solar

Bradford County, Pa. could allow solar project for 10,000 homes

TOWANDA — The Bradford County Commissioners held a public hearing Thursday morning on the proposed Subdivision And Land Development Ordinance (SALDO) amendment for solar energy facilities within Bradford County.

The proposed amendment seeks to “provide for the development, construction, operation, and decommissioning of utility-scale and community solar energy facilities in the county, subject to reasonable conditions that will protect the public health, safety and welfare,” according to Bradford County Planning Director Matt Williams.

County officials have anticipated solar projects within the county and sought to clarify regulations regarding them. Vesper Energy is currently developing a proposed 100-megawatt solar project within the county called Bradford Solar, according to EJay Fyke, the company’s community affairs manager. Vesper is working with up to three private landowners on the project that will take place on 600 to 700 acres of private land. Bradford Solar would generate power for 10,000 homes.

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Germans study benefits of growing hops for beer under solar panels

Climate Beer and Solar
Solar panels are mounted on poles above a hops field near Au in der Hallertau, Germany, Wednesday, July 19, 2023. Solar panels atop crops has been gaining traction in recent years as incentives and demand for clean energy skyrocket. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

From the Associated Press Posted at 9:08 AM, Jul 22, 2023 and last updated 9:08 AM, Jul 22, 2023

AU IN DER HALLERTAU, Germany (AP) — Bright green vines snake upwards 20 feet (six meters) toward an umbrella of solar panels at Josef Wimmer’s farm in Bavaria.

He grows hops, used to make beer, and in recent years has also been generating electricity, with solar panels sprawled across 1.3 hectares (32 acres) of his land in the small hop-making town of Au in der Hallertau, an hour north of Munich in southern Germany.

The pilot project — a collaboration between Wimmer and local solar technology company Hallertauer Handelshaus — was set up in the fall of last year. The electricity made at this farm can power around 250 households, and the hops get shade they’ll need more often as climate change turbocharges summer heat.

Solar panels atop crops has been gaining traction in recent years as incentives and demand for clean energy skyrocket. Researchers look into making the best use of agricultural land, and farmers seek ways to shield their crops from blistering heat, keep in moisture and potentially increase yields. The team in Germany says its effort is the first agrivoltaic project that’s solely focused on hops, but projects have sprouted around the world in several countries for a variety of grains, fruits and vegetables.

Agrivoltaics is the technical term for using land for both solar energy and crops
Solar Panels Plus Farming? Agrivoltaics Explained (video)

Beer-making hops can suffer if exposed to too much sun, said Bernhard Gruber, who’s managing the project’s solar component — and since there were already solar installations on the farm, it made sense to give them a second purpose by mounting them on poles above the crops.

In addition to shielding plants from solar stress, the shade could mean “water from precipitation lasts longer, leaving more in the soil” and that “the hops stay healthier and are less susceptible to diseases,” Gruber said. A scientific analysis of the benefits for the plants will be concluded in October.

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Arizona Governor rejects new rules for wind and solar power

Intersect Power

BY HOWARD FISCHER Capitol Media Services

PHOENIX — Calling it a potential barrier to renewable energy, Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed legislation Monday which would have imposed new requirements on solar and wind generating plants.

HB 2618 contained a list of what cities, towns, and counties could adopt in zoning standards, site-specific conditions, and permitting requirements on such facilities.

Potentially more significant, it would have required owners to not only have a decommissioning plan in place but also to post a bond — essentially insurance — to cover the costs if the company goes bankrupt or otherwise tries to walk away. And it even would mandate restoring and re-establishing soils and vegetation using native seed mixes.

It also included requirements for liability insurance to protect the community from any financial obligations due to injuries or other damages caused by the plant.

Rep. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford, said counties already have some oversight of such projects. What this would do, she said, is provide some basic standards.

The governor, however, said all that is too much.

“HB 2618 encourages an inconsistent statewide patchwork of regulations for renewable energy projects and would have a deep chilling effect on renewable energy development in Arizona,” Hobbs wrote in her veto message. “It creates additional regulatory confusion for businesses, negatively impacting Arizona’s ability to attract, retain, and grow a renewable energy ecosystem in our state to create good-paying jobs for everyday Arizonans.”

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Large, floating solar array over NJ reservoir powers treatment plant

By Wayne Parry, Associated Press

Solar panels from a project at a water treatment plant are shown Tuesday, June 6, 2023, in Millburn, N.J., that provides enough electricity to power 95% of the treatment facilities electrical needs. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)
Solar panels from a project at a water treatment plant are shown Tuesday, June 6, 2023, in Millburn, N.J., that provides enough electricity to power 95% of the treatment facilities electrical needs. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)

MILLBURN, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s Canoe Brook Water Treatment plant produces 14 millions gallons of drinking water a day.

Each one of those gallons weighs around 8 pounds , so it’s quickly apparent that a large amount of energy is needed to move water from a reservoir to the treatment plant and into the 84,000 homes and businesses that the New Jersey American Water Company serves in the area.

So the water utility partnered with NJR Clean Energy Ventures, the renewable energy subsidiary of the natural gas firm New Jersey Resources, for a solution.

NJR Clean Energy Ventures built a vast array of solar panels, linked them together, and placed them on the surface of the water at Canoe Brook Reservoir.

The companies say the 17-acre solar array, consisting of 16,510 solar panels, is the largest floating solar array in North America — about twice the size of the next-largest facility, an array of floating panels on a body of water in Sayreville, New Jersey owned by that municipality.

The Millburn facility, which began operating in January, produces 8.9 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 1,400 homes.

But the power doesn’t go to residential customers. Instead, it provides 95% of the water treatment plant’s substantial energy requirements.

“It takes a lot of energy to pump that water,” said Mark McDonough, president of New Jersey American Water. “When we can use a cleaner, greener, more efficient energy source, we want to seize that opportunity.”

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Lehigh University begins work on a 20-acre solar farm

Construction equipment rests on the area where a solar array is being built Wednesday, April 12, 2023, at the Lehigh University Goodman Campus in Bethlehem. The site for the solar array, just south of Legacy Park and opposite the Lewis Indoor Tennis Center, was chosen relative to existing power infrastructure. Landscaping will be planted between the field and the nearest residential community to help block the view of the array. The project will supply 100% of the electricity for the Goodman Campus, and offset 8% of Lehigh’s grid electricity consumption. The array also will provide research and learning opportunities for students. (Rick Kintzel/The Morning Call)

By LINDSAY WEBER |The Morning Call

Lehigh University has begun construction on a 20-acre solar farm that will bring 7,400 solar panels to the school’s Murray H. Goodman campus in Bethlehem.

According to Emily Collins, a Lehigh University spokesperson, the project will supply 100% of the electricity needs of the Goodman campus, which is home to the university’s athletic facilities.

The site for the solar array, just south of Legacy Park and opposite the Lewis Indoor Tennis Center, was chosen relative to existing power infrastructure. Landscaping will be planted between the field and the nearest residential community to help block the view of the array. The project will supply 100% of the electricity for the Goodman Campus, and offset 8% of Lehigh’s grid electricity consumption. The array also will provide research and learning opportunities for students.

The solar farm, which the Bethlehem Planning Commission approved in a 3-1 vote last year, was opposed by several residents of Saucon Fields Condominiums, which overlooks the solar farm’s location on 124 Goodman Drive. Residents said the solar panels would cause glare to reflect into their homes and diminish their property values.

Representatives for the university said that a “glare analysis” found that glare would not be a significant hazard, and the school is constructing a berm, or raised barrier of land, with trees on the border between the two properties.

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Cornell engineering research makes stunning claim about why it’s important to manufacture solar panels in North America

The research claims that if solar panel manufacturing were to return to the U.S. by 2035, emissions resulting from panel creation would be reduced by 30%, and energy consumption would be cut by 13%, compared to 2020.

solar-panel-manufacturing

Solar Panel Manufacturing and Testing. (Archive Photo)Bookmark

By DERICK LILA, pvbuzz

Domestic production of solar panels – most of which are now made in Asia – can speed up decarbonization in the U.S. and reduce climate change faster, according to new Cornell Engineering research published March 8 by Nature Communications.

“If we bring the solar panel manufacturing back to the U.S., it helps us realize decarbonization goals faster,” said Haoyue Liang, a doctoral student in systems engineering, who co-authored “Reshoring Silicon Photovoltaics Manufacturing Contributes to Decarbonization and Climate Change Mitigation” with Fengqi You, the Roxanne E. and Michael J. Zak Professor in Energy Systems Engineering.

“As solar photovoltaic panels emerge as a major power source that will characterize the U.S. energy market for the remainder of the 21st century,” Liang said, “manufacturing and sourcing panels here will align with our climate targets and our energy policy goals.”

Manufacturing crystalline silicon photovoltaic panels in the U.S. solves logistical challenges and eases greenhouse gas problems, according to the paper.

The scientists analyzed production in the U.S. to learn how it could shrink greenhouse gas emissions and energy use. If solar panel manufacturing can return to the U.S. by 2035, the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from panel creation would be reduced by 30% and energy consumption would be cut by 13%, compared to 2020, when the U.S. relied almost entirely on international trading partners.

By 2050, the solar panels made and used in the U.S. will be more efficient and will reduce the carbon footprint by 33%, and use 17% less energy than solar panels sourced globally in 2020.

The climate-change mitigation forecast would be fulfilled by both reshoring the solar panel manufacturing back to the U.S. and having mostly renewable energy on the power grid, which is anticipated in the next decades.

Based on projections about the energy decarbonization transition that happens alongside reshoring, You said, the U.S. will see a larger share of renewable power accounting for primary energy consumption and an overall lower primary energy consumption over the years for solar panel manufacturing.

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