Project Amp Creates New Jobs For Solar Industry

The White House may not have solar panels on its roof yet, but it appears that warehouses all over the country will soon. The U.S. is getting serious about clean energy. Last week, the Department of Energy offered a partial loan guarantee to fund Project Amp, a program to put solar panel arrays on rooftops all over the U.S.. Along with committing to save the environment with clean energy, Project Amp will also be saving the economy. The funding for this project will create many new jobs in the San Diego solar energy industry as well.

The Department of Energy's loan for Project Amp will be for $1.4 billion and will be the biggest rooftop solar project in the U.S.. The plan is to put solar panels on the roof of 750 warehouse buildings operated by Prologis, a co-owner of Project Amp. The DOE's partial loan guarantee offer is part of the Financial Institution Partnership Program (FIPP), a stimulus plan to expedite loan guarantee for renewable energy projects that use commercial technology. According to the DOE's site, the DOE will pay the credit subsidy cost of the guarantee and provide a guarantee for 80% of the loan. The energy generated by the solar panel arrays will then be sold to utility companies.

The $1.4 billion loan is to be financed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which will in turn amp up the economy. Since the Project Amp's span is over 28 states and last about four years, it will put about 10,000 new jobs on the market. Many positions surrounding the solar power San Diego industry will open, such as scientific research to improve the function and quality of solar panels and energy, solar power engineering, power plant operations, photovoltaic panel manufacturing and building construction. For more information about job opportunities in the rewarding field of green energy, please visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics site.

White House Misses Their Own Solar Installation Deadline

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Today is the first day of summer: the longest day of the year and music to school children's ears. It also marks the day that President Obama promised that the White House would have their rooftop solar panel and water heater installation completed. It's still the longest day of the year, but there are still no solar panels on the White House roof.

The U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu promised last October to have the installation up by the end of spring. Breaking that particular promise certainly isn't the worst crime a president and administration have ever committed, but it has made environmental advocacy groups feel severely agitated and let down. "We took [Chu's 2010 speech] as a great victory and thanked the White House for doing the right thing for the right reasons. It's not anywhere near as important as passing legislation or anything, but it's not completely insignificant. It didn't our to us that they might not actually keep their promise," asserted the founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben. 350.org is the grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis who started the Put Solar On It campaign, telling world leaders to to power their government offices with solar electricity san diego.

Admitting to the delay, the Department of Energy wrote a blog post about it yesterday evening. It stated that the White House project was just a small part of the much larger SunShot initiative, a program to greatly reduce the total installed cost of solar energy systems by 2020. The post was written by Ramamoorthy Ramesh, the Director of the SunShot Initiative and Solar Energy Technologies Program. The end of the post stated, "Solar energy holds massive potential to help the United States win the future. And the Obama Administration is committed to helping advance the solar industry as an important part of its broad clean energy portfolio."

McGraw-Hill To Build the Largest Solar Plant In the Western Hemisphere

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Education publishing giant McGraw-Hill announced that they will building the largest privately-owned net-metered solar energy plant in not only North America, but the largest on this side of the Prime Meridian. They plan to install their solar array system on 50 acres of land near their data center, which requires the highest energy need.

The panels will be supported by a ballasted racking mount system that involves no ground penetration - further reducing the size of their carbon footprint. Once live, the power plant will produce 14.1 megawatts of energy. Broken down, this is about 18 million kWh per year - enough to provide enough energy for 1,500 homes. The plan is to reduce McGraw-Hill's global carbon emissions by 10%. Reducing carbon emissions has become a big issue for them since their 180,000 square-foot data center is rapidly expanding due to increase in their digital projects, which of course, requires more energy.

The solar project, which will end in December 2011 and March 2012, is anticipated to create 294 new jobs, according to the Rutgers University Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. McGraw-Hill is partnering up with New Jersey Resources Clean Energy Ventures, who is able to qualify for a 30 percent federal investment tax credit. Along with the tax credit, New Jersey Resources may be eligible to receive Solar Renewable Energy Certificates, which can be sold to other companies looking to meet renewable energy requirements. "Our plan to use solar power underscores our commitment to green, sustainable business practices," said the President and Chief Executive Officer of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Harold McGraw III.

Learn more your eligibility for the 30% federal tax credit as well as state tax rebates for solar power San Diego.

China Makes Plans to Power Africa With Solar

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China appears to be looking to shake its reputation for being the world's largest coal-consuming nation and make the switch to more ecologically popular solar energy. As well as powering its own vast country, China is making plans to power the equally vast continent of Africa as well.

Currently, China is the largest manufacturer of photovoltaic panels and has the lofty goal of reducing Africa's dependence on environment-damaging fossil fuels. The plan is to start projects in 40 African nations. Solar facilities already exist in a few countries like South Africa, Algeria, Rwanda and the Gambia. "We'll begin investigating this month in Africa to determine a suitable project in each country, such as installing solar panes on the rooftops of schools and hospitals," said the aptly named Sun Guangbin, the secretary general of photovoltaic products for the China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Machinery and Electronic Products.

The planned program could require 650 million yuan or $100 million in investment. The project would use competitive bidding and their own solar panels. The price of monocrystalline cells declined 7.5 percent to $1.14 per watt from last month. In anticipation of the 60 percent export growth value of solar panels this year, China wants to expand its horizons to the African market. Each individual installation is expected to cost 10 to 20 million yuan or $1.5 to $3 million.

Contact Solaire Energy Systems, one of the leading solar companies in San Diego, about installing solar panels on your rooftop by calling 1-800-847-7751.