Nova Scotia: More Community Renewable Energy Projects Move Forward

Nova Scotia Energy Minister Charlie Parker announced the latest round of Community-Feed-in Tariff approvals today, Feb. 27, for renewable electricity projects proposed for Spiddle Hill, Wedgeport, Bayswater, Cheticamp and North Preston. These projects are now able to proceed to the next stage of development.

COMFIT provides eligible groups an established price per kilowatt hour for projects producing electricity from renewable resources such as wind, biomass, in-stream tidal and run-of-the-river tidal developments. The feed-in tariff rates were established by the Utilities and Review Board in September.

Eligible groups include municipalities, First Nations, co-operatives, universities, community economic development funds and not-for-profit groups.

Read more:

http://www.gov.ns.ca/news/details.asp?id=20120227005

Joy Hughes, Founder, Solar Gardens Institute http://www.solargardens.org
CEO, Solar Panel Hosting LLC http://www.solarpanelhosting.com
(719)207-3097 direct

APS testing energy storage in Flagstaff

Source: Arizona Public Service Company 

Arizona Public Service Company began testing a new 1.5 megawatt-hour energy storage system that is the size of a shipping container and can generate the equivalent power output of 1,200 hybrid cars or 300,000 cell phone batteries.

The goal of the company's two-year pilot in Flagstaff, Ariz., will be to determine the benefits for storing electricity and putting it onto the grid at times when APS customers need it most.

[...]

The 500-kW Doney Park Renewable Energy site is part of the APS Community Power Project. With Community Power, APS is studying the effects of a high concentration of solar energy in a single neighborhood as part of a $3.3 million U.S. Department of Energy grant awarded in 2010. In addition to the solar plant, 125 APS customers and a local elementary school are generating electricity from rooftop solar systems.

http://www.pennenergy.com/index/power/display/9562862006/articles/pennenergy/power/renewable/2012/february/aps-testing_energy.html

Joy Hughes, Founder, Solar Gardens Institute http://www.solargardens.org
CEO, Solar Panel Hosting LLC http://www.solarpanelhosting.com
(719)207-3097 direct

Community Renewable Energy | Renewable Green Energy Power

Andy Goldman makes a great analysis of the economic, social, and environmental benefits of community renewable energy.

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"A Community Renewable Energy infrastructure can be build by any community that identifies the need to have, control and manage its energy production and consumption and especially by communities that may be blessed with renewable green energy sources such as wind, hydro and/or sun exposure."

"The term Community Renewable Energy, CRE, refers to a community owned and locally sited renewable energy. It refers to an energy production facility that uses renewable green energy sources of energy to produce electricity and/or heat where the community participates not only for the production but for the consumption of the produced electricity."

Read more:

http://www.renewablegreenenergypower.com/community-renewable-energy/#comment-234

Joy Hughes, Founder, Solar Gardens Institute http://www.solargardens.org
CEO, Solar Panel Hosting LLC http://www.solarpanelhosting.com
(719)207-3097 direct

Big Solar and the southwest land run

http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Solar+power+sparks+land+rush+desert/6191255/story.html

Large solar developers have been buying up "useless" land in the Mojave and Colorado deserts, driving the price of open land sky high.

That will certainly be in the economic mix when power companies start buying power from land that sold for $10k an acre.

Better choice? Land that is already in use as the local big box store, or storage yard.

City of Decorah Approves Iowa's Largest Community Solar Project

Luther College has won approval from the Decorah City Council of its site plan for a solar energy project on Pole Line Road.

The school is planning to install 1,250 solar energy panels on two acres of an 8.5 acre piece of property along Pole Line Road, next to the Dr. Pepper bottling company plant.  The energy generated by the panels would be equal to the electricity consumed by all of Luther's Baker Village, with the exception of the Commons building.

http://www.decorahnews.com/news-stories/2012/02/1788.html#.T0Wc3D2F7_8.email

Joy Hughes, Founder, Solar Gardens Institute http://www.solargardens.org
CEO, Solar Panel Hosting LLC http://www.solarpanelhosting.com
(719)207-3097 direct

Starksboro Vermont’s Solar Project

October of 2010 a 100kW solar project was installed in a field behind Robinson Elementary School in Starksboro, VT.  Technically, it's two separate projects with 24 kW going to the Town of Starksboro half dozen different electric accounts and the other 76kW going toward Robinson Elementary's electric account. This type of virtual credit allocation is made possible by VT's Group Net Metering rules.

Read more:
http://starksboroenergy.wordpress.com/starksboros-solar-project/

Joy Hughes, Founder, Solar Gardens Institute http://www.solargardens.org
CEO, Solar Panel Hosting LLC http://www.solarpanelhosting.com
(719)207-3097 direct

Monopoly Energy or Energy Democracy? | Common Dreams

San Luis Valley resident Ceal Smith speaks out for distributed energy. Her articles have been raising the Valley's profile in both the energy press and pro-democracy circles. Smith mentions solar gardens as a policy bright spot.

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/09/03-1#

Joy Hughes, Founder, Solar Gardens Institute http://www.solargardens.org
CEO, Solar Panel Hosting LLC http://www.solarpanelhosting.com
(719)207-3097 direct

Ellensburg testing wind turbines

Ellensburg Community Renewables Park in Washington state installs five new small wind turbines - cool pictures!

http://www.kimatv.com/news/local/Ellensburg-testing-wind-turbines-to-save-you-money-138451599.html

Power of the people: Wisconsin Solar farm helps individual investors

The brainchild of Convergence Energy of Lake Geneva, the networked solar farm has taken shape in the last couple of years as a green-power investment for people who want to invest in solar energy but, for one reason or another, can't at their home or business.

The farm, which is now complete, is a series of 33 individual, limited liability companies. Each totals about 80 solar panels on three tracking towers that rotate to follow the sun from east to west. That generates about 30 percent more power than a more conventional system affixed atop a roof.

Read more:

http://walworthcountytoday.com/news/2012/feb/07/power-people-solar-farm-helps-individual-investors/

Joy Hughes, Founder, Solar Gardens Institute http://www.solargardens.org
CEO, Solar Panel Hosting LLC http://www.solarpanelhosting.com
(719)207-3097 direct

XCEL Energy Discusses Imminent Solar Gardens Program

  
  At last Friday's Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association (COSEIA) conference, XCEL Energy held an informal hallway session to discuss their preparation for the Solar*Rewards Community (solar gardens) program.  The program allows for virtual net metered arrays with at least ten offsite subscribers (that's utility speak for "panels somewhere else credited to your electric bill as if they were on your roof) .

     In an recent email, XCEL notified the solar industry and community enthusiasts throughout Colorado that the program was in its "refinement phase" and the application software was being tested.  The Colorado PUC has yet to rule on XCEL's 2012 Renewable Energy Standard Compliance Plan, which is necessary before the program can be implemented.  Governor Bill Ritter signed the Community Solar Gardens Act into law on June 5, 2010, just over 20 months ago.  (Aside from Joy: Waiting for the PUC to rule has been like  Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.)

     A website for online application will be available at program launch, using a seven-step process (XCEL will provide training).  Standard offer projects (10 - 500 kilowatts) will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis while projects under the Request for Proposal (RFP ) program (501 - 2000 kilowatts) will be awarded on a competitive basis.

     The Solar Gardens Institute is developing community solar arrays in each Colorado county and municipal utility, and in several states across the country.  To reserve your subscription, go to http://solargardens.org/register

      To sign up for the Solar Gardener Training and learn how to organize your community to develop a solar garden, see the solar gardener training page and the solar gardens FAQ page.

Super thanks!

Joy

L.A. Times editorial on industrial solar and loss of desert habitat

     Large corporations have skewed the planning process towards large, destructive solar projects in the desert, at the same time rooftop solar programs are being starved of funding. The Oil Age is just a flash in history's pan, but the Solar Age is capable of lasting indefinitely. What kind of world are we creating? Will it be a future where everyone owns their own source of power, or we will live in an Empire of The Sun, dominated by towers and transmission lines, with a meter placed on every sunbeam?

     Here's an excerpt:

      Industrial-scale solar development is well underway in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. The federal government has furnished more public property to this cause than it has for oil and gas exploration over the last decade — 21 million acres, more than the area of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties put together.

      Even if only a few of the proposed projects are built, hundreds of square miles of wild land will be scraped clear. Several thousand miles of power transmission corridors will be created. The desert will be scarred well beyond a human life span, and no amount of mitigation will repair it, according to scores of federal and state environmental reviews. "The scale of impacts that we are facing, collectively across the desert, is phenomenal," said Dennis Schramm, former superintendent at neighboring Mojave National Preserve. "The reality of the Ivanpah project is that what it will look like on the ground is worse than any of the analyses predicted."

Full Article at L.A. Times

Maryland Solar Gardens Bill Introduced

     A new solar gardens bill has been introduced in the State of Maryland!  Solar Gardens Institute core team member David Brosch has led the effort, working closely with Vote Solar.  The bill is the first statewide effort to use the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) community renewables model program rules.

     The bill has been introduced in both the House of Delegates and Senate under different bill numbers and with identical text.  HB864 is sponsored by Dana Stein, and SB595 is sponsored by Paul Pinsky.  No hearing has yet been scheduled in either chamber.  The big hurdle in Maryland, as I understand it, is to get the bill through committee.

Full text of bill


  

Solar Gardens Institute to continue organizing in Boulder

Boulder is a hotbed for community solar. We have received more interest in offsite solar subscriptions in Boulder County than the rest of Colorado combined (thanks Greg!).

Yet XCEL Energy is pushing for no solar gardens or subscribers in the City of Boulder. It would appear to be in XCEL's interest to make Boulder's transition to community power as painful as possible to prevent other Colorado communities from "doing a Boulder" and pursuing their own energy destiny.

The Solar Gardens Institute (SGI) proposes that solar gardens in Boulder should be allowed, despite the current uncertainty. To make this easier whatever happens, we are subscribing Boulder residents to proposed solar gardens within the city limits. Those in Boulder County outside the city can only subscribe to solar gardens outside of Boulder proper.

Ultimately, when Boulder controls its own destiny, our plan is for solar gardens in every neighborhood. Unencumbered by "green tape" from the PUC and XCEL's profit motive, subscribers will almost certainly get a better deal. Local is better.

-Joy

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From the Boulder "Daily Camera"

In November, Boulder voters approved ballot measures that allow the city to break from Xcel and form a municipal utility if the elected leaders choose to do so.

In late December, Xcel attorney Paula Connelly sent a letter to the city outlining Xcel's position that continuing to provide "discretionary programs" -- including Solar Rewards and a proposed long-term Windsource -- to Boulder's customers could hurt the utility's other customers because the city may leave before the utility recoups the full return on its investment.

[...]

Connelly also proposed that Xcel not allow Boulder customers to participate in two upcoming programs: solar gardens and long-term Windsource. Solar gardens will allow groups of customers to own shares in a solar array that is not located on their own properties, which will give renters, condo owners and those with shady roofs the opportunity to invest in solar.

http://www.dailycamera.com/energy/ci_19939939?nstrack=sid:638069|met:300|cat:0|order:4

Joy Hughes, Founder, Solar Gardens Institute http://www.solargardens.org
CEO, Solar Panel Hosting LLC http://www.solarpanelhosting.com
(719)207-3097 direct

Nation’s Largest Microgrid Online

A truly excellent article on how each community can provide for all its energy needs locally. Now combine this with community ownership, and we've gone beyond solar gardens to renewable energy gardens!

http://www.rmi.org/nations_largest_microgrid_online_esj_article

Community Energy: Solar Gardens a Growing Trend

Here's an oldie but a goodie with a quote from me (Joy) and a great description of solar gardens policy.

Thanks!

Joy

http://homepower.com/article/?file=HP143_pg14_NewsAndNotes

Joy Hughes, Founder, Solar Gardens Institute http://www.solargardens.org
CEO, Solar Panel Hosting LLC http://www.solarpanelhosting.com
(719)207-3097 direct

Solar Econ 101 - Solar PV Versus Concentrated Solar Power

Solar panel prices have dropped 75% since 2008. How has this affected the market for investment in Concentrated Solar Power (CSP)?

This article in April 2011 "Sun and Wind" magazine says "Due to financing problems, several planned and approved large CSP projects have switched to PV." The article goes on to state "It is now really hard for developers to get financing for such large projects: investors see CSP plants as expensive and risky operations. In a time when capital is hard to come by, smaller and more proven PV installations are more popular."

According to Jeffrey Atkin, partner at Foley and Lardner LLP in Los Angeles "After the DOE loan projects end, it will be difficult for any big plants to find financing."

Contrast that to what it's like working in the PV industry, where finance has been finding us, and several financiers with hundreds of millions of dollars each have offered to fund our community solar gardens.

http://www.foley.com/files/tbl_s38News/FileUpload257/4754/Sun&WindEnergy4-11.pdf

The article does mention the energy storage benefit of CSP. But see the latest from Energy Secretary Steve Chu - battery costs are expected to fall 70% from 2008 levels by 2015 and 87.5% by 2020.

http://www.ecogeek.org/component/content/article/3679

Also, check out this video from Amory Lovins - his rebuttal at the end brings up a point about central station power of whatever kind, including CSP. When you think about it, distributed renewables are fundamentally more robust. What happens if that coal or nuclear plant, or CSP tower, goes unpredictably off line? In other words, what is going to backup the backup power?

Amory Lovins compares it to needing a backup elephant to haul away a dead elephant. And backup elephants are expensive!

http://cleantechnica.com/2011/11/12/amory-lovins-nails-renewable-energy-costs-energy-subsidies-myth-of-baseload/

Why am I bothering people with all of this now? Because today I am going to a hearing to comment on one of these 656-foot tall CSP plants in the middle of the San Luis Valley, where it would stand looking at me eyeball to unblinking, glowing eyeball.

Whether you are for or against the towers, you can sign up to subscribe to a solar garden at http://solargardens.org/register

Super thanks!

Joy

Joy Hughes, Founder, Solar Gardens Institute http://www.solargardens.org
CEO, Solar Panel Hosting LLC http://www.solarpanelhosting.com
(719)207-3097 direct