Solar Power Recap: April 1st
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This time last year, we totally punk’d our readers with a fictional story about Derma-Volt, a suntan lotion of the future that allowsindividuals to charge by, in effect, turning their skin into asolar panel. But we’ve grown up. We’ve evolved. And now we’re,like, so above April Fool’s pranks. With this in mind, here’s this morning’s rundown ofsolar energy news and related info:
AES Solar Energy Ltd. — a joint venture between TheAES Corporation and Riverstone Holdings — today announced that one ofits subsidiaries closed on a 173 million Euro financing for theconstruction of the Cellino San Marco project, via MarketWatch. Located in southern Italy, the 43-megawattsolar installation is the largest photovoltaic (PV) project in thecountry to reach financial close.
The Daily Kansan today ran a piece, “Solar Energy’s’ Bright Future in Kansas,” profiling the activities of the EcoHawks, a student engineering group at KU. Kansas is by no means a leader in solar energy research,development or deployment. Nevertheless, the article is worth a readbecause it highlights the challenges that must be overcome if solarpanels are to become a staple feature of houses across the country.(I’ll give you a hint: it has to do with cost.) Right now, solar panelsare a great investment in only a number of states, like California,Arizona, New Jersey, Colorado, Pennsylvania, New York and a few others.For solar power to be widely adopted, that per-watt cost will need to continue to come down.
Georgia-based Suniva Inc., a maker of solar cells and solar panels,said today that it will use a $141 million federal loan guarantee to build a manufacturing plant in Michigan, via Detroit Free Press. To be located in Saginaw County, the plant isexpected to employ 500 people.
In California solar energy news, Solar Power, Inc. will help build a 230-kilowatt (DC) solar installation at an affordable housing development in RanchoCucamonga, California, via MarketWatch. To be installed at San Sevaine Villas AffordableHousing, the solar panels will help offset a “significant portion” ofthe complex’s electricity costs.
And with that, we’ll wrap it up. Thanks for reading — feel free topost your ideas and thoughts. See you back here tomorrow.
Solar Power Rundown for Thursday, April 1
