Solar panels atop a house in Riverside, CA (photo attribution: Jim Sun, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
Community Solar Garden or Solar Farm of Clean Energy Collective at Cowdery Meadow Community Solar Gardens (attribution: Susan Sun Nunamaker, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
Visitors at a Westmill Solar Cooperative Open Day at Westmill Solar Park (attribution: MrRenewables, Westmill Solar Cooperative, Ben Cavanna, presented at: WindermereSun.com)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
Today, California has become the first U.S. state to require solar panels on nearly all new homes and low-rise apartment buildings, starting in 2020. The California Energy Commission voted 5 to 0 to approve the new building standard/requirement that residential buildings up to three stories, including single-family homes and condos, be built with solar panels installations starting in 2020. About 117,000 new single-family homes and 48,000 multi-family units will be built in 2020. The commission endorsed this requirement after building representatives, utilities, and solar manufacturers and advocates voiced their support. It still needs the final approval from California’s Building Standards Commission (which usually adopts the energy panels’s recommendations when updating the state’s building codes). This is California’s latest step to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The technical director for the California Building Industry AssociationRobert Raymer called it a “quantum leap.”This requirement would only be applied to newly constructed homes, although many homeowners are choosing to install rooftop solar panels with help from various rebate programs. The California Energy Commission estimated that adding solar panels would boost construction costs by $9,500 for a single-family home but save homeowners about $19,000 in energy cost and other expenses over 30 year period. The price of solar has dropped dramatically in recent years, therefore, it is a no-brainer that it is cost effective for all homeowners to install solar. The amount of solar power required by the new standards is minimal and not enough to meet all the energy needs of most homes, therefore, most homes would still have to draw some of their power use from the power grid.
The regulations exempts solar panels installations when it is not cost-effective or feasible (such as for homes shrouded in shade). Community solar generation would be an option for such circumstances.
According to SEIA (Solar Energy Industries Association), California is already the nation’s leader in solar installation, with more than 5 million homes in the state using solar power. California has set the goal of all residential buildings being “zero net energy”, meaning producing as much energy as they consume. California has positioned itself as the leader for clean energy in USA, pushing more electric vehicles on the roads and lower emissions from homes and commercial buildings.
California Energy Commissioner Andrew McAllister said, “This is a step, a very important step, in a long trajectory that we have been planning for and telling the world….This is not a radical departure. It’s a step in the right direction to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and improve our air, which for many, many decades California has been doing better and better each time.”
Perhaps it is high time for rest of the 49 states to also follow the California lead, for it is both economical and environmentally friendly for homeowners to install solar.
Gathered, written, and posted by Windermere Sun-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Just a quick reminder for you all, Solar Enthusiasts, that Solar Power International 2015 will be held on September 14-17, 2015 at Anaheim, CA, at Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA, at 800 W Katella Ave., Anaheim, CA 92802, (714) 765-8950. This is an exciting time for solar industry in USA: 8 gigawatts of solar PV will be installed this year (2015), with California being in the forefront, having more installations than Australia, India, and Canada combined.
The above is the video of Rhone Resch, President & CEO of SEIA, inviting you all to attend the Solar Power International 2015. There will be more than 600 exhibitors from around the globe, 24 hours of networking, 100+ educational opportunities, hands on training labs, and solar strategy sessions for businesses. There will also be the Startup Alley at SPI2015. An example of a business/company in Startup Alley at Solar Power International 2015, below:
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any comments and suggestions are welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
Intersolar North America 2015 (Exhibition: July 14-16, 2015, Conference: July 13-15, 2015, https://www.intersolar.us/en/home.html)
(Please click on red links & note magenta)
Just a quick note to remind you all that Intersolar North America 2015 will take place in San Francisco, Moscone Center, Exhibition between July 14-16, 2015 and Conference between July 13-15, 2015. This is the most attended Solar Event/Exhibition in the United States. 27,000 trade visitors are expected. There will be high caliber conference with renowned speakers and multitude of workshops. It also provides great international marketing opportunity.
For the first time in California history, Gov. Jerry Brown ordered mandatory water use reductions on Wednesday, April 1, 2015. No Foolin’! Finally the state’s four-year drought had reached near-crisis proportions after a winter of record-low snowfalls.”This historic drought demands unprecedented action,” Brown said, standing on a patch of dry, brown grass in the Sierra Nevada mountains that is usually blanketed by up to 5 feet of snow. In an executive order, Gov. Brown directed the State Water Resources Control Board to impose a 25% reduction on the state’s 400 local water supply agencies (serving 90% of California residents). The agencies will be responsible for coming up with restrictions to cut back on water use and for monitoring compliance. State officials said the order would impose varying degrees of cutbacks on water use across the board — affecting homeowners, farms and other businesses, as well as the maintenance of cemeteries and golf courses.
“We’re in a new era,” Gov. Brown said. “The idea of your nice little green grass getting lots of water every day, that’s going to be a thing of the past.” The state had trouble reaching the 20% reduction target that Gov. Brown set in January 2014 when he issued a voluntary reduction order. The state water board has the power to impose fines on local water suppliers that fail to meet the reduction target set by the board over the coming weeks.
The California Republican Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, said, “The current drought in California is devastating. Today’s order from governor should not only alarm Californians, but the entire nation should take notice that the most productive agriculture state in the country has entered uncharted territory. I’m from the Central Valley, and we know that we cannot conserve or ration our way out of this drought.”
To Gov. Brown and Rep. McCarthy, I’d like to say, “Consider Solar Desalination!” Below is taken from Wikipedia on the topic of solar powered desalination unit. There are also several videos helping to explain the process of seawater desalination and various technologies of solar desalination, utilizing our abundant sea water. Historically, due to the great deal of energy that is required in seawater desalination, desalination has not been utilized much in USA. With the dramatically decreased cost of solar coming on scene, Solar Desalination is now more likely to be an economically feasible solution to the California drought. Please be sure to also view the last video on “Seawater Desalination via Solar Power Satellites” that will utilize the currently existing 27 oil rigs and off-shore platforms to serve as receiving antennas for the power beams of space solar satellites, running salt water desalination plants and using excess energy to power homes, cities, and industries in California.
A solar powered desalination unit produces potable water from saline water through direct or indirect methods of desalination powered by sunlight. Countries such as Australia, Italy and Egypt have adopted this system as an alternative source of water for the population.
The intermittent nature of sunlightand its variable intensity throughout the day makes predicting its efficiency difficult. However, incorporating a thermal energy storage system solves this problem and ensures constant performance even during non-sunlight hours and cloudy days, improving overall efficiency.
There are some concerns regarding seawater desalination such as the efficiency level and environmental impacts that would need to be monitored continuously. But solar desalination may provide California with the viable solution, I am optimistic.
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
~have a bright and sunny day~
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics: www.sunisthefuture.net
I wish I had asked a lot more questions during this particular interview with the president and founder of Nuance Energy Group, Brian C. Boguess. On July 9, 2014, above the Yerba Buena Gardens, during InterSolar North America 2014, Mr. Brian Boguess had much to share about various mechanisms in securing rapid solar deployment in California and beyond.
Mr. Boguess started the talk by introducing SunPods Power Platform systems, (manufactured by Nuance Energy Group), which are ballasted ground-based solar racking systems for on grid and off grid solar applications. These units are made of a heavy gauge, cold rolled steel frame with a galvanized standard G-90 finish, with proprietary racking containing solar panels and inverters and power adjustable legs accommodating uneven terrain (engineered to 23 degree slope). Nuance Energy assembles these solar units off site, set units in specified site location and level each solar array, whereas certified partners finish installation of BOS (balance of system) component, wiring and connect to the grid. The wonderful thing about SunPods Power Platform units is that these units deploy and install in minutes and help to avoid prevailing wage cost (Davis Bacon Act) on municipal, government and military projects! These self-ballasted engineering systems eliminate ground penetration and is the solar application recently proven and released (2013) by a 2-year California Energy Commission (CEC) PIER (Public Interest Energy Research) Program report on solar PV development for California closed landfills. These SunPods PowerPlatform units are modular in design, and connect to scale for large solar projects. Some of its key markets are: agriculture, remote mining operations, international export, emergency disaster preparedness, shared community solar farms and rural residential projects. Video below:
The exciting part of the conversation is in finding out from Mr. Boguess that there are 225 closed landfills in California occupying 35,000 acres of land (presently not economically viable for traditional development) with potential of becoming utility scale solar farms! Currently there are 74 landfill sites within CA producing electricity from the landfill generated methane gas in micro-turbines. There are also 1,262 contaminated sites occupying over 2 million acres in CA. Just think of all of these Solar Potential waiting to be tapped! We will be looking forward to seeing/hearing more Sun Power being tapped from these underutilized brownfields/landfills via SunPods Power Platform systems!
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your questions/comments/suggestions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
U.S. New Generation In-Service Power Capacity During 2013, Data Made Available By FERC
1. U.S. New Generation In-Service (New Build and Expansion), Jan.-Dec. of 2013 Chart: On horizontal axis, 10 top sources of new U.S. power capacity (in 2013) are ranked in terms of Newly Installed Capacity (MW) during 2013, in the order from: 1st being Natural Gas (7,270 MW), 2nd is Solar (2,936 MW), 3rd is Coal (1,543 MW), 4th is Wind (1,129 MW), 5th is Biomass (777 MW), 6th is Water (378 MW), 7th is Waste Heat (76 MW), 8th is Geothermal Steam (59 MW), 9th is Oil (38 MW), 10th is Nuclear (0 MW).
Even though Solar’s rank of 2 is impressive from the above chart, in reality the actual solar power capacity generated during 2013 is much greater than 2,936 MW. If you’d refer to FERC’s key findings from Office of Energy Projects-Energy Infrastructure Update of U.S. by 2013 from FERC , you would realize that the 2,936 MW did not include the distributed solar (rooftop solar power systems) installed in 2013. Various sources indicated that California added more rooftop solar capacity in 2013 than in the past 30 years combined . As the distributed solar will continue to play an increasingly significant role in solar capacity generation, such data needs to be included in the calculation in the future in order to provide a more complete picture.
U.S. Total Installed Operating Generating Capacity (GW) By Dec. of 2013, Data Made Available By FERC
2. U.S. Total Installed Operating Generating Capacity By December of 2013 Chart: On horizontal axis, 10 top sources of total U.S. power capacity by 2013 are ranked in terms of Total Installed Capacity (GW) up to December of 2013, in the order from: 1st being Natural Gas (487.21 GW), 2nd is Coal (333.43 GW), 3rd is Nuclear (107.32 GW), 4th is Water (97.88 GW), 5th is Wiind (60.29 GW), 6th is Oil (47.03 GW), 7th is Biomass (15.74 GW), 8th is Solar (7.42 GW), 9th is Geothermal Steam (3.83 GW), 10th is Waste Heat (1.13 GW).
The second table above reminds us that despite how much renewable energy has grown in U.S., the total installed operating generating capacity from renewable such as solar, water,geothermal, biomass, and wind only add up to about 15% of the total U.S. installed operating generating capacity as of 2013. Solar only represents 0.64% and wind represents 5.2% of the total U.S. installed operating generating capacity as of 2013. Renewable Energy is still in its early stage of its evolution. In 2014 solar power is projected to have another year of record growth. To this I say: we surely need it!
Flood at Key Heaven as a result of Hurricane Wilma (Author Marc Averette, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0)
Flood of Toowoomba (Author Kingbob86, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0)
Some of my friends, acquaintances, and relatives find it puzzling why I would be so anxious while optimistic about the Solar/Renewable future. The two tables above truly reflect my state of mind toward current state of affair: optimistic with exponential growth of Solar Capacity (table 1) while anxiously worried about millions of people who will be losing their homes as a result of climate change (this would be the case if Clean and/or Renewable Energy takes up such a small percentage of the overall total power capacity as demonstrated in table 2 above )….we need to move toward Renewable…toward Solar-Wind-Water-Geothermal-Biomass much faster….in order to avoid more of what is likely to come……for millions and millions of people on planet earth…..
Let’s maintain our optimism in moving forward. We need to optimize the most effective incentive policy to drive all Renewables forward…be it Solar-Wind-Water-Geothermal-Biomass….in order to prevent millions and millions of people in becoming homeless in the decades to come…..
~may we all have a bright and sunny day~
Written, gathered and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your comments/suggestions/questions will be welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
Please also get into the habit of checking at these sites below for more on solar energy topics:
If you’d like to go solar and need some help with financing, then I’d like to share some information on Solar City with you. Solar City is an American provider of energy services to homeowners, businesses, and government/non-profit organizations. There have already been over 68,000 homeowners signing up with Solar City, and thousands are enjoying the benefits of clean and more affordable energy from this company. As long as you have a good roof, the solar installation is free and Solar City monitors the solar power systems to ensure that everything is running smoothly and covers maintenance, repairs and insurance at no added cost in the rare event problems arise.
Among its primary services, the company designs, finances and installs solar energy systems, performs energy efficiency audits and retrofits and builds charging stations for electric vehicles. The company had more than 2,500 employees as of December 2012. SolarCity has grown in recent years to meet the rapidly growing installation of solar photovoltaic systems in the United States. The overall US market has grown from 440 MW of “solar panels installed in 2009 to 3,300 megawatts in 2012, and it is expected to grow to 4,300 megawatts” in 2013. Here is a video to demonstrate how clean energy is made easy with Solar City, below:
SolarCity was founded in July 2006 by brothers Peter and Lyndon Rive, based on a suggestion for a solar company concept from Elon Musk. SolarCity has been the leading provider of residential solar power in California since 2007, its first full year of operation, according to the database kept by the California Solar Initiativeand was the number one residential solar installer in the U.S. in 2011, according to Greentech Media Research. In 2013, Solar Power World magazine listed SolarCity as the No. 2 overall solar installation company in the U.S.
SolarCity is headquartered in San Mateo, California, but the company uses a distributed service model in which it provides installation from local operations centers. SolarCity has additional locations in:
Berkeley, Petaluma, Morgan Hill, Foster City, San Luis Obispo, Culver City (Los Angeles), Santa Ana (Orange County), Pomona, Fresno, Stockton, Sacramento, Bakersfield, Lancaster and San Diego, California
Phoenix (multiple locations), Tucson and Prescott Valley, Arizona
In 2008, SolarCity introduced a new solar lease option for homeowners that significantly reduces or eliminates the upfront cost of installing solar power. SolarCity’s solar lease can allow some homeowners to pay less each month by adopting solar power than they previously paid for electricity from the utility company.
SolarCity began more actively providing solar services to business, government, and non-profit customers in 2008. In May 2008, the company completed what was, at the time, the largest commercial solar installation in San Jose on the North Campus of eBay. That July, SolarCity completed what was then the largest commercial solar installation in San Francisco, for British Motors, consisting of 1,606 solar photovoltaic panels. SolarCity introduced new financing options for businesses in 2009 and has built multiple solar projects for other large organizations including Walmart, Intel, and the U.S. military. On March 21, 2013 SolarCity announced that it would open a new location in Nevada in cooperation with state government.
SolarCity entered the electric car charging business by buying the SolSource Energy business of Clean Fuel Connections, Inc., which was reported to be finalized in 2009 and has also announced a partnership with Rabobank to make electric car charging available for free to owners of Tesla Motors‘ vehicles traveling on U.S. Route 101 in California between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Other cars that can make use of the same charging technology are welcome. In 2011, the company announced it would install electric car chargers that could charge a wide range of EVs in all of its service territories.
In 2010, SolarCity acquired Building Solutions, a software-enabled home energy audit firm, and began to offer energy efficiency evaluations and upgrades such as air and duct sealing, efficient heating/cooling and lighting to its list of services.SolarCity worked with Admiral’s Bank of Boston in March 2012 to make a new loan available to finance energy efficiency improvements and expanded its energy efficiency services to the east coast.
SolarStrong is SolarCity’s five-year plan to build more than $1 billion in solar photovoltaic projects for privatized military housing communities across the United States, announced in late 2011. SolarCity plans to work with the country’s leading privatized military housing developers to install, own and operate rooftop solar installations and provide solar electricity at a lower cost than utility power. SolarStrong is ultimately expected to create up to 300 megawatts of solar generation capacity that could provide power to as many as 120,000 military housing units, which would make it the largest residential photovoltaic project in American history if completed. In November 2011, SolarCity and Bank of America Merrill Lynch announced that they have agreed to terms on initial debt financing for SolarStrong.
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My dear friends and fellow solar enthusiasts, it’s time for an update of another Solar Event, Solar Decathlon, taking place on the other side of the planet (Orange County Great Park, Irvine, CA). There are so much going on in the solar world that I wouldn’t mind cloning myself just to be able to cover all of these solar events in person. Where one area of technological limitation may be remedied by the strength of another.
Solar Decathlon 2013 of U.S. Department of Energy-Collegiate teams at Orange County Great Park, Irvine, CA (Credit: U.S. Department of Energy)
As mentioned in our Oct. 3, 2013 post, Solar Decathlon is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy that challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.
The Solar Decathlon Competition
In the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, collegiate teams design and build energy-efficient houses powered by the sun. These teams spend almost two years creating houses to compete in the 10 contests of the Solar Decathlon. The winning team produces a house that:
Is affordable, attractive, and easy to live in
Maintains comfortable and healthy indoor environmental conditions
Supplies energy to household appliances for cooking, cleaning, and entertainment
I’ve just received this email from Adam Browning of Vote Solar, worth sharing, below:
Friends-
One of the most compelling virtues of solar energy is the opportunity for freedom and independence. Solar means you don’t have to wait for the utility or other powers-that-be to do the right thing…you can take matters into your own hands and do it yourself. It’s democracy in energy decision-making, in action.
So this 4th of July, we’d like to take a moment to celebrate some recent solar successes in the name of preserving solar rights, providing freedom from the tyranny of pollution, and allowing Americans to pursue the kind of power they want.
The California [ http://votesolar.org/2013/06/ca-shared-renewables/ ] Legislature, playing the role of Ben Franklin, advanced an innovative new Shared Renewables program — a way for renters and others that don’t have their own roof to participate in the solar economy. If you want to lead a similar charge in other states, check out the new Shared Renewables Model Rules [http://votesolar.org/2013/07/new-model-rules-for-shared-renewables/ ] we just released with IREC.
And we beta launched Project Permit [ http://projectpermit.org/ ], a new campaign to empower Americans nationwide to cut red tape and reduce solar permitting costs in their own communities.
It’s worth noting that this fight for solar freedom faces an incredibly well-funded opposition. Big Fossil isn’t going down without a fight. Read this article [ http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/07/the-kochs-and-the-action-on-global-warming.html ] about how the Koch brothers are fighting to make sure that Congress protects their profits–at the expense of our children’s future. If your blood isn’t boiling by the end of it, call your doctor, because you don’t have a pulse…
One more thing: Intersolar is coming to San Francisco next week. Come join us, and — speaking of things that are free(er) — the first 10 Vote Solar supporters who register will get a *10% discount*. Click here to get that deal [ http://votesolar.org/2013/07/two-conferences-were-excited-about-intersolar-the-national-clean-energy-summit/ ]. California clean energy champion Governor Brown will be delivering the keynote – not to be missed!
Onwards in the pursuit of solar happiness-
Adam & the Vote Solar Team
Vote Solar 101 Montgomery, Suite 2600 San Francisco, CA 94104
The Vote Solar Initiative
300 Brannan Street, Suite 609
San Francisco, CA 94107 www.votesolar.org
Solar industry is maturing into a multi-billion dollar industry, no longer the smallest kid on the energy block. It is here To STAY! Politicians are well advised to be supportive of solar energy future;it is good for our future generations and politicians’ future elections… for solar industry will not only solve our energy problems, pollution problems, health problems, international conflicts, but also creates local jobs and insures local energy security and economic prosperity. Any attempt at opposing its progress will be futile, for Sun Is The Future !
Sun Is The Future logo of www.sunisthefuture.net
My fellow Floridians, I’ve always appreciated the relaxed lifestyle and attitude of Floridians, but this is the one time I’d like to see more of us rise up and sign the petition for Solar-FIT For Sunshine State and learn to Start A Community Solar Garden/Farm…for even though we may have wonderful air quality and lower utility bills than many other states now, we are living in a coastal state! If no one makes any effort in transitioning into the renewable/solar energy future, good part of the state of Florida will disappear as a result of the climate change! This should be a non-partisan issue! Not only should we act to slow down the climate change, we should try to encourage earthlings from other parts of the world to do the same. What better way to slow down the climate change than GOING SOLAR?! Let’s make sure our future elected officials will all be in support of renewables!
Sunrise in Florida (photographed by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker)
~have a bright and sunny day~
gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
any of your comments or suggestions will be welcomed at comment area below or sunisthefuture@gmail.com (please note in your email if you do not want your email to be shared)
I’ve been quite busy this past week setting up Sun Is The Future Online Stores, which may also be found in the right hand margin under Information (below the search box). There has been so much news and activities in the solar world that I shall be posting frequently in the coming week. For those of you who have been with Sun Is The Future for over two years, you probably realize that I am a strong proponent/ supporter for Solar/Renewable Feed-In-Tariff (FIT) policy. To refresh our memory of some of our past posts:
Periodically, I still receive emails from viewers/visitors asking “what is feed-in-tariff?” Below is a clip of explanation of what FIT (Feed-In-Tariff) incentive policy is in its simplest form, by R. James Woolsey, on July 15, 2011.
In addition to my collection of posts at www.sunisthefuture.net , I would like to share with you some valuable links/articles sent by my renewable/wind energy friend, Paul Gipe, below:
With the dramatic decrease in cost of solar modules/panels and various natural disasters in recent years, even without any subsidies, there are plenty of reasons to utilize solar energy. But if FIT (Feed-In-Tariff) were implemented, this policy would provide greater incentive for people, in general, to remain connected to the grid and increase the chance of greater economic stability for our society. Since there are varied circumstances from state to state, I would like to implore all state legislative bodies to seriously consider FIT (Feed-In-Tariff) for Renewable Energies within his/her particular state.
~have a bright and sunny day~
Gathered, written, and posted by sunisthefuture-Susan Sun Nunamaker
Any of your questions/comments/suggestions are welcomed at sunisthefuture@gmail.com
