By Richie Ann Ashcraft
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
The Western Slope Center for Children received the gift of solar electricity Wednesday afternoon from High Noon Solar.
The 9.89 kilowatt system will produce 40 percent of the center’s electricity need making it a gift that will continue to give for years to come.
“We’d just like to express our gratitude for this tremendous donation,” said Shari Zen, executive director of the center.
The 43 panel system it tied to a solar grid which doesn’t use any battery storage or other supplements to produce or store energy. This make the system virtually maintenance free.
Retail value of the system is estimated near $65,000.
“People are seeing summer rates going up with Xcel so this system is only going to get more valuable, not less valuable,” said Heidi Ihrke, co-owner of the High Noon Solar.
The company makes two solar system donations to the community a year. Ihrke said this year the center and Latimer House were selected to receive the system based on the good they are doing for humanity. “I can’t think of anything that helps people more than helping children,” Ihrke said.
Zen said the solar system would save nearly $400 per month making it possible to provide more services to children who have been victims of abuse.
“This will provide a cushion in our budget that will help us contain our services,” Zen said.
The Western Slope Center for Children is a child advocacy center that treats nearly 300 children and their families annually who are victims of sexual abuse. No child is turned away. The center houses every aspect of victim needs from forensic medical testing to counseling.
The solar system for the Latimer House should be installed by early fall.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Holy Cross part of solar, hydropower study
Holy Cross part of solar, hydropower study
By Staff
Monday, July 19, 2010
An electricity cooperative based in Glenwood Springs is one of three Colorado utilities that will be part of a study to quantify the economic effects on power providers from linking rooftop solar energy and small hydropower plants into the grid.
Holy Cross Energy will be a partner in what is the first such study of its kind in Colorado, said the Governor’s Energy Office, also a partner in the study.
Fort Collins Light and Power and the San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative also are participating.
The study complements legislation passed this year requiring Colorado’s investor-owned utilities to generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable power. Three percent must come from distributed systems such as rooftop solar and small hydropower.
“Typically, adding distributed generation using the sun, water or wind can benefit utilities by reducing or delaying the need to build additional, and costly, utility-scale power plants and transmission,” the Governor’s Energy Office said in a news release.
It also can reduce the need to purchase more costly electricity from other sources during times of peak use, the energy office said.
By Staff
Monday, July 19, 2010
An electricity cooperative based in Glenwood Springs is one of three Colorado utilities that will be part of a study to quantify the economic effects on power providers from linking rooftop solar energy and small hydropower plants into the grid.
Holy Cross Energy will be a partner in what is the first such study of its kind in Colorado, said the Governor’s Energy Office, also a partner in the study.
Fort Collins Light and Power and the San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative also are participating.
The study complements legislation passed this year requiring Colorado’s investor-owned utilities to generate 30 percent of their electricity from renewable power. Three percent must come from distributed systems such as rooftop solar and small hydropower.
“Typically, adding distributed generation using the sun, water or wind can benefit utilities by reducing or delaying the need to build additional, and costly, utility-scale power plants and transmission,” the Governor’s Energy Office said in a news release.
It also can reduce the need to purchase more costly electricity from other sources during times of peak use, the energy office said.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Coloradans jump at state program to further energy efficiency
More than 26,000 homeowners and businesses have snapped up about $11 million in state rebates for energy-efficient appliances and home improvements since the "Recharge Colorado" program began April 19.
Mike Smith of Greeley got a $50 rebate, equal to a 13 percent discount, on his new dishwasher. Franktown resident Arthur Lowry is set to get a $3,000 rebate on his $10,000-plus solar water heater.
"When we sold our house in Colorado Springs and moved to Greeley, we needed to get new appliances, so this worked out really well," Smith said.
All the rebates for dishwashers and solar hot-water systems are gone — as are those for refrigerators, clothes washers, tankless gas water heaters and photovoltaic solar panels.
There are, however, still 38,481 rebates for a number of energy-saving items, including insulation, duct sealing, energy audits and residential windmills.
"We are very pleased with the response," said Todd Hartman, a spokesman for the Governor's Energy Office, which runs the program. "We just want people to know there are still some rebates available."
The $18 million Recharge Colorado program is part of $300 million in federal economic-stimulus funding.
People can apply by phone or online and are given a "reservation" for 10 to 30 days — depending on the type of rebate — to buy an appliance or contract for work. Then, they file with the state for the rebate.
Of the more than 26,000 reservations to date, 10,552 claims worth $4.8 million have been processed, according to state data.
Residents of 59 of Colorado's 64 counties have participated in the program.
Jefferson County homeowners received the most rebate money by the end of June — $200,500, or about as much money as Boulder and Denver counties combined.
There were single $50 refrigerator rebates in Ouray and Rio Blanco counties.
Colorado Springs Utilities combined its own rebates with the state's to boost its program, said Gabriel Romero, a spokesman for the utility. El Paso County had the second-highest payout, $117,000.
The program is the first to offer rebates statewide. It is also the first to offer incentives for solar water heaters.
"It is a boost for a really good technology," said Jim Burness, chief operation officer of SolSource, the Denver-based company installing a solar hot-water system at the Lowry home.
The system is designed to cut water-heating costs by 90 percent in the summer and 50 percent in the winter, Burness said. Between the rebate and a 30 percent federal tax credit, the system should pay for itself in 12 years.
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com
Mike Smith of Greeley got a $50 rebate, equal to a 13 percent discount, on his new dishwasher. Franktown resident Arthur Lowry is set to get a $3,000 rebate on his $10,000-plus solar water heater.
"When we sold our house in Colorado Springs and moved to Greeley, we needed to get new appliances, so this worked out really well," Smith said.
All the rebates for dishwashers and solar hot-water systems are gone — as are those for refrigerators, clothes washers, tankless gas water heaters and photovoltaic solar panels.
There are, however, still 38,481 rebates for a number of energy-saving items, including insulation, duct sealing, energy audits and residential windmills.
"We are very pleased with the response," said Todd Hartman, a spokesman for the Governor's Energy Office, which runs the program. "We just want people to know there are still some rebates available."
The $18 million Recharge Colorado program is part of $300 million in federal economic-stimulus funding.
People can apply by phone or online and are given a "reservation" for 10 to 30 days — depending on the type of rebate — to buy an appliance or contract for work. Then, they file with the state for the rebate.
Of the more than 26,000 reservations to date, 10,552 claims worth $4.8 million have been processed, according to state data.
Residents of 59 of Colorado's 64 counties have participated in the program.
Jefferson County homeowners received the most rebate money by the end of June — $200,500, or about as much money as Boulder and Denver counties combined.
There were single $50 refrigerator rebates in Ouray and Rio Blanco counties.
Colorado Springs Utilities combined its own rebates with the state's to boost its program, said Gabriel Romero, a spokesman for the utility. El Paso County had the second-highest payout, $117,000.
The program is the first to offer rebates statewide. It is also the first to offer incentives for solar water heaters.
"It is a boost for a really good technology," said Jim Burness, chief operation officer of SolSource, the Denver-based company installing a solar hot-water system at the Lowry home.
The system is designed to cut water-heating costs by 90 percent in the summer and 50 percent in the winter, Burness said. Between the rebate and a 30 percent federal tax credit, the system should pay for itself in 12 years.
Mark Jaffe: 303-954-1912 or mjaffe@denverpost.com
Monday, July 12, 2010
World’s First Hybrid Coal-Solar Power Plant Goes Online in Colorado
World’s First Hybrid Coal-Solar Power Plant Goes Online in Colorado
by Cameron Scott, 07/12/10
Here’s a case of strange bedfellows: the world’s first hybrid coal-solar power plant is now up and running outside Palisade, Colorado. A joint project between the utilities giant Xcel Energy and Abengoa Solar, the unit of Xcel’s Cameo plant is intended to show that solar power can reduce the environmental impact of coal-fired power plants.
The plant uses parabolic trough solar collectors to heat the water that goes into the coal-fired turbine, which will reduce the amount of coal used at the facility by 2 to 3 percent. For a cost of $4.5 billion, the hybrid plant will produce the equivalent of just one of 49 megawatts from solar power.
It hardly sounds like a bargain to this blogger, but it’s part of the coal industry’s aggressive efforts to keep its irons in the fire as pressure mounts for cleaner energy alternatives. Indeed, several utilities have joined with the Electric Power Research Institute to study the hybrid coal-solar combination in North Carolina and New Mexico, and a solar-natural gas plant is already under construction in the Sunshine State.
Abengoa has pioneered the parabolic trough solar collector, in which glass mirrors which concentrate the sun’s energy into a series of tubes filled with a heat transfer fluid — in this case, mineral oil. When the oil reaches 300°C, it is fed to an exchanger where the heat is transferred to water, bringing it nearly to boiling before it enters the boiler where a coal fire will convert it to steam, driving the turbine that generates electricity.
by Cameron Scott, 07/12/10
Here’s a case of strange bedfellows: the world’s first hybrid coal-solar power plant is now up and running outside Palisade, Colorado. A joint project between the utilities giant Xcel Energy and Abengoa Solar, the unit of Xcel’s Cameo plant is intended to show that solar power can reduce the environmental impact of coal-fired power plants.
The plant uses parabolic trough solar collectors to heat the water that goes into the coal-fired turbine, which will reduce the amount of coal used at the facility by 2 to 3 percent. For a cost of $4.5 billion, the hybrid plant will produce the equivalent of just one of 49 megawatts from solar power.
It hardly sounds like a bargain to this blogger, but it’s part of the coal industry’s aggressive efforts to keep its irons in the fire as pressure mounts for cleaner energy alternatives. Indeed, several utilities have joined with the Electric Power Research Institute to study the hybrid coal-solar combination in North Carolina and New Mexico, and a solar-natural gas plant is already under construction in the Sunshine State.
Abengoa has pioneered the parabolic trough solar collector, in which glass mirrors which concentrate the sun’s energy into a series of tubes filled with a heat transfer fluid — in this case, mineral oil. When the oil reaches 300°C, it is fed to an exchanger where the heat is transferred to water, bringing it nearly to boiling before it enters the boiler where a coal fire will convert it to steam, driving the turbine that generates electricity.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Launch of Cameo solar project celebrated
By Emily Anderson
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Xcel Energy’s coal-fired power plant at Cameo and a demonstration solar project that became operational at the site this spring are likely to shut down at the end of this year, according to an Xcel official.
That doesn’t rule out the possibility, though, of solar and other types of energy production occurring at the site in the future, according to Xcel’s vice president of strategic technologies, Mary Fisher.
“No firm decisions” have been made about the site’s future after the scheduled closures, Fisher said, but alternatives to the 53-year-old coal plant will be considered, she said.
An attempt to keep the coal plant and the solar installation going failed in the Legislature earlier this year. Rep. Steve King and Sen. Josh Penry, both Grand Junction Republicans, presented a bill that would have created a moratorium on closing any Colorado power plants blending coal and solar technology until July 1, 2012. The bill timed out on second reading in May.
Fisher said Xcel and partner Abengoa Solar hope to learn as much as they can from the integrated solar project, which uses solar power to generate steam and help decrease the amount of coal needed to produce energy at the plant. Solar troughs built next to the plant have been operational since April and used on a daily basis since June. Xcel hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate the project’s progress Wednesday.
The solar troughs are reusable and could be moved off the site and hooked up to another plant that uses fossil fuels after the demonstration period ends, Fisher said. Because the troughs help generate steam and not power directly, the troughs wouldn’t likely be of much use at Cameo once the coal-fired plant closes, Fisher said.
Mesa County Commissioner Steve Acquafresca said at Wednesday’s event he’d like to see the solar troughs stay in Mesa County if at all possible. If that’s not possible, he’s open to other ideas.
“Mesa County government and, I believe, most of the citizens in this community want to facilitate Xcel with a variety of options for this property,” he said.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Xcel Energy’s coal-fired power plant at Cameo and a demonstration solar project that became operational at the site this spring are likely to shut down at the end of this year, according to an Xcel official.
That doesn’t rule out the possibility, though, of solar and other types of energy production occurring at the site in the future, according to Xcel’s vice president of strategic technologies, Mary Fisher.
“No firm decisions” have been made about the site’s future after the scheduled closures, Fisher said, but alternatives to the 53-year-old coal plant will be considered, she said.
An attempt to keep the coal plant and the solar installation going failed in the Legislature earlier this year. Rep. Steve King and Sen. Josh Penry, both Grand Junction Republicans, presented a bill that would have created a moratorium on closing any Colorado power plants blending coal and solar technology until July 1, 2012. The bill timed out on second reading in May.
Fisher said Xcel and partner Abengoa Solar hope to learn as much as they can from the integrated solar project, which uses solar power to generate steam and help decrease the amount of coal needed to produce energy at the plant. Solar troughs built next to the plant have been operational since April and used on a daily basis since June. Xcel hosted a ribbon cutting to celebrate the project’s progress Wednesday.
The solar troughs are reusable and could be moved off the site and hooked up to another plant that uses fossil fuels after the demonstration period ends, Fisher said. Because the troughs help generate steam and not power directly, the troughs wouldn’t likely be of much use at Cameo once the coal-fired plant closes, Fisher said.
Mesa County Commissioner Steve Acquafresca said at Wednesday’s event he’d like to see the solar troughs stay in Mesa County if at all possible. If that’s not possible, he’s open to other ideas.
“Mesa County government and, I believe, most of the citizens in this community want to facilitate Xcel with a variety of options for this property,” he said.
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