Solar Power Comes to the White House !

Solar Panels on White House from the Carter Administration

The White House is going SOLAR !!

Seeking to lead by example ... solar panels for electricity and a solar water heater for the White House residence will go on the roof of the White House. 

" ...  part of a Department of Energy demonstration project showing that American solar technologies are available, reliable, and ready for installation in homes throughout the country ..."
 

" ... reflects President Obama’s strong commitment to U.S. leadership in solar energy ..."

Via:  WhiteHouse.Gov  LINK

Arizona Public Services & SunPower Create Largest Solar Project on Federal Property

The 15 megawatt PV plant will be located at Luke AFB in Glendale, Arizona.  Comprised of 52,000 SunPower PV panels it will be the " ... largest solar installation on U.S. government property."

SunPower

"Arizona Public Service Co. will own and operate ... hired SunPower Corp. to design and construct the solar plant ..."

" ... will ... follow the sun ... 25 percent more energy than if the panels were stationary. ..."


Via:  Arizona Public Service LINK

 
Ever wonder how solar cells work?  Sun light hits a photovoltaic panel and somehow electrons start flowing. 

Check out this neat graphic that shows how suns rays are converted to power that flows from your home's outlets.

" ... Follow the path ... from the sun, through the pv panels, its conversion to AC electricity ... into the utility grid. ..."
ailed explanation of solar energy.


For a full size of the image CLICK

Via:  CoolerPlanet LINK

US States by Use of Renewable Energy

The map at the left - link to full size below - shows " ... the current state of renewable energy in America ... a large portion of the country is still dragging their feet in adopting more environmentally friendly means of generating electricity. ..."

Pennsylvania ranks 15th
New Jersey ranks 43 rd.

Check out the stats for your state.

Click for full size map ... LINK 


Via:  CoolerPlanet  LINK

US Army Solar Array at Fort Irwin, California

 The US Army is getting greener.  They are beginning " ... development of a 500-megawatt solar power plant at Fort Irwin, Calif."

" ... allow ... commercial developers to use land at Fort Irwin to construct a solar power plant there between 2013 and 2022. ... will provide power to both the civilian power grid in California, and to Fort Irwin, home of the Army's National Training Center."

" ... the Army will provide to the developers, for as many as 50 years, up to 14,000 acres of land. .. Army receives rent for the land through cash or in-kind services."

" ... facility with both concentrated solar thermal and photovoltaic technology. ... will be built in phases, with a project end date expected around 2022. But Phase 1A of the project, with a completion of around 2014, is expected to provide enough power to sustain Fort Irwin."

Via:  US Army LINK

Philadelphia Pa. Wins 3rd Annual Sustainable Community Award for a Large Community

Mayor Michael Nutter has been promoting Philadelphia's green activities and now the city is being recognized by others as well.

" ... Mayor Michael A. Nutter. ... encouraged by the momentum behind our sustainability efforts, ... look forward to aggressively continuing our work to promote market transformation in energy efficiency retrofitting and growing the green economy.”

"... training our workforce to install solar panels and cool roofs, and we’re putting Philadelphians to work weatherizing homes and installing green stormwater management infrastructure."

Via: City of Philadelphia  LINK

Springside School: Largest Solar Installation in Philadelphia

Springside School - Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia has the largest solar installation in the city of Philadelphia. You can see the solar progress with the monitoring station ... the system has the capacity of 92.4 kW DC.

As of May 15th, 2010 the system has generated 21,201 kWH - equivalent to powering 2 homes for a year. See the current operation / historical data at LINK.

Via: Springside School LINK

Chicago's ConEd Experiments with Consumer Energy Management Tools

Chicago's ConEd is conducting an experiment to determine how consumers manage their energy use when they have metrics on use, cost and use patterns.  Home will be outfitted with solar panels and some homes will be allowed to sell back to the grid and others will not.

" ... whether consumers have the ability, with this technology, to become little utilities. They will be able to buy and sell electricity at a real-time hourly price, which is very close to the wholesale price, from their homes."

" ... will install smart electric meters and price the homes’ electric use by the hour. Half of the homes will be able to gain credits by sending stored solar power back to the grid. The other half won’t be able to store their energy." 

Via:  SmartPlanet LINK