First Solar City in Germany: Marburg City Council Approves Law Requiring Solar

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 18:20:52 -0400

by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 06.22.08

Moss Covered Solar Powered Vending Machine

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:55:23 -0400

Could we have this much fun in Cleveland???

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 22:18:35 -0400

Solar Cup 2008......

The Solar Cup Program

Solar Cup is a seven-month program that begins in the fall, in which high school teams totaling about 900 students build and race solar-powered boats at Lake Skinner, in Temecula Valley, learning about conservation of natural resources, electrical and mechanical engineering, problem solving and much more.

What is a "Green Roof"

Thu, 08 May 2008 01:34:36 -0400

What is a "Green Roof" and what does it look like?

At the house on Roxbury, the green roof is where the raccoons still live.

The China Problem!?

Fri, 02 May 2008 00:19:55 -0400

So I am just back from 14 days in Japan. Interesting to be on the sidelines as 3,000 Japanese police protect the olympic toarch from what I thought would be a calm, reserved crowd. Dont get me wrong, I was not in Nagano, I was in Shibuya / Tokyo.. but it got a lot of attention. Pro and anti China student groups and observers literally throwing punches, 70 year old Japanese men going to jail for throwing tomatoes in the face of the police protecting the toarch... etc. It was akin to what I saw in the USA when the toarch came thru California.

Earth Day

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:21:45 -0400

Start: 2008/04/20 - 9:00pm

Wear BLUE for Earth Day 2008 to Vote for NO COAL

How It's Made - Solar Panels

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:46:11 -0400

Good Video...

50 YEARS OF AMP COAL - PHONY PUBLIC "HEARINGS" SUPPORT IGNORANT ORDINANCES IN CLEVELAND COUNCIL

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 17:42:56 -0500

The Cleveland City Council Chamber is a grand room, with wood paneling, curved seating and a colorful mural above President Sweeney’s high backed seat.

PETER GRIESINGER WRITES CLEVELAND COUNCIL RE: AMP COAL PLAN

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:30:05 -0500

Dear Cleveland City Council Members: This is an urgent plea to exercise your right to cancel the 50 YEAR obligation by Cleveland Public Power to purchase 100MW of electricity from American Municipal Power’s proposed $3.4 billion power plant in Meigs County, OH.

The AMP Contract is The Wrong Deal for Cleveland

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:07:07 -0500

Cleveland City Council should rescind its involvement in AMP-Ohio's proposed coal-fired utility in southern Ohio. A fifty year commitment to coal is the wrong direction, for Cleveland Public Power (CPP), its customers and the environment. Instead, CPP should develop a comprehensive plan for energy need and energy sources, that includes efforts to reduce demand through conservation, insulation, wind, solar and other alternative sources.

AMP OHIO NEGOTIATES IN BAD FAITH WITH CLEVELAND

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:24:24 -0500

Committing to American Municipal Power's proposed Meigs County pulverized coal generator for 50 years is a death trap for the City of Cleveland - and AMP knows it.

Attending the Cleveland City Council subcommittee on CPP all day yesterday brought things to my mind that wouldn’t have aligned in my head if I hadn’t sat and listened to the back and forth for hours. AMP OHIO is negotiating with Cleveland in BAD FAITH.

BILL MACDERMOTT PRESENTS UNISOLAR INFO AT MID TOWN BREWS HOSTED BY WEBTEGO

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:18:36 -0500

On January 10, 2008 Bill MacDermott addressed an audience of about 30 at Webtego in Cleveland, Ohio.

BILL MACDERMOTT ADDRESSES MID-TOWN BREWS ON PHOTO VOLTAIC ENERGY OPPORTUNITIES JAN 10

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 18:01:52 -0500

Start: 2008/01/10 - 5:30pm

End: 2008/01/10 - 7:30pm

Realneo's frequent blogger Bill MacDermott will be the moderator on January 10, 2008 at the Mid Town Brews' colloquia on solar energy. Everyone welcome!

If They Can Do This In Greenville, Why Not Cleveland???

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 08:10:41 -0500

If They Can Do This In Greenville, Why Not Cleveland???
Sunday, December 30, 2007

Story of the Year
A year of ups and downs for solar panel manufacturer

Ryan Jeltema
Assistant News Editor

This year was up and down for Greenville's newest major industry, United Solar Ovonic.

The Auburn Hills-based solar panel manufacturer opened the first of its two Greenville plants in the fall while recording a significant sales increase. United Solar Ovonic's parent company, Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) of Rochester Hills, still fell well short of profitability, however, and two accidents at the first plant caused disruptions to the surrounding area.

ECD also experienced a major shift in management with founder and inventor Stanford Ovshinsky retiring in August followed by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Stempel in November. They were replaced by former United Technologies Corp. executive Mark Morelli amid a major restructuring effort.

With hopes for the local economy pinned on United Solar Ovonic, the company's quiet opening of the first local plant in Greenville's new industrial park north of VanDeinse Avenue on Nov. 1 was greeted with relief.

Meanwhile, construction is continuing on the second nearly identical plant next door with an opening slated for sometime next summer.

Each plant employs about 200 workers. Michigan Works began the hiring process for 70 workers last June.

Company officials declined to discuss progress on the plants after springtime.

Stempel told the audience during a statewide alternative energy conference in April that two more solar panel plants are "on the drawing board" for the company but would not disclose where they would be built and when they would be officially announced.

He said other cities and states continue making pitches to the company to locate plants in their areas.

"We're down to the final selection stage," Stempel said. "There's a lot of pushing to put the plant here or there. People see the scope of what we're doing and what it could bring for them and obviously they're interested."

He said company officials are pleased with the progress of both Greenville plants, which could bode well for locating the new facilities here. Construction on the second plant is coming along better than the first due to some lessons learned during construction.

"It's looking pretty nice. We're on schedule," Stempel said. "We've had a very good relationship with the city and that certainly is a plus."
The positive feelings surrounding the opening didn't last long.

A minor explosion in the pump room blew off an exterior wall panel on Building 1 just before 8 a.m. Nov. 21. Emergency responders determined the blast was caused by a "procedural error" when an employee improperly left a valve open. No hazardous materials were released into the air endangering the public.

"It was an overpressure explosion," said United Solar Ovonic Senior Vice President Jay Knoll. "It was caused by a failure to close a valve during a routine system changeover."

All 153 employees inside the building were evacuated. No injuries were reported.

Less than two weeks later, everyone within a one-mile radius of Building 1, including hundreds of people attending Greenville Community Church's morning worship service, were evacuated Dec. 2 after a report of a gas leak at the plant.

"We were in the middle of the service," said Joel Heron, lead pastor at the church. "I was actually preaching at the time."

Greenville Department of Public Safety Director Michael Stuck said residents were able to return to their homes about an hour after being evacuated.

"Their (United Solar Ovonic's) safety control system did exactly what it was supposed to do," he said.

Knoll blamed the mishap on an exhaust stack, used to vent gases between Buildings 1 and 2, springing a leak.

"We're working out the bugs of the plant," he said.
United Solar Ovonic announced one of its largest sales to date on July 24, a three-year distributor agreement to provide Advanced Green Technologies Inc. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with $108 million of photovoltaic solar panels.

"We are convinced that our relationship with Advanced Green Technologies will further successful installations of building integrated solar power systems and demonstrate the use of Uni-Solar products for improved energy self-reliance," said United Solar Ovonic President and Chief Operating Officer Subhendu Guha.

The company also gave a sneak peek into its new residential solar system on a Habitat for Humanity house in Traverse City during the National Governors' Association meetings in July. Governors of several states participated in building a Habitat home powered by Uni-Solar panels.

"United Solar Ovonic's contribution to our project aids us in our mission to build high quality, energy-efficient homes at the lowest possible cost and we are grateful," said Ken Bensen, Michigan's Habitat for Humanity president. "We look forward to seeing Uni-Solar solutions on Habitat homes throughout the world."

Guha said the system will be released to the public soon.
United Solar Ovonic also expanded overseas in 2007, entering the Chinese marketplace with a joint venture with Tianjin Jinneng Investment Co. (TJIC) of Tianjin, China, to open a photovoltaic solar panel manufacturing facility in the city of 4.5 million people.

The plant will have a capacity of manufacturing enough solar panels annually to generate 30 megawatts of electricity without affecting the company's plans in Greenville.

Guha said the company still plans to produce mile-long rolls of solar panels, cut them into nine- by 14-inch sections and implant electrodes in Greenville. The parts then will be shipped to the Chinese plant or a similar plant in Tijuana, Mexico, to be assembled into strips of solar roof laminates or other products and covered with a protective plastic coating.

He said the China and Mexico operations were on the drawing board well before United Solar Ovonic announced plans to locate in Greenville.

"The Chinese market is going to expand rapidly and we have to be there," Guha said.

Under Chinese trade laws "we cannot sell products in China unless we have a manufacturing presence," he said.
Still, despite all United Solar Ovonic's growth in production and sales, the company's profits have not been able to keep pace.

United Solar Ovonic posted a $2 million profit for the fiscal year that ended June 30, down from $8.2 million a yea earlier.

However, sales grew 11 percent during that same span to $91.5 million due to robust European sales and ramping up production capacity. With the addition of a second plant in Auburn Hills, solar panel manufacturing capacity increased from 28 megawatts to 58 megawatts annually. That is expected to triple during the current fiscal year with the addition of both Greenville plants.

"Going forward, improvements in the energy conversion efficiency of our products and our cost-reduction initiatives will drive gross margin improvement," said James Metzger, ECD's executive vice president and chief operating officer.

He said a $19 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar America Initiative will help accelerate improvements in products during the next fiscal year and beyond.

United Solar Ovonic projects a sales increase to from $205 million to $225 million over the current fiscal year, more than double that of the previous year.

The first fiscal quarter was a good start.

United Solar Ovonic reported $41.9 million in revenue during the three-month period, which ended Sept. 30. That represents a 76 percent increase over last year's first quarter.

Morelli noted that supply agreements and product commitments for the second quarter exceed United Solar Ovonic's current capacity.

"Our laminates continue to gain momentum in the marketplace, as demonstrated by our growing pipeline of business," he said. "I am encouraged by our opportunities and our progress."

From the Greenville Michigan Daily News: http://www.thedailynews.cc/main.asp?SectionID=2&subsectionID=11&articleID=17864

GEO Broadcast - The Amish Go Solar (Weather Channel Broadcast)

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:38:03 -0500

Fascinating....

REALNEO for all - Solar Power