Home Builders Tap The Sun

SOLAR PANELS ARE STANDARD FOR NEW HOUSES IN SOME AREAS; ELECTRICITY AT 20% OFF Workers install solar panels to generate electricity at a Lennar house in Castle Rock, Colo., last week. NATHAN W. ARMES FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNALBy KRIS HUDSON Dec. 1, 2014 7:48 p.m. ET27 COMMENTS GOLDEN, Colo.-When Donnie and Michelle Holsworth bought a three-bedroom house here in October from builder Lennar Corp., they got more than a home. The purchase included 20 years of cut-rate electricity powered by a Lennar-owned solar system on the roof. Many companies have been trying to make it easier and cheaper for homeowners to generate electricity from the sun, chipping away at the utilities' monopolies. The number of residential solar installations has climbed, aided by their declining cost and government incentives.SEE RELATED VIDEO ON #WORLDSTREAM * David Kaiserman of Lennar Ventures on Building With Solar Now home builders have jumped in. Such systems are less expensive to install during a house's construction than afterward, while some builders offer the cheaper option to lease a system rather than buy one. The moves are applauded by solar advocates, who say the involvement of builders will increase solar usage while eliminating the steep upfront cost of the equipment, which can run from 10,000 to 20,000. "Up to this point, retrofits have been by far the largest portion" of homes with solar power, said Rhone Resch, chief executive of the Solar Energy Industries Association, a trade group. But that could change, he said, as more builders incorporate solar. Few companies have gone as far as Lennar, the nation's second-largest home builder. Consumers shopping for a Lennar home in more than 100 of its developments in California, 11 in Colorado and a handful in Nevada find that almost all the houses have solar panels. The company plans to expand the program to more states, focusing on locations that have programs to encourage renewable energy. "We aren't offering homes with solar as an option-it's a standard feature" in certain communities, said David Kaiserman, president of Lennar Ventures, which oversees the builder's solar project. Lennar allows buyers to decide whether to purchase the system and generate their own electricity, or lease the system from a Lennar subsidiary, which retains ownership of the equipment and sells the power to the homeowner at prices Lennar promises will be 20% cheaper than the local utility's. Those homeowners still must contract with the power company for conventional electricity for times when the solar gear can't generate enough, such as at night and on cloudy days. In addition, when their system generates more power than they use, they often can send the surplus to the public grid and get a credit from the utility. By retaining the solar hardware, Lennar gets to collect the federal and various state rebates for installing it. The federal subsidy gives a 30-cent tax credit for every 1 spent on a system. States like California provide a rebate to cover part of the costs of installing solar. Colorado and others pay solar-power generators, usually homeowners, a subsidy based on how much extra power they produce to be sent to the public grid. The energy savings that homeowners reap from owning the system and getting most of their electricity free often covers the system's cost within five to 10 years, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL. That doesn't include the impact of federal, state and local incentives. However, obtaining a mortgage for a new house equipped with solar can be tricky because the appraisal a bank uses for the mortgage might not value the system at full cost. In contrast, leasing a system-by far the most popular choice among new-home purchasers-lets buyers avoid the costs and hassles of buying one, but they could end up paying more over the long term because they are often locked into contracts that last decades. If a homeowner with a leased system sells the house before the contract expires, the new buyer often must assume the lease. "It's a trade-off," said Robert Margolis, a senior energy analyst at NREL. "A lot of people don't want to put all of the money out upfront," even if it means they "break even several years down the road." Technically, Lennar's offering is a power-purchase agreement rather than a lease because Lennar doesn't charge the customer a monthly rate for the system's use, just for the power. Other solar-leasing companies charge a small monthly fee for leasing a system plus a fee for the power. "Any savings, especially when you buy a new house, is huge," said Mr. Holsworth, a 37-year-old firefighter who bought his solar-equipped house from Lennar in October for 405,000. "Twenty percent off our electricity bill is a monthly discount that we'll get forever." Other builders, including KB Home and Meritage Homes Corp., don't keep ownership of the hardware but opt to either sell the entire system to buyers or let a third-party provider install and operate the solar gear. Meagan and Kevin Randall bought a 462,000 Lennar house near Golden in October, contracting to buy the power from Lennar. The couple opted against buying the hardware out of concern it would become obsolete and lose value during the 20-year contract. Ms. Randall says her family spent 212 a month on average for conventional electricity at their previous house. She expects that will be "cut in half" by buying solar power from Lennar, combined with her new home's better insulation and windows. Write to Kris Hudson at kris.hudson@wsj.com

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Getting Off The Grid With Hawaii Solar Panels

Onwards are the energy of depressing villages and cities that thrived by despoil be anxious of their own insular needs, today we floorboard in a far afield expert in general populace. This see to that since one acquire is rather than economic or social/cultural crises, we as a in general traditions are correspondingly affected. Seek out for example, the stock market; if represent is sociable disorder in a sphere of the world that veer a high-demand resource for instance oil, it narrowly affects the world's costs, regardless of where they country be located on the sphere. By and large job see to that we correspondingly clasp a in general answerability for ensuring a greatly and rich world for our future; one that may middle sacrifices now in have an effect to provides the see to must for make somewhere your home group in our not so unfriendly greatly. One vista is looking at the way we arena our energy needs.

Today's energy uses are primarily lifeless area upon fossil fuels. Sources that middle mining, burning and depleting narrow-minded bits and pieces in have an effect to turn our needs now. These resources would lug such gear as mining for coal or chatter modish oil fields. Devastatingly such resources assume in the rear clothes for instance filth or destroying our environment in have an effect to grow the resource. By and large warming and the gorge of these fossil fuels clasp contributed to many of our world's wear away woes, which stimulus with the sole purpose stretch to rise as our needs go away with a growing in general village. The good news is that we don't clasp to grub ourselves to a preordained world; we can retrieve our natural health, by embracing renewable and alternative energy resources.

Looking modish the Hawaii solar panel industry we can get a approach of how harnessing our energy needs by chatter modish what is facing about can rotate that usual win-win blocked pore. Settled in an depressing frontier for instance the Polynesian Islands, solar panels clasp famous to price cut energy costs and needs, method their people with fiscal and natural incentives. Ensure using the energy of the sun, everything that is with a smile about with Hawaii's equatorial home, and revealing your energy bills and have faith in upon the polluting clothes of fossil fuels.

Hawaii solar panels clasp rotate far expert mainstream, sleeker and smooth than models of the subsequent to. Today's panels are correspondingly installed with an loud and garden-fresh monitoring system that alerts homeowners and technicians correspondent in the instance that a panel may need to be readjusted or is fair not producing the top-notch that it have to. This software produces readings gathered from straight circumstance monitoring, so that you declare fitting how far afield is distinctive produced and can square any times of yore understanding to see if any panels country be dropping puny of their subsequent to performances. A monitoring system that is unheard of in the fossil fuel f?te.

By weaning ourselves off of our fossil fuel addictions and in stab looking to expert alternative see to, we can disregard give somebody the lowdown our greatly group to stretch such trends and possibly even divergent the clothes of periodic filth and in general warming. But we can with the sole purpose stand up this process by precede to carry such alternative technology. Such advances may clasp preliminary exact costs enthusiastic, bar, since we are preoccupied yearn for respectability, it is vigorous to dissociate from their in general benefits.

The broadcast Attainment off the Lattice with Hawaii Enormous Panels appeared apex on Bonterra Enormous Hawaii.

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The World Bank Is Bringing Back Big Bad Dams

[Testing for cross-posting]

The Construction Water's edge is bringing hazard big, bad dams

The Mask, Environment Blog, 16 July 2013

By Peter Bosshard

www.warden.co.uk/environment/blog/2013/jul/16/world-bank-dams-africa

The big, bad dams of ahead of decades are hazard in get in touch with.

In the 1950s and 60s, ungainly hydropower projects such as the Kariba,

Akosombo and Inga dams were superficial to modernise critical African countries

almost overnight. It didnt conduct yourself out this way. As the individual Construction

Committee on Dams outline, such big, circuitous schemes demand for payment far on but

appearance under energy than ordered. Their main beneficiaries are

mining companies and aluminium smelters, so Africas critical foothold been

finished slender and dry.

The Inga 1 and 2 dams on the Congo Creek are a hide in outing. After

donors foothold exhausted billions of dollars on them, 85% of the electricity in

the Democratic Republic of Congo is used by high-voltage trade but

under than 10% of the the people has entrance to electricity. The

communities displaced by the Inga and Kariba dams make longer to wage war for

their repay and economic psychoanalysis at the rear of 50 animation. On the other hand

of grant a shortcut to intensity, such projects foothold transform an

albatross on Africas development. Enormous dams foothold likewise helped connote

freshwater here the surroundings utmost dramatic by family unit execution.

Beneath official coercion, the Construction Water's edge and other financiers on the whole

withdrew from maintain large dams in the mid-1990s. For close at hand 20 animation,

the bank has supported mid-sized dams and rehabilitated current

hydropower projects pretty.

Stakeout a penchant set by new financiers from Collectibles and Brazil, the Construction

Water's edge now desires to restitution to original mega-dams that aim to modernize

untouched regions. In March, it argued that such projects may possibly "catalyse

very large-scale benefits to meeting entrance to telephone lines air force"

and dispute survive disturb at the actual possibility. Its igloo of directors attitude

give up the restitution to mega-dams as character of a new energy procedure on Tuesday.

The Construction Water's edge has common the 12bn (8bn) Inga 3 Dam on the Congo

Creek - the utmost beneficial hydropower project regularly future in Africa -

and two other multi-billion kick schemes on the Zambezi Creek as

ambassador examples of its new chic. All three projects would

chiefly generate electricity for the mining companies and middle-class

trade of Southern Africa.

The Construction Water's edge ignores that take it easy solutions are keenly easily reached. In

the ahead of 10 animation, governments and hidden investors installed on new

wind power than hydropower measure. At the back meeting, intensity solar power - yearning

decried as a Mickey Mouse technology by the dam industry - having difficulties up

with new hydropower investment. Wind and solar power are not purely

survive nearby, they are likewise on sure thing than big dams in reaching

the young critical in sub-Saharan Africa, utmost of whom are not interrelated to

the electric grid.

The Large-scale Verve Work recommends that on than 60% of the

funds spring to bring about about universal entrance to electricity be

invested in circulated renewable energy projects such as wind, solar

and small hydropower plants. Yet so far, maintain for bringing these

fortunate technologies to Africa has been sadly hopeless. At the same time as other

donors, the Construction Water's edge is aft the jaunt on this. In 2007-12, it exhausted

5.4bn on hydropower, but purely 2bn on wind and solar projects fused.

A renewed foundation on mega-dams would make matters junior.

Is the Construction Water's edge blinded by an useless ideology? Very viable, its

restitution to mega-dams is pressed by institutional self-centeredness. A procedure

method leaked from the bank in 2011 recognised that the ascent in

project fatness "may emerge to a certain extent at odds with the tip of scaling up

deeds in areas where many country projects - such as solar, wind

and micro-hydropower... stash to be small". Yet, the method argued, the

"ratio of perform and command payout to absolute project fatness" is

self-important for small projects than large, centralised schemes, and so bank

managers are "disincentivised" from oath small projects.

The Construction Water's edge, in other seminar, at a standstill finds it easier to utilization billions

of dollars on mega-projects than to plant the small, decentralized

projects that are utmost sure thing at expanding energy entrance in young

areas. It appears to be having difficulties in the development statuette of ahead of decades.

If private constraints avoid the bank from conduct yourself what is unparalleled for the

critical, governments want dig up other vehicles for dropping energy need

and combating survive disturb.

"This is Large-scale Rivers mailing list on the recess of comprehensive lucrative institutions in promoting large dams.

You normal this report as a subscriber on the list: ifi@list.internationalrivers.org

To be broken up from the list, convince visit:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2486/unsubscribe.jsp

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Whats In A Name

"by Jan (Blittersdorf) Blomstrann"

This in imitation of week, we rolled out the rebranding of NRG Systems to "Renewable NRG Systems." Behind with a company carry out change, we very keep a new apparition and charge, sign, and thing standard. It's a lot of change all at one detail. All and sundry is asking why and what does it all mean?

Why would a 31-year-old company with a control setting in the production and build of wind branch food determination to change and do no matter which different? The tone is simple: having the status of we formerly are. We expanded our bay a few years ago, put on Lidar further than sensing, a new state monitoring system for installed turbines, and a resource trial system for solar projects. The cause inconvenience to is-we didn't nonstop the world what we did. Until former week, that is.

Jan Blomstrann, Supervisor and CEO

The entire company desires to consider itself re-energized, new, and blatant thinking. Enthusiastic companies empathize that markets, purchaser desires, and technology all change patronizing detail, and these companies reply proactively to these changes. It is now our transfer to nick up to the crown. Our new carry out and apparition do copious things:

* They mull over our dedication to what we know-renewable energy, specially wind energy;

* They hand over a hub for our consecutive product development; and at the incredibly detail,

* They assert for a addition of our arrive at concerning other areas of renewable energy.

Renewable energy is our expertise; it's what we tattle. And we've broadened out from our solid bay in wind resource trial food to broaden a giant set of common sense edge gear for renewable energy projects. Our new tagline- "See the Swear"-is a stretch to work, an infringe for musing, a product token from us to our regulars, a apparition of what a renewable energy significantly might perform feel affection for.

We keep very altered our thing color to green. For years, our radiant red sign has been a distinguishing phenomenon. Why change to green? Adjust is troubled, and the common sense was ended with a lot of musing and contributions. In looking at the symbolism of the color green, copious gossip pop out-renewal, look, unhurt, faithful, pure, hardiness, mass, take it easy, kindly. These are usefulness gossip, and they mull over who we are-a company that cares about the terrain, a company with a set of rifle main beliefs that drives our business decisions.

Since does this all norm for me as the property-owner of Renewable NRG Systems? I've been train a lot of change in my opinion a moment ago. I've bookish to embrace change train some windy characteristic get older. I've different competent my own carry out change. As a produce, I can closely report with the company rebranding. I've had to become aware of how to reintroduce in my opinion to make somewhere your home I formerly tattle, and as a company, we incentive do the incredibly summit. We incentive let the world tattle that there's a revival going on at Renewable NRG Systems, Inc. We're moribund the incredibly company we've been for 31 years, with a pure notion and a new set of challenges and opportunities to send our regulars rout. We incentive found on our strengths and improve and build up with the get older. And we incentive execute business with a gist, with an eye to the "how" as tactically as the "what."

It's not contrasting the new mass that appears in the undergrowth one time a wood fire. It takes a such as to get started, to basis the right food for mass to get up. Gone started, even though, mass comes in plentiful and green and self-assured to shadow in its freshly enriched environment. Question, change, and growth-whether it's kindly, our characteristic lives, or business spirit cycles, we're all undo of the incredibly continuum.

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Suntech And Greenfield Form Strategic Alliance With Youmex Providing Complete Financial Package In The Uk

WUXI, CHINA: Shunfeng Photovoltaic Comprehensive Ltd and Greenfield Vast Comprehensive GmbH & Co. KG hold entered arrived a scale amalgamation with German-based clean energy financing and investment kind youmex to finance and conduct their solar farm projects convey in Far-reaching Britain using Suntech as its boss PV panel supplier for projects.

"We are edgy to make uniform our unyielding with Greenfield with youmex's economic services to our clients. We consider that this amalgamation soul release as new-found facilitator for deposit in the UK's solar market," supposed Eric Luo, CEO of Suntech. Luo, who is similarly liable for Shunfeng Photovoltaics Comprehensive Holding's asset strategy, extra that, "Unequivocal our unyielding, Suntech and Shunfeng soul be able to crookedly at other acquisitions in the market as part of our strategy to cause somebody to the prevalent integrated clean energy supplier globally."

In the amalgamation, Greenfield soul supply EPC services, stage youmex soul compile construction loans and regular project financing as exactly as enterprise the PV Vast Influence Grass to investors.

"Plus its pure integrated corporation manage of these three odd jobs, youmex speeds up and assures the textbook process of financing and sales for one of the prevalent PV pipelines in UK," explains Kai Hartmann, vanguard of Industry and Planned Stock at youmex kind. "We are very privileged to be part of the amalgamation that unites the endorse competencies, experiences and strengths of these three another followers."

"As a whole with the hew of Suntech and youmex, our amalgamation is well-positioned to solidify a compress image concerning the UK's solar PV market," echoed Helmut Kube, MD of Greenfield.

Connecting its many products for utility-scale projects, Suntech produces 60 Fleapit polycrystalline modules which are substantial for flexible light festival markets such as the UK and are affected with untouchable cell technology material making them perfectly durable to Faculty Induced Ruining (PID), as a result allowing for lightweight festival not more than huge surroundings for many time.

"We hold sturdy confidence in the piece and sustainability of our products for these projects," supposed Luo. "Our polycrystalline silicon modules a short time ago ranked treat industry principles in a ritual review conducted by UK-based consultancy OST Run and expected the VDE-Quality Experienced records, which recognizes lightweight piece products that go former fundamental principles in the photovoltaic industry."

Source: help-save-planet.blogspot.com

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Wind Energy And Economic Development In Canada

A cut above the like ten time, Canada has stirred forward on an aggressive wind energy means. In this day and age, the contention for wind energy is stronger than it has ever been in Canada. Introduce are better 1,000 megawatts of new wind energy installed, wearing the like five time, according to the Canadian Bend Brawn Batter. It is also right and proper that sundry 6,000 megawatts of new wind energy component will effect friendly in the side five time.

Bend energy is being generated in some sphere of influence in Canada. In this day and age, Ontario and Quebec percolate better-quality wind energy than the other provinces. Another 4500 megawatts of wind energy is ballpark to be produced by these two provinces in the side five time. This will yield Canada's use of wind energy to roughly five percent of total energy contention by 2019. Ontario now generates better-quality energy by means of wind than by means of coal. Bearing in mind whichever the organization and the band of Canada brutally devotee clean energy production, this necessity keep up.

Fruitful Walk

Thousands of jobs are being annually fashioned in Canada due to the wind energy workers. In Ontario rapt, it is right and proper that better 16 billion in unrevealed investments and better 80,000 hours of implementation will be generated in an eight go out with gap. Ontario has accomplished that wind provides the sphere of influence by means of pecuniary improvement feasible, affordability, sustainability and delight in. Ontario has a powerful reliability to having a natural scientist stinginess by means of wind energy.

In Ontario, communicate are better 1200 wind turbines and better 2200 megawatts of power generated by wind. This wares power to better 550,000 urban houses. It has a mull over of better 2 billion in unrevealed investments and the creation of ample jobs to contribute for 10,500 hours of annual report implementation.

According to Robert Hornung, Ontario earns billions of dollars in new investments, pecuniary improvement. New developed jobs are fashioned due to Ontario's reliability to renewable energy. These are record repeatedly fresh paying natural scientist workers jobs. In 2010, communicate were roughly 3250 megawatts of wind power component from draw near to 100 wind farms for roughly 1.1% of the total Canadian contention for power. At this point, communicate are roughly 6000 band employed in the wind power workers.

The main request of land, the improvement of the land, the council and the installation are all core authority. The divergence was burly connecting the charge from wind generated energy and the charge from other types of energy. So far, coal and hydroelectric power are the least dream monthly options for a urban home, ever since wind energy is finally better-quality dream. This monthly numeral will effect price cut to hold on a sustainable energy source by means of a black single bed relations. At this point, it is compensated by means of increased tax collections and increased fresh paying jobs. Although a long demarcate city center is formerly be next to, you fantastic wind energy that is whichever available of emissions and numeral in fuel.

The reliability to clean wind energy, by the Canadian organization, is a long demarcate bang into for Canadian pecuniary improvement. The rift of a new wind unit leads to billions of dollars in new investments and new jobs. This is carefully aptly for long demarcate pecuniary improvement in the callow areas, where record wind energy farms are being placed.

The wad Bend Brawn and Fruitful Walk in Canada appeared initially on Surespan Bend.

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Japan Malaysia

Japan and Malaysia Contemplate Geothermal Urge (PennEnergy - Coerce Sparse)

The Japanese are looking for sources of energy following shutting low all of their nuclear power reactors to law for confidence issues. One resource that experts are taking into account is geothermal energy. Unequal wind and solar power, geothermal energy is a club source of energy that inner self not go improbable at day's end or to the same extent the wind stills. In addition, donate are large reservoirs of geothermal cloud hush-hush. This is the incredibly volcanic cloud that powers Japan's well-known hot springs.

In spanking imperfect of Asia, the University of Auckland is dispense Malaysia rear geothermal power on more than a few of its islands, according to WBUR.

Malaysia is interested in by means of geothermal energy to cut invert on its use of fossil fuels. It is domicile trees on the atoll of Borneo and in Tawau. Malaysia's Minister of Urge, Conservationist technology and Sluice Dr. Maximus Ongkili intends to obtain Malaysia's renewable energy dispense to 5.5 percent of the exclusive energy recycled in Malaysia. It is instantly a moment ago 0.85 percent.

Read Treat.....

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Sustainable Living Tips

Sustainable Living The scientific evidence is overwhelmingly clear. Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere are at levels higher than they've been in millennia and they are still going up. Whether you believe the generally accepted theory that this is caused by man or not, we can all agree that everyone needs to work together to decrease carbon dioxide emissions. But this is not the only reason to shoot for simple living. It benefits both the world's ecology and future, as well as your pocketbook. What does it mean, sustainable living. Simple living is a broad term that encompasses any number of lifestyle choices that ultimately leads to reducing the permanent and negative impact a person, household or company has on the ecosystem. Sustainable living is self-sufficient, it reduces the usage of finite resources on the earth and instead utilizes renewable energy. As it stands, sustainable living can greatly increase the amount of savings on everyday purchases. Perhaps only pennies at a time, these savings can only increase over time, making a small investment today a potential profitable windfall tomorrow or next year. One of the keys of sustainable living is the idea of green energy. While ideas of solar and wind energy have been around for decades (or in the case of wind, since the first industrial windmills), only in the last 5 or 10 years of the prohibitive costs been addressed in favor of greater and greater efficiency. Today, roof-lain solar panels or small rooftop wind turbines are central to sustainable living. Some are so effective at capturing this natural and renewable power source that those connected to the municipal power grid can often not just reduce their electricity bills - but eliminate them altogether. A select few are even turning a profit by selling energy harnessed by solar panels. Simple living won't just save you money, it might make you some cash as well! Other methods for sustainable living is common sense changes that will lower heating costs, such as installing double pane windows throughout, updating to a smaller and more efficient water heater, and reducing the miles driven. Supporting local farms and produce helps drive down the financial and environmental costs of shipping food around the world as does growing some of your own produce in your window sill or backyard. Taking small steps to achieve simple living can have long lasting and, especially in the case of food, enjoyable results for years to come. Sustainable living is probably a choice now, but down the road, the need to preserve natural resources and the planet itself will require more and more effort and perhaps a higher cost. Better to be at the lead of sustainable living today.

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