installed on a US College or university campus. The installation will use 188 solar thermal collector panels to produce an anticipated 10,900 gallons of hot water daily. According to Joanna Malcolm of FLS Energy, the project follows an initial 12 panel 600 gallon solar hot water system built at Shore Hall in 2007. The university monitored the difference in natural gas usage and in energy bills before and after the installation. “They took the numbers and said, ‘This is a no brainer. We want to do this as a campus-wide project now,’” says Malcolm. Over at NC State University, the North
Carolina Solar Center is a major resource for education and information on solar en- ergy in the Triangle. Their two-story Solar House, built in 1981, showcases solar and other renewable energy technologies, and is used for research and demonstrations. The center also offers numerous programs, including design assistance, training, con- tinuing education courses, and energy as- sessments. The Solar Center also manages the DSIRE project, a database of federal and state incentives available to support renewable energy and energy efficiency. Progress Power’s SunSense schools
program held a competition last year for high schools and middle schools in the Carolinas. “The winners of the SunSense schools program received solar panels from Progress Energy valued at about twenty thousand dollars. These are two kilowatt demonstration arrays. Among the winners were Daniels Middle School in Raleigh and Jordan-Matthews High School in Chatham County. Both schools received demonstration solar arrays to help educate their students about solar power. “The advantage of this,” says Sut-
ton “is they are not mounted on some roof somewhere where that nobody can see, but they are actually very visible right next to the school, mounted on a pole on the ground, and they are con- nected to internet monitoring equip- ment, which means that the students can then study the real-time output of the array.” With these programs and more, Sutton says “When we say we are ag- gressively pursuing solar, we really mean it.”
Our state is also home to the
first statewide green energy program in the nation, NC GreenPower. NC GreenPower is an independent, non-
increase in green power generators on our system, including twelve large solar arrays.” Each of the large arrays is greater than 10 kilowatts. NC Green- Power works with many more small solar PV arrays. Shepherd says many of these projects are located in the Triangle. Other area professionals are working to improve the efficiency of solar technolo- gies. In March, RF Micro Devices in Greensboro announced that it had de- veloped the world’s first PV unit utilizing high-volume six-inch gallium arsenide compound semiconductors. Meanwhile, local public radio station WUNC’s “Tomorrow’s Energy” series
profit organization approved by the N.C. Utilities Commission. Headquartered in Raleigh, NC GreenPower’s goal is “to improve the quality of the environ- ment by encouraging the development of renewable energy resources through consumers’ voluntary funding of green power purchases by electric utilities in North Carolina and the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions through consumers’ voluntary funding of carbon offsets,” says Kaite Shepherd, Marketing and Communications Manager. Shepherd reports on the progress of
NC GreenPower’s program for renew- able energy: “Since the inception of the program in 2003, NC GreenPower is proud to have seen a tremendous
highlighted the future of energy use in our state and potential for the use of re- newable energy. In the section on solar energy, “NC Voices: Tomorrow’s Energy - Solar,” reporter Jessica Jones spoke with state professionals about the growth of and challenges confronting solar energy in North Carolina. Unfortunately, solar remains marginally used compared to other energy sources. “It is strange,” notes Jones, “that in a Sun Belt state like this one there aren’t more solar instal- lations. North Carolina gets less than 2 percent of its energy from renewable sources.”
Public policy and regulations, as
well as the high upfront cost of solar energy in comparison to the cost of traditional energy sources, have slowed the progress of solar in our state. None- theless, it is important to remember that while starting a solar system may seem expensive in comparison to getting energy from traditional, non-renewable energy sources such as coal and nuclear power, we must take into account the hidden costs of pollution and environ- mental degradation. We do not pay for the expense of such problems upfront, but we and the future generations will ultimately have to pay the price for using unclean, non-renewable energy sources. Although solar is not currently widespread in North Carolina, its usage is growing. As consumers discover the cost-effectiveness and environmental positives of solar energy, it is becoming clear that solar is indeed a “no-brainer.” In 2007, our state adopted a Re-
newable Portfolio Standard (RPS), which requires that a certain percentage of an electric utility’s overall energy sales must be derived from renewable resources such as solar. In fact, of the 29 states with RPSs, North Carolina is the only one in the Southeast. The RPS requires that by the year 2021 and thereafter, 12.5% of the retail sales by public electric utilities in North Carolina must come from a combination of renewable energy-based generation and energy- saving measures.
According to Steve Kalland, execu-
tive director of the North Carolina Solar Center, new state policies in the past few years, such as the RPS, have had a posi- tive impact on solar projects in the state. “And that has driven a lot of interest in
natural awakenings
Annual Guide 2010
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