carport system was recently commissioned at the Danversport Yacht Club, bringing 253 kW more renewable energy to the Bay State. The Long Span 360, Solaire's latest patent pending solar carport design, is a unique architectural solar structure that optimizes a parking lot's generating capacity by spanning two parallel parking rows as well as the internal drive aisle. The Long Span's customizable design increases a parking lot's solar capacity by 25% versus a traditional solar parking canopy, and can be built up to 110' wide with up to 70' column spacing.

Industrial Roofing Companies (IRC) of Lewiston, Maine, who served as EPC and project developer, sought out Solaire, headquartered in New York City, due to Solaire's proven track record and unique design expertise. Solaire and IRC worked closely to offer the Danversport Yacht Club a custom solution that fit the goals of the project. Solaire designed, fabricated and installed the canopies, completing the foundations and steel erection on time despite harsh winter conditions.

The installation will help Massachusetts reach Governor Deval Patrick's aggressive goal of 1,600 MW of solar installations by 2020. Massachusetts recently became the fifth-ranked state in the country for total installed solar capacity, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The two carports are expected to generate over 275,000 kWh of clean electricity annually and have been equipped with electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and LED lights. As an additional benefit, club members and visitors will have covered parking for protection from inclement weather. The Long Span 360, like Solaire's other patented canopies, is available as a single or dual incline canopy with an optional water management system.

Danversport Yacht Club is located on a fully protected harbor on Massachusetts's North Shore and is renowned for its picturesque views, upscale function space, and complete marina facilities.



About Solaire Generation

Solaire is the nationally recognized market leader for innovative solar parking canopies and systems, with more than 40MWs of projects designed and installed. Solaire solar carports are known for the highest quality, durability, safety and aesthetics available. Solaire was awarded Best Solar Project at SPG '14, was twice nominated as finalist for the 2013 Intersolar Award for Innovation, and was named a Top 10 NYC Cleantech Leader by Greentech Media. Solaire is active across the continental USA and Hawaii, and throughout the Caribbean.

www.solairegeneration.com

About The Industrial Roofing Companies

IRC uses its 70 years of roofing design and installation expertise to offer New England customers effective and efficient energy improvement strategies. With its deep understand of all aspects of a building, IRC has created a portfolio of solutions including solar photovoltaic, thermal, and daylighting systems.

www.ircmaine.com

Media Contact: Luke Morgan, Solaire Generation, 212-219-0290, lmorgan@solairegeneration.com

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SolarWorld Signs Supply Agreement with PetersenDean, Largest Privately Held U.S. Roofing and Solar Company

HILLSBORO, OR.--(eSolarEnergyNews)--SolarWorld, the largest U.S. solar manufacturer for nearly 40 years, and PetersenDean, the nation’s largest privately held roofing and solar company, today announced a partnership to offer homeowners an affordable path to solar ownership, using American-made solar systems installed by U.S. workers. Under the agreement, SolarWorld will supply high-performance solar panels manufactured at the company’s headquarters factory in Hillsboro, Ore., for PetersenDean residential installations beginning this month.

The partnership is a key element of Solar4America, PetersenDean’s initiative to support American jobs, manufacturing and energy independence by sourcing solar panels and all system components from domestic producers. Along with SolarWorld solar panels, each PetersenDean solar system includes Buy-American-Act-compliant inverters and racking installed by the construction company’s U.S. workforce.

“We made a decision at PetersenDean to only source our products from North America,” said Jim Petersen, founder of PetersenDean. “As a result, we are supporting the American economy, supporting the American worker and reinvesting those dollars back in America. It's that simple. I want to make sure that our products stand the test of time and that our customers are happy. That's why we choose to go American. It is time to take matters into our own hands. And that's what SolarWorld is all about. It is about lowering our electric bills. It is about creating our own energy policy. It is about American jobs, American panels, reinvesting in America.”

PetersenDean and SolarWorld serve as compelling examples of the solar industry’s ability to create jobs and stimulate economic growth. With industry analysts expecting U.S. residential solar installation to increase by about 50 percent in 2014, PetersenDean recently announced plans to expand its business into five new state markets and hire 4,000 additional workers. With the expansion, the company expects to install more than 200,000 roofs and solar systems in 2014, double its mark in 2013.

Similarly, SolarWorld released a report in March detailing how the company’s purchasing activities have injected more than $1.46 billion into the U.S. economy since 2008. This industrial wellspring of business for American suppliers, shippers and professional service providers highlights solar manufacturing’s demonstrated “multiplier effect” in creating jobs, filling factories and fueling investment nationwide.

“As partners, SolarWorld and PetersenDean are perfectly aligned,” said Mukesh Dulani, U.S. president of SolarWorld. “Each of our companies has a three-decade history of meticulous workmanship and excellent customer service in the U.S. market. Moreover, both organizations embody the conviction that highly skilled and innovative American workers produce the best-quality products and services available in the world.”

SolarWorld REAL VALUE: SolarWorld manufactures and sells solar power solutions and in doing so contributes to a cleaner energy supply worldwide. As the largest solar producer in the United States and Europe, SolarWorld employs about 3,200 people and carries out production in Hillsboro, Ore., and Freiberg and Arnstadt, Germany. From the raw material silicon to solar wafers, cells and panels, SolarWorld manages all stages of production ‒ including its own research and development. Through an international distribution network with locations in the United States, Europe, Singapore and South Africa, SolarWorld supplies customers all over the world. The company maintains high social standards at all locations across the globe and is committed to resource- and energy-efficient production. Headquartered in Bonn, Germany, SolarWorld was founded in 1998 and has been publically traded on the stock market since 1999. For more information, visit www.solarworld-usa.com.

About PetersenDean Roofing & Solar: Founded in 1984 by Jim Petersen, PetersenDean is the largest, full-service, privately held roofing and solar company in the United States. Specializing in new residential and commercial construction, PetersenDean works with some of the nation’s largest builders and developers. With more than a million roofs under its belt, the Fremont, Calif.-based company employs 3,000 and operates in five states: Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, and Texas. Please visit http://www.petersendean.com for more details.

Shiny Quantum Dots Brighten Future of Solar Cells

LOS ALAMOS, N.M.--(eSolarEnergyNews)-- A house window that doubles as a solar panel could be on the horizon, thanks to recent quantum-dot work by Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers in collaboration with scientists from University of Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB), Italy. Their project demonstrates that superior light-emitting properties of quantum dots can be applied in solar energy by helping more efficiently harvest sunlight.

"The key accomplishment is the demonstration of large-area luminescent solar concentrators that use a new generation of specially engineered quantum dots," said lead researcher Victor Klimov of the Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics (CASP) at Los Alamos.

Quantum dots are ultra-small bits of semiconductor matter that can be synthesized with nearly atomic precision via modern methods of colloidal chemistry.

A luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) is a photon management device, representing a slab of transparent material that contains highly efficient emitters such as dye molecules or quantum dots. Sunlight absorbed in the slab is re-radiated at longer wavelengths and guided towards the slab edge equipped with a solar cell.

Klimov explained, "The LSC serves as a light-harvesting antenna which concentrates solar radiation collected from a large area onto a much smaller solar cell, and this increases its power output."

"LSCs are especially attractive because in addition to gains in efficiency, they can enable new interesting concepts such as photovoltaic windows that can transform house facades into large-area energy generation units," said Sergio Brovelli, a faculty member at UNIMIB.

Because of highly efficient, color-tunable emission and solution processability, quantum dots are attractive materials for use in inexpensive, large-area LSCs. To overcome a nagging problem of light reabsorption, the Los Alamos and UNIMIB researchers developed LSCs based on quantum dots with artificially induced large separation between emission and absorption bands (called a large Stokes shift).

These "Stokes-shift" engineered quantum dots represent cadmium selenide/cadmium sulfide (CdSe/CdS) structures in which light absorption is dominated by an ultra-thick outer shell of CdS, while emission occurs from the inner core of a narrower-gap CdSe.

Los Alamos researchers created a series of thick-shell (so-called "giant") CdSe/CdS quantum dots, which were incorporated by their Italian partners into large slabs (sized in tens of centimeters) of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). While being large by quantum dot standards, the active particles are still tiny - only about hundred angstroms across. For comparison, a human hair is about 500,000 angstroms wide.

A journal article is in Nature Photonics at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/NPHOTON.2014.54

About Los Alamos National Laboratory (www.lanl.gov)
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company and URS Corporation for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and global security concerns.

First Wind to Sell Power from planned Solar Project to Hawaiian Electric

HONOLULU--(eSolarEnergyNews)--First Wind, an independent renewable energy company that operates four wind projects in Hawai‘i, and Hawaiian Electric Company today announced that a request has been filed with the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission to provide energy to the O‘ahu grid from a planned 20-megawatt (MW) (AC) solar photovoltaic energy facility near Mililani, O‘ahu under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

The planned project has the capacity to provide clean energy to the equivalent of 6,000 O‘ahu homes and, over the term of the contract, will provide cost savings to ratepayers of up to $67 million. It will also displace up to 87,000 barrels of oil per year. Power will be sold to Hawaiian Electric at 15.6 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), which is significantly less than the Hawaiian Electric’s recent cost of generating power of 23.3 cents per kWh.

The project is the first in Hawai‘i to be developed by First Wind’s new solar division, First Wind Solar Group, which was established to explore solar energy opportunities near the company’s wind projects in Hawai‘i, the Northeast, and the West. The First Wind Solar Group leverages the company’s energy development expertise and contracts with experienced solar construction firms to build the projects. The project will be operated by First Wind.

“We are excited to expand our renewable energy efforts with the introduction of Mililani Solar, which will be Hawai‘i’s largest photovoltaic farm to date,” said Paul Gaynor, CEO of First Wind. “This is a milestone for First Wind as we look for new ways to turn Hawai‘i’s abundant natural resources into affordable clean energy for the islands’ electrical grids. We look forward to working closely with local communities, the utility, the city and the state as we install this important renewable energy facility.”

The power purchase agreement with Hawaiian Electric for the Mililani Solar project supports a mandate set by the Hawai‘i Clean Energy Initiative (HCEI) to achieve 70 percent of Hawai‘i’s energy through conservation and clean energy sources by 2030, and reduce Hawai‘i’s reliance on imported fossil fuel.

First Wind was selected by landowner Castle & Cooke Hawai‘i to develop the Mililani Solar farm on 135 acres of Castle & Cooke land south of Mililani. Previously, the same site was designed as four separate 5 MW solar projects by four different developers. Consolidating to a single 20 MW project enabled the project to be developed more efficiently and the energy to be delivered at a lower price.

“We are pleased to be working with First Wind Solar Group to create the largest solar PV project on O‘ahu to date; to provide more renewable energy for O‘ahu,” said Harry Saunders, president of Castle & Cooke Homes Hawai‘i. “The Mililani Solar project is another investment in Hawai‘i and its communities by Castle & Cooke, furthering our land use diversification and mission of providing for the needs of Hawai‘i.”