Renewable Building Developments

The desert may look open and empty, but it’s not.  The desert is a delicate habitat to birds, insects, plants, some of which are endangered.  To avoid making allies into enemies, Google is collaborating with leading environmental groups.

Google’s mapping tool shows renewable-power developers  where they can and can’t not build.  The National Audubon Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council pulled together these maps.  Requires Googles Earth mapping tool.

California’s Pristine Deserts & Solar Energy

There are 80 solar projects planned in the California deserts.  These projects will cover 700,000 acres (over 1,000 square miles).  Most of these projects are located on pristine BLM publicly-owned lands and all the projects have already been given the right-of-way grants.

The impact on rare plants, vegetation, animals and majestic landscapes is hard to comprehend.  The solar construction, if implemented, would severely impact dozen of rare species and thousands of acres of pristine land.  Indirect impact from access roads, power lines, and invasive plants broaden the amount of land destroyed beyond the project’s size.

The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) recommends that government agencies need to discuss alternative locations for solar thermal plants.  At minimum project impacts need to be appropriately mitigated and regulators fully evaluate their impact on the ecosystem.

The above information is from an editorial by Nick Jensen, CNPS Rare Plant Botanist, in the CNPS January-March 2009 newsletter.

To add to this we feel that any CSP solar thermal plants built in the California deserts be required to have molten salt storage capability.  Otherwise why build these plants in the desert and not target rooftop installations for photovoltaic energy?

Bencia’s 1980’s Solar Neighborhood

From 1981 to 1985, the Southhampton Company built 258 solar homes. The sub division became known as Solar Village. All the homes featured solar water heaters, six inch walls, R30 attic insulation and dual pane thermal windows. Even the landscaping fit into the green lifestyle. There were deciduous trees planted on a southern exposure while evergreens and shrubs to deflect the north winds.

Solar Village, which has an active system with pumps, most solar systems today are passive. Many of the Fiberglas tanks storing hot water sprang leaks from cracking. Solar Villages systems automatically switch to the grid if the stored solar heat was insufficient. Subsequently many homeowners decided not to spend the money on repairs. Approximately 75 homes still have a working solar heat system, but it was the component failures that caused homeowners to remove or disconnect their systems.

Related Articles:   SFGATE |  CA Solar Center

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Bencia’s 1980’s Solar Neighborhood

From 1981 to 1985, the Southampton Company built 258 solar homes.  The sub division became known as Solar Village.  All the homes featured solar water heaters, six inch walls, R30 attic insulation and dual pane thermal windows.  Even the landscaping fit into the green lifestyle. There were deciduous trees planted on a southern exposure while evergreens and shrubs to deflect the north winds.

Solar Village, which has an active system with pumps, most solar systems today are passive.  Many of the Fiberglas tanks storing hot water sprang leaks from cracking.  Solar Villages systems automatically switch to the grid if the stored solar heat was insufficient.  Subsequently many homeowners decided not to spend the money on repairs.  Approximately 75 homes still have a working solar heat system, but it was the component failures that caused homeowners to remove or disconnect their systems.

Related Articles:  SF Chronicle | CA Solar Center | News Video

Solar Graves

Santa Coloma de Gramenet, near Barcelona, finds new ways to catch solar energy.  A network of 462 photovoltaic panels generating 125,000 KW hours mounted on the top of mausoleums.  The power produced by the solar panels is equivalent to the yearly use of 60 homes.

Installer Conste-Live Energy placed the panels at a low angle so they would be unobtrusive.  The cemetery was chosen because it was the only open area in the densely populated town.

Solar panels on mausoleums

Solar Panels Get Some Unwanted Attention

Contra Costa California, with over one million residents, is a suburban bedroom community for both San Francisco and Silicon Valley businesses as well as a thriving high tech community in its on right. As such, it has been home to many residents, businesses and municipalities who have had the technical know how, environmental concerns and just plain political correctness to install solar panels as an alternative energy source.

In such a rarified atmosphere who should emerge, but solar panel thieves. Solar panels have been taken from such locations as a school, a church and a private residence. Sue Kateley, executive director of the California Solar Energy Industries Association said she believed that the thieves know how the panels work, and how to properly dismantle and rewire them. She stated that the panels have no value as scrap and there is some speculation that installers may be using them on their jobs or that they are being used by marijuana growers.

In July, a Contra Costa County sheriff’s deputy found a resident with 39 stolen panels worth $800 each. A spokesman for the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office said the suspect is believed to have been selling the stolen panels on craigslist.com.

Article in the Contra Costa Times.

Low Interest Loans for PV Installation

California enacted AB 811, 7/21/08, that allows cities and counties to make low-interest loans to homeowners and businesses to install solar panels, high-efficiency air conditioners and other energy-saving improvements.

The loans are paid back through property taxes.  If the property is sold the new owners assume the loan along with the home improvements.  California requires investor-owned utilities to get 20% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2010 and 33% by 2020.

Read the news article.

Read AB 811.