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Southern California

550 MW Solar Project Completed In California

by Jake Richardson January 16, 2015

First Solar has completed a 550 megawatt solar power plant in Riverside County, California. This part of the state is in the southern area inland from Los Angeles. The new solar plant is owned by GE Energy Financial Services, Sumitomo Corporation of America, and NextEra Energy Resources. It utilizes over 8 million solar modules.

Three hundred megawatts of power from the plant will be sold to PG&E, and the remaining 250 will be sold to Southern California Edison.

First Solar is no stranger to huge solar power plants. The photovoltaic energy provider developed and completed the 550 MW Topaz solar project in San Luis Obispo County, California. And it only took about two years to complete it.

In December of 2014, a 250 MW solar power plant became operational in California as well.

So, in the last two months, California has seen at least 1,350 MW of solar power become operational just from new solar farms. This total is in addition to all the rooftop solar that is constantly being installed.

The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has written that one megawatt of solar power can provide electricity to about 164 homes. So, the recent addition of 1,350 MW in California could power ~221,400 homes.

Did you hear about this big solar power surge on any of the national news networks? Probably not, but there is a very positive solar power trend taking place in many parts of America that is not well represented in the media.

Another benefit of these large solar power plants is the number of jobs they create during the construction phase. For example, the first 550 MW plant First Solar developed, the Topaz facility, created about 400 jobs. Of course, such a large project stimulates the local economy. The second 550 MW plant is the same size so it is reasonable to expect that about the same number of jobs was created for the installation period.

Also, a smaller number of jobs are generated to operate and maintain such a large plant, so the economic stimulus continues, though at a smaller scale.

Finally, these huge solar power projects also contribute to local economies because they pay taxes to local authorities, which goes back into the community.

Image: First Solar

January 16, 2015 0 comment

Solar Powered Wi-Fi Could Help Los Angeles After A Big Quake

by Jake Richardson December 12, 2014

written by Jake Richardson

Natural disasters are not scenarios anyone looks forward to discussing, but planning is essential for survival and recovery.

In huge cities like LA, millions of people might be cut off from power for days. Similarly, mass communications could be offline, but it is constant information updates, phone, texting, Web surfing and email that are of utmost importance to help people find food and water and get traffic information. They also need to be able to get alerts from authorities such as police, fire and health workers. When many power lines and roads are damaged, utility trucks can be slow to travel to them so repairs can be delayed.

Because information is of critical importance, an Office of LA mayor Eric Garcetti Seismic Task Force has published a report calling for a backup wi-fi system that would operate using solar power, “Develop a solar-powered Citywide Wi-Fi to provide residents with a way to access the Internet at a time when the primary system is disrupted. This low power system could also serve as way to maintain communication through email and texting should electrical system failures cause other communications systems to fail.”

Of course it makes sense to use whatever natural resources are available when normal infrastructure is disrupted or destroyed. You might not think Los Angeles has enough sunlight to run a solar-powered Internet back-up system, but it most likely does.

For example, a UCLA study found that almost 1.5 million rooftops in LA could have solar panels installed upon them. If that many rooftops had solar systems, then the amount of electricity generated could provide power to most of the people living there, at least in theory.

One of the humorous misperceptions about solar power is that is it unreliable, but if it were used after a big earthquake and helped people recover, potentially even saving lives, this perception might change.

Solar-powered wi-fi is a good idea in general, because it would not be as susceptible to power outages that are grid-related.

December 12, 2014 1 comment

Investment Rooftop Solar

9 Solar Projects Will Power 14,500 Homes In California

by Jake Richardson October 15, 2014

written by Jake Richardson

A joint solar power project between Panasonic and Coronal has successfully installed nine solar power arrays in central California. They are located in Tulare and Kings counties. Total electricity capacity is a little over 16 MW, or enough for about 14,500 homes. The electricity generated by the solar power systems will be sent to Southern California Edison’s grid. ImMODO Energy Services Corporation and Panasonic Eco Solutions built the systems.

The completed installations resulted from a first time collaboration between Panasonic and Coronal. Coronal is an energy company located in southern California and one that has an exclusive relationship with Panasonic Eco Solutions.

“Significant solar projects are beneficial to the economy and how we produce and consume energy, but their financial and structural complexities are a big challenge for companies interested in adopting clean, sustainable energy,” explained Panasonic Eco Solutions Managing Director Jamie Evans.

A fifty million dollar funding committment came from Ullico Inc., an insurance and investment company.

Panasonic is very well known for being a global consumer electronics company, but Panasonic USA is also involved in energy generation solutions, energy storage, energy efficiency, and solar power.

On the Panasonic website there is a concise description of the partners relationship, “Our integrated platform offers an efficient and reliable solution to those companies, communities and institutions looking for alternatives to lower their energy costs, while also reducing their carbon footprint.”

14,500 homes might not sound like a lot, especially considering that the LA area has about 10 million people. At the same time, it isn’t possible to switch everyone from fossil fuels to clean energy at once. The solar power infrastructure simply has not been built yet. If only about one percent of US electricity is currently coming from solar power, it will some time to even get to ten percent. California is far ahead of the national average. At one point recently, it met about 18% of electricity demand from solar power.

I’m sure many, if not most Californians are looking forward to more solar projects there. The cost of solar projects undoubtedly will drop, especially considering how much greater hold solar power is experiencing within the energy market. One example is the fact that SunPower has now made one billion solar cells.

Image: Geographer, Wiki Commons

October 15, 2014 0 comment