The wave of interest in solar power across Europe has now touched Greece, and in a big way. The Mediterranean country of over ten million inhabitants plans to construct Earth’s biggest solar farm. Estimated to cost €600 million ($822 million), the project will cover 1,285 acres of depleted coal mines in the northern city of Kozani.

Greece remains in the midst of financial crisis, with high unemployment and monumental debt. Hoping to spur economic growth and create jobs, Greece is seeking an outside investor for its state-run solar project. Investment in renewable energy is a key long-term strategy Greece is using to lift itself out of a years-long recession.

The solar project at Kozani will also lesson Greece’s dependence on lignite coal, a heavily-polluting energy source that accounts for about half of Greece’s generated electricity.

Total output of the completed solar installation is estimated to be 200 megawatts (MW). Germany is expressing interest in purchasing some of the new Greek solar power. The German government is actively trying to step away from nuclear power and is seeking alternatives to energy sources from politically unstable countries. Greek Prime Minister Georges Papandreou promised 10,000 to 15,000 MW of solar energy to Germany in a recent press conference. Papandreou will visit Germany later in the month to formally discuss the issue with German leadership.

There is also talk of a joint Greek-German project to build up to 49,400 acres of photovoltaic farms at a cost of €20 billion ($27.4 billion). This ambitious project would produce anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000 jobs in struggling Greece.

The world in 2010 added 16 gigawatts of new solar power, a number that is expected to be surpassed by the sum of 2011 projects.

Rendering Of Renault Solar Installation At Its Douai Facility (image: Renault)

Massive rooftop solar arrays seem to be popping up at an accelerating rate, thanks in part to cheaper, more efficient solar panel technologies and financial incentives in the form of rebates and stabilized energy costs.  Renault’s solar energy system at its French production facilities will dwarf most of the competition when it goes online next year.

Spread among six different facilities located in Douai, Maubeuge, Flins, Batilly, Sandouville, and Cléon, the Renault project will be the largest ever developed in the automotive industry.  The total square footage will be equivalent to 63 football fields, producing a whopping 60 megawatts of power – enough to provide annual electricity to a town of 15,000.

Renault has committed to reducing its overall carbon footprint by 20% over the next five years, and expects this project alone to help slash its carbon emissions by 30,000 tons annually.  The rooftop arrays, developed in partnership with Gestamp Solar, will cover delivery and shipping centers as well as staff parking facilities.  Construction is scheduled to begin shortly, in June 2011, and should be completed by February 2012.

For the sake of comparison, General Motors’ 10MW solar installation at its plant in Zaragoza, Spain was groundbreaking in the industry when it was announced just a couple years ago in 2008.  It seems green roofs aren’t the only environmentally friendly use for all that space above – so stay tuned for the next large-scale solar project on the horizon…

(via Renault)

Hybrid Solar Energy Plant In Florida

The newest hybrid model isn’t a car, but the world’s first hybrid solar energy plant that went on the grid last week in Martin County Florida. The Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center is Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) latest innovation to launch Florida as the clean energy state. Working in conjunction with an existing natural gas power plant, the 190,000 solar thermal mirrors track and harness the sun’s rays via hydraulic motors. That energy is then converted into electricity and offsets the use of the natural gas. The natural gas plant then becomes a stored energy plant serving as a back-up energy source.

FPL- Solar Thermal Mirrors

Sitting on 500 acres of FPL-owned land, the 75 megawatt facility will power 11,000 Florida homes and has already created over 1,000 jobs. According to FPL’s press release, the hybrid plant is expected to

reduce fossil fuel consumption by approximately 41 billion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 600,000 barrels of oil – which would prevent the release of more than 2.75 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and save FPL customers approximately $178 million in fuel costs over the facility’s estimated 30-year lifetime.

Though many solar thermal plants function as hybrids by burning oil at times of low sunlight, the Martin Energy Center is the first to combine a natural gas plant with solar thermal energy. It’s the last of 3 solar facilities built by FPL in the past 2 years, yet plans are underway to add another 500 megawatts of solar power to the state.

While the 75 megawatt system may seem small in comparison to the 3,800 megawatt gas plant, the environmental benefits are still quite significant. Florida is setting itself up to be a leader in using innovative technology and finding economic solutions in the effort to diversify energy sources and harness that abundant Florida sunshine. Oh, and in the event of one of those Florida hurricanes, the solar mirrors turn upside down for protection.

Via: Palm Beach Post

Sunpower Solar Panels

Princeton University will soon be home to the largest solar field on a U.S. college campus. Scheduled for completion by summer 2012, the 5.3 megawatt system will be comprised of 16,500 photovoltaic solar panels, estimated to generate 5.5 % of electrical power to reduce campus energy costs by 8 %. The solar field will cover 27 acres on the university’s land. The panels will be designed and built by Sunpower, a leader in advanced solar energy systems. To maximize efficiency, 80% of the system will contain Sunpower Trackers that use a global positioning system to capture the sun at the highest intensity, while the remaining solar panels will be fixed at a 25 degree angle.

Atrium in Princeton's Frick Chemistry Laboratory Building

As part of a sustainability plan to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by the year 2020 to the level it had in 1990, Princeton has also installed solar panels on the roofs of two campus buildings, including the stunning atrium located in the Frick Chemistry Laboratory. Partly funded by New Jersey’s Solar Renewable Energy Certificate program as well as environmental incentives under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Princeton is leading the way for renewable energy systems to be economically accessible.

Princeton University Halls

Their dedication to solar energy will also provide unique research and learning opportunities for both students and faculty. Perhaps the most important aspect of the project is the awareness it will generate about solar energy. As chemical and biological engineering professor, Ilhan Aksay says, “The fact that Princeton University took a lead in this sends out a signal that Princeton is serious about this. I expect that more students will now be interested in pursuing related research, and this will affect the faculty as well”.

Via: Daily Princetonian

SolaRoad Solar Bike Path

What could make bike riding even more efficient? How about a bike path embedded with solar panels to produce clean energy while encouraging people to get on their bikes? The town of Krommenie in the Netherlands, just north of Amsterdam, will be receiving the SolaRoad bike path, scheduled to open in 2012.

Developed by the Province of North Holland, the Ooms Avenhorn Group and Imtech, the solar bike path will be constructed with a concrete base, topped with a 1 cm thick layer of crystalline silicon solar cells. The solar cells will then be protected by a thick, heavy-duty glass surface strong enough to drive a truck over it. The SolaRoad is estimated to generate 50 kw hours of electricity per square meter per year which will be used to power street lights, traffic systems, and perhaps even households along the SolaRoad system.

SolaRoad Project In The Netherlands

The SolaRoad project is part of the Dutch government’s commitment to renewable energy. Their vision is to have an entire network of roads encapsulated with solar panels throughout the country. In the meantime, it will be interesting to learn what cyclists in North Holland think of riding on this glass-surfaced bike path.

Springwise via Inhabitat

World's Largest Solar Roof To Power High Speed Rail Station in China

Efficiency abounds in China as the world’s largest building integrated photovoltaic project prepares to power the railway station where some of the world’s fastest high speed trains pass through. China Sunergy, a solar cell and module manufacturer based in Nanjing, China, has recently signed a deal with CEEG (Nanjing) Solar Energy Research Institute to supply the 7MW solar modules for the Nanjing South Railway Station. When it’s finished, the Nanjing South Railway Station will be one of the most energy efficient public buildings in China.

Solar Powered Nanjing South Railway Station

Mr. Stephen Zhifang Cai, CEO of China Sunergy said of the BIPV project, “We are very happy to see our high-quality solar panels being used in this landmark project, which will certainly raise public awareness and appreciation of renewable energy. We look forward to playing an increasingly bigger role in building China’s eco-friendly projects.”

Solar Powered Shanghai Hongqiao Station

This isn’t the first evidence of China’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions and developing renewable energy. The Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station went on the grid in July 2010 with a 6.7 MW solar roof integrated into the building’s awnings. Yu Hailong, general manager of the China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group (CECEP), the project’s developer, said in July that the BIPV technology will “help stimulate the development of solar energy in China and promote the construction of more environmentally friendly railway stations”. Yes, his prediction is coming to fruition.

Meanwhile, here in the U.S., many of our railway stations have been destroyed or are wallowing in urban decay, such as the Michigan Central Station in Detroit.

Michigan Central Station in Detroit

Perhaps pictures such as this could inspire decision makers in Washington to take a few notes on China’s use of both renewable energy and efficient forms of transportation.

[Via: Clean Technica]

We just wrote about the new LED streelights in Ann Arbor. Now we find these self-contained streetlights that generate 100% of their power from the sun and the wind. During the day, solar power is stored in a battery at the base of the light pole. At night, they illuminate while continuing to generate power via a small vertical-axis wind turbine. The streetlights, dubbed “seagulls”, were spotted in Tokyo outside the Panasonic Center by Hyperexperience. Here’s a video clip of the wind turbine in action:

The streetlights are similar to the wind- and solar-powered streelights I wrote about on TreeHugger.

Via Keetsa, Ecofriend and Hyperexperience

A company called SolFocus (which was spun out of Xerox Palo Alto Research Center in 2006) has started installation of a 3-megawatt solar power plant in southern Spain. SolFocus makes solar cells that use much less silicon than regular panels because they use lenses and mirrors to concentrate sunlight. The solar concentrators magnify sunlight 500 times, which according to the company, is the “sweet spot” between higher energy production and excessive heat.

The blocks have two sets of mirrors: mirrors on bottom face reflect sunlight back to mirrors on the top face, and these in turn reflect the light on to one-millimeter-square photovoltaic cells popped into the center of the bottom mirrors.

Silicon-based solar panels today cost close to $3 per watt to produce. Solfocus says that larger scale production of its concentrators (in the area of gigawatts) would cut the cost per watt to just 50 cents. The second generation version of the device should cut costs further to as low as 32 cents per watt, according to the company.

Via: Press Release

Nanosolar has just announced that, after five years of development, it will be shipping its innovative “solar film” product. Basically, Nanosolar is able to print solar panels on machines that resemble printing presses. The company, whose backers include Google’s co-founders, say it is producing the world’s lowest-cost solar panel, costing as little as 99 cents per watt.

What will Nanosolar be doing with the first three commercial panels?

• Panel #1 will remain at Nanosolar for exhibit.
• Panel #2 can be purchased by you in an auction on eBay starting today.
• Panel #3 has been donated to the Tech Museum in San Jose.

Nanosolar is a heavily financed Silicon Valley start-up. The company has raised $150 million and built a 200,000-square-foot factory.

To make solar film, Nanosolar prints CIGS (copper-indium-gallium-selenium) onto a thin polymer. There is no costly silicon involved in the process. Nanosolar is only a few years old, but it has laid plans to take on multinational corporations, such as BP and Sharp, in the solar industry.

Via: NanoSolar Blog

Varese Ligure, a town in Northern Italy, runs on 100% renewable power. The town uses a mix of wind, solar and small-scale hydropower. The town has reaped benefits from the energy network through added jobs, and an additional 350,000 euros [US $514,000] in revenues that are handed over to the council each year. Varese has also seen a six-fold increase in tourists in the last ten years, many coming just to see its renewable energy network.

Varese became the first municipality in Europe to get 100% of its power from renewable energy sources six years ago. It now generates three times more electricity than the people living in Varese need and there are plans in the pipeline for even more renewables.

The town has also launched initiatives to make Varese 100% sustainable. A total of 108 organic farms now supply 98 percent of the town’s food; water is purified using environmentally friendly technology, and waste has been significantly reduced.

Four wind turbines located on a ridge 1100 meters above sea level — where the average annual wind speed is 7.2 meters per second — generate 8 million kWh of electricity a year that is fed into the local grid managed by Acam, a power company in La Spezia. Photovoltaic (PV) panels have been installed on the town hall and the local school. The town hall has 102 PV panels covering 95 square meters and generating 12,700 kWh a year, which supplies 98 percent of the total energy consumption of the building. Varese’s secondary school has 39 PV panels covering 36 square meters and producing 4,600 kWh a year, which supplies 62 percent of the energy used.

In addition to the that, the town’s swimming pool is heated by solar power and a program to promote the use of wood pellet stoves is in the works.

Via: Renewable Energy Access