In Response to “Study: Solar could power more of Iowa’s energy needs”
Written by Michael Vrtis President of Realgy Energy Services in response to the Des Moines Register article Study: Solar could power more of Iowa’s energy needs
Iowa in addition to producing more corn and hogs than they consume could produce more solar energy!
GO IOWA!
In the article such factors as; declining costs of installing solar along with recognition of the environmental benefits (recognized by tax incentives) are driving such rapid growth and adoption of solar energy.
Realgy in completing 2 new installations now has 4 solar projects in Illinois generating 180,153 kWh producing roughly 0.4 % of the total energy we delivered into COMED for 2013…..while a contribution we clearly are no Iowa!
Check out The Des Moines Register article: Study: Solar could power more of Iowa’s energy needs
Realgy Energy Services has installed Two New Solar PV systems in Illinois
At the beginning of December 2013, Realgy announced the start of construction on two of its newest solar power projects in the state of Illinois. Once completed, the two new systems in total will produce over 90,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy annually and offset almost 2 million pounds of carbon dioxide during the initial 25 years of operation.
The first Solar Photovoltaic (PV) system has been installed on the roof of the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake, home to the historic Lake County Fair and other year-round events. The second Solar PV system was installed at Seven Oaks Farm, a historic dairy and horse farm in Saint Charles.
Both PV Systems have been installed by Renewable Energy Alternatives of Arlington Heights. “We are excited to be a part of this venture,” said Kacie Peters, Director of Sales and Marketing at Renewable Energy Alternatives. “The array is in a very public space and will be seen by thousands annually. We hope that this array will inspire others to know solar is possible—and practical in Illinois.”
“Realgy made this investment as a part of our sustainable energy commitment with the support of Illinois Department of Commerce Renewable Energy Program and the Illinois Solar Energy Association.” Michael Vrtis, President of Realgy. All of the energy produced by the panels will be used by the companies, and will reduce their reliance on fossil-generated energy produced primarily from coal in Illinois.
Seven Oaks Farm breaks ground on the installation of its first solar power project
PRESS RELEASE December 02, 2013 | By: Realgy, LLC
Seven Oaks Farm, Saint Charles, Ill., will soon be partially powered by a 160 solar panel PV system.
Realgy, LLC has announced the start of installation on a 37.5 kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) system for Seven Oaks Farm. The solar PV system will be the second of its kind installed by Realgy in Saint Charles, the first being Midwest Groundcovers in 2011. Seven Oaks Farm is a historic dairy and horse farm owned by Deborah and Helmut Jahn since 1998.
The solar PV system is being installed by Renewable Energy Alternatives of Northbrook, Illinois. This is the first solar project that Renewable Energy Alternatives has completed for Seven Oaks Farm “We are excited to be a part of this venture,” said Kacie Peters, Director of Sales and Marketing at Renewable Energy Alternatives. “The array is in a very public space and will be seen by thousands annually. We hope that this array will inspire others to know solar is possible—and practical in Illinois.”
Realgy, LLC is an alternative energy service supplier in Illinois, and will be supplying Seven Oaks Farm their electricity and selected them for this installation. Seven Oaks Farm will receive all of the solar energy produced by the panels, which will reduce their reliance on fossil generated energy produced primarily from coal in Illinois.
Once complete the Seven Oaks Farm solar PV system will produce over 49, 000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy annually and more than one million kWh over the next 25 years. That is enough energy to power about 2 average U.S. homes every year. The environmental benefits associated with the system will offset about 900 thousand pounds of carbon dioxide over the initial 25 years of operation.
“We are excited to announce the start of the Seven Oaks solar project,” said Michael Vrtis, President of Realgy. “Realgy made this investment as a part of our sustainable energy commitment and due to the support of Illinois Department of commerce Renewable Energy Program and the ISEA.”
Contacts:
Seven Oaks Farm
36W788 Red Gate Road
Saint Charles, Illinois 60175
630-762-9563
Renewable Energy Alternatives
Kacie Peters
3670 Commercial Avenue
Northbrook, Illinois
847-291-7693
www.renewableenergyalt.com
Realgy, LLC
Nicole Werner
675 Oakwood Avenue
West Hartford, CT
860-233-2270
www.realgyenergyservices.com
Lake County Fairgrounds breaks ground on the installation of its first solar power project
PRESS RELEASE December 02, 2013 | By: Realgy, LLC
Lake County Fairgrounds, Grayslake, Ill., will soon be partially powered by a 160 solar panel PV system.
Realgy, LLC has announced the start of installation on a 37.5 kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic (PV) system for Lake County Fairgrounds. The solar PV system will be installed on the roof and will occupy approximately 53- by 54-square-feet of space. Lake County Fairgrounds, operated by Lake County Fair Association, is the home of the historic Lake County Fair and other quality year-round events.
The solar PV system is being installed by Renewable Energy Alternatives of Arlington Heights, Illinois. This is the first solar project that Renewable Energy Alternatives has completed for Lake County Fairgrounds. “We are excited to be a part of this venture,” said Kacie Peters, Director of Sales and Marketing at Renewable Energy Alternatives. “The array is in a very public space and will be seen by thousands annually. We hope that this array will inspire others to know solar is possible—and practical in Illinois.”
Realgy, LLC is an alternative energy service supplier in Illinois, and will be supplying Lake County Fairgrounds their electricity and selected them for this installation. Lake County will receive all of the solar energy produced by the panels, which will reduce their reliance on fossil generated energy produced primarily from coal in Illinois.
Once complete the Lake County solar PV system will produce over 49, 000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy annually and more than one million kWh over the next 25 years. That is enough energy to power about 2 average U.S. homes every year. The environmental benefits associated with the system will offset about 900 thousand pounds of carbon dioxide over the initial 25 years of operation.
“We are excited to announce the start of the Lake County Fairgrounds solar project,” said Michael Vrtis, President of Realgy. “Realgy made this investment as a part of our sustainable energy commitment and due to the support of Illinois Department of commerce Renewable Energy Program and the Illinois Solar Energy Association.”
Contacts:
Lake County Fairgrounds
1060 East Peterson Road
Grayslake, Illinois 60030
847-680-7200
www.lcfair.com
Renewable Energy Alternatives
Kacie Peters
3670 Commercial Avenue
Northbrook, Illinois
847-291-7693
www.renewableenergyalt.com
Realgy, LLC
Nicole Werner
675 Oakwood Avenue
West Hartford, CT
860-233-2270
www.realgyenergyservices.com
Solar cells you can see through
A team of researchers at UCLA have developed a new transparent solar cell that has the ability to generate electricity while still allowing a view of the outside.
This new kind of polymer solar cell (PSC) produces an electrical current by absorbing infrared light and not visible light, which makes the cells nearly 70% transparent to the human eye.
Visibly Transparent Polymer Solar Cells Produced by Solution Processing courtesy of UCLA
“Our new PSCs are made from plastic-like materials and are lightweight and flexible,” said study leader Yang Yang, a UCLA professor of materials science and engineering. “More importantly, they can be produced in high volume at low cost.”
The transparent conductor, another breakthrough, is made of silver nanowire and titanium dioxide nanoparticles, which replaces the opaque metal electrodes used in the past. This composite electrode also allows the solar cells to be fabricated economically by solution processing. With this combination, 4% power-conversion efficiency for solution-processed and visibly transparent polymer solar cells has been achieved.
“We are excited by this new invention on transparent solar cells, which applied our recent advances in transparent conducting windows (also published in ACS Nano) to fabricate these devices,” said Paul S.Weiss, CNSI director and Fred Kavli Chair in NanoSystems Sciences.
Source
UCLA Newsroom, UCLA researchers create highly transparent solar cells for windows that generate electricity
In Response to “Frenemies—Why Solar and Natural Gas Will Be Central to US Energy Policy”
Written by Michael Vrtis President of Realgy Energy Services in response to the Green Tech article “Frenemies—Why Solar and Natural Gas Will Be Central to US Energy Policy”
The article provides a good sense of history and assessment of our demand for electricity. This article is clear that natural gas can and is used for the production of peaking electricity (electricity used during 9Am-5PM) which is exactly the time when solar energy is delivering its energy. So on that point they could appear competitive but as was pointed out in the article, it is a false choice on several levels.
The deployment of investment in solar verse natural gas generators is a question of size; how much is needed and for what purpose. Natural gas will dominate when energy demand is critical and very large (urban areas, major manufacturing centers, etc.). Whereas solar can and should take its place where surface area for its installation (solar takes up a lot of space compared to any other electric generating technology) is available.
Realgy Energy Services has invested in building solar projects on the roof of buildings in Illinois. These customers use more than the solar panels can generate (during most days) and the additional electricity is purchased from gas and coal fired power plants. The solar projects were supported with tax incentives that made the investment possible. The solar panels have a 20-25 year operating life with near zero operating costs; no other generating technology can match this (wind does come close but it has higher operating costs). These projects demonstrate how solar energy and all the grid supported generators work together.
Technology will advance and with it the costs of generating electricity will decrease. All energy options should be evaluated and used so as to create diversity of technology, fuels and operations so that the electricity gird is robust and not dependent on a single energy source (remember the 1970’s oil shock) or technology risk. I hear often of the need for a US Energy Policy I think we have it; look at how the US Government supports industry through tax policy and you will see our Energy Policy (heavily favors oil and natural gas).
A real success; consider that is the span of the last 20 years wind energy went from being a tax incentivized technology that was not “financeable” to what is now considered standard technology and capable of investment grade financing. Solar energy will follow the pattern that wind energy and the diversification of the US energy market (along with environmental, jobs, etc.) will benefit.
Green Tech, “Frenemies—Why Solar and Natural Gas Will Be Central to US Energy Policy”