[amor de cosmos]

US installs 845MW in Q2 2013
By Nilima Choudhury - 17 May 2013, 10:45
In News, Power Generation

The US increased its installed solar capacity by 142.8% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period last year, according to figures provided by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

In April alone the country saw 33MW of new solar capacity installed and now boasts a 5.14GW installed operating generating capacity.

http://www.pv-tech.org/news/us_insta...5mw_in_q1_2013

Army, Navy and Air Force on Track to Reach 3 GW of Solar by 2025
From the battlefield to stateside bases, the U.S. military has proven that solar is reliable.
Herman K. Trabish: May 17, 2013

The Army, Navy and Air Force are using more than 130 megawatts of solar for everything from powering remote special operations to air conditioning and lighting for U.S. base residences. And the forces intend to keep building toward 3 gigawatts of solar capacity by 2025 as part of a much bigger Department of Defense (DOD) commitment.

While detractors were declaring solar too intermittent to be reliable at home, U.S. Marines were successfully relying on it at battlefield sites in the Khyber Pass, according to Enlisting the Sun: Powering the U.S. Military with Solar Energy, a new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), released just in time for Armed Forces Day on May 18.

The DOD’s annual $20 billion energy budget makes it the biggest single energy consumer in the world.

USC 2911 of DOD’s title 10 Energy Performance Goals, as updated in 2009, requires 25 percent of total military facility energy consumption to come from renewable energy sources by 2025.



Also highlighted in the report were solar innovations including:

• Portable backpack-mounted solar panels and solar tent shields capable of charging and powering communications, targeting, surveillance and security equipment
• A ground-mounted array at Forward Operating Base Geronimo, Helmand Province, Afghanistan
• The military’s leveraging of private capital through third-party ownership (TPO) financing and energy performance service contracts (EPSCs)
• The 14-megawatt SunPower-financed ground-mounted array providing 30 percent of the annual electricity needs at the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California
• SolarCity’s Project SolarStrong, which has financed and built solar arrays at the Los Angeles Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force Base and other bases
• Honolulu’s Hickam Air Force Base solar community, where Project SolarStrong has installed 3.4 megawatts of rooftop solar on the way to creating one of the biggest solar communities in the world, with an eventual 5.5 megawatts that will serve 2,000 military homes
• A planned 24-megawatt, 6,500-home solar community at Ohana Military Communities which serves Navy Region Hawaii and Marine Corps Base Hawaii
• Solaria Corporation’s 4.1-megawatt, ground-mounted, low concentration PV installation at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico that was part of a 25-year energy efficiency EPSC implemented by Siemens (NYSE:SI)
• The 2,200-unit solar water heating system installed at Marine Corps Base Camp LeJeune in North Carolina that will meet 75 percent of the camp’s hot water needs and cut its water heating costs by 20 percent

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...-solar-by-2025

Minnesota Is a Governor’s Signature Away from 450MW of Solar
Move over lakes and gophers, Minnesota is going solar.
Annie Lappé, Erin Ruccolo, Justin Fay: May 17, 2013

Yesterday the Minnesota legislature passed a substantial solar energy bill that will result in the development of more than 450 megawatts of solar by 2020. Solar advocates are awaiting Governor Dayton’s signature which, given his support for solar, is expected shortly.

This bill represents one of the most significant solar victories of the 2013 legislative session. Fresh Energy, Sierra Club, MNSEIA, and many other organizations worked to pass this bill and kick-start a solar economy in their state.

The bill contains so many smart new solar policies, we recommend a full read. Below we highlight some of the most exciting parts of the legislation:

1.5 percent Solar Energy RES Requirement

“Made in MN” Solar Module Incentives


Expansion of Net Metering


Value of Solar Tariff (VOST)

Shared Solar - Community solar gardens

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articl...450mw-of-solar