Solar powered battery chargers to help reduce grid energy consumption

Over the last decade, the number of electronic gadgets in use across the globe has risen dramatically. With the growth of the personal electronics segment, the demand for electricity is growing at an unprecedented rate. However, since the infrastructure that produces and distributes electricity, called the grid, cannot be upgraded at the same rate at which the demand for the electricity is increasing, alternative methods of electricity generation are being investigated. Since around a third of the electricity produced is lost in transmission. This additional dependence on fossil fuels too can be lessened if more sustainable methods of electricity production like solar power are made more accessible to the public.

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Cheap Solar Home Systems Bringing Light, New Opportunities to Millions in Rural Bangladesh

Solar home systems are bringing the benefits of electrical power to millions in rural Bangladesh, a testament to the numerous and varied benefits access to cheap, clean and renewable distributed solar PV can have in developing countries. Microfinance provider Grameen Shakti’s efforts to market and sell solar home systems (SHS) in rural areas across the country that lack grid access have proved extremely successful.

More than 500,000 SHS systems have been installed cumulatively as of year-end 2010, according to Grameen Shakti. The SHS home energy package includes one or more solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, batteries, a power regulator, and a set of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) and LED lights.

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China’s JinkoSolar Holding Co. announced the opening of a new European branch in Zug, Switzerland last week, the latest move by Chinese PV manufacturers to expand their operations globally. Sharp drops in solar PV system materials and components have supported ongoing growth in Europe’s PV market, but the rate of growth has slowed and the outlook is clouded by an economic slowdown as austerity measures enacted to address persistent budget and debt problems constrain economic growth.

With its manufacturing based in Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces, Jinko has sales and marketing offices in Munich, San Francisco and Bologna, Italy. Management is expanding capacity of it’s 1.1 gigawatt (GW) ‘vertically integrated value chain’ of PV products includes silicon ingots, wafers, solar PV cells and solar PV modules to 1.5GW, which it expects to reach by year-end.

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Denver International Airport Expands Solar Generation to Become Largest in U.S.

With the completion of a 4.4-megawatt ground-mounted solar power system, the Denver International Airport now has more than eight MW of solar power – more than any commercial airport in the U.S. It now receives over 6 percent of its electricity via solar power.

DIA hopes to continue its green initiatives and cost savings with the project. “We support alternative energy applications at DIA because these projects are good for the environment while positively impacting our bottom line; they are financially sustainable,” said Kim Day, aviation manager at DIA, in a press release. “This airport was built with a goal of being green, and with this additional solar array, Denver International Airport now has one of the largest solar installations in North America.”

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Last week, there was much mumbling and grumbling over Yosemite’s decision to chop down thousands of trees to improve its picturesque views, but don’t start hating the beloved park just yet. In fact, on the very same day we reported the park’s tree chopping decision, Yosemite officials flipped the switch on a $5.8 million solar array — the largest solar installation in a national park ever. The 672 kW system consists of 2,800 PV panels and will be able to provide 12 percent of the park’s total energy needs.

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Canadian Solar Inc. (Kitchener, Canada) announced that it has signed an agreement to deliver 33 MW of PV modules to Cirus Solar Systems Private Ltd. (Hyderabad, India) in the third and fourth quarters of 2011.

The modules will be used in three ground-mounted PV plants to be designed, installed and commissioned by Cirus in Gujarat, India. Canadian Solar states that module shipments have already commenced.

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An interactive online atlas created by Italy’s Gestore dei Servizi Energetici (GSE) reports that the nation has reached almost 7.80 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) plants.

The region of Puglia in Southern Italy has reached the greatest reported installed capacity, at 1.29 GW. The majority of capacity comes from plants larger than 50 kW, which total 6.22 GW of capacity across the nation.

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World’s Largest Solar PV Farm to be Built in U.S Maybe!

The race is on to choose the best location for the world’s largest solar power complex in the United States. Solar power experts have been working behind the scenes on a project that will see the most advanced and the largest solar power farm emerging to change the landscape somewhere in the southeastern United States.

By last count, there were seven finalists left, all hoping to have the solar farm in their midst. The International Energy Agency in this year’s global outlook says renewable energy sources will raise their profile in the coming months. All seven communities named as finalists for the solar farm are located in southeastern United States, the agency said.

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Sharp’s Zero-CO2 Eco House Experiment Ready This Month

Sharp Corporation began the construction of a zero-carbon “eco house” that will be finished by the end of this month. By building this “eco-friendly house,” the company hopes to contribute to a comfortable living environment and to minimize power consumption.

Located in an industrial district in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, the power saving house features sensor-equipped LED lighting, a 9kW photovoltaic power generator, an 8kWh lithium-ion storage battery and energy efficient appliances.

The electricity produced by the PV panels will supply DC (direct current) power straight to DC appliances without conversion to AC (alternating current). Besides this, Sharp is evaluating whether or not a large 180-inch LCD screen can be integrated into the home’s energy-efficient plans.

According to company officials, the Eco House experiment will help Sharp “realize practical applications that cover things like the control of peak electricity and the compatibility of devices and appliances with smart grids.”


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