GLREA News
Mary Powell, Green Mountain Power (GMP) CEO, will provide a keynote on the “utility of the future” on June 24 at the Michigan Energy Conference & Fair in Traverse City. Mary Powell is nationally recognized as an energy visionary, positioning GMP to offer cutting-edge products and service to reduce costs and carbon. GMP became the first utility to offer to help customers go off-grid, built Vermont’s largest wind farm, made Rutland, Vermont, the Solar Generation Capital of New England, and installed smart grid technology across GMP’s service territory. Powell’s keynote will be followed by breakout sessions on community solar, municipal 100% clean energy initiatives, financing, communicating a compelling case, and MPSC policy development. You can register now at www.glrea.org.
Michigan News
University of Michigan 660 sq. ft. solar house was auctioned off and will soon be headed to Evart. The small house completely powered by solar energy must be taken apart and then put back together again (see photo above). Rob Patterson, a construction manager with Meadowlark Design said about the new owners “It’s going to be a lot of work for them, but once they get it put back together it’s going to be a very unique place to live. There’s not another one like it and I think they’re really going to enjoy it.” More details.
Fort Custer Training Center in Battle Creek will develop a micro-grid demo project that will include 1.375 MW of legacy diesel generators, 400 kW of energy storage and 720 kW of PV. When completed next year, the project will test advanced control features, such as automated power quality management, real-time response to grid conditions and control of energy storage. Final system testing is expected in March 2018. More details.
DTE Energy has opened the new Discovery Center in Bad Axe for community assembly and educational efforts. The 3,000-sq.ft. structure is attached to the Huron Renewable Energy Center that opened last year. The Discovery Center makes space available for use by community organizations. More details.
Demand Response Programs are being developed by DTE and Consumers Energy to reduce big spikes in electric demand on the hottest summer days, between 2:00 to 7:00 pm. One program lets the utility cycle air conditioner compressors off for roughly 15 minutes an hour. Another DTE program, Critical Peak pricing, offers you a very low rate on weekends and after 11:00 pm and a rate of up to 95 cents/kWh on the very hottest days. Consumers has about 4,500 customers enrolled in various demand response programs, but plans an aggressive push to enroll up to 400,000 in the next 5 years. DTE already has more than 340,000 in its plans, but is expanding enrollment. More details.
SolarYpsi has a six page article published in the current issue of SolarToday – “Anonymous Donor Funds Six Solar Installations | A Success Story.” Check it out.
Advanced Battery Concepts has been recognized as one of the 2017 “Michigan 50Companies to Watch,” an awards program by Michigan Celebrates Small Business. ABC is a battery technology development company focused on storage to electrify vehicles and promote renewable energy on the grid. ABC’s first technology, GreenSeal, improves the most common rechargeable lead battery by reducing weight and costs and increasing cycle life. Over the next decade, ABC projects that most of the world’s lead batteries will be produced with GreenSeal technology. More details.
Virtual Tour of LEED Platinum Home is available from the Green Home Institute. The Birch Haven Residence in SW Michigan has a passive solar design. Topics covered include deconstructed materials, air source heat pumps, structural insulated panels, solar power, and design strategies. More details.
MPSC is seeking public comments on electric vehicle charging sites or the use of CNG in vehicles. Comments and letters must be received by 5 p.m. July 31 and can be sent to Executive Secretary, MPSC, PO Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909 or emailed to mpscedockets@michigan.gov. Please include the case number (U-18368).
Beyond Michigan
DONG Energy is decommissioning the Vindeby wind farm off the SE coast of Denmark, completing the first full project cycle for offshore wind. The 11 turbines, which were connected to the grid in 1991, are located just 1.5 km offshore, are 54 m tall, and provide power to 2,200 households. In contrast, DONG Energy said its latest Hornsea Project One development will connect 174 turbines located 120 km offshore to the UK grid, with each turbine 190 m above the waves, and the project delivering enough power for one million households. More details.
Kentucky Coal Museum is installing solar panels on its roof, part of a project to lower energy costs of one of the city’s largest electric customers. The Southeast Community and Technical College, which owns the museum, expects the solar panels to save between $8,000 and $10,000 a year. More details.
More Than 100,000 Americans are now employed in the U.S. wind energy industry. Strong wind construction activity, combined with a strengthening wind manufacturing sector and growing need for personnel to operate and maintain more than 52,000 wind turbines, allowed the industry to add nearly 15,000 jobs in 2016. That brings total U.S. wind industry jobs to 102,500. The U.S. wind industry added jobs more than nine times faster than the overall economy. More details.
Tesla has updated its website to unveil a new exclusive solar panel made by Panasonic. The new panels will be manufactured by Panasonic for Tesla’s exclusive use at the ‘Gigafactory 2’ in Buffalo. SolarCity has used solar panels from several different suppliers to date. A ‘sleek and low-profile’ look was achieved “with integrated front skirts and no visible mounting hardware”. The 325-watt panels that Panasonic sells to other installers have a module efficiency of 21.76%. More details.
PJM, the largest grid operator in the US, has released an innovative study that quantifies the reliability of possible future energy mixes. It found that portfolios with very large amounts of wind energy scored among the highest for reliability and resilience. The report notes that technological advances enable wind energy to provide many of the reliability services that conventional power plants provide today. More details.
LG Chem, a global leader in lithium-ion batteries for small electronics to large stationary storage, formally launched its line of residential battery systems. LG’s residential storage systems start at a minimum of 3.3 kWh and can be scaled up to 9.8 kWh. LG Chem has already installed systems in Hawaii and California through a partnership with Sunrun. More details.
Events
Battery Options for PV will be presented by Jeremy Zinn, Oak Electric, on Thursday, May 11, 5:30-6:30 PM at Michigan Energy Options, 405 Grove St. in East Lansing. Come learn about options, costs, retrofit issues, maintenance, and more. Sponsored by GLREA and the Lansing Area Solar Users Network.
TRC will host Developing Solar on Brownfields and Landfills in Chicago on June 12-13. The conference is designed to connect public and private brownfield/landfill owners with solar developers. A half day urban track will be devoted to discussing solar on small brownfield sites in inner cities.
Michigan Clean Energy Conference & Fair will be hosted by GLREA and the Groundwork Center on June 23-25 in Traverse City. The event will include a “Future of Mobility” panel Friday evening, a full day energy conference on Saturday, and a hands-on Sunday fair featuring solar workshops, demonstrations and exhibits. Save the date and join us for this glimpse into the future of clean energy in Michigan. Pre-register now at www.glrea.org.
Technical Conference on Electric and Compressed Natural Gas Vehicles will be held on August 9 at the MPSC, 7109 W. Saginaw Hwy, Lansing. The conference will study future regulatory and infrastructure issues and will address the potential and challenges of public and private charging stations statewide.
Metro Green Energy Fair, featuring the Green Cruise Bike Rides, will be Sat., Sept, 9th at 22812 Woodward Ave. in Ferndale. From 10 am to 5 pm, the on-street Metro Green Energy Fair will highlight home solar energy systems, efforts by local cities to go solar, eBikes, electric and plug-in vehicles, and Sierra Club educational initiatives. https://sierrasemg.wordpress.com/activities/energy-fair/
ASES’s 46th annual conference, “SOLAR 2017: Building a 100% Renewable Energy Community,” will be held October 9-12 in Denver, between the weekends of public days at the U.S. DOE Solar Decathlon.
Mary Powell, Green Mountain Power (GMP) CEO, will provide a keynote on the “utility of the future” on June 24 at the Michigan Energy Conference & Fair in Traverse City. Mary Powell is nationally recognized as an energy visionary, positioning GMP to offer cutting-edge products and service to reduce costs and carbon. GMP became the first utility to offer to help customers go off-grid, built Vermont’s largest wind farm, made Rutland, Vermont, the Solar Generation Capital of New England, and installed smart grid technology across GMP’s service territory. Powell’s keynote will be followed by breakout sessions on community solar, municipal 100% clean energy initiatives, financing, communicating a compelling case, and MPSC policy development. You can register now at www.glrea.org.
Michigan News
University of Michigan 660 sq. ft. solar house was auctioned off and will soon be headed to Evart. The small house completely powered by solar energy must be taken apart and then put back together again (see photo above). Rob Patterson, a construction manager with Meadowlark Design said about the new owners “It’s going to be a lot of work for them, but once they get it put back together it’s going to be a very unique place to live. There’s not another one like it and I think they’re really going to enjoy it.” More details.
Fort Custer Training Center in Battle Creek will develop a micro-grid demo project that will include 1.375 MW of legacy diesel generators, 400 kW of energy storage and 720 kW of PV. When completed next year, the project will test advanced control features, such as automated power quality management, real-time response to grid conditions and control of energy storage. Final system testing is expected in March 2018. More details.
DTE Energy has opened the new Discovery Center in Bad Axe for community assembly and educational efforts. The 3,000-sq.ft. structure is attached to the Huron Renewable Energy Center that opened last year. The Discovery Center makes space available for use by community organizations. More details.
Demand Response Programs are being developed by DTE and Consumers Energy to reduce big spikes in electric demand on the hottest summer days, between 2:00 to 7:00 pm. One program lets the utility cycle air conditioner compressors off for roughly 15 minutes an hour. Another DTE program, Critical Peak pricing, offers you a very low rate on weekends and after 11:00 pm and a rate of up to 95 cents/kWh on the very hottest days. Consumers has about 4,500 customers enrolled in various demand response programs, but plans an aggressive push to enroll up to 400,000 in the next 5 years. DTE already has more than 340,000 in its plans, but is expanding enrollment. More details.
SolarYpsi has a six page article published in the current issue of SolarToday – “Anonymous Donor Funds Six Solar Installations | A Success Story.” Check it out.
Advanced Battery Concepts has been recognized as one of the 2017 “Michigan 50Companies to Watch,” an awards program by Michigan Celebrates Small Business. ABC is a battery technology development company focused on storage to electrify vehicles and promote renewable energy on the grid. ABC’s first technology, GreenSeal, improves the most common rechargeable lead battery by reducing weight and costs and increasing cycle life. Over the next decade, ABC projects that most of the world’s lead batteries will be produced with GreenSeal technology. More details.
Virtual Tour of LEED Platinum Home is available from the Green Home Institute. The Birch Haven Residence in SW Michigan has a passive solar design. Topics covered include deconstructed materials, air source heat pumps, structural insulated panels, solar power, and design strategies. More details.
MPSC is seeking public comments on electric vehicle charging sites or the use of CNG in vehicles. Comments and letters must be received by 5 p.m. July 31 and can be sent to Executive Secretary, MPSC, PO Box 30221, Lansing, MI 48909 or emailed to mpscedockets@michigan.gov. Please include the case number (U-18368).
Beyond Michigan
DONG Energy is decommissioning the Vindeby wind farm off the SE coast of Denmark, completing the first full project cycle for offshore wind. The 11 turbines, which were connected to the grid in 1991, are located just 1.5 km offshore, are 54 m tall, and provide power to 2,200 households. In contrast, DONG Energy said its latest Hornsea Project One development will connect 174 turbines located 120 km offshore to the UK grid, with each turbine 190 m above the waves, and the project delivering enough power for one million households. More details.
Kentucky Coal Museum is installing solar panels on its roof, part of a project to lower energy costs of one of the city’s largest electric customers. The Southeast Community and Technical College, which owns the museum, expects the solar panels to save between $8,000 and $10,000 a year. More details.
More Than 100,000 Americans are now employed in the U.S. wind energy industry. Strong wind construction activity, combined with a strengthening wind manufacturing sector and growing need for personnel to operate and maintain more than 52,000 wind turbines, allowed the industry to add nearly 15,000 jobs in 2016. That brings total U.S. wind industry jobs to 102,500. The U.S. wind industry added jobs more than nine times faster than the overall economy. More details.
Tesla has updated its website to unveil a new exclusive solar panel made by Panasonic. The new panels will be manufactured by Panasonic for Tesla’s exclusive use at the ‘Gigafactory 2’ in Buffalo. SolarCity has used solar panels from several different suppliers to date. A ‘sleek and low-profile’ look was achieved “with integrated front skirts and no visible mounting hardware”. The 325-watt panels that Panasonic sells to other installers have a module efficiency of 21.76%. More details.
PJM, the largest grid operator in the US, has released an innovative study that quantifies the reliability of possible future energy mixes. It found that portfolios with very large amounts of wind energy scored among the highest for reliability and resilience. The report notes that technological advances enable wind energy to provide many of the reliability services that conventional power plants provide today. More details.
LG Chem, a global leader in lithium-ion batteries for small electronics to large stationary storage, formally launched its line of residential battery systems. LG’s residential storage systems start at a minimum of 3.3 kWh and can be scaled up to 9.8 kWh. LG Chem has already installed systems in Hawaii and California through a partnership with Sunrun. More details.
Events
Battery Options for PV will be presented by Jeremy Zinn, Oak Electric, on Thursday, May 11, 5:30-6:30 PM at Michigan Energy Options, 405 Grove St. in East Lansing. Come learn about options, costs, retrofit issues, maintenance, and more. Sponsored by GLREA and the Lansing Area Solar Users Network.
TRC will host Developing Solar on Brownfields and Landfills in Chicago on June 12-13. The conference is designed to connect public and private brownfield/landfill owners with solar developers. A half day urban track will be devoted to discussing solar on small brownfield sites in inner cities.
Michigan Clean Energy Conference & Fair will be hosted by GLREA and the Groundwork Center on June 23-25 in Traverse City. The event will include a “Future of Mobility” panel Friday evening, a full day energy conference on Saturday, and a hands-on Sunday fair featuring solar workshops, demonstrations and exhibits. Save the date and join us for this glimpse into the future of clean energy in Michigan. Pre-register now at www.glrea.org.
Technical Conference on Electric and Compressed Natural Gas Vehicles will be held on August 9 at the MPSC, 7109 W. Saginaw Hwy, Lansing. The conference will study future regulatory and infrastructure issues and will address the potential and challenges of public and private charging stations statewide.
Metro Green Energy Fair, featuring the Green Cruise Bike Rides, will be Sat., Sept, 9th at 22812 Woodward Ave. in Ferndale. From 10 am to 5 pm, the on-street Metro Green Energy Fair will highlight home solar energy systems, efforts by local cities to go solar, eBikes, electric and plug-in vehicles, and Sierra Club educational initiatives. https://sierrasemg.wordpress.
ASES’s 46th annual conference, “SOLAR 2017: Building a 100% Renewable Energy Community,” will be held October 9-12 in Denver, between the weekends of public days at the U.S. DOE Solar Decathlon.
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