Solar energy, school security considered by Highland Board

Energy cost sav-ings through solar energy and on-site secu-rity were two of many top-ics dis-cussed at the Feb-ru-ary 13 High-land Board of Edu-ca-tion meeting.Board mem-ber John Mess-mer said the pos-si-bil-ity of solar power for the three school build-ings is being exam-ined by the board."We've met with a solar out-fit over the past month sev-eral times and it looks like a good oppor-tu-nity for every-body in the com-mu-nity," he explained. "We've got some more work to do on it but we hope by this time next month, we'll have some-thing to share that we'll be mov-ing for-ward with."
Mess-mer said it would pro-vide a great cost sav-ings for the school dis-trict and the board will keep the pub-lic updated. Solar Planet of West-er-ville and Con-stel-la-tion Energy are the two com-pa-nies that have been contacted.Supt Dr. Bill Dodds said the school is get-ting closer to hav-ing a resource offi-cer on cam-pus full time, and the goal is to begin that in April."Our part-ner-ship is with the Mor-row County Sheriff's Office," he said. "They have an offi-cer in school resource train-ing who will fin-ish up in August. That is what we have found to be the safest and most secure way to pro-tect our stu-dents beyond the mea-sures we already take."Board Pres-i-dent Eric Thacker said he sat in on a pre-sen-ta-tion given by Mor-row County Hos-pi-tal CEO Chris Truax regard-ing the pro-posed south-ern Mor-row County urgent care-type med-ical center.
"He gave sort of a vision of what they're hop-ing to do with it, and it ties in nicely with safety and secu-rity for our kids as well as health," Thacker explained. "They're going to have around 4,000 sq. ft. of ther-apy space and bring in spe-cial-ists. If your chil-dren or grand-chil-dren have par-tic-i-pated in sports here, some-times the very first care-givers they are with are the train-ers asso-ci-ated with Mor-row County Hos-pi-tal. It will be nice to con-tinue that com-mu-ni-ca-tion, hav-ing spe-cial-ists that will be based out of that new facil-ity near the free-way and hav-ing licensed phys-i-cal ther-a-pists there."Supt. Dodds said Gov. Kasich has come out with his new bud-get for schools, and it sounded very appeal-ing to school dis-tricts at first, but that changed when fig-ures were released."We shouldn't be too dis-ap-pointed yet, because they have a long way to go," Dodds said.

Another lawsuit shines light on solar panel issue in West County

Last June, when a Cole County Circuit Judge ruled in a favor of a couple that had sued the city of Clarkson Valley for refusing to allow them to install solar panels on their home, it seemed as if a new precedent had been set: State standards regulating residential solar systems had trumped a city's right to restrict their installation.As it turns out, that lawsuit settled nothing.In January, a Wildwood couple, Brian Hauge and Susan Hanley, filed suit against the trustees of the homeowners association of their subdivision, the Highlands of Chesterfield, for denying their request to install solar panels on their home.Steve Jeffery, the couple's attorney, acknowledged that neighborhood associations have the right to include in their indentures provisions that impose specific design and construction standards on exterior improvements to a home. At issue, Jeffery said, is that the couple's subdivision indentures did not address solar panels at all.
"In this particular subdivision, there was no specific provision, or even a general provision, dealing with solar panels," said Jeffery.Instead, Jeffery said the trustees rejected the couple's application based on a "very loose, vague standard" of aesthetic considerations. Conversely, state laws that regulate the installation of solar panels do not impose any aesthetic requirements on residential solar panels. According to Jeffery, this puts the trustees' actions in direct conflict with public policy and makes that provision in the indentures unenforceable.State regulations do establish design, safety and operating standards for residential solar systems that have a solar rebate contract with an electric utility."We have a solar rebate contract with Ameren," Hauge said in a press release. "Our system is designed to totally comply with all applicable design, safety and operating requirements."
Jeffery said when you pit those very specific state regulations against the trustees' power to deny or approve a solar installation based on a "vague, arbitrary" provision in the subdivision indentures, the question becomes, "Which one takes precedent?"Notably, this suit was filed against the couple's homeowners association, not the city of Wildwood. Asked whether he thought future issues with residential solar panels would wind up on the desks of city attorneys or neighborhood trustees, Jeffery said, "Probably both. This is a very new and evolving area of the law."

A forest of steel and ingenuity, paint picture for UAE energy

On a clear day - a rare enough phenomenon at this time of year in England - the view out across the mouth of the Thames estuary from the modest heights of the greensward at Frinton-on-Sea can carry the eye as far as the north Kent coast, about 50 kilometres to the south.On this February day, however, even the lifeboat station at the end of the 800-metre pier jutting out into the inhospitable soup from the neighbouring town of Walton-on-the-Naze is lost to view.But this is East Anglia on the east coast of England, where sky and sea have always conspired to surprise with sudden, dramatic changes of scenery that have frustrated the aspirations of lesser artists and inspired the likes of Turner and Constable. Quite suddenly, the seemingly impenetrable murk is pierced and parted by shafts of light angling in from the low morning sun.
The sea, shimmering silver as though with the scales of a million surfacing fish, begins to reclaim the horizon.HiViz Field and Stadium Addresses Superbowl Blackout.And then, out of the retreating Stygian gloom, appearing one by one in ranks as perfectly ordered as the headstones in a military graveyard, rise what at first, improbably, appears to be the advance guard of a titanic marine forest.In fact, this is a forest of steel and ingenuity, a vast manmade plantation of hope for the future of a power-hungry planet and, in scale and ambition, without doubt one of the wonders of the modern world.
The 175th and final turbine of the London Array windfarm, a joint enterprise by the Danish company Dong Energy, the gas and electricity group E.ON UK and Abu Dhabi's future-energy initiative Masdar, was installed on December 13.Together, they have created the world's largest offshore windfarm. More than 80 of the 175 turbines are already online and, when the last of them is commissioned, some time this spring, the windfarm will be pumping 630 megawatts into the national grid. That's enough electricity to power 470,000 homes - about two thirds of all the households in the southeastern English county of Kent.Part of the wonder is the speed at which the project has been completed. Groundwork on the onshore substation, through which all the power flows into the national grid along cables buried in the seabed, began in July 2009. The foundations for the first turbine were driven into the seabed in March 2011 and, right on schedule, all major construction was completed by the end of last year.

HiViz Field and Stadium Addresses Superbowl Blackout

The power outage at the Super Bowl causing the lights to go through a 34-minute recycle to warm up which delayed the game could have been completely avoided using the HiViz Field and Stadium LED lighting technology. "Our LED stadium light solutions change the game completely compared to traditional metal halide lighting as is installed at the Super Dome. Using LED lights from VisionX, which are based on CREE diodes made in the USA, we provide the same amount of light, using 1/10th the power," Says Sam Massa, owner of HiViz Field and Stadium. He continues, "Most important, they can be turned instantly on and instantly off. There is no warm up time."HiViz Field and Stadium installed the first "green" athletic field lighting solution in North Carolina using low cost, energy efficient LED lights. "I can't believe the Super Dome can't do what we can do at our local soccer field using the HiViz Field and Stadium. We love the instant-on/instant-off feature of the HiViz Field and Stadium lights at our soccer complex. It saves money and if we do have lights go off for any reason, they can be turned on without any delay. Our games start on time!", says Vic Kubit, member of the Fayetteville Soccer Club.
Massa explains why there is a delay with traditional stadium lights. "The layman explanation of the reason there is a delay with the lights like those used at the Super Dome is that the lamp itself contains gas inside, metal halides. To turn on the light, an arc, much like a welding arc, is created that excites the gas and causes it to shine bright light. The lamps become very hot, hundreds of degrees, when operating. This creates tremendous pressure inside the lamp and due to the pressure, the arc will not reignite the gas until the light cools down and the pressure subsides. This typically takes 20 minutes or more."The following video shows the instant-on instant-off advantage of some of the newest LED technology offered by HiViz Field and Stadium: LED lighting technology is revolutionizing the lighting industry. The US manufacturer of LED diodes used in the HiViz LED Stadium and Lighting solutions, CREE, has seen significant growth. According to MarketWatch.com, CREE's 2nd quarter fiscal earnings were up 69% as the energy efficient light maker saw broad based revenue growth." Shares jumped 14% in recent after market trading.I never thought I'd see this day where we have lights shining down on our the field with our kids playing at night" says Julie Bilyeu, mother of several youth soccer participants and wife of club Treasurer, Keith Bilyeu. "It has really cut years off of our fund raising efforts to provide lights for the fields and the operating costs are even less."

China’s Suntech to Build $10 Mln Uzbek Solar Panel Factory

China’s Suntech Power Holdings Co. plans to establish a solar panel factory in Uzbekistan, according to data published by the republic’s economics ministry on Monday.Suntech and Uzbekistan’s state energy company Uzbekenergo have signed a memorandum on setting up the $10 million joint venture for the project, to be set up in the Navoiy free industrial and economic zone, the ministry said, but did not clarify when the project would begin.Based in Wuxi, China, Suntech claims to be the largest producer of solar panels in the world.Uzbekistan is investing heavily in solar power, and has already attracted other foreign investors. Tashkent inaugurated a new solar research institute in February 2012, in cooperation with the Asia Development Bank (ADB), the bank said.
Uzbekistan also plans to build several solar-based electric power plants with a capacity of over 2 GW, according to earlier reports. Those plants will be financed by Uzbenergo and loans from the ADB and other international financial organizations.In 2012, Uzbekenergo started designing a 50 MW capacity solar electric power station in the Tashkent region, to generate 110 million KWh of power annually.The project, with estimated cost of $250 million, will be financed with a $90 million loan from the ADB and investment from Uzbekistan.Russian oil major LUKoil has also presented proposals for building a solar plant in Uzbekistan, in a joint program with the ADB and the Uzbekistan government, PV Magazine reported in October 2011.Uzbekistan said in December 2012 it was extending tax exemptions to enterprises with a minimum 30 percent direct private foreign investment in 20 industries, including construction of renewable energy power stations.
Uzbekistan’s solar energy potential is estimated at 50.9 billion tons of oil equivalent or 99.7 percent of all renewable energy sources surveyed in the republic. The country is currently heavily reliant on coal and gas, according to its energy ministry.GMP selected the company to build the first solar array in Rutland as part of the utility's commitment to make Rutland the "Solar Capital of New England."The 150-kilowatt Creek Path Solar Farm was built on a former brownfield owned by GMP. It was completed by Same Sun last month. An Italian company that's proposing a solar-power plant in Arizona will discuss its plans at a meeting Tuesday on the Ak-Chin Reservation.