Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday weekend. Today’s rundown of solar energy news will be short, sweet and informative — just like Reporter Kermit.
Arizona Public Service (APS) gained approval to install its own solar panels on about 200 homes in Flagstaff, via Solar Industry. The systems — which will also include 50 solar water heating systems — are part of the utilty’s Community Power Project, a pilot aimed deploying utility-owned panels on customers’ roofs.
In related Arizona solar news, Tucson Electric Power (TEP), another Arizona utility, got the go-ahead to add more than 3 megawatts of solar power to its energy mix through power purchase contracts and new company-owned projects.
Mississippi will soon be home to a brand-spanking-new solar panel manufacturing facility, via Memphis Business Journal. Slated for construction in Senatobia, Miss., the $175 million plant is a venture of Twin Creeks Technologies, a San Jose, Calif.-based solar technologies company. The project may create as many as 5o0 jobs.
SignOnSanDiego today has an interesting Q&A with Joshua Weinstein, managing partner of AMSOLAR, a Solana Beach company that aims to install solar panels in educational settings. Does Mr. Weinstein offer any words of wisdom when it comes to getting solar projects done? A few. Among them: “the conversation should start with the bottom line, not end with the bottom line. And when you believe the conversation starts with the bottom line, everyone in the room agrees they’re there to save money. And once you can agree you’re in the business of saving money, the question is what else are you going to do?”
NV Energy has submitted for approval four new power purchase agreements (PPAs), according to Solar Industry. If approved by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, the PPAs would together add about 132 megawatts of renewable energy for the state’s utility customers.
That’s all for this Monday. We’ll see you back here tomorrow.
UPDATE: Senator Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Lola Spradley, a former speaker of the Colorado State House, this past weekend wrote an Op-Ed, “Colorado Leads Way in Renewable Energy,” via the Chieftain. It’s worth a read — at very least because the bipartisan duo offer some insightful lessons for Washington: “America could learn from Colorado and build on the decision our voters made when they passed Amendment 37. That means developing a strong, diverse portfolio that includes traditional energy sources like coal/oil/natural gas and nuclear, but also expanding clean energy technologies that are affordable for consumers. By setting renewable energy standards, we support jobs that can make our country a chief exporter of clean energy products. Jobs follow technology and we’d rather see Colorado be competitive in the global marketplace selling wind turbines and solar technology, rather than the other way around. While partisan debates rage on many issues, we believe there is no such thing as a Republican job or a Democratic job, but there are American jobs. So let’s promote a vibrant, diverse and cost-competitive energy sector that builds on our traditional fossil-fuel development in the West but also moves us into the global competition for clean energy research and products.”
This is a unique program APS is preparing to implement with its customers. Here in Utah, the major electrical utility for the state is providing incentives to offset the cost of a photovoltaic system by offering $2.00 per watt (up to 3kW) per customer; however there is a catch. The program only offers 50 kW for the entire state and those slots are filled within minutes of the opening bell each year. It would be great to see all utility companies open their minds to possibility of integrating renewable energy in a more productive manner.