Tag Archive for: solararrays

Under a newly announced federal grant, every household in the NW Arctic Borough would receive a heat pump and solar system in every village.

In Northwest Arctic, federal grant will bring heat pumps to homes, solar energy to villages

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Under a newly announced federal grant, every household in the Northwest Arctic Borough would receive a heat pump to alleviate the cost of energy, and every village in the region would have a solar energy system — and an additional source of revenue.

In late February, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded rural and remote communities across the country funds to lower energy costs and support the deployment of clean energy. The Northwest Arctic Borough is receiving around $55 million, with grants funded by the 2021 federal infrastructure law. Counting all matches and contributions from regional partners, the total amount of funding for the four-year clean energy project is about $68.5 million, according to the statement from NANA Corp.

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Source: Anchorage Daily News

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From retired landfills to decommissioned golf courses, murals on the buildings, solar installations are proliferating in unexpected places.

Pressed for space, solar farms are getting creative

Solar power is expected to dominate global electricity markets in the next few decades, and already accounts for three-quarters of renewable energy capacity, according to the International Energy Agency. This year, BloombergNEF predicts solar builds will climb another 25%, adding more than 500 gigawatts of capacity.

All of that solar needs a lot of space. Powering just one megawatt of capacity requires at least five acres, meaning a 200-megawatt project (roughly 3,000 panels) takes up as much space as 550 American football fields. That calculus is one reason China — the world’s biggest solar market — is hosting many projects in remote desert regions. It’s also why the IEA expects rooftop and residential solar to expand faster than farms this year.

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Source: Bloomberg

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A new agrivoltaic project aims to enlist bifacial solar panels and saffron in the effort to save small farms with new specialty crops.

Solar panels meet saffron in new agrivoltaic project

The rarefied  world of saffron cultivation is about to encounter a solar makeover. About 90% of the global saffron supply comes from Iran, but the allure of raising a spice crop that retails for $5,000 a pound could widen the territory. That includes the unlikely state of Vermont, where a new agrivoltaic experiment is under way. If all goes according to plan, it could pave the way for for a saffron boom in the US and help save small farms, to boot.

The Agrivoltaic Advantage

Conventional solar arrays are designed with little attention to ground cover. An agrivoltaic array is different. The solar panels are arranged to enable various kinds of farming to take place. Raising the panels higher off the ground is one typical strategy, for example.

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Source: Clean Technica

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TFE is making a significant investment in a series of sustainability projects, spanning across four properties and exemplifying its proactive approach to reducing its carbon footprint.

Napa Valley winemaker adds solar arrays to four properties

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Trinchero Family Estates (TFE) is making a significant investment in a series of sustainability projects, spanning across four properties and exemplifying its proactive approach to reducing its carbon footprint. These projects – scheduled for completion by the end of this year – will include solar installations at four California wineries: Westside winery in Lodi, Main Street winery in St. Helena, Trinchero Central Coast winery in Paso Robles, and Green Island Road winery in American Canyon. Together, the installations will total more than 6.4 MWDC.

Green Island Road winery’s solar installation is the first to be completed and receive permission to operate and the American Canyon winery is now running on solar. REC Solar/Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions has meticulously designed the systems at Green Island Road and TFE’s other properties to accommodate evolution and expansion. Main Street winery’s systems will come online in December, with battery storage and microgrid capabilities.

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Source: Solar Power World

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Supt. Jason Gagnon said the solar arrays have resulted in a total reduction of $195,855 in electrical costs at the precinct's Wastewater Treatment Facility.

Solar arrays at treatment plant are paying off

Giving a tour of the North Conway Water Precinct’s newest solar array, Superintendent Jason Gagnon said Monday he would have good news to share at Wednesday night’s annual precinct meeting about the two arrays’ impact on electrical savings.

The latest array, installed in 2021, joins one installed in 2010. Gagnon said they have  resulted in a total reduction of $195,855 in electrical costs at the precinct’s Wastewater Treatment Facility.

He said that 2022 was the first year of “normal” at the facility after the pandemic started. “When we compare average electricity use from 2017-19 (the pre-COVID normal) with electricity use in 2022, we estimate that the annual savings realized from the new solar array alone are more than $155,000 over those previous years,” Gagnon said.

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Source: The Conway Daily Sun

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Researchers found that 6,256 cities across 124 countries could, in theory, meet all their electricity demand from solar panels deployed on nearby water reservoirs.

Floating solar panels could completely power thousands of cities

Thousands of cities around the world could power themselves entirely with solar panels floating atop water reservoirs, according to new research. It’s a relatively easy way to generate renewable energy locally while also conserving water.

Solar arrays suspended over water, or floatovoltaics, work similarly to those spread out over land. The panels sit on a raft instead of on parking lots, rooftops, or other grounded mounts. But they haven’t been deployed in many places around the world yet and only produced as much electricity as less than 1 percent of the world’s land-based solar farms in 2020. Now, a new study published in the journal Nature Sustainability shows just how much potential cities could tap into with this emerging technology.

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Source: The Verge

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Lightsource bp has built a pair of solar farms in CO that double as carbon sinks and help to preserve 3,000 acres of shortgrass prairie, too.

New solar farm is a carbon sink & prairie preserver, too

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A movement is afoot to quash utility-scale solar development on farmland in the US, but the case for rural solar keeps expanding in new and different directions. In the latest example, Lightsource bp has built a pair of solar farms in Colorado that double as carbon sinks and help to preserve 3,000 acres of shortgrass prairie, too.

Solar developers like farmland because it is relatively flat, treeless, and exposed to sun. Roads and transmission infrastructure are pluses, too.

As for local opposition, that is a matter of local concern. However, if the objections come down to aesthetics and appropriate use of land, that is a matter of historical perspective. Farms look bucolic enough on the outside, but beneath those amber waves of grain is formerly virgin land that has been stripped of its natural state, robbed of its biodiversity, commercialized, and industrialized for generations with machines, herbicides and pesticides.

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Source: Clean Technica

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San Joaquin Valley may become home to vast solar arrays turning fallowed farmland into a source of clean energy while sustaining local jobs.

Panel finds valley solar can help decarbonize state but local needs loom

The San Joaquin Valley may soon become home to vast solar arrays turning fallowed farmland into a source of clean energy while sustaining local jobs. But it won’t be easy pulling it off in a way that’s equitable to local communities.

That much was clear during an online panel the Public Policy Institute of California hosted earlier this month titled “Solar Development in the San Joaquin Valley.” It took participants through layers of complications that remain to be addressed if the valley is to meet its potential as a major component of California’s efforts to become carbon neutral by 2045.

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Source: Yahoo

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Dulles solar farm would be built on more than 835 acres on land that would power the larger Northern Virginia electrical grid.

Dulles solar farm would be the nation’s largest at an airport

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Dulles International Airport could soon be home to the largest airport-based solar and battery development in the United States, one that at peak production could provide enough energy to power more than 37,000 Northern Virginia homes.

The solar farm would be built and managed by Dominion Energy on more than 835 acres on land. It would include a solar array capable of producing 100 megawatts of solar generation and a 50-megawatt battery storage system. The power generated would feed the larger Northern Virginia electrical grid.

Once built, Dulles would join a growing number of airports across the country looking to solar developments as a way to meet sustainability goals, save money on electricity and generate revenue from land that might otherwise be undeveloped. The project is one of dozens the Virginia utility company is building as it shifts to meet the mandates of a sweeping clean-energy law that state lawmakers passed in 2020.

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Source: The Washington Post

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Roll-A-Rack has developed a roll-forming solar racking system that captures rainfall on solar panels that can be used for irrigation.

Rollout solar racking collects rainwater, cuts land-use requirements

Ohio-based Roll-A-Rack announced it has developed a roll-forming solar racking system that captures rainfall on solar panels. Harvested rainwater can be used for irrigation. The product is designed for flat roofs or ground-mounted systems. 

The compact system requires only 11 inches between rows of panels, significantly cutting down the amount of space that is normally required for erosion control by planting vegetation. The company said the solution requires half the land to produce the same amount of energy as conventional racking systems.

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Source: PV Magazine

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