MORE NEWS, 6-8 (UTILITY TO BUILD 100 MW OF SUN IN S-E U.S.; TEXAS WORKS THIN-FILM; MAINE WANTS WIND OFFSHORE)

UTILITY TO BUILD 100 MW OF SUN IN S-E U.S.
Progress Energy expanding solar incentives
Nichola Groom (w/Andre Grenon), June 3, 2009 (Reuters)

"U.S. power company Progress Energy Inc [will]…expand the use of solar energy in the Carolinas and Florida by more than 100 megawatts over the next decade.

"The move makes Progress Energy the latest in a string of U.S. utilities that have committed to buying more power generated from renewable sources."

Progress Energy is anticipating the coming price on emissions and reacting perfectly rationally. (click to enlarge)

"…[The] North Carolina company announced a string of initiatives, including incentives for residential customers who buy solar installations for their rooftops. The program would offer $1.50 to $2 a watt, or about 25 percent of the installed cost of the solar system.

"The company also pledged to pay commercial solar customers for the energy produced from photovoltaic solar systems. The payments will be market based…"

Maybe Progress will make one of SEPA's Top Ten next year. (click to enlarge)

"Progress will also offer incentives for solar water heating for both residential and commercial customers and will install solar rooftop systems on selected schools in its service area at no cost to the schools.

"Progress energy has two major utilities that serve about 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida."


TEXAS WORKS THIN-FILM
Thin-film solar cells flex into the future; New technology and processes could reduce cost of solar power by factor of 10
Ben Wermund, June 5, 2009 (The Daily Texan)

"Researchers at UT are developing technologies that could soon power homes and businesses…with affordable solar energy panels printed like newspapers…Thin-film solar technology, a process that involves coating surfaces with inky, light-absorbing materials, [a paint-on process that] could reduce solar energy costs by a factor of 10…"

Doesn't look like a huge energy source, does it? (click to enlarge)

"…[The UT] team has demonstrated the technology works, but it is not yet efficient enough for commercialization…The cost of solar energy in its current form can make it an unrealistic option for many homeowners. The average pricetag of a 3-kilowatt solar system, which is most often the system installed in homes, is $22,000…Thin-film technology could soon change that…

"…[T]hin-film has the potential to alter the energy landscape across the nation…

"Austin City Council recently authorized the creation of the largest solar power-generating facility in the nation…[T]he 30-megawatt facility should be built next year…"

Texas has the sun. (click to enlarge)

"In Austin, about 700 homes, 60 commercial facilities, 21 schools and 30 city facilities operate with the help of solar energy…Austin-based Heliovolt is looking into manufacturing windows coated with thin-film solar panels…"


MAINE WANTS WIND OFFSHORE
State to woo U.S. official on offshore wind power
Dieter Bradbury, June 5, 2009 (Political Correspondent via Energy Current)

"U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu will meet with Gov. John Baldacci and University of Maine researchers… as the state pushes ahead with its drive to become a national center for research and development in offshore wind energy.

"…[Senator Olympia Snowe, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. U.S. Rep. Mike Michaud, Governor Baldacci] and wind power proponents hope to convince the Department of Energy to fund ongoing work by the university and private investors to establish a test site in the Gulf of Maine…Researchers believe that wind in the gulf could be a significant energy source in the future, providing many "green" jobs and an alternative to increasingly costly fossil fuels."

Maine has developed ability with wind. (click to enlarge)

"Baldacci has included $7.5 million for ocean wind-power research and development in [a] proposed bond package…Lawmakers passed a measure…that streamlined state permitting and called for the designation of five test sites off the coast…[O]fficials will look at potential funding under the economic stimulus…[ In a letter to Chu in April, Senator Collins proposed a partnership with the state that could attract $20 billion in private investment and create 15,000 energy jobs.]

"Maine has enough wind energy offshore to equal the output of 40 nuclear power plants…[T]he state is ideally suited to serve as a deep-water test site for wind power because the ocean floor drops off quickly, relatively close to the coastline…[and] scientists have compiled an extensive database of wind speeds, ocean geology and other conditions in the Gulf of Maine.

"…[Maine] has a track record of successful onshore wind projects…is developing a work force with wind power expertise as a result of those projects…[and] the university's composites center is expanding its research laboratory to focus on developing materials for wind turbine blades that would hold up offshore."

Look at those offshore assets! (click to enlarge)

"Wind power could be especially critical for Maine as a source of electricity to heat homes, about 80 percent of which are now dependent on oil…[T]he Department of Energy has set a goal of producing 20 percent of U.S. electricity needs from wind by 2030…[The nation…has offshore wind power potential of 2,500 gigawatts, or about 2 times the current U.S. electricity output.]

"There is no timeline for a federal response to Maine's request for support, but the state has put offshore wind power development on a fast track…The ocean energy bill streamlining the state environmental permitting process and designating five offshore test sites was enacted as emergency legislation."