Duke Energy Builds 3 Solar Projects in North Carolina

         Duke Energy Renewables, a commercial business unit of Duke Energy, has begun construction of three utility-scale solar power projects totaling 30 megawatt solar energy in Eastern North Carolina. The 20 megawatt Dogwood Solar Power Project is located in Halifax County, near Scotland Neck. The company is also building two 5 megawatt projects, one in Bertie County near Windsor, named Windsor Copper Hill Solar; the other, Bethel Price Solar, is in Pitt County, near Bethel. 

          “We are pleased to be expanding our presence in Eastern North Carolina and bringing significant community development benefits to these counties,” said Duke Energy Renewables President Greg Wolf. “The projects generate valuable tax revenue, provide supplemental income for landowners and bring clean, renewable energy to the state.” Power from these projects will be sold through long-term fixed price contracts. SunEnergy1, a solar design, engineering and construction company based in Mooresville, North Carolina, is building the photovoltaic projects, which are expected to be complete by the end of 2013.

           “When the sun is shining and the plants are operating, the 30 megawatt of solar energy generated by the three projects will supply enough electricity to power about 6,000 homes,” said Kenny Habul, CEO of SunEnergy1. “We are proud to be partnered with Duke Energy and applaud their continued commitment to bring economic growth and renewable solar power to these counties that can repeat tangible benefits from the projects.”

 

Duke Energy Renewables’ 14 megawatt Blue Wing Solar Project in San Antonio, Texas, one of 20 solar farms the company owns across the U.S.

Duke Energy Builds 3 Solar Projects in North Carolina

         Duke Energy Renewables, a commercial business unit of Duke Energy, has begun construction of three utility-scale solar power projects totaling 30 megawatt solar energy in Eastern North Carolina. The 20 megawatt Dogwood Solar Power Project is located in Halifax County, near Scotland Neck. The company is also building two 5 megawatt projects, one in Bertie County near Windsor, named Windsor Copper Hill Solar; the other, Bethel Price Solar, is in Pitt County, near Bethel. 

          “We are pleased to be expanding our presence in Eastern North Carolina and bringing significant community development benefits to these counties,” said Duke Energy Renewables President Greg Wolf. “The projects generate valuable tax revenue, provide supplemental income for landowners and bring clean, renewable energy to the state.” Power from these projects will be sold through long-term fixed price contracts. SunEnergy1, a solar design, engineering and construction company based in Mooresville, North Carolina, is building the photovoltaic projects, which are expected to be complete by the end of 2013.

           “When the sun is shining and the plants are operating, the 30 megawatt of solar energy generated by the three projects will supply enough electricity to power about 6,000 homes,” said Kenny Habul, CEO of SunEnergy1. “We are proud to be partnered with Duke Energy and applaud their continued commitment to bring economic growth and renewable solar power to these counties that can repeat tangible benefits from the projects.”

 

Duke Energy Renewables’ 14 megawatt Blue Wing Solar Project in San Antonio, Texas, one of 20 solar farms the company owns across the U.S.

Walmart Draws More Solar Power

 

        Solar power and keg stands have one thing in common: Wal-Mart wants to profit from them. In the race for commercial solar power, Wal-Mart is killing it. The company now has almost twice as much capacity as second-place Costco. A better comparison: Wal-Mart is converting more energy from the sun than 38 U.S. states. 

        In the beer department, Wal-Mart recently decided alcohol was good business and vowed to double sales by 2016. The result: 500 reps from the alcohol industry converged on the Sam’s Club auditorium in Bentonville, Arkansas for an “adult beverages summit” focused on Wal-Mart. “It’s even selling it in garden centers,” wrote Bloomberg News in August. 

       With solar, will Wal-Mart have the same industry-focusing presence its had with booze? If small business is the heart of the U.S. economy, Wal-Mart is the gluteus maximus (also known as the power muscle). The company defines global supply chains and crunches cost reductions in just about every area it touches. More than 80 publicly traded companies rely on Wal-Mart for 10% or more of their annual revenue, according to Bloomberg data. “When we find something that works–like solar–we go big with it,” the company’s website proclaims.

Walmart Draws More Solar Power

 

        Solar power and keg stands have one thing in common: Wal-Mart wants to profit from them. In the race for commercial solar power, Wal-Mart is killing it. The company now has almost twice as much capacity as second-place Costco. A better comparison: Wal-Mart is converting more energy from the sun than 38 U.S. states. 

        In the beer department, Wal-Mart recently decided alcohol was good business and vowed to double sales by 2016. The result: 500 reps from the alcohol industry converged on the Sam’s Club auditorium in Bentonville, Arkansas for an “adult beverages summit” focused on Wal-Mart. “It’s even selling it in garden centers,” wrote Bloomberg News in August. 

       With solar, will Wal-Mart have the same industry-focusing presence its had with booze? If small business is the heart of the U.S. economy, Wal-Mart is the gluteus maximus (also known as the power muscle). The company defines global supply chains and crunches cost reductions in just about every area it touches. More than 80 publicly traded companies rely on Wal-Mart for 10% or more of their annual revenue, according to Bloomberg data. “When we find something that works–like solar–we go big with it,” the company’s website proclaims.

Silicon Energy and Outback Power Promote Solar Energy

Tim Nelson, of Fire Mountain Solar, discusses Silicon Energy’s solar panels with area homeowner Ron Nichols at Silicon Energy’s Marysville facility on September 21

 

     Two local companies, Silicon Energy in Marysville and Outback Power Technologies in Arlington, served as hub sites for this year’s Snohomish County Solar Tour, whose informational walk-throughs on Saturday, September 21, were designed to answer the questions of area residents and prospective industry professionals.

      “We’re trying to show local homeowners and contractors what’s possible with solar power,” said Phil Undercuffer, director of product management at Outback’s recently opened facility just east of the Arlington Municipal Airport. “We want them to see the advantages of changing over to solar, and even the visitors we’ve had, who were already knowledgable about this field, weren’t aware of a lot of the new technologies.”

      Vice President of Arlington Electric, Russell Tilton, also claims that “only 1% of the state is on solar. Just because it’s cloudy, people think that you can’t rely on solar here, but we get more than enough sun. We get more sun than Germany, and they rely on solar more than anybody.”

Sol — $300 Solar-Powered Laptop

           The usual problem that arises for a laptop is its power but this won’t be a problem any longer for users of a new and cheap solar-powered laptop. Meet Sol, a laptop that was built for costs instead of high speed usage. The laptop features a 1.86 Ghz dual-core processor, an Intel Atom, 320 gigabytes of space, and 2 to 4 gigabytes of RAM. The display, inputs and outputs are standard, including a cellular modem, GPS, and Bluetooth 4.0 built in along with standard wifi. 

           The upside with Sol is that when laptops get rusted over the years, Sol keeps on working, which is actually rare for an affordable laptop costing $300 (and has many different varieties of colors to choose from). Sol also obtains its power by the solar panels that unfold at the back of the computer. 2 hours in the sun, on average, means 8-10 hours of time using the computer uninterrupted. This can actually help those, who are in third-world countries, which have infrastructure problems. 

Solar powered phone screen may boost battery life

A French start-up company is testing a transparent screen that is planned to use solar energy in powering up the phone’s battery life by 20%. SunPartner Groups are expecting to see the Wysips panels on phones starting next year. The panel is expected to be less than half a millimeter thick and can be built into the phone or on top of an existing screen.

 

SunPartner currently reported that the screen is 90% transparent but is a step ahead towards many more expensive transparent solar cells, in which it absorbs infrared instead of pure sunlight for the screen’s visibility. Boost of power from the sun would essentially be useful in disastrous situations preventing use of our cell phones being charged. Phones equipped with the Wysips panels could definitely change the world, especially once being built into cars, buildings, or even billboards in the future.

 

 

Solar powered phone screen may boost battery life

A French start-up company is testing a transparent screen that is planned to use solar energy in powering up the phone’s battery life by 20%. SunPartner Groups are expecting to see the Wysips panels on phones starting next year. The panel is expected to be less than half a millimeter thick and can be built into the phone or on top of an existing screen.

 

SunPartner currently reported that the screen is 90% transparent but is a step ahead towards many more expensive transparent solar cells, in which it absorbs infrared instead of pure sunlight for the screen’s visibility. Boost of power from the sun would essentially be useful in disastrous situations preventing use of our cell phones being charged. Phones equipped with the Wysips panels could definitely change the world, especially once being built into cars, buildings, or even billboards in the future.

 

 

Graphene Paint Helps Solar Power Homes and Electronics

      Scientists from University of Manchester have discovered the potential of Graphene, which is a one-atom thick layer of graphite, with the combination of transition metal dichalcogenides, a material that is able to react in light, holds the capacity to create a product that can generate electricity from sunlight. They can form thin sheets of the product which can be placed on buildings to harvest sunlight and convert it into electricity.

 

 

       The product can give solar panels a run for their money, but the scientists don’t plan to stop there. They intend to discover a way to use the technology to produce a paint that can be used for homes as well as other objects. However, Professor Kostya Novoselov, one of the scientists whom had discovered Graphene, stated that the development of the paint will not be established until much later on in the future.

       The Graphene paint can be used to power a variety of devices, establishing an emphasis on mobile cellular devices. The scientists also hold the belief that Graphene paint would bring in a “new generation” of mobile phones that are solar-powered and are ultra-thin. Not only can Graphene paint be used to power objects, but scientists believe that they will be able to make it change colors on-demand as well. 

       The scientists are optimistic for the development of the Graphene paint as the material is harder than a diamond, able to conduct electricity and holds many possible opportunities for it. Professor Novoselov stated that they would be able to use Graphene to develop different types of products with a variety of properties other than producing solar powered energy. He states, “We have been trying to go beyond Graphene by combining with another one-atom thick materials. What we have been doing is putting different layers of these materials one on top of the other and what you get is a new type of material with a unique set of properties. It is like a book — one page contains some information but together the book is so much more. The implementations would go much further than simple solar-powered cells.”

Graphene Paint Helps Solar Power Homes and Electronics

      Scientists from University of Manchester have discovered the potential of Graphene, which is a one-atom thick layer of graphite, with the combination of transition metal dichalcogenides, a material that is able to react in light, holds the capacity to create a product that can generate electricity from sunlight. They can form thin sheets of the product which can be placed on buildings to harvest sunlight and convert it into electricity.

 

 

       The product can give solar panels a run for their money, but the scientists don’t plan to stop there. They intend to discover a way to use the technology to produce a paint that can be used for homes as well as other objects. However, Professor Kostya Novoselov, one of the scientists whom had discovered Graphene, stated that the development of the paint will not be established until much later on in the future.

       The Graphene paint can be used to power a variety of devices, establishing an emphasis on mobile cellular devices. The scientists also hold the belief that Graphene paint would bring in a “new generation” of mobile phones that are solar-powered and are ultra-thin. Not only can Graphene paint be used to power objects, but scientists believe that they will be able to make it change colors on-demand as well. 

       The scientists are optimistic for the development of the Graphene paint as the material is harder than a diamond, able to conduct electricity and holds many possible opportunities for it. Professor Novoselov stated that they would be able to use Graphene to develop different types of products with a variety of properties other than producing solar powered energy. He states, “We have been trying to go beyond Graphene by combining with another one-atom thick materials. What we have been doing is putting different layers of these materials one on top of the other and what you get is a new type of material with a unique set of properties. It is like a book — one page contains some information but together the book is so much more. The implementations would go much further than simple solar-powered cells.”