Back to the grind, everyone… Here’s a burst of solar energy news to help you through the day.
In New York solar news, Thornwood Self Storage center has added a Westchester County solar installation to its 48,000-square-foot facility, via a press release on Earth Times News. The 82-kilowatt (kW) solar electric system is expected to offset nearly 69,000 pounds of carbon-dioxide emissions a year, an amount that could otherwise be achieved by recycling 1.5 million aluminum cans. Finally, someone puts emissions-reduction numbers into a context I understand…
In Massachusetts solar news, the town of Lancaster may add a new energy-efficiency building code, which would allow it to pursue a $1 million state grant, according to the Worcester Telegram. The funds could be used to install solar panels on the town’s landfill and a number of municipal buildings. Lancaster Energy Commission member David Dunn had the following to say: “It’s not that I’m ‘green,’ I’m just frugal. Anything we can do to reduce energy will save the town money. This is an opportunity for the town to keep the tax rate from rising, for the town to survive.”
In Arizona solar news, a Tucson-area school will add a new solar installation over the summer, via ABC Tucson. The $2 million project is expected to reduce Continental Elementary School’s $112,000 annual electricity bill. This news comes after the Higley Unified School District, also in Arizona, last week approved an agreement to add a number of new rooftop solar installations, via Arizona Central.com.
SunEdison, a division of MEMC Electronic Materials (NYSE:WFR), announced on Friday that it will develop and construct as many as 14 rooftop solar installations for The Remingtong Group, via MarketWatch. Together, the solar installations will total three megawatts (mW) of solar generation capacity for the Canadian real estate developer. So many Arizona solar schools, so little time…
In broader energy news, President Obama on Sunday attended a memorial service for the 29 miners who lost their lives in a West Virginia coal mine on April 5, according to USA Today. In his eulogy, the President emphasized the miners’ hard work and stoicism: “Hour after hour they burrowed into coal, for electricity that lights a convention center, the electricity that powers our country, the electricity that powers the world. … These miners lived — as they died — in pursuit of the American Dream.” The April 5 explosion was America’s worst mining accident in nearly 40 years.
Renewable Energy World has an interview with Roger Little, the CEO of Spire Solar. If you’re a solar industry wonk, it’s worth a read, particularly because both Little and Spire have been prominent players in the industry for quite some time. Plus, the 69-year-old is a world-ranked triathlete, which is pretty awesome.
Finally today: Ed Fondiller, owner and director of a tennis resort in Saugerties New York, inaugurated a new Hudson Valley solar installation last week, via Mid Hudson News. This is just one of tens — perhaps hundreds — of solar installations that were added to the grid across the country last week in celebration of Earth Day. We managed to cover one: a Tucson, Arizona solar electric installation, courtesy of KXCI Community Radio and a generous local solar installer. But just click through to the picture of Fondiller smiling and standing proudly in front of the resort’s spankin’-new 486-panel solar system, and you’ll see why we’re including it here. He’s just so happy — congrats to him and his company!
That’s all for today — thanks, as always, for reading. We’ll see you back here tomorrow.
