Sunday, April 17, 2011

Weekend Update

Here's some some recent corporate investments, with and without government grants, subsidies, that we will start to watch as to their level of production and return on investment:

1. Ikea has started operating a 290 kW solar energy system at its Burbank, Calif., store. The 35,000 square foot array has about 1,260 panels and is expected to produce 421,300 kWh of electricity a year. That should help IKEA reduce carbon dioxide by at least 334 tons – equaling the emissions of 58 cars a year.


2.  Google will invest $168 million in equity in the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (pictured), a gargantuan 370 MW project being planned for southeast California. Developer BrightSource Energy said it has also finalized $1.6 billion in loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the project, which is due online in 2013.


3.  Another massive solar plant, the 250 MW California Valley Solar Ranch, has just received a $1.187 billion conditional loan guarantee commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy. The plant in San Luis Obispo County is expected to power about 100,000 homes and will be one of the largest photovoltaic power plants in the world when complete.

SunPower Corporation is leading the development, and NRG Energy will assume ownership after completion, which is due in 2013.
4.  Oceanic Time Warner Cable has completed an 856 kW solar canopy system at its Mililani Tech Park facility in Hawaii, in a partnership with Chevron Energy Solutions and Tioga Energy. Tioga will own and operate the installation under a 20-year power purchase agreement, and will sell the electricity back to Oceanic Time Warner at rates below those of the local utility.
Four more tomorrow.  Please send us information on your business or home investment in renewable energy.   At Arpin, we will have our 230,000 kw solar system up on our warehouse and pumping out clean energy by this summer.




No comments:

Post a Comment