Putting the A123 Bankruptcy in Context | Renewable Energy News Article

Putting the A123 Bankruptcy in Context | Renewable Energy News Article. By John Rogers, Senior Energy Analyst, Clean Energy
October 19, 2012

… To date, 30 battery and electric drive firms have received stimulus funding. A full list is here. Two of them, A123 Systems and EnerDel, have filed for bankruptcy so far. (They haven’t disappeared, however: EnerDel continues to operate and A123′s stimulus-funded facilities will remain open under the deal with Johnson Controls.)

Those two companies represent 18% of the vehicle battery grants, which means that 82% of that portfolio is still “performing”.

Plumer also offers as context another stimulus-funded program that’s gotten a lot of attention but has an even more impressive performance to date:

In a similar vein, of the 26 clean-energy projects that have received federal loan guarantees under a separate 1705 program, just three have filed for bankruptcy, including Solyndra, Abound, and Beacon Power. (Though Beacon is still operating and has largely paid back its federally backed loans.)

Even the full amount at risk from those three companies adds up to 6% of the portfolio, meaning that the performing piece of the investments is 94% of the whole… Read the full article

Does solar work in Michigan? Customer video testimonial

 

Don’t believe us – watch our customers share their experiences with solar here in Michigan. We now have an indisputable source of real-time and historic metrics that the skeptics can’t deny anymore. Listen to our solar homeowners talk about zero utility bills and getting checks back from solar power generation.

Michigan Breweries Going Solar « CBS Detroit

Michigan Breweries Going Solar « CBS Detroit.

August 28, 2012 11:13 AM

(credit: Thinkstock)

Reporting Matt Roush

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Business, Daily J PM, Local, News, Tech

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Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, Arbor Brewing Co., Corner Brewery, detroit, Matt Greff, Power Panel Inc., Rene Greff, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, solar power, University of Michigan, Ypsilanti

YPSILANTI — Barley, hops and yeast are powered by the sun.

Increasingly, so are the breweries that turn those ingredients into beer.

Southeast Michigan brewery owners Matt and Rene Greff are breaking new ground for Michigan breweries as solar installations at their two breweries come on line this summer.

Arbor Brewing Co. became Michigan’s first solar brewery when it flipped the switch on a new system comprised of a 2.4-kilowatt solar photovoltaic array, 300 solar thermal collector tubes and a high-efficiency tankless water heater system to supplement the heat from the collector tubes when necessary.

These big ticket investments were combined with smaller improvements like switching to CFL and LED lighting and installing low-flow sprayers and occupancy sensors.

The project grew out of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority’s Energy Conservation Grant Program, which provided free energy audits and 50 percent project rebates up to $20,000 to downtown businesses that implemented audit recommendations to become more energy efficient.

ABC owner Matt Greff worked with Ann Arbor DDA Energy Programs Director David Konkle as well as a consulting team from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment, led by Jarett Diamond.

Together they were able to identify a number of financial resources and incentives to help offset the installation cost of the system including the $20,000 grant from the DDA, a $10,000 interest-free loan from the city, a 30 percent tax credit from the federal government, and various incentives from DTE Energy.

The couple’s Corner Brewery in Ypsilanti is also nearing completion on its own $250,000 Green Brewery Project which includes solar-thermal, photovoltaic, and geo-thermal technologies along with other improvements like new windows and awnings and energy-efficient chiller equipment.

Energy Proposal Could Bring 70K Jobs to MI

A new report says Michigan could gain more than 70,000 jobs if voters approve a Renewable Energy Proposal in November.

Michigan State University researchers say those jobs would come over the next dozen years from a policy that would require utilities to generate more renewable energy, a move they say would generate more than $10 billion in new investments.

“You’re looking at a little over $10.3 billion worth of investment to make it happen, and that’s investment in wind, solar, biomass, anaerobic digestion, etc, etc, and the outcome of those investments as we run them through the economic modeling is roughly 74,000 job years,” said Charles McKeown, an economic specialist at MSU.

The proposal requires utilities to generate 25 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by 2025.

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Banks Double Down On Solar Investments – Forbes

Banks Double Down On Solar Investments – Forbes.

Todd Woody, Forbes Staff

I cover environmental and green technology issues from San Francisco.

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7/27/2012 @ 1:51PM |1,615 views

Banks Double Down On Solar Investments

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The solar industry may be in turmoil as a trade war with China widens to Europe and photovoltaic module manufacturers take big hits on Wall Street but for companies that install solar panels on rooftops the boom times roll on. Read more

Sonnenschiff: Solar City Produces 4X the Energy it Consumes | Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World – StumbleUpon

Sonnenschiff: Solar City Produces 4X the Energy it Consumes | Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World – StumbleUpon.

Although net-zero projects have been creating a lot of buzz lately in the field of green building, the Sonnenschiff solar city in Freiburg, Germany is very much net positive. The self-sustaining city accomplishes this feat through smart solar design and lots and lots of photovoltaic panels pointed in the right direction. It seems like a simple strategy — but designers often incorporate solar installations as an afterthought, or worse, as a label. Designed by Rolf Disch, the Sonnenschiff (Solar Ship) and Solarsiedlung (Solar Village) emphasize power production from the start by smartly incorporating a series of large rooftop solar arrays that double as sun shades. The buildings are also built to Passivhaus standards, which allows the project to produce four times the amount of energy it consumes!

Read more: Sonnenschiff: Solar City Produces 4X the Energy it Consumes Sonnenschiff – Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Can Solar Panels and Historic Preservation Get Along?

Can Solar Panels and Historic Preservation Get Along?.

Kaid Benfield   Jun 25, 2012

I believe that historic preservation in the right context – a healthy neighborhood – can be intrinsically green. Most historic buildings, at least the ones constructed before the days of freeways and urban flight, are on walkable streets in relatively central locations. They represent embodied energy and materials that would be consumed if the same amount of space and the same function had to be constructed anew. Also, being built before “the thermostat age,” as my friend Steve Mouzon calls it, many of them were built with attention to climate and with locally sourced materials, giving them environmentally beneficial characteristics as a matter of design.

But, by definition, historic buildings do not have the latest technology unless it is added many years later. I agree with Steve that technology can be overrated as an environmental cure-all, but there are clearly some forms of green technology that can strengthen the environmental profile of older buildings. This raises the delicate issue of how much updating can and should occur without compromising the building’s historic character.

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Homeowners can Apply for Solar Energy Program through Consumers Energy « THE WMEAC BLOG

Homeowners can Apply for Solar Energy Program through Consumers Energy « THE WMEAC BLOG.

Consumers Energy is offering an opportunity to over 140 state residents, including some in Grand Rapids, to engage in a solar energy contract, as part of their Experimental Advanced Renewable Program (EARP). Eligible homeowners have until July 5 to apply to be a part of this pilot program, which is designed to highlight how renewable energy provides significant long-term savings for households. The program includes a fifteen-year contract that sets a fixed-price for electric customers to sell the output of their solar generating systems to Consumers Energy. Program candidate qualifications are the following:

• Be a Consumers Energy customer account holder.
• Have a satisfactory payment history on your account for the past 12 months.
• Own or lease a solar photovoltaic system and have it installed on premises.
• Be willing to have a separate meter installed.

EARP began in 2008 and now provides 3,250 kW of renewable energy with 1,635 kW of energy reserved for residential systems with the program’s expansion. The program expansion started in July 2011 after the Michigan Public Service Commission gave approval for Consumers Energy to expand its renewable energy options.

Other Consumers Energy renewable energy options include the Green Generation and SmartStreet technology programs. Green Generation lets customers pay a small premium on their monthly bill in order to use and support renewable energy sources. SmartStreet technology, on the other hand, collects energy usage data than can be analyzed so customers can better manage their energy usage practices.

Join us for Earth Day Open House

Join us Saturday April 14th 10am-2pm and tour our solar showroom.

In-house we have:

• 5.3 kW 21 panel SunPower plus Enphase micro-inverters. Watch this system live and compare to other systems around the country.
• Two styles of solar space heating.
• Solar water heating
• Natural daylight office with various sized Solatubes

We also have:

• Solar attic fans
• Solar pool heating systems

Sign up by April 7th to ride the bus tour of local homes we have installed systems on and talk to the homeowner. Seats are limited.

Bring your energy bills and we can help you find the best system for your needs. Open to all – FREE, parking available.

SIGN ME UP!

Home Energy Rating System – 723 Spring Street scores a 40!

Home Energy Rating System – 723 Spring Street scores a 40!.

This the home of one of our customers who provides great updates and information on his home and solar system! Nice job – Val