PG&E Orders 1,300 MW of BrightSource's Solar Thermal Plants

BrightSource Energy Inc. and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced negotiations for a record 1,310 MW of BrightSource's solar thermal power plants.

BrightSource's power plants use mirrors that reflect the sun to a central tower. This causes the central tower to gain temperature which is used to generate steam. The steam is then fed to a steam turbine to generate electricity.

The first solar power plant will be located in Ivanpah, California and has a capacity of 110 MW. This plant will be online in 2012, the other seven project will be built as quickly as permitting and infrastructure allow.

Eventually, the seven plants will produce 3,666 gigawatt-hours of energy each year, equal to the annual consumption of about 530,000 average homes.

Source: Renewable Energy World
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Phoenix Builds 5-MW Solar PV Plant for Utility

A 5.8 megawatt (MW) photovoltaic (PV) power plant is being built by Phoenic solar. The plant was requested by Enovos Group in Kenn. Construction already commenced and is due to be finished by July 2009.

The annual energy production of the plant is expected to be 5.8 million kilowatt-hours of energy. The planning and construction of the project was Phoenix Solar's responsibility while the project development of the ground mounted power plant was carried out by Bürgerservice Trier.

Source: Renewable Energy World
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A Solar Rooftop for Toyota Prius

Toyota, the Japanese auto giant, unveiled the third generation of its hybrid car the "Prius". The new model is 12 percent cheaper than the previous model and is sold for 21,580 dollars. It has a fuel efficiency of 38.0 kilometres per litre (50 miles per gallon) making it one of the world's most efficient cars. But what makes this model special is that solar modules can be installed on its roof as an additional feature.

The roof will contain 36 15x15 cm solar cells which will be supplied by Kyocera Corporation. These modules will supply an output power of 56 watts to the Prius' ventilation system. Kyocera says its solar modules have an efficiency of 16.5%.

The ventilation system is used to moderate the temperature of the car when its parked during day time. Finally, the solar panel roof will cost an additional $2,076 on the car's base price.

Source: Renewable Energy World
Physorg.com
PcMag
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World’s largest solar-powered stadium

Toyo Ito Architects from Japan designed the world's first stadium powered by solar energy in Taiwan. The stadium was built for the World Games in July this year. The stadium has a capacity of 55,000 spectators and had a cost of $150 million. When the stadium its being used, the solar array can be used to power 80% of the surrounding neighborhood.

The roof area is 14,155 square meter and is covered with 8,844 solar panels. These panels can generate up to 1.14 GWh of electricity per year.

Hopefully other stadiums around the world would follow Taiwan's lead. These stadiums can be turned into green power plants and generate revenue during the off season.

Source: Solar Feeds
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New 1 MW PV Plant by Siemens in Italy

Siemens Energy completed a 1 MW ground mounted PV plant for an Italian bottled water company called Ferrarelle S.p.A. costing approximately 5 million euros.

Siemens installed 4554 multicrystalline solar panels, 3 Siemens Sinvertsolar 340 kVA inverters, a Geafol 20 kV transformer, civil works, support structures, the entire cabling and the grid connection. The plant covers 16,000 m² and was connected to the grid at the end of December last year.

Source: Renewable energy world
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