Archive for August 4th, 2010

Solar Manufacturing Receives Order for New Large Horizontal Vacuum Furnace
SOUDERTON, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Solar Manufacturing announces it has received an order for a large horizontal vacuum furnace from a major high purity metals and alloy producer serving the aerospace, aircraft and medical industries. Primary application for the furnace will be a dehydriding process.  

The furnace is a Solar Manufacturing Model HFL-6660-EQ horizontal, front loading design with a work zone that measures 42” wide x 42” high x 60” deep and a gross weight capacity of 5,000 pounds. “The hot zone will incorporate a combination graphite foil hot face, backed by high purity graphite felt and high purity alumina wool for operation up to 2400oF,” said Peter Reh, vice president of sales. “The thin, curved graphite elements will provide rapid heating and the incorporation of unique high velocity, graphite gas nozzles surrounding the work will provide for optimum, uniform cooling of the specified load. In addition, a large vacuum pumping system along with a 35” high vacuum diffusion pump will allow for operation to 10-5 Torr,” he explained.

Solar Manufacturing is part of Solar Atmospheres, Inc., one of the largest and most progressive, independent commercial heat treaters in the USA. To learn more about Solar Manufacturing’s diverse product line of vacuum heat treating, brazing, and carburizing furnaces, contact Peter Reh, vice president of sales, at 267-384-5040 x 509 or pkr@solarmfg.com. More information can also be found on www.solarmfg.com.



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Princeton Power Systems to Build Next-Generation Large-scale Solar and Energy Storage System
PRINCETON, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Princeton Power Systems, a leading developer of alternative energy systems and electronics manufacturer, is pleased to announce that construction will soon begin on an advanced renewable energy system combining solar generation with a lithium-ion battery storage system and smart controls. The entire system will be completed and operational before the end of the year.  

The $1.5M system will be installed at corporate headquarters at 201 Washington Road in Princeton, NJ, and connect to the PSE&G electric grid. In addition to a 200 kilowatt solar array, the installation will include a 200 kwh energy storage system consisting of large-format lithium-ion batteries manufactured by International Battery in Pennsylvania using their water-based process. The energy storage system will be housed in a 20 ft shipping container and is expandable to 1MWh of storage. The system will be controlled and connected to the electric grid using Princeton Power System’s Grid-tied Inverter (GTIB) product, manufactured in NJ. The installation will demonstrate advanced smart grid functionality including microgrid operation, demand response, frequency regulation, and power dispatch.

“Integrating large amounts of alternative energy sources like solar and wind into the electric grid will require improved controls and electronics, and this in turn will make distributed generation much more valuable and effective,” stated Darren Hammell, Executive Vice President of Business Development at Princeton Power. “Our goal is to show that this is possible and cost-effective today, using available technologies, while creating jobs and doing our part to help the environment.”

When commissioned, the solar array will produce sellable Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs) and offset a portion of the building’s energy usage. The project is financed in part by the State of New Jersey’s Clean Energy Manufacturers Fund, which is helping Princeton Power Systems to expand its state-of-the-art research and development and manufacturing facilities for next-generation power electronics.



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New inexpensive solar cell design

New inexpensive solar cell design
One of the most promising technologies for making inexpensive but reasonably efficient photovoltaic cells just got much cheaper. Scientists in Canada have shown that inexpensive nickel can work just as well as gold for one of the critical electrical contacts that gather the electrical current produced by colloidal quantum dot solar cells.


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Permits extended on possible Columbia Co. wind farm

From an article by Lyn Jerde in the Portage Daily Register:

Another Columbia County wind farm – this one in the county’s southern tier – is still up in the air.

The Columbia County Board’s planning and zoning committee Tuesday extended, by one year, conditional use permits to two landowners, which would allow for another year of testing wind speeds, using two 197-foot test towers set up by the Madison-based Wind Capital Group. The towers have been in place for two years.

One of the towers is in the town of Arlington, on land owned by Sherri and Lloyd Manthe. The other is in the town of Leeds, where the landowner hosting it is Alan Kaltenberg, a town supervisor.

Planning and Zoning Director John Bluemke said the extension of the conditional use permit to Aug. 1, 2011, as approved by the committee, is contingent on approval from the Arlington and Leeds town boards.

Thomas Green, senior manager for project development for Wind Capital Group, said results from the test towers (which don’t have bladed turbines, as electricity-generating windmills do) have shown that southern Columbia County could have wind that is strong enough, and frequent enough, to make the area a viable location for a wind farm.

But discussion is still in the early stages, he said.

“Thus far, we feel pretty good about the wind capacity in the area,” he said. “We know we have to have the data to take further steps.”

Another year of testing the wind would provide additional information while the Wind Capital Group assesses other factors that might determine whether their wind farm might be in Columbia County’s future.


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Top Investor Searches This Week Include Natural Gas Stocks, Green Energy Stocks, Water Stocks and OTC Stocks; OTC: AMOK, OTC: LMCO, OTC: ADXS, OTC: NEWN, OTC: PTSC and OTC: ESPH
August 4, 2010 – (Investorideas.com Newswire) www.InvestorIdeas.com, a global investor research portal announces this week’s top ten search phrases from investors.


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Top Investor Searches This Week Include Natural Gas Stocks, Green Energy Stocks, Water Stocks and OTC Stocks; OTC: AMOK, OTC: LMCO, OTC: ADXS, OTC: NEWN, OTC: PTSC and OTC: ESPH
August 4, 2010 – (Investorideas.com Newswire) www.InvestorIdeas.com, a global investor research portal announces this week’s top ten search phrases from investors.


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Solar Stocks; IBIS Associates Study Confirms XsunX (OTCBB: XSNX) Technology to be Well-Poised for Capturing Burgeoning CIGS Market
Aliso Viejo, CA – August 4, 2010 (Investorideas.com renewable energy/green newswire) – XsunX, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board:XSNX.OB), the developer of advanced, thin-film photovoltaic (TFPV) solar cell technologies and manufacturing processes, announced today the favorable results from a study done by IBIS Associates, Inc.


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Hawaiian Islands to have Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Power Plants
According to a team of researchers at the University of Hawaii, the leeward side of Hawaiian Islands could be a perfect place for the installation of ocean-based renewable energy plants. These plants will use seawater from the oceans’ depths to generate steady amounts of renewable energy and drive massive heat engines. The technology is based [...]


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DOE Awards $188 Million to Small Business for Clean Energy Commercialization
DOE will award $188 million to small businesses in 34 states
to develop clean energy technologies that can be brought to
the marketplace.


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DOE Offers $17 Million Loan for Battery-based Energy Storage in New York State
DOE has offered a $17 million conditional commitment to AES
Energy Storage to help balance loads on New York’s electrical
grid. This is DOE’s first loan guarantee of a battery-based
energy storage system.


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DOE Offers $17 Million Loan for Battery-based Energy Storage in New York State
DOE has offered a $17 million conditional commitment to AES
Energy Storage to help balance loads on New York’s electrical
grid. This is DOE’s first loan guarantee of a battery-based
energy storage system.


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Inter-American Development Bank Announces $40 Million Loan for Nicaraguan Geothermal Project
08/04/2010 – The Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB)
announced the approval of a $40 million
loan to finance the second phase expansion of the San Jacinto-Tizate
geothermal power project, which is being developed by a private sector
company, Polaris Energy Nicaragua S…


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GT Solar Lands $23.4 Million Supply Contract for Polysilicon Production Equipment
08/04/2010 – GT Solar International,
Inc…


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Nine Cars Advance in $10 Million Automotive X Prize Test
The Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize organizers
have announced that nine vehicles from seven teams
advanced in the competition among super fuel-efficient cars
for $10 million in prizes.


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