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New Directions In Solar Cogeneration Put Heat To Work

Gilad Almogy, CEO of California-based Cogenra Solar, is not one to let heat go to waste. His primary goal is to produce electricity from silicon inexpensively as possible. But the heat is there for free, he says. Put it to work.

The company’s Cogenra T14 uses a system of mirrors mounted on single-axis trackers to focus sunlight on a receiver strip supporting standard 6-inch PV cells. Rather than using more expensive curved mirrors, the company uses flat mirrors sections.

Water circulates in a closed loop through the receiver modules, carrying heat away from the PV. Almogy says early Cogenra installations included 100 kW systems for wineries and milk producers, where the heat is used for pasteurization. Moreover, systems are used for producing heat for large-occupancy buildings, such as dormitories, hospitals and hotels.

Future markets may include corporate campuses, military bases and mining operations. District heating, wherein multiple urban buildings are served by a common heating system, is a promising area.

“There’s a limit to how much heat we can sustain with water as a coolant,” Almogy says. “The question is do we deal with lower concentration and less heat, or bite the bullet and use a fluid.”

The answer to this and other questions will be determined by experience gained from the early installations.

Cogeneration is not the only benefit of the concentrating solar power (CSP) approach. Almogy says his company’s system is capable of producing electricity at $0.50/W. The potential prompted Washington Gas Energy Systems to build, own and operate a 1 MW solar energy project in Arizona using the Cogenra array, contracting with Tucson Electric Power to take the output. In this case, the heat is indeed waste - Washington Gas Energy has no planned uses for it at present. The project is expected to be complete in April.

Heat is certainly one of the intended products of an experimental cogeneration system employing concentrating solar power (CSP) technology that is undergoing testing in France. Last November, the Microsol project pilot plant was inaugurated at a French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) site in Cadarache, France.

The Microsol system consists of parabolic troughs fitted on a rotating platform equipped with dual-axis trackers. Tracker manufacturer Exosun designed and built the solar concentrators and receptor for the plant, while its sister company Exoes provided its Shape Solar power generator that uses the Rankine engine principle to convert low-temperature steam - approximately 140° to 180°C - into electricity. Microsol also incorporates a thermal storage system of Exosun’s design. Schneider Electric is providing plant management equipment and services.

In addition to the CEA, the program is financed in part by the French Environment and Energy Management Agency. After the Microsol testbed has logged a year of operations at the CEA site, up to five units will be shipped to sites in Africa. Ultimately, the idea is to produce commercial units.

Frederic Conchy, Exosun’s president and CEO, says CSP was the appropriate solar technology for the application. One system is capable of producing electricity and providing safe drinking water. Many of the components can be maintained and repaired by local people using available tools.

“Steam is a good vector to produce energy,” Conchy says. “It’s also a good temperature to do all sorts of things.” – Michael Puttré

 

Ivanpah CSP Plant Dedicated

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz dedicated the Ivanpah Solar Energy Generating System in a ceremony on Feb. 13. The concentrating solar power (CSP) plant is now fully operational, with all three of its tower units delivering solar electricity to California customers.

The project was developed jointly by NRG Solar LLC and BrightSource Energy, with Google providing a major investment. Bechtel served as the engineering, procurement and construction contractor.

At full capacity, the facility’s trio of 450-foot high towers produces a gross total of 392 MW of solar power. The solar energy harnessed from Ivanpah’s Units 1 and 3 are being sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under two long-term power purchase agreements, while the electricity from Unit 2 is being sold to Southern California Edison under a similar contract.

As the first commercial deployment of power tower CSP technology in the U.S., the Ivanpah project was the recipient of a $1.6 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office.

 

NextEra Energy Starts Up 20 MW Plant In Nev.

NextEra Energy Resources LLC has begun commercial operation of its 20 MW Mountain View solar energy project near Las Vegas. NextEra’s subsidiary, Mountain View Solar LLC, is operating the facility. All of the power generated by the Mountain View solar plant is being provided to NV Energy customers under a long-term power purchase agreement.

The facility consists of approximately 84,000 photovoltaic modules installed on ground-mounted arrays. Development on the Mountain View solar project began in 2010. Initial project construction started in early June 2013.

 

BELECTRIC Completes Three Solar Plants In Calif.

Array Technologies Inc. (ATI) and engineering, procurement and construction firm BELECTRIC Inc. have commissioned three solar power sites totaling 5.7 MW in California.

The projects - Navajo Solar, Powhatan Solar and Industry Solar - are part of Southern California Edison’s California Renewable Energy Small Tariff (CREST) feed-in tariff program. The CREST program aims to grow small-scale sources of energy to support a distributed generation electricity model in the state of California.

ATI installed its DuraTrack HZ single-axis trackers at the sites. The company says the projects were under a foreshortened timeline because they needed to be completed before their power purchase agreements expired at the end of 2013.

 

Origis Completes Georgia Projects

Origis Energy has completed and dedicated two solar power plants with a combined capacity of 23.5 MW for Georgia Power.

The facilities, located in Camilla and Woodbury, Ga., were developed under the utility’s Large-Scale Solar Initiative program. The installations incorporate 78,160 photovoltaic panels.

Construction financing was provided by Seminole Financial Services, with permanent financing by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

 

groSolar Completes
2.96 MW Solar Farm

groSolar has completed the 2.96 MW Limerick Road Solar photovoltaic power plant in Shelburne, Vt. The facility, designed and built under the direction of L.W. Seddon LLC, is located on 15 acres of the 1,000-acre Meach Cove Farms.

The solar facility uses 9,878 ReneSola 300 W PV modules mounted on a Schletter racking system. Advanced Energy supplied five of its inverters located in two PowerStation enclosures. The plant is expected to produce approximately 3.45 GWh of electricity per year. The power produced will be sold to Vermont utilities under the state’s Sustainably Priced Energy and Economic Development program.

 

Solis Installs Solar
For Bristol-Myers

New Jersey-based solar energy provider Solis Partners has completed the installation of a 777.14 kW roof-mounted solar photovoltaic system for Bristol-Myers Squibb at the company’s campus in Hopewell Township, N.J.

The array consists of 3,172 panels
that cover the top of a 106,500-square-foot parking garage. The system is expected to produce approximately 965 MWh of electricity per year.

 

Solectria Powers PV Plant At Ft. Carson

Solectria Renewables LLC says its inverters have been selected for a 1.43 MW ground-mount solar array at the U.S. Army’s Fort Carson installation in Colorado.

Infinity Construction Services Inc. and Intermountain Electric Inc. are providing engineering, procurement and construction services for the project, which is expected to generate nearly 2.2 GWh of electricity annually. Solectria says its Megawatt Solar Station, with two SGI 500XT central inverters, was selected.

 

Canadian Solar Sells
Utility-Scale Plant

Canadian Solar Solutions Inc. has agreed to sell its 10 MW Oro-Medonte solar power plant in Ontario to the BlackRock Infrastructure Investment Group. This transaction follows BlackRock’s recent acquisition of the Demorestville, Taylor Kidd and Westbrook solar power plants - also in Ontario - from Canadian Solar.

Construction of the Oro-Medonte solar plant is scheduled to start construction in the first quarter of this year, with commercial operation expected in the third quarter. Canadian Solar is providing engineering, procurement and construction services for the project and will provide operations and maintenance services after completion. The facility will include approximately 38,763 Canadian Solar CS6X modules and provide electricity under a 20-year contract with the Ontario Power Authority.

 

Solaire Installs 325 kW Of Solar For Whole Foods

Solaire Generation has installed a 325 kW solar carport system at a new Whole Foods Market in Brooklyn, N.Y. The photovoltaic system, developed and financed by SunEdison, will supply approximately 380 MWh of electricity per year, equal to about 25% of the store’s needs.

The new Whole Foods location hosts a 20,000-square-foot greenhouse on its rooftop, making the space unavailable for a solar array. Solaire says SunEdison decided on a canopy array to take advantage of the energy production potential of the parking lot.

Solaire says its Premium F2 canopies feature an integrated storm water management system to lower the building’s water use and reduce storm runoff into the nearby Gowanus Canal. The system collects storm water and feeds it into a 30,000-gallon tank beneath the parking lots, where it is stored for filtration and non-potable reuse within the building.

 

Recurrent Switches On Google-Backed Projects

Recurrent Energy has announced the commercial operation of six solar photovoltaic projects totaling 106 MW in Southern California and Arizona.

The six-project portfolio will provide power to three off-takers, including Southern California Edison. Four of the projects are located in Kern County, Calif.; one is located in the city of Adelanto, Calif.; and the sixth is located in Maricopa County, Ariz.

According to Recurrent Energy, the development and operation of these six projects has provided the communities with local investment and both short-term and long-term job creation. In aggregate, the company adds, the six projects created more than 500 jobs during the construction phase alone.

Notably, these six solar PV projects comprise the second Recurrent Energy-developed portfolio acquired by Google and KKR in November 2013. The first portfolio acquired, comprising four projects, was announced in December 2011.

 

GameChange Installs Mounts For 655 kW Array

GameChange Racking has completed installation of a 655 kW ground-mount photovoltaic array in Wareham, Mass., for developer Sustainable New Energy.

The project was built on land owned by the Wareham Firefighter Union, which will also be the off-taker. GameChange says its MaxScale post-driven system was used.

 

Nautilus Signs PPA For 1.5 MW Municipal Project

New Jersey-based Nautilus Solar Energy LLC has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for a 1.5 MW municipal solar project with the City of Lordsburg, N.M.

The project will provide electricity to the city’s wastewater plant, fluoride and pumping station, police station, and city hall.

The facility is expected to save the city approximately $3.5 million over the 20-year term of the PPA. Nautilus Solar says the project is its first in the Southwest.

 

NextSun Deploys 5 MW Project In Mass.

NextSun Energy has completed a 5 MW photovoltaic power project in Littleton, Mass. The project is split into 3.3 MW of rooftop arrays and two ground-mount installations totaling 1.7 MW.

RBI and PanelClaw supplied the racking and mounting systems. The PV panels are a mix of Suntech, Canadian Solar and Solon SOLquick types. The inverters are from Advanced Energy.

NextSun Energy developed and financed the project and provided engineering, procurement and construction services.

The company says it is leasing the rooftop and land from a private entity and owns the system outright. It is also performing operations and maintenance in-house.

The project was built under the Massachusetts SREC1 program.

 

SolarCity Installs PV
Carports For Calif. School

SolarCity and the University of California Davis’ California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) have completed a solar power and energy-efficient lighting project for Woodland High and three elementary schools in the Woodland Joint Unified School District (WJUSD).

SolarCity says this marks the second round of solar projects it has completed for the district, bringing the number of sites to 10, with a combined capacity of 2.1 MW. In total, the SolarCity arrays consist of more than 8,800 photovoltaic panels.

The CLTC assisted the WJUSD in selecting energy-efficient lighting for the solar-paneled carports at its four newest solar sites.

 

Ingeteam Supplies Utility Solar Project

Spain-based Ingeteam has supplied its Ingecon Sun PowerMax 500 kW inverters for a 1.2 MW photovoltaic power project in Jefferson, Wis.

The plant, which incorporates approximately 3,500 solar panels, was developed by Chicago-based Half Moon Ventures and built by S&C Electric Co. The facility will supply electricity to WPPI Energy, a wholesale power provider that serves Jefferson Utilities, the community’s municipally owned utility.

The inverters for the project were the first assembled by Ingeteam’s factory in Milwaukee. R