The panel recommended the five-member CEC approve the three-part solar thermal project, stating the benefits of the plant would outweigh any negative impacts to the local environment. We are now in the midst of a 30-day period for public comment before the commission makes its final decision whether construction may proceed.

If completed, Ivanpah — at 392 megawatts (MW) — would be one of the largest solar thermal plants in the world. According to Brighter Energy, the plant will produce enough energy to power 140,000 homes and improve air quality by taking the equivalent of 70,000 cars off our roads.

A main reason the project gained the panel’s approval is that BrightSource Energy Inc. — the Oakland, California-based firm that is developing the project — scaled down the total size of the project and revised its plans to minimize environmental impacts. One such revision includes switching from a water-cooling system to an air-cooling system. Water in the desert is, after all, a scarce resource.

John Woolard, President and CEO of BrightSource Energy, had this to say following the CEC panel’s recommendation:

We look forward to a final decision from the Commission when we can begin constructing the Ivanpah project, providing good jobs for the High Desert community, producing clean energy for the state’s homes and businesses, and creating a model for environmentally-responsible energy projects.

According to the Mojave Desert Blog, the environmental impact of the project won’t be zero. You can expect to see the loss of some desert tortoise and other species. To allay these concerns, BrightSource Energy has agreed to fund land conservation projects elsewhere in the Mojave Desert. The issues involved underscore the interplay between local environmental impacts and the broader issue of climate change.

Amy Davidsen, U.S. Director of the Climate Group, is in favor of the plant because of what it can potentially do to help combat climate change.

“Large-scale solar technologies provide one of our best hopes for solving the problem of global climate change,” she said. “To meet this potential, we need to scale up the use of these technologies as soon as possible. Today’s proposed decision recommending approval of the Ivanpah project represents a major step toward the realization of this goal.”

If the commission gives final approval, construction is set to begin this coming fall, with the San Francisco, California-based engineering firm Bechtel heading up the effort. The energy produced will be sold to Southern California Edison (SCE) and, pending approval, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). SCE gained such approval last Thursday from the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC).

After Panel Approval, Ivanpah Solar Project Open to Public Comment

The desert laboratory for testing new solar technologies is scheduled to be built on 25 square miles of the same test site used by the U.S. Government in the 1950′s to test the nation’s nuclear capabilities. The area stands approximately 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. According to several government officials, who spoke to the Las Vegas Sun, the majority of the testing will focus on developing new solar thermal technologies.

This type of solar power setup entails using mirrors to direct the sun’s rays onto a liquid-filled tube or tower. The heat boils the liquid, creating steam that turns a turbine. Much of the new technology developed will focus on creating better ways to store the heat and reduce water consumption.

The testing facility is expected to allow the U.S. to develop and market new solar technology at a faster rate, with the end goal being to drive prices down, which is a key igredient to the widespread adoption of renewable energy. And if solar is a large part of that renewable energy future, what better place to make the epicenter of it all, says Reid, than Nevada with its 300+ sunny days a year.

Nevada May Become Epicenter for U.S. Solar Development

With a 97.5 percent efficiency rate, SolarEdge’s DC-AC inverters are among the most efficient on the market

The Escondido solar home plays host to 26 multi-crystalline PV modules, which were installed by Photon Solar Power, a solar installation company that serves customers in Colorado, San Diego and other parts of southern California.

According to the press release, solar energy professionals in the area may pay particular attention to this residential solar installation because it is the first grid-tied system in the U.S. to incorporate SolarEdge’s inverters. If successful, the installation could pave the way for many more solar homes to incorporate the company’s high-efficiency inverter technology.

California Solar Home Features Latest Solar Technology

The solar developments began in 2005 when the city’s subway system opened the Stillwell Avenue Terminal: it was equipped with 2,800 solar electric panels mounted to its roof. The installation gained national attention two years later when the American Institute of Architects’ Committee gave the installation honorable mention on the 2007 Top Ten list of green projects, calling it “a catalyst for the revitalization of Coney Island.”

Also in 2005, 32 solar panels were installed on Coney Island’s signature ”Wonder Wheel” ride.

The NYC Transit Maintenance Facility is part of the MTA system that transports 2.4 billion New Yorkers each year.

The latest solar-power development on Coney Island came in April, 2010, when the New York Power Authority (NYPA) and Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) mounted solar hot-water panels atop the Island’s maintenance facility, the biggest rapid transit yard in the world. The 48 panels provide hot water — at temperatures as high as 240 degrees — for the washing of subway cars. The system also supplies hot water in the restrooms. NYPA’s President Richard Kessel found the installation very appropriate for Coney Island:

“It seems fitting that we’re pioneering this advanced solar-thermal technology in a community whose iconic attractions include the beach and sun.”

The NYPA has made efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 34,000 tons a year, according to New York City Transit President Thomas Prendergast. This latest solar thermal (solar hot water) installation cost the NYPA $550,000, minus the $150,000 grant they received from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.

Predergast noted the solar thermal system, which replaced an old hot water tank, will save about $94,000 annually.

Coney Island Facility Gets Solar Hot Water in New York

Bowdoin’s goal is to use the system to offset emissions from its steam-to-water heat exchanger system, which uses natural gas to run the school’s dining hall. The solar hot water system is part of a broader initiative, the Climate Neutrality Implementation Plan (PDF), a strategy to help Bowdoin reach carbon neutrality by 2020. The solar hot water project would fall in the light green category depicted below.

The 960-square-foot, 24-panel solar water heating system will be installed atop Bowdoin’s Thorne Hall, which currently uses about 4,800 gallons of hot water per day — high, relative to the rest of the campus. According to ReVision Energy, a renewable energy consulting firm, during the first 10 years of operation the project will generate roughly 4.16 billion British Thermal Units (BTUs) — an amount of energy that would otherwise need to come from 268 million cubic meters of natural gas purchases.

S. Catherine Longley, Bowdoin’s Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration & Treasurer, views the solar hot water installation as a key step towards fulfilling the school’s goals. ”The solar hot water project, in conjunction with the installation of a cogeneration facility that also recently received state funding, will help the College move forward in meeting its carbon neutrality goals,” she said.

Read more on Bowdoin’s website.

Bowdoin College Awarded Grant for Solar Hot Water System

About a month ago, the Solar Rating and Certification Corporation (SRCC) OK’d the solar manufacturer’s 7000 series solar collector to receive an OG-100 certification. Many federal and state solar incentive programs require equipment to be SRCC-certified, so the announcement represents a milestone for the company.

Free Hot Water’s new solar thermal collector can output 1.65 kilowatts (kW) per hour equivalent, equal to about 28,000 BTUs per panel per day. Install these collectors, in other words, and you can use the sun to meet a good portion of your domestic hot water needs.

The federal government is currently offering a 30-percent tax credit for the installation of qualifying solar hot water systems (and solar electric systems). Beyond this, a number of state- and utility-sponsored solar hot water incentives are available across the country.

According to Renewable Energy World, in some states Free Hot Water’s new solar collector qualifies for a rebate that’s larger than the actual installed cost of the system.

New Solar Thermal Collector Gets Certified, Qualifies for Rebates

Each system comes with a four-by-ten-foot solar thermal panel, controls, piping and a solar hot water tank. Fifty of the 900 systems have already been installed at the North Carolina military community. When completed, the installations are projected to provide roughly 75 percent of hot-water usage within the Camp Lejeune community.

FSL Energy is installing the systems at Camp Lejeune and selling the generated energy to the camp at a rate that is less than fossil fuel rate for the same job. The installations should significantly reduce the camp’s carbon footprint, as one-fourth the annual energy usage in an average home in North Carolina goes to heating water for domestic use.

Marine Corps to Receive Solar Hot Water in North Carolina

The company is now offering solar energy consumers its hot water systems through a major industry retailer. Under the arrangement, consumers are able purchase WePower’s solar hot water heater  – and installation — all in one package.

After installation, WePower’s Solar Direct Energy system will double your supply of hot water. The system comes with one rooftop panel that uses the sun’s heat to warm water inside of an 80-gallon tank. Solar hot water systems are typically less expensive than solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, which require larger outlays.

WePower’s system can slash your home’s total energy cost by up to 45 percent, cut your household emissions by 30 percent and prevent 4-6 tons of annual household emissions.

The new one-stop purchasing arrangement is only one reason why installing a solar hot water heater is more enticing than ever. In several states, including California, homeowners are now eligible to receive a federal tax credit for 30 percent of the system’s cost and a utility company cash rebate in the neighborhood of $900 to $2,000.

WePower, Retailers Help Homeowners Cash in on Solar Hot Water

The electric cooperative operates in both states, serving four counties from Sand Valley to Esmeralda County. VEA is doing all it can to promote solar hot water systems among homeowners: the co-op is selling the systems at face value, providing free certified installation and giving interest-free loans to further entice the public to go solar.

VEA undertook the plan — one of the largest domestic solar water heating programs in the United States — in early September 2009, aiming to install 5,000 solar water-heating systems by 2013.

“We are very confident that we will reach our goal,” said Staci Behnke, VEA’s Community and Governmental Relations Manager, adding that the response to the program has been “very positive.”

VEA has Installed over 100 solar water-heaters since the start of the initiative, cutting utility bills of VEA customers while slashing carbon and other emissions associated with burning coal and other fossil fuels.

VEA Brings Affordable Solar Hot Water to California, Nevada

Between 2005 and 2008, the CCEF disbursed over $20 million in rebates for residential solar thermal installations and $65 million in rebates for government and commercial solar thermal installations.

The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund (CCEF)  has established a new $4 million state-wide solar hot water initiative for homes and businesses expected to last until March 1, 2012. The action comes on the heels of CCEF being awarded $4 million by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to establish a SHWH program for the state.

Home and business owners can both benefit from the incentive, provided they install SHWH systems that will cover 50 – 80 percent of the building’s  annual domestic hot water needs. Additionally, the installed system must be either SRCC rated, or rated and certified by an independent testing body.

If all requirements to qualify for the incentive are met, the maximum amount Connecticut citizens are able to receive depends on the number of persons in the household or what type of organization is being run.

The state will award the following maximum amounts to households of:

• 1-2 people: up to $2,400
• 3-4 people: up to $3,600
• 5-6 people: up to $4,800

The maximum incentive for commercial installations is $50,000; for governmental and non-profit agencies, that cap is $82,500. As GetSolar’s Adam Sewall reported when the news first broke about the rebate, the Associate Director of Project Development at CCF says the program “should reduce annual fossil fuel consumption in Connecticut by 33,373 MMBtu, or the equivalent of 240,000 gallons of fuel oil. These systems will avoid the creation of 2,686 tons of carbon dioxide very year, for the life of the systems.”

For more information about solar water heating, check out A Glimpse Into Solar Thermal in China and Active Solar vs Passive Solar.

ARRA Fuels Connecticut Solar Hot Water Rebate