Source:  solarnovus.com, 05.18.2011

The Seoul Metropolitan Government in South Korea announced that it will partially open its Floating Island to the public on 21 May 2011.

The island that makes up the sprawling 20,382 square metres (m²), or 219,390 square feet (ft²), has been developed under three key themes: exhibition and convention, culture and aquatic leisure. The 96.4 billion KRW (~$88 million USD) project was funded entirely with private funds. Comprised of three artificial islets, the Floating Island is currently under construction on the Han River near Banpo Hangang Park in Seoul.

• Islet 1, the biggest of the three islets, is three stories high and measures 10,845 m²(116,735 ft²). It includes a 700-seat convention hall on the roof of which solar energy panels measuring 54 m² (581 ft²) and generating 6 kilowatts (kW) per house of energy each day have been built.

• Islet 2, a three-story structure measuring 5373 m² (57,834 ft²), is focused on developing facilities for cultural events.

• Islet 3, two stories high, takes up a 4164 m² (44,821 ft²) area and is devoted to various aquatic leisure sports activities like yachting.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government expects this center to play a pivotal role in advancing its tourism and convention sectors. The total number of seats for exhibitions and conventions will reach 1400 among all three of the islets. The Floating Island is scheduled for completion in September 2011.

Source: brighterenergy.org, 05.18.2011

WindTamer Corporation (OTCBB:WNDT.O, a developer and manufacturer of wind turbines and renewable energy power storage and management systems, will supply the wind power component for a 1MWh energy storage project.

The company based in Rochester, New York, said its WindTamer wind turbine has been selected by Ultralife Corporation (NASDAQ: ULBI) as the wind component for the energy storage system demonstration project to be installed at Ultralife’s Newark, New York, corporate campus.

Ultralife has purchased an 8.0GT model WindTamer turbine together with monitoring capabilities for the initial prototype installation.

A New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) award will help support the design, development, prototyping, scale-up and installation of the large scale lithium ion energy storage system.

The system will integrate lithium ion batteries, ultracapacitors and renewable-energy generation sources, including wind and solar, and will allow utility companies and renewable energy generators to intelligently manage energy for consumption or storage.

Ultralife is organizing and leading a collaborative team composed of partners including academic institutions, industrial and consulting businesses to develop the system to store and mange power generated from any source for use at optimal peak times.

“We are extremely pleased that Ultralife has chosen the WindTamer wind turbine to be a component of this system,” said William A. Schmitz, Chief Executive Officer of WindTamer.

WindTamer Corporation is a developer and manufacturer of wind turbines and custom-designed renewable energy storage and power management systems and a supplier of solar energy systems.

The WindTamer diffuser-augmented wind turbine utilizes a patented technology for the production of electrical power. WindTamer’s patent-pending Power on Demand system utilizes inputs from multiple energy sources including wind, solar, fuel cells and the grid in conjunction with a custom-designed battery storage system and a proprietary smart monitoring technology that releases energy at optimal times to reduce peak power demand, thereby lowering electricity costs for large energy users who deal with peak usage pricing.

WindTamer also sells a mobile renewable energy system that that generates wind and solar energy to an onboard storage unit for military and other applications, and a renewable power station that is a scalable system that can be drop-shipped to off-grid locations to be used as a “micro-grid”.

WindTamer’s Board of Directors has approved changing the name of the Company to Arista Power, Inc. subject to shareholder approval at its May 18, 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

by ALYSON ZEPEDA, cronkitenewsonline.com, 05.03.2011

Maricopa County used a $540,000 grant under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act to put 228 solar panels atop the White Tank Library near Buckeye.    Photo by Alyson Zepeda

BUCKEYE, ARIZONA – Tucked away in the foothills of White Tank Mountain Regional Park, an unobtrusive building is saving Maricopa County money.

Between the 85-kilowatt solar panel system on its roof and earning the highest rating from the U.S. Green Building Council, the White Tank Library is estimated to save the county $10,400 per year in energy costs, said Nelson Mitchell, public information officer for the Maricopa County Library District. The solar system, installed using a $540,000 grant under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, supplies 25 percent of the building’s annual needs.

“We value energy efficiency as a way of life,” Mitchell said.

Meanwhile, the county is using a $2.3 million stimulus grant to install solar hot water systems at two of its jails.

“It makes economic sense,” said Jonce Walker, the county’s sustainability manager. “If you reduce energy you are saving a lot of money.”

Maricopa County is part of a national trend, helped by stimulus money, of local governments investing in solar power, said Carolyn Berndt, principal associate for infrastructure and sustainability with the National League of Cities.

“Energy efficiency is the cheapest and most efficient form of greenhouse gas reduction, and I think these renewable energy projects can save these governments a lot of money in energy costs,” she said.

Berndt said that some local governments were already investing in solar projects before stimulus grants were available, but many more are doing so now. She expects more solar projects to pop up around Arizona and the rest of the country as local governments face a deadline of using stimulus money by the end of 2012.

“I think for local governments it is a win-win,” Berndt said. “You are reducing your energy costs by installing these renewable energy solar power systems, and that’s the bottom line.”

Governments have always been leaders in green initiatives, and it is no different when it comes to energy efficiency and solar power, said Mick Dalrymple, project manager for Arizona State University’s Energize Phoenix, a program funded by stimulus dollars.

“Taxpayers and governments own their buildings and they hold them for a long time,” Dalrymple said. “When they make improvements to them, taxpayers see the benefits, so it makes a lot of sense.”

Installing solar panels is usually the last step in a process of making a building energy efficient, Dalrymple said and that is what many governments focus on first. But adding solar panels to a building once it is energy efficient is an investment with guaranteed returns for governments, he said. Though many solar systems are estimated to pay for themselves in over 20 years when they are first installed, the inevitable increase in electricity rates make them profitable much faster, he said.

In a time of cuts to education, solar power is a way for Riverside Elementary School District in the southwest Valley to inject more money back into the school, said Jaime Rivera, the district’s superintendent.

“You try to reduce as much as you can to be able to bring these funds back into the classroom,” he said.

Last year, the district partnered with California-based SolarCity to install panels on the roofs of the district’s two elementary schools. SolarCity financed, installed, maintains and owns the solar panels and sells the energy to SRP. In return, the schools are guaranteed electricity for no more than 9 cents per kilowatt hour for the next 25 years regardless of peak hours, time of year or rate increases. Rivera said solar is a growing trend among Arizona school districts.

“I think because we are small, we are more light-footed and can put things in place faster than maybe larger school districts,” he said.

As for Maricopa County, Walker said the investment in renewable energy won’t stop once the stimulus money is gone. Already the county has set a goal of increasing their current renewable energy capacity from 6 megawatts to 8 megawatts by 2015.

“Quite frankly there is a lot of opportunity still,” Walker said. “We are by no means done.”