Zero Energy Community in California Innovated in 2003

Back in 2003 a housing development became California’s largest zero energy community with single family homes and an apartment complex powered by solar. Built by Clarum Homes, Vista Montaña in Watsonville was designed to reduce homeowner energy bills by up to 90 percent. Carrying the Zero Energy Home designation from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the development housed the largest building-integrated solar electric system in an apartment community in the United States. The 60-kilowatt system by GE made it possible for this community to produce over 90 megawatt hours of electricity annually. In total, Vista Montana has 177 single-family homes, 80 townhouses, and 132 apartments that were built with 1.2 to 2.4 kWp, and with a calculated energy yield of 1400 kWh/kWp.

Biodynamic Farm Powers More Than Plants with Sun

Tani Creek Farm in the Pacific Northwest uses sunlight for more than just growing vegetables. In the misty hills of Bainbridge Island, across Puget Sound from Seattle, Washington, a 25-acre biodynamic farm uses solar power for all its agricultural needs such as irrigation, water movement (pumped from ponds to other uses) and food production, as well as for residential purposes. Contrary to popular belief, solar power in the cloudy Pacific Northwest - where Bainbridge is located - is a viable energy alternative to fossil fuels according to solar contractor Jeff Collum of Sound Power. The farm's 29-kilowatt system covers two outbuildings and are part of the owner's mission to create a self-sustaining farm that uses clean energy.

PV System Fits into a Suitcase

This little portable solar electric system provides power so that remote medical clinics have lighting and the ability to charge walkie-talkies or radios for communication. Developed by We Care Solar, a non-profit organization that facilitates safer childbirth in third world countries, this PV device has been assembled by teenagers in Washington, D.C. to send to Haiti. http://www.wecaresolar.com/node/82

California Dreamin' at Claire's Bakery

A San Diego, California, business carried its mission of serving up organic treats and coffee to a higher level. Claire's on Cedros  went for a full-on sustainability assault on site development, water use and energy efficiency of its entire operation. The result is a LEED Platinum-certified suite of small buildings that includes solar panels doubling as carports and awnings to provide shading. http://www.solaripedia.com/13/226/California+Dreamin%E2%80%99+at+Claire%E2%80%99s+Bakery.html

Camping Supplies Are Solar Powered

Solar camping equipment complements the impact-free camping experience.When I was backpacking a couple of years ago in Colorado's Raggeds Wilderness area, friends brought a solar shower. They left it sitting on a rock while everyone was out exploring, and by the time of return, the water had heated to a toasty 125 degrees. The sun can also power lanterns and cell phones via backpacks and some new concept tents.http://www.solaripedia.com/13/182/camping_with_solar_friendly_devices.html

Largest US Solar Farm Soaks up Sun in Florida

And produces 25 megawatts of electricity! This $150 million plant came in $22.5 million under budget and took just 10 months to build - several months ahead of schedule. Its 92,000 solar panels can withstand 130-mph winds. The Desoto Solar Farm is built to last at least 30 years, and it will take from 25 to 30 years for Florida Power & Light, the owner, to recoup its investment. Construction of this facility also created 400 jobs!  http://www.solaripedia.com/13/180/florida_sun_powers_largest_us_solar_farm.html

Hobbit House in Wales Made from Trees

http://www.solaripedia.com/13/175/low_impact_woodland_home_%28wales%29.htmlThe low impact woodland home built by Simon Dale in Wales conjures images of Hobbits baking bread in tiny hand-made ovens and friendly gatherings among the denizens of Middle Earth. But this extremely natural home also utilizes solar PV technology to bring lighting, music, refrigeration and computing power into this outgrowth of the forest. Dale and his father-in-law spent about four months and $6,000 building the home in 2008. Besides the PVs, they made it as sustainable as possible with oak, straw bale walls, roof and floor, a vegetated roof, and lime plaster on the walls.

Solar Power Used to Fly Airplane

Solar Impulse is an airplane powered by the sun. It provides a window for the technologies of the future, but already under development are solar cells offering a better efficiency-weight ratio, intelligent systems of energy management, materials as lightweight as they are resistant and a storage system to rival the most efficient. On earth at midday, each m2 of land surface receives the equivalent of 1000 Watts, or 1.3 horsepower of light power. Over 24 hours, this averages out to 250W/m2. With 200m2 of photovoltaic cells and a 12 percent total efficiency of the propulsion chain, the Solar Impulse airplane’s motors achieve no more than 8 HP or 6kW – roughly the amount of power the Wright brothers had a available to them in 1903 when they made their first powered flight. And it is with that small amount of energy, optimized from the solar panels to the propeller, that Solar Impulse is striving to fly day and night without fuel! Someday, the solutions developed for the solar airplane could find other applications in the building industry where efficiency and reliability are determining factors.

Learning with Sun and Nature at IslandWood

IslandWood, an outdoor learning center near Seattle, Washington, targets students from schools on free and reduced lunch programs for its School Overnight Program where they are immersed in experiences with nature and sustainability. The site and the buildings are designed to be sustainable, featuring solar meadows and building orientations that maximize passive solar gain. High performance windows optimize solar heat gain and reduce energy consumption. Natural ventilation replaces air conditioning, with operable window openings and skylights for maximum air circulation. Rainwater is collected from the roofs of several buildings and used for landscape irrigation. A Living Machine treats wastewater by using plants to filter impurities. Photovoltaics provide power and water is heated by the sun. Even trees that were cleared to make way for buildings and solar access have been cut, dried and milled and then used for exterior siding and interior trim throughout project.

Umbrella House Reborn into Solar

Pugh+Scarpa Architects of Santa Monica adapted architect Paul Rudolph’s 1953 Umbrella House idea into a renovated California solar home. Rudolph's design used a trellis to shade the home from the hot Florida sun. P+S borrowed the idea of the trellis but installed solar panels into a steel-beam canopy that shades their new house, while providing electricity. The canopy is part of a 4.5-kilowatt solar system that powers almost the entire 1,900-square-foot house and the pool. There are 89 BP Solar amorphous photovoltaic solar panels mounted in the steel-beamed structures, on the roof, and atop the carport. “It’s not rocket science,” says project architect Angela Brooks. “Our system is simple. We used normal electricity. We did the wiring diagrams. It could all be done by a nonprofessional.”

Wisconsin Home Powered by Solar, Wind and Geothermal

This home on 40 acres in Wisconsin is designed to provide power and water off the grid for its needs. The design incorporates sustainable principles, including solar hot water, a wind turbine, geothermal heating, passive solar, and natural ventilation. Rainwater runoff is collected into a pond that is integrated into the geothermal system. Sustainable materials throughout the home include concrete floors and countertops that are durable, easy to maintain with non-toxic cleaners and provide thermal mass for utilizing passive design principles.

Open PV Database Tracks US Solar Installations

The Open PV Project is a community-driven database, fostered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, of photovoltaic (PV) installations around the US. It collects, organizes and distributes info on location, size, cost and date of every PV installation in the USA. A very cool animation is superimposed on a US map showing all logged PV systems installed since 1998.

Recycling Solar PV Panels

In its whitepaper "Toward a Just and Sustainable Solar Energy Coalition" the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition (SVTC) argues that for solar to be truly green, industry must reduce and eventually eliminate the use of toxic materials and develop environmentally sustainable practices.

Wineries and Thieves Go Solar in California

Solar energy is hot, according to Mike Treleven reporting in the Napa Valley Register (27 November 2009). Not just with wineries attempting to lessen their carbon footprints — but also with thieves. Numerous Napa Valley wineries have been victimized by thieves lurking in the night and stealing their solar arrays. A single panel is worth about $1,000, measures two feet by three feet and weighs around 35 pounds. Between June 2008 and late September 2009, Napa County saw 14 solar thefts and two attempted thefts. Of the 14 thefts, two were in the city of Napa and the rest were at wineries around the valley, Napa County Sheriff’s Capt. Tracey Stuart. More than 400 panels, worth about $400,000, have been stolen.

Wheelchair Accessible Treehouse Uses Solar

Camp Twin Lakes wheelchair-accessible treehouse features a solar array, a vegetated roof and composting toilets in Georgia, USA. A 1.4-kilowatt, eight-module photovoltaic solar array is mounted on a nearby pole and supplies the treehouse fans and misting system pump with DC power.

The Power of the Sun

Read about solar in the US by author Robin Rogers on the Eco-Intel.com blog.

Solar Electric Sails in Space

For interstellar travel, light-sail craft would depend on extremely large-scale constructions such as huge solar-power relays around Mercury and enormous Fresnel zones in the outer Solar System. Since light applies pressure to surfaces, the stream of photons can be used for propulsion in a near-frictionless environment. This concept is the background for light (or solar) sails. It is a method of space travel that would negate the need for on-board fuel. Sails using the solar wind or only the light from stars are less efficient at larger distance from the Sun. Read more at SOLARIPEDIA.com

Solar Balloons Provide Electric Power

Instead of large expensive solar panels or costly concentrating mirrors, Cool Earth uses balloons made of metalized plastic films. Half of the balloon is transparent, letting the light in to be concentrated into a small, high-efficiency solar panel by the concave interior, providing from 500 watts to 1 kilowatt. They are supported by cables, leaving the ground below clear and limiting environmental impact. See Cool Earth website

Kurilpa Bridge Is Solar Powered

The Australian city of Brisbane opened the world's first large-scale solar-powered bridge. The 470m Kurilpa Bridge accommodates pedestrians and bicycles, and sports 84 solar panels that power an array of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). The panels supply between 75 and 100 per cent of the bridge's lighting needs. Read more on Solaripedia

International Space Station All Solar Powered

The most powerful solar arrays ever to orbit Earth capture the sun's energy and begin the process of converting it into power for the International Space Station (ISS). Eight solar panels supply more than 100 kilowatts of electric power to the station. The panels are mounted on a metal framework 360 feet (109 meters) long. The International Space Station is a large, inhabited Earth satellite that more than 15 nations are building in space. The first part of the station was launched in 1998 and it orbits Earth at an altitude of about 250 miles (400 kilometers). Visit the NASA International Space Station website. See more images at SOLARIPEDIA.com