Solar Energy Investing

Clarkson University reports Professor Tom Oretmeyer has recently published a study on Solar America Initiative Renewable System Interconnection.  The study asks how much solar power can be put on a grid and what impact that energy will have.  It will aslo identify the engineering requirements needed to increase the level of photovoltaic installation and will weigh the benefits and cost of solar and photovoltaic energy.  To conduct research, Oretmeyer worked in the Department of Energy Office with Alumni of the University.

DJC.com reports Green River Community College’s new Marv Nelson Science Learning Center celebrates sustainability by featuring solar shading to control window glare and darken rooms.  The design won a grant for beating the local energy code requirements by 30%.

Daily Camera reports Dr. George Lof began a solar heat project 30 years before solar was the rage in Boulder, CO.  During World War II, when the fuel shortage scare was present, Colorado University funded Lof to build a small house with an experimental solar heating system in 1943.  Lof lived in the house which could maintain 70 degrees inside in the middle of winter, as long as the sun was shining.

StreetInsider.com reports Colorado State University will receive a solar electric system that is expected to be operational by the fall of 2008.  The 1 MW system is the largest for any educational institute and will provide 10% of the University’s electric needs.  BP Solar will install and operate the system, CSU will purchase electricity generated from the solar array from BP.

StarTribune.com reports the country’s largest electrician union has started to train on solar panel installation in Minnesota.  The lab at the Charles W. Lindberg Electrician Training Center boasts a $26,000 solar roof.  This roof gets constructed, dismantled, and reconstructed with each class.

Red Orbit reports researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have discovered a new solar concentrator to help reduce the cost of solar energy.  By coating glass sheets in organic dye, it concentrates the sunlight that hits the panels and carries it over the entire surface like a fiber optic cable.

MongoBay.com reports a group of MIT researchers have found that luminescent solar concentrators (LSC), originally used in the 1970s, used transparent plastic sheets.  The researchers are now using glass to provide more control over the sun’s rays.  The manufacturing process is so simple that the researchers are hoping to have these LSC’s on the market within three years and giving solar panels  a 50% increased efficiency rate.

BusinessWire reports Future Lighting Solutions has donated LED light components to be used on a solar car.  The solar car is being built by students at the University of Minnesota to compete in the 2008 North American Solar Challenge.  The LUXEON Rebel is the smallest mountable LED available today.

Taipei Times reports the Industrial Technology Research Institute have a solar cell prototype with an energy conversion rate of 6%.  They are currently seeking for ways to further improve their dye-sensitized cells to reduce cost for mass production.  The dye-sensitized cells will be presented at Taiwan Nano 2008 Exhibition.

GOAT reports Arizona State University will cover 135,000 square feet of rooftop in solar panels.  This will be one of the largest rooftop solar installations in the country.  The project, expected to be complete in December 2008, will provide 7% of the school’s energy consumption.  Funding comes from three private companies that have agreed to let ASU pay back the cost through a fixed rate over the next 15 years.  The current installation will provide 2MW of electricity, eventually the project will grow to 7MW after expansion has taken place.