Blue Crump started Urban Grid Solar Inc. in 2010 after seeing a growing interest in solar energy.
"From an installation and equipment cost perspective, solar energy is less expensive now than it has been historically," he said. "Energy rates will increase. This allows for businesses to hedge against those rising costs."
The company is a Richmond-based renewable-energy development firm and a general and alternative energy systems contractor. It also provides solar financing and development, solar installations, energy monitoring and services in other renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar thermal hot water.
"As the business has evolved, the energy sector, especially solar, has outpaced anything we do," Crump said.
From 2010 to 2011, Urban Grid's revenue grew 200 percent. In 2012, the company will focus on developing energy projects in Richmond and Annapolis, Md., where it has a second sales office, Crump said.
"We'll also concentrate on the Northeast, where utility projects are the highest," Crump said. "There are a lot of energy incentives in Washington, D.C., and Maryland, which creates a lot more opportunity in Northern Virginia and the Beltway."
The company also is looking at opportunities in Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
"We want to expand," Crump said.
Besides expanding its core business, the company recently started Urban Grid Mechanical. The company in Ashland works with businesses to identify strategies to lower energy consumption.
"We manage and control the consumption of energy in a building," Crump said of the new business.
When Crump started Urban Grid, he brought in partners Frank DePew, Greg Haley and Ken Gorvey.
"Our backgrounds complemented one another," Crump said, noting that he had worked in the green building industry. "Frank's background is in finance, Ken's is in accounting and Greg's is in large-scale commercial building."
The company mainly works with engineers and architects.
"We give them the tools to incorporate renewables into their projects," Crump said.
Urban Grid has a residential division.
"We are still doing a lot of green and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified building. We seek out projects that are a good fit for us," Crump said.
Urban Grid completed the first U.S. Green Building Council LEED gold-certified residential project in the Fan District in 2011. The Grove Avenue home has a green roof and a solar thermal and solar photovoltaic array of panels.
It also has a commercial division that works with medium-to-large businesses. The company works on federal and state projects.
Urban Grid has opportunities to work on state and federal government projects as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which allocated funds for energy-efficient and renewable-energy projects.
The company is working on two state projects: the 14th Street Parking Garage and the Virginia Distribution Center in Sandston.
The 14th Street project includes solar panels on the top of the garage that will provide shading for cars while generating electricity for the garage. "It is expected to offset 100 percent of the parking deck's energy consumption," Crump said.
Another project included installing a vertical-axis wind turbine at Virginia Commonwealth University. "It will be interesting to measure and monitor the winds that pass through Richmond and help offset their electric costs," Crump said.
Urban Grid also works on privately funded projects. It recently installed solar panels on the three hangars at Million Air, a Henrico County-based air charter service.
Million Air's owner, Mark Cooke, found it was easy to work with Urban Grid on the project.
"They kept us updated daily," he said. "They are extremely professional."
Scott Elliff, president of DuCard Vineyards in Madison County, worked with Urban Grid in 2010 to install solar panels that provide electricity to run the vineyard's wine-tasting operation.
"We use the sun to ripen the grapes and also to power our operations," Elliff said. "I found Urban Grid to be very competent and responsive to everything we were doing."
2011年12月26日星期一
2011年11月14日星期一
Construction at Lake County solar energy farm begins
A local company is building the largest solar panel farm in the state in Lake County.
Crews started putting the first solar panels in place after a groundbreaking ceremony Monday to celebrate the new Sorrento Solar Farm.
BlueChip Energy, a company based out of Seminole County, is installing solar panels that will eventually cover more than 200 acres of an open field off County Road 437.
"There is no other energy on the planet which can compete with solar in environmental friendliness," said BlueChip Energy CEO Demitri Nikitin.
Despite the benefits of going green, some people living nearby were against the solar farm at first.
Carol White and her husband live right next to the property.
They feared losing the rural landscape they enjoy gazing out on with their granddaughter.
"That's what upset us the most in the beginning," White said. "Why here in the middle of a little community, a small town?"
Nikitin said the property was a perfect fit because both Progress Energy and SECO have utility substations at the site that allow the power to go directly into the grid and to the utility companies' customers.
BlueChip Energy is also looking at installing solar panels on another 300 acres that the city of Eustis owns next to the current solar panel farm site.
The solar energy created from the entire project would eventually be enough to power over 20,000 homes.
Nikitin said solar energy allows them to harness the power of the sun without hurting the environment or permanently altering the land.
"With the same ease as we can put the solar farm in the ground, we can remove it," Nikitin said.
White said she still has some concerns, but has come to grips with the development because she thinks going green will be worth it in the long run.
"We have to do what's best for the future for little ones like this," White said looking at her granddaughter.
BlueChip Energy estimates the entire project could create as many as 500 jobs during construction over the next couple years.
That figure includes people the company hires to manufacture the solar panels at its headquarters in Lake Mary.
Crews started putting the first solar panels in place after a groundbreaking ceremony Monday to celebrate the new Sorrento Solar Farm.
BlueChip Energy, a company based out of Seminole County, is installing solar panels that will eventually cover more than 200 acres of an open field off County Road 437.
"There is no other energy on the planet which can compete with solar in environmental friendliness," said BlueChip Energy CEO Demitri Nikitin.
Despite the benefits of going green, some people living nearby were against the solar farm at first.
Carol White and her husband live right next to the property.
They feared losing the rural landscape they enjoy gazing out on with their granddaughter.
"That's what upset us the most in the beginning," White said. "Why here in the middle of a little community, a small town?"
Nikitin said the property was a perfect fit because both Progress Energy and SECO have utility substations at the site that allow the power to go directly into the grid and to the utility companies' customers.
BlueChip Energy is also looking at installing solar panels on another 300 acres that the city of Eustis owns next to the current solar panel farm site.
The solar energy created from the entire project would eventually be enough to power over 20,000 homes.
Nikitin said solar energy allows them to harness the power of the sun without hurting the environment or permanently altering the land.
"With the same ease as we can put the solar farm in the ground, we can remove it," Nikitin said.
White said she still has some concerns, but has come to grips with the development because she thinks going green will be worth it in the long run.
"We have to do what's best for the future for little ones like this," White said looking at her granddaughter.
BlueChip Energy estimates the entire project could create as many as 500 jobs during construction over the next couple years.
That figure includes people the company hires to manufacture the solar panels at its headquarters in Lake Mary.
2011年9月27日星期二
Planning Board Approves Temple's Solar Panel Project
The Planning Board has approved Temple Beth Tikvah’s application to install a 10,000-square foot system of solar panels in its parking lot.
The board unanimously approved the application Monday night. It is the first time a house of worship in town will install solar panels on its property.
Steve Taylor, from Green Energy Construction & Consulting, said the panels are expected to generate 144 kilowatts of energy an hour, enough to potentially eliminate the Temple’s reliance on power from PSE&G.
“The project gives the temple the ability to significantly reduce its electric bill,” said Michael Ruben, the attorney who represented the Temple before the board.
The 600 panels will be installed atop a skeletal structure in the parking lot, forming a carport.
Taylor said the system could be up and running by the end of the year.
Although the project is the first of its kind for a Wayne house of worship, solar panels have been popping up throughout the town this year.
Solar panels have been installed at seven public schools. They should be operational in November. A raised solar panel system already exists at William Paterson University. Those panels created a large canopy that covers several parking lots, but that system is not easily seen from nearby roads. Officials are also examining the possibility of installing solar panels on town property. PSE&G has installed hundreds of panels on utility poles throughout the town.
Rueben said solar panels have several advantages when it comes to finding alternative ways to generate energy.
“People don’t like the big windmills because they think they are loud and somewhat dangerous,” Rueben said. “You don’t have that with solar panels. Although they might not look the best, they are a quite, passive technology.”
Several residents expressed their disapproval with the application at a board meeting in July.
“This is going to be an eyesore,” said Robert Gordon, who has lived on nearby Teak Road for 33 years.
Rueben said that although some residents might not like the way they look, solar panels are going to become more popular in the coming years.
“This is the wave of the future, whether people like it or not, you’re going to see more solar arrays appear everywhere, especially in North Jersey,” Rueben said.
The board unanimously approved the application Monday night. It is the first time a house of worship in town will install solar panels on its property.
Steve Taylor, from Green Energy Construction & Consulting, said the panels are expected to generate 144 kilowatts of energy an hour, enough to potentially eliminate the Temple’s reliance on power from PSE&G.
“The project gives the temple the ability to significantly reduce its electric bill,” said Michael Ruben, the attorney who represented the Temple before the board.
The 600 panels will be installed atop a skeletal structure in the parking lot, forming a carport.
Taylor said the system could be up and running by the end of the year.
Although the project is the first of its kind for a Wayne house of worship, solar panels have been popping up throughout the town this year.
Solar panels have been installed at seven public schools. They should be operational in November. A raised solar panel system already exists at William Paterson University. Those panels created a large canopy that covers several parking lots, but that system is not easily seen from nearby roads. Officials are also examining the possibility of installing solar panels on town property. PSE&G has installed hundreds of panels on utility poles throughout the town.
Rueben said solar panels have several advantages when it comes to finding alternative ways to generate energy.
“People don’t like the big windmills because they think they are loud and somewhat dangerous,” Rueben said. “You don’t have that with solar panels. Although they might not look the best, they are a quite, passive technology.”
Several residents expressed their disapproval with the application at a board meeting in July.
“This is going to be an eyesore,” said Robert Gordon, who has lived on nearby Teak Road for 33 years.
Rueben said that although some residents might not like the way they look, solar panels are going to become more popular in the coming years.
“This is the wave of the future, whether people like it or not, you’re going to see more solar arrays appear everywhere, especially in North Jersey,” Rueben said.
2011年9月18日星期日
China takes over as US solar power firms fail
As the workshop of the world, China has used cheap labour and state support to build a solar industry from scratch in just over a decade as part of a strategy to move up the value chain from cheap toys and clothes.
China is the world’s second biggest oil consumer, and polluting fossil fuels account for 90 per cent of its total energy use, but the country is making strides towards clean energy.
Analysts say Chinese firms now have 70 per cent of the growing global market in solar panels, thanks to aggressive pricing and the collapse of three US competitors in the last two months.
“The position of Chinese players has certainly been enhanced this year,” said Tang Xiaodong, a Shanghai-based analyst at independent investment advisory firm CEBM.
“Lower costs are the direction of the industry and the advantages of Chinese firms on this front have been manifested more clearly.” China’s solar panel prices have fallen to around $1.2 per watt of generation, down from about $1.7 last year and much lower than the global average of about $2 in 2010.
But the downward price spiral has hurt revenues across the industry, and Chinese companies are themselves feeling the pain.
“Everyone is facing falling prices, increasing inventories and dire straits,” said an official at Yingli Green Energy, one of China’s biggest solar companies, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Critics argue that Chinese companies have unfair advantages in the form of access to cheap capital from China’s state-run banks. However, they are not alone in receiving government assistance — the latest US solar firm to file for bankruptcy was Solyndra, which had a $535 million loan guarantee from President Barack Obama’s administration.
It joined Evergreen Solar, once listed on the Nasdaq exchange, and high-profile Intel spin-off SpectraWatt. But China was already home to the world’s largest producer of solar panels, Suntech.
“There is a periodic murmur from industry, trade groups and elements in the US government that unfair subsidies in other countries put the US at a distinct disadvantage in the solar industry,” said US-based analysis firm GTM Research in a recent report.
China’s Suntech, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, counters such criticism by saying consolidation of the emerging industry was natural. “The recent high-profile bankruptcies of innovative solar enterprises are unfortunate,” Suntech said in a statement to AFP.
“However, competition among aggressive and innovative companies is critical to driving efficiency, productivity, and industry growth.”
Chinese companies are almost solely focused on exports, with as much as 95 per cent of production sold overseas according to some estimates, and they have responded to falling prices for solar panels by ramping up shipments.
China is the world’s second biggest oil consumer, and polluting fossil fuels account for 90 per cent of its total energy use, but the country is making strides towards clean energy.
Analysts say Chinese firms now have 70 per cent of the growing global market in solar panels, thanks to aggressive pricing and the collapse of three US competitors in the last two months.
“The position of Chinese players has certainly been enhanced this year,” said Tang Xiaodong, a Shanghai-based analyst at independent investment advisory firm CEBM.
“Lower costs are the direction of the industry and the advantages of Chinese firms on this front have been manifested more clearly.” China’s solar panel prices have fallen to around $1.2 per watt of generation, down from about $1.7 last year and much lower than the global average of about $2 in 2010.
But the downward price spiral has hurt revenues across the industry, and Chinese companies are themselves feeling the pain.
“Everyone is facing falling prices, increasing inventories and dire straits,” said an official at Yingli Green Energy, one of China’s biggest solar companies, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Critics argue that Chinese companies have unfair advantages in the form of access to cheap capital from China’s state-run banks. However, they are not alone in receiving government assistance — the latest US solar firm to file for bankruptcy was Solyndra, which had a $535 million loan guarantee from President Barack Obama’s administration.
It joined Evergreen Solar, once listed on the Nasdaq exchange, and high-profile Intel spin-off SpectraWatt. But China was already home to the world’s largest producer of solar panels, Suntech.
“There is a periodic murmur from industry, trade groups and elements in the US government that unfair subsidies in other countries put the US at a distinct disadvantage in the solar industry,” said US-based analysis firm GTM Research in a recent report.
China’s Suntech, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, counters such criticism by saying consolidation of the emerging industry was natural. “The recent high-profile bankruptcies of innovative solar enterprises are unfortunate,” Suntech said in a statement to AFP.
“However, competition among aggressive and innovative companies is critical to driving efficiency, productivity, and industry growth.”
Chinese companies are almost solely focused on exports, with as much as 95 per cent of production sold overseas according to some estimates, and they have responded to falling prices for solar panels by ramping up shipments.
2011年6月14日星期二
Bills back trend of rental solar panels
More and more Coloradans are opting to lease solar energy systems for their homes to avoid the large up-front cost of buying solar panels.
To facilitate the practice, Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., is backing a bill to reduce the risk to companies that want to rent solar equipment.
Meanwhile, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill Friday to reduce the permitting fees that local governments charge installers.
Colorado already ranks as a top market for the solar business. The state government provides a number of loans, tax exemptions and rebates for system installation. The state also has the third-highest number of solar installers affiliated with the American Solar Energy Society, according to FindSolar.com.
However, solar panels still remain largely out of reach for residential ownership. Prices for a complete system can range from $10,000 to $40,000 even after state and federal rebates and incentives, according to Cooler Planet, a Seattle renewable-energy company.
To address this problem, several companies have started to offer solar power financing services, where instead of buying panels, homeowners use company-owned equipment and pay for the power they use.
Although there are no savings guarantees, customers often will pay less for the leases and the electric bills than they previously paid for electric bills alone.
“This business model is making it so that solar is affordable for millions of Americans,” said Susan Wise, a spokeswoman for SunRun, one of the nation’s largest solar-power service companies, which also provides service in Colorado.
“This is just a much better way to go solar,” she said. “You don’t actually want the equipment. You just want the clean power.”
SunRun doubled the number of customers it serves from 5,000 to 10,000 between early 2010 and 2011, Wise said.
Close to half of all solar customers in Colorado use a solar lease-type model, as opposed to owning their own panels, according to Neal Lurie, the executive director of Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association.
“I think that solar-related financing programs, including solar leases, are going to see significant growth in the months ahead,” Lurie said. “This model barely existed just a couple years ago. The fact that they have close to 50 percent of solar customers participating in solar leases reinforces the fact that it just makes it easier for customers.”
Udall wants to encourage further growth in the solar market, which currently accounts for just 1 percent of the nation’s electricity supply.
Along with Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., he sponsored legislation that would allow the Department of Energy to ensure the value of leases for residential solar energy panels. Whitehouse introduced the bill, S. 1126, on June 1.
The bill allows companies that lease solar panels to pay a premium to join the program, and they would be protected if homeowners defaulted on the cost of the lease or the system didn’t produce enough energy. Because the companies would pay a premium, the cost of the program to the taxpayers would be zero.
The senators hope the program would encourage more companies to offer such leases and bolster the solar-energy market.
“By making solar energy more accessible to people, you stimulate manufacturing, you create jobs, you also create an interest in solar energy,” Udall spokeswoman Jennifer Talhelm said.
At the state level, Wise said that rebates and other incentives are making it possible for solar leasing to exist.
“We still very much need subsidies in order to make this work,” she said.
Wise said that in the future, the industry’s goal is to be subsidy-free.
A major area that needs to be addressed is inconsistencies in solar permitting practices from municipality to municipality, Wise said. Such differences, on average, add about $2,500 per installation.
“If you can streamline permitting processes across the industry and have a standard process with online submission forms you will significantly reduce the cost of solar,” she said.
Efforts are under way at both the national and the state level to address this issue. The Department of Energy and the White House are enlisting local governments to design a streamlined permitting process that they would encourage cities to adopt.
In Colorado, Hickenlooper on Friday signed into law legislation that would ease the state’s permitting process. It limits the cost of solar permits and related fees to the local government’s actual cost to issue the permit, not to exceed $500 for a residential installation.
“I think this is ground-breaking legislation that is likely to become a national model that other states will follow,” said Lurie with Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association.
To facilitate the practice, Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., is backing a bill to reduce the risk to companies that want to rent solar equipment.
Meanwhile, Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill Friday to reduce the permitting fees that local governments charge installers.
Colorado already ranks as a top market for the solar business. The state government provides a number of loans, tax exemptions and rebates for system installation. The state also has the third-highest number of solar installers affiliated with the American Solar Energy Society, according to FindSolar.com.
However, solar panels still remain largely out of reach for residential ownership. Prices for a complete system can range from $10,000 to $40,000 even after state and federal rebates and incentives, according to Cooler Planet, a Seattle renewable-energy company.
To address this problem, several companies have started to offer solar power financing services, where instead of buying panels, homeowners use company-owned equipment and pay for the power they use.
Although there are no savings guarantees, customers often will pay less for the leases and the electric bills than they previously paid for electric bills alone.
“This business model is making it so that solar is affordable for millions of Americans,” said Susan Wise, a spokeswoman for SunRun, one of the nation’s largest solar-power service companies, which also provides service in Colorado.
“This is just a much better way to go solar,” she said. “You don’t actually want the equipment. You just want the clean power.”
SunRun doubled the number of customers it serves from 5,000 to 10,000 between early 2010 and 2011, Wise said.
Close to half of all solar customers in Colorado use a solar lease-type model, as opposed to owning their own panels, according to Neal Lurie, the executive director of Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association.
“I think that solar-related financing programs, including solar leases, are going to see significant growth in the months ahead,” Lurie said. “This model barely existed just a couple years ago. The fact that they have close to 50 percent of solar customers participating in solar leases reinforces the fact that it just makes it easier for customers.”
Udall wants to encourage further growth in the solar market, which currently accounts for just 1 percent of the nation’s electricity supply.
Along with Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., he sponsored legislation that would allow the Department of Energy to ensure the value of leases for residential solar energy panels. Whitehouse introduced the bill, S. 1126, on June 1.
The bill allows companies that lease solar panels to pay a premium to join the program, and they would be protected if homeowners defaulted on the cost of the lease or the system didn’t produce enough energy. Because the companies would pay a premium, the cost of the program to the taxpayers would be zero.
The senators hope the program would encourage more companies to offer such leases and bolster the solar-energy market.
“By making solar energy more accessible to people, you stimulate manufacturing, you create jobs, you also create an interest in solar energy,” Udall spokeswoman Jennifer Talhelm said.
At the state level, Wise said that rebates and other incentives are making it possible for solar leasing to exist.
“We still very much need subsidies in order to make this work,” she said.
Wise said that in the future, the industry’s goal is to be subsidy-free.
A major area that needs to be addressed is inconsistencies in solar permitting practices from municipality to municipality, Wise said. Such differences, on average, add about $2,500 per installation.
“If you can streamline permitting processes across the industry and have a standard process with online submission forms you will significantly reduce the cost of solar,” she said.
Efforts are under way at both the national and the state level to address this issue. The Department of Energy and the White House are enlisting local governments to design a streamlined permitting process that they would encourage cities to adopt.
In Colorado, Hickenlooper on Friday signed into law legislation that would ease the state’s permitting process. It limits the cost of solar permits and related fees to the local government’s actual cost to issue the permit, not to exceed $500 for a residential installation.
“I think this is ground-breaking legislation that is likely to become a national model that other states will follow,” said Lurie with Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association.
2011年4月18日星期一
Harnessing Solar Power without Cells?
Home solar power is a beautiful thing. An already sound investment, state and federal incentives continue to bring costs down every day. Most homeowners are surprised at what they can save on new systems (and if you’re curious what it would cost you, you can get an estimate here).
But large, utility-scale solar has a lot of growing to do. Many critics of industrial solar argue that costs of manufacturing are still too high for solar energy to compete with coal, nuclear or natural gas on a national level.
University of Michigan researchers, however, may have found an alternative way to harness photonic energy from the sun, and although the technology may not be perfected or deployed for years, it has given environmentalists new hope that clean, reliable energy sources are not so far off.
Professor Stephen Rand described the university’s latest discovery in a recent press release. He explained that the power of magnetic energy may be the key to realizing solar’s full potential. Essentially, they learned that light passing through non-conductive materials creates magnetic fields over 100 million times stronger than previous theories had predicted.
Says Rand, this level of magnetic energy can generate similar power to that of traditional electricity. It is a discovery that could lead to the development of new technology without the need for solar cells, semiconductors or a number of other key components used in today’s solar panels.
The team also cautions that sunlight must focus on these cells at an end intensity of 10 million watts/square centimeter. Sunlight isn’t this intense on its own, but the university and their partners are working on alternative materials that could generate the magnetic energy at lower levels of focus intensity.
It could take years before the tech is fully refined and the new solar cells are deployed in any number, and these cells will most likely be installed first in military facilities, government buildings, and universities before they become available in American homes.
Are solar cells truly an efficient way to replace power lines? Time (and research) will tell.
But large, utility-scale solar has a lot of growing to do. Many critics of industrial solar argue that costs of manufacturing are still too high for solar energy to compete with coal, nuclear or natural gas on a national level.
University of Michigan researchers, however, may have found an alternative way to harness photonic energy from the sun, and although the technology may not be perfected or deployed for years, it has given environmentalists new hope that clean, reliable energy sources are not so far off.
Professor Stephen Rand described the university’s latest discovery in a recent press release. He explained that the power of magnetic energy may be the key to realizing solar’s full potential. Essentially, they learned that light passing through non-conductive materials creates magnetic fields over 100 million times stronger than previous theories had predicted.
Says Rand, this level of magnetic energy can generate similar power to that of traditional electricity. It is a discovery that could lead to the development of new technology without the need for solar cells, semiconductors or a number of other key components used in today’s solar panels.
The team also cautions that sunlight must focus on these cells at an end intensity of 10 million watts/square centimeter. Sunlight isn’t this intense on its own, but the university and their partners are working on alternative materials that could generate the magnetic energy at lower levels of focus intensity.
It could take years before the tech is fully refined and the new solar cells are deployed in any number, and these cells will most likely be installed first in military facilities, government buildings, and universities before they become available in American homes.
Are solar cells truly an efficient way to replace power lines? Time (and research) will tell.
订阅：
博文 (Atom)