Tag Archive for: solarpanels

The Sweetwater Authority is exploring the environmental impact of a 9.5 acre floating solar array to be placed near the Sweetwater Dam.

Floating solar panels proposed for Sweetwater Reservoir

They generate green energy. The save money. They slow evaporation. They float.

And the Sweetwater Authority wants to put them on its Sweetwater Reservoir.

General Manager Carlos Quintero said the water agency is exploring the environmental impact of a 9.5 acre floating solar array that would be placed near the Sweetwater Dam. It would cover roughly 1.3% of the reservoir, Quintero said, and could generate as much as two-thirds of the energy needed to make the reservoir water drinkable and decrease a small amount of evaporation.

“Really, the main benefit is to our ratepayers,” Quintero said. “We could be saving upwards of $27 million in a 25-year span.”

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Source: NBC San Diego

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Solar panels are often tilted to a stowed position to prevent wind damage to utility-scale assets. Array Technologies introduced a passive stowing strategy that prevents unnecessary production losses.

Passive solar tracker wind stowing boosts energy production

During high wind events, utility-scale solar assets are often automatically tilted to a stowed position to prevent damage and downtime from repairs. High wind can cause solar panels to vibrate and rotate, leading to microcracking, twisting, or shattering of panels.

However, stowing solar trackers can lead to a loss of production as they do not follow the sun in an active stow system.

Array Technologies, a leading provider of solar tracker systems, worked with independent engineering and design firm DNV to study an alternative method to active stowing called passive stowing. The analysis focused on evaluating the energy losses associated with various tracker wind stow methods and considered multiple variables, including wind velocity stowing thresholds, wind direction, dwell time, stow exit wind velocity threshold, stow angle, and stow direction.

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Source: PV Magazine

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The Anaheim Transportation Network opened the first-of-its-kind, solar-powered charging facility in the county.

Anaheim’s resort-area buses get new solar-powered charging facility

The Anaheim Transportation Network, the transit agency that runs buses in the city’s resort district, on Friday opened the first-of-its-kind, solar-powered charging facility in the county to power its fleet of battery electric buses and vans.

The charging hub, located east of the 5 Freeway off of South Claudina Street, expands the agency’s ability to charge its electric vehicles as its leaders plan to buy more in the coming years.

“We’re extremely proud of it,” ATN CEO Diana Kotler said.

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Source: The Orange County Register

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Transparent solar cells will transform the look of infrastructure by enabling many more surfaces to become solar panels.

A shade closer to more efficient organic photovoltaics

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Transparent solar cells will transform the look of infrastructure by enabling many more surfaces to become solar panels. Now, materials called non-fullerene acceptors that can intrinsically generate charges when exposed to sunlight could make semitransparent organic photovoltaics easier to produce, a KAUST-led international team shows.

Semitransparent photovoltaics are able to convert sunlight into electricity without blocking visible light. This makes them attractive for building integrated applications, such as windows, facades and greenhouses.

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Source: PHYS.org

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A man in the Gaza Strip is using solar panels to clean water for his neighbors in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.

Solar panels are being used in Gaza to power wells, creating clean water

A man in the Gaza Strip is using solar panels to clean water for his neighbors – a seemingly small gesture that has large consequences at a time when the region is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.

“Yesterday, I filled this car with clean water from the well, 6,500 liters, and distributed it among people in need of water,” Mohammed Assalia told ABC News. “Some people use these wheelchairs to transport the water they fill, which is kinda sad but it does the thing.”

As the resource becomes more scarce, Assalia said he is now looking for a way to reach more people in the most devastated area of the Gaza Strip, six months since Israel declared war on Hamas. The high costs involved with the project may hinder his ability to do so without help, he says.

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Source: ABC News

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Three large projects in CA, UT, and OR will cover water reclamation facilities with solar panels for energy production and water conservation

US states to conserve land, water with solar on canals

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Three projects in California, Utah, and Oregon will soon integrate solar panels onto water canals, thanks to federal funding from the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which allocated $25 million for PV installations co-located with water reclamation facilities.

The three projects will receive a combined $19.5 million to support the projects, which are administered by the Bureau of Reclamation, an agency tackling the challenges of water and power management in the western United States.

This IRA carve-out was created with input from California Representative Jared Huffman. The program directed to study the water efficiency gains from covering canals with solar panels.

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Source: PV Magazine

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Federal & state government officials announced a new project to place solar panels on the water in the Delta-Mendota Canal.

New canal project expands on UC Merced solar research

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Federal and state government officials journeyed to the western corner of Merced County on Thursday to announce a new project to place solar panels on the water in the Delta-Mendota Canal.

The project is part of a $19 million investment through President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act announced by the Department of the Interior to install panels over irrigation canals in California, Oregon and Utah, with the aims of decreasing evaporation of critical water supplies and advancing clean energy goals.

The Delta-Mendota Canal floating solar project is set to receive $15 million of this funding. The Bureau of Reclamation said the agency will collaborate with the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority and the University of California through a public-private-academic partnership to assess the impacts of floating photovoltaic solar arrays on the canal.

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Source: UC Merced

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A research team at DGIST in South Korea has unveiled an ingenious device that enhances solar power generation by keeping panels clean.

Self-cleaning solar panels boost efficiency with wind power

A research team at DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology) in South Korea has unveiled an ingenious device that enhances solar power generation by keeping panels free of dust and other contaminants. Harnessing wind power, this self-cleaning device autonomously maintains a vital component of the clean energy revolution.

The challenge of clean solar panels

Solar energy is vital for a sustainable future, but dust, debris, and other environmental contaminants can create a layer of grime that dramatically reduces solar cell efficiency. Traditionally, panels require manual cleaning, a costly and labor-intensive process. This maintenance is especially difficult in deserts, remote installations, and even potential off-world applications.

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Source: Interesting Engineering

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The largest floating solar array in the Southeast US is officially generating clean energy in Central Florida.

Largest floating solar array in Southeast US unveiled in Central Florida

The largest floating solar array in the Southeast U.S. is officially generating clean energy right here in Central Florida. The array is made of 2,236 solar panels, each roughly the size of a pool table, and it’s projected to cut energy costs at the water plant by 25% per year while limiting the impact on land and wildlife, according to county officials.

Orange County unveiled the largest floating solar array in the Southeastern United States situated on a 3.6-acre pond at the Southern Regional Water Supply Facility. This innovative project marks a significant step towards achieving the County’s sustainability and resilience goals.

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Source: West Orlando News

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World's largest solar panel installation of its kind began operation on Mexico City's Central de Abasto, boosting renewable energy.

Mexico City’s new solar power plant is ‘largest of its kind in the world’

An installation of solar panels said to be the largest of its kind in the world was put into operation Tuesday on the rooftops of Mexico City’s massive public wholesale market, the Central de Abasto (CEDA).

The 32,000 solar panels installed over 21 hectares (52 acres) above the capital’s Central de Abasto (CEDA) have 18 megawatts of capacity, and will generate up to 25 gigawatt hours (GWh) of renewable electricity per year, according to data from Mexico City officials.

That’s enough energy to power 10,000 homes for a year, officials added.

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Source: Mexico News Daily

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