Tucson Electric Power Introduces Bright Roofs Solar PV Program

Posted by weijing3333 on October 21st, 2015

Tucson Electric Power (TEP) says it will build new grid-tied solar arrays on the roofs of large public buildings to help serve a growing demand for renewable power under its new TEP Bright Roofs program.Through the program, the company plans to lease space atop schools and other public facilities for the development of 11 MW of new TEP-owned solar generating capacity over the next three years. TEP Bright Roofs will feed solar energy directly into TEP's local distribution grid.The program is designed for buildings with at least 50,000 square feet of flat rooftop space, enough room for a photovoltaic system that generates about 250 kW, TEP says.

For instance, a high school with 200,000 square feet of available roof space could host a 1 MW system.TEP Bright Roofs will incorporate T5 Solar Roof Tile systems from SunPower Corp. of San Jose, Calif. The system can be installed without roof penetrations, making it relatively easy to remove the system for roof maintenance or recoating, TEP notes.

Constellation Energy has signed a 20-year federal contract with the U.S. Department of State (DOS) for solar and wind development in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The power purchase agreement (PPA) will provide an estimated 120,000 MWh of energy annually to the DOS and other federal government facilities.Constellation Energy plans to construct a million solar project on a 40-acre site in New Jersey by mid-2012.

The solar panels for the project will be constructed by UNICOR, the federal prison industries service established in 1934 to provide job-skills training to inmates and produce market-priced goods for the federal government.Constellation Energy has also committed to purchase power produced by a wind facility that will be developed in Pennsylvania under a long-term PPA. In addition, Constellation Energy will supply to the DOS Green-e Energy certified renewable energy certificates sourced from renewable energy facilities located within the U.S. pursuant to the contract.

The DOS, as well as other federal government facilities covered by the contract (including the White House campus), expects to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions associated with domestic electricity consumption by approximately 30% to 35% by December 2012, Constellation Energy adds.

SkyFuel says it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd. (MEIL) regarding the use of its SkyTrough parabolic-trough collector in concentrating solar power projects.MEIL's bid to build, own and operate a 50 MW solar thermal power plant, through its wholly owned subsidiary MEIL Green Power Ltd., in Andhra Pradesh, India, was selected under Phase I of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission, which calls for 20 million square meters of solar concentrators by 2022.SkyTrough's design allows a high proportion of components to be provided by local fabricators, which allows Indian companies to expand manufacturing into the solar market, SkyFuel adds.

source:Renesola