We like it because once the fames are up, the panels drop into place with no tools needed!

 We’re excited to have Creotecc in our new Commercial Construction Lab!

What’s Creotecc?  It’s a very innovative solar racking system, where standard solar panels just “drop in” to the frame with no tools needed.  You need to hold the panel in your hand and place it in the frame yourself to really get how cool this system is.  We need to thank our friends at Session Solar for hooking us up with Creotecc.  Session Solar works with their parent company in Germany to bring these innovative products to the US solar market, and we are delighted to add this racking system to our lab environment.

This is exactly the kind of innovative, UL listed solutions that Boots seeks out for our Commercial Solar classes.

Want a chance to get “hands on” with Creotecc, and other innovative solar racking systems? 

We’ve created Commercial Solar PV Construction – MegaLab to give PV Construction Professionals an opportunity to work with Creotecc, and other innovative commercial racking systems.

If you are planning to expand into Commercial Rooftop Solar in 2012, we’d like to talk with you about how our new courses may support your plans.

 BTW – need to put a smile in your day? – check out the video for Session Solar’s cool new song!

Boots receives a great new CreoTecc racking system is a post from: Boots On The Roof

Unemployment and underemployment are higher than we have seen them in decades. Jobs growth throughout the U.S. is continuing at a much lower rate than many had hoped, with just 80,000 jobs being added in the last month. However, there is one industry that has continually stayed strong throughout the crisis, and now expects as much as a 26% growth in workforce over the coming year. That industry is solar power. The solar industry is booming and, as a result, hiring.

The main reason solar power has managed to grow even in this bad economy is because the public wants to save money and are continually looking for alternative sources of energy. For years people have wanted solar panels on their roofs. With more cost effective developments being made in the area of solar power on a daily basis more people can afford to install solar panels than ever before. As a result many people are choosing to do so even in this bad economy because the price is right and it will save them money in the long term.

Perhaps even more importantly, people have seen, in the last few years, how dangerous and unaccountable large energy companies that rely on gas, nuclear, and oil can be. We had the BP spill, the Fukushima disaster, and many smaller headline disasters that not everyone heard about. Due to this growing skepticism with the conventional ways of producing electricity, solar panel use has increased and gained large amounts of public support.

In fact, the solar industry is doing so well that the major problem they are facing is a lack of expertise in their job applicant pool. The industry is expanding at such a rate that they can no longer hire people with previous experience in the field because there are none. Now, when hiring technicians for installs and other jobs within the industry they must look to similar fields which can have crossover skills.

So, what lesson do we take from all this? The solar industry is booming and if you have solar training in the field you will be far more likely to find a job.

Solar Industry Has Jobs! is a post from: Boots On The Roof

Everyone wants a solar plant that can generate power 24/7, in fact some consider the ability to generate solar power at night the Holy Grail. Well, time to drink of the healing water because a Spanish solar plant has found a way to make a solar plant generate power throughout the night – using energy storage.

The massive solar plant takes up 457 acres of beautiful Spanish countryside. However, it puts these acres to good use placing large mirrors in circles around a central tower at which they can direct their sunlight.

The development of the project was done Torresol Energy – a joint project done by the energy companies Sener and Masdar. The technology is different from many other focused solar thermal plants. Instead of heating and burning oil the Gemsolar plant heats molten salt. As the salt heats up it gives off steam that is then used to power a turbine. The brilliant part about the design is that the intense amount of heat directed to the molten salt will create a lot of excess heat which can then be stored in a molten salt tank to be used for power during the night – or when the weather gets cloudy.

Due to the fact that no fuel is burned, the solar plant will likely save close to 30,000 in carbon emissions each year. It will do this while producing close to 20 megawatts of energy and providing 27,500 households in Southern Spain with clean solar power.

Perhaps the most exciting part about this is that the technology will likely come to the United State sand other major countries soon. I should have more information on the specifics in the coming days or weeks.

The new mass solar plant designs are innovative, but not a replacement for the older rooftop solar panels. All these are necessary to power our society. Any new form of clean energy must be welcomed into the fold. Let us hope this new tower rises over countryside’s everywhere soon.

New Solar Tower Generates Power 24/7 is a post from: Boots On The Roof

GE is jumping into to the solar power game in a major way. The energy giant has recently invested a staggering $600 million into the solar side of its business. This money will go towards building a massive ‘thin film’ solar panel manufacturing plant based out of Aurora, Colorado. The facility will have the ability to produce enough panels each year to power 80,000 homes.

Just like GE’s big march into the wind energy market earlier this year their participation in the solar market will create jobs – approximately 355 in Colorado to be exact plus others throughout the country – and the boost in competition will bring down solar prices across the board.  Solar prices have already been on a steady decline as new less expensive ways are found to create solar panels, with added competition this will only help matters. The market leader in thin film solar, against which GE’s involvement will be measured, is First Solar. However, there are many other thin film solar companies that will be forced to compete with the energy giant as well – such as Abound Solar.

GE has stated that the plant will be finished in early 2012, with the first panels being made very shortly after it is opened. These panels will begin to come available in quarter one 2013, once a sufficient supply has been built up to meet the potential demand of the market. GE has also stated that it plans to beat the competition through making their panels both larger and lighter. By doing this they will be able to continue to be competitive in utility-scale projects, but they will also be able to break into the commercial solar market. GE also points to their ability to develop technologies faster and more efficiently due to their investments in research on a much broader scale than solar only firms – they have already shown this by implementing advancements in the medical field into the creation of their panels.

A major company’s involvement in the solar market will lead to a continued effort to constantly lower solar prices by all parties involved. With prices already dropping this can be taken as a sign of solar power’s continued sustainability.

GE Makes Major Investments in Solar Power! is a post from: Boots On The Roof

Green solar technology that’s shaped to imitate nature has been a somewhat common thing over the last few years. However, instead of constructing a set of buildings meant to blend in and look like trees, as people did at the start of the nature building trend. Now scientists are beginning to look at natural, highly beneficial processes – in this case photosynthesis – and attempting to replicate nature’s solar successes.

Substantial progress has been made in this area. Recently researchers at MIT announced that due to a major breakthrough this year they have finally made the solar ‘artificial leaf’ a reality. The leaf is able to split apart the oxygen and hydrogen that make up water. It does this by opposing catalytic bonds on different sides of the leaf to draw the elements apart. It all sounds very complicated; mostly because it is, but it is an astonishing breakthrough whether its one we can fully understand the science behind or not. Once the two elements have been separated they can then be used as a source of energy.

The successful creation of the artificial leaf has reignited people’s imaginations. What we can do using technology grows with each new day. A worldwide group of scientists have looked at the groundbreaking artificial leaf and speculated that the technology can be used to create even more effective photosynthesis like reactions generating even more solar power. A leaf in nature can separate and efficiently process a large amount of different types of energy. The artificial leaf is the first major step to taking advantage of all the different types of energy the sun has to offer and replicating the already safe and clean solar reactions in nature.

This ‘artificial leaf’ development lead one professor, James Barber, who is unconnected with the project to comment, “there is no doubt that their achievement is a major breakthrough which will have a significant impact on the work of others dedicated to constructing light-driven catalytic systems to produce hydrogen and other solar fuels from water.”

It’s pretty much unanimous that the artificial leaf represents a major development and one that has even more amazing potential for growth and innovation. Stay tuned for more groundbreaking developments in solar power potential because they are everywhere.

New ‘Artificial Leaf’ is a Real Gamechanger is a post from: Boots On The Roof

A couple weeks ago, we reported on a cool new way solar power was being utilized at small airports in Canada. Well, now we bring even more exciting news about solar use at another airport in North America, this one is a little more traditional, but equally as promising.

Denver International Airport, the world’s 10^th largest airport, has recently switched on its third major solar power installation. This means that the airport now receives 8 MW of its energy from solar power. This amounts to about 6% of the total energy that the airport needs in order to run for an entire year. Although this may not seem like an overly astonishing accomplishment – only 6% – we do have to take into consideration the sheer amount of energy that an airport like Denver uses. We also must take into account the fact that any transition to solar power, especially one for a specific place, is going to be a slower process than many of us wants it to be. Because of this, we must remain patient and see this as the huge step forward it is, and not for what it could be.

So how exactly does this fit into the larger transition to a solar based energy economy? We know solar flight is essential to making travel a completely renewable and eco-friendly process. However, it is just as important that we power our airports with this same solar power. Denver International Airport’s commitment to solar power and renewable energy is a commitment that should be taken up by all major airports with the capability.

Solar seems to have an endless supply of good news of late. Solar power costs are dropping, the government continues to fund subsidies, and new uses and ways of generating solar power come everyday. It’s hard to hold back the enthusiasm we get here when reading these stories and seeing the potential for solar power’s in the near future.

Denver Airport Committed to Solar Power is a post from: Boots On The Roof

With the Fukushima disaster earlier this year people have begun to rethink using nuclear power as the main source of energy. Siemens, the global energy corporation, is at the forefront of this shift away from nuclear power. They are responsible for the building of all 17 nuclear power plants in Germany. They have recently announced their plan, in conjunction with the German government, to close all the nuclear power plants in Germany by 2020.

This is amazing news. For one, nuclear fission power is not green or sustainable and can be harmful to the surrounding communities if there are problems – like those that occurred at Fukushima. Secondly, this will give Siemens, and other energy companies, more of a chance to develop alternative sources of energy, mainly solar. Thirdly, it means for once people are starting to think about what will be good for the future and not just the present moment. We are beginning to think about our environment and our health – solar power harms neither.

Siemens has stated they plan to pursue solar innovation in both concentrated solar power and geothermal. With the backing of large energy corporations the solar revolution will be that much easier to achieve. Once people begin to switch away from nuclear, solar and wind power will be the two logical steps for more power.

If our news in the past week, about the dropping prices of solar panels, is not enough to convince you of the major role solar will play in our new renewable energy economy. This news should help. Germany and Siemens are not the only reconsidering a shift away from solar power. France, one of the world leaders in nuclear power, is also considering a program that would phase out nuclear power in exchange for renewable sources like solar and wind energy. Now is a great time for solar.

Less Nuclear Means More Solar is a post from: Boots On The Roof

When you tell people about the benefits on solar power many will often argue that it is just too expensive. They will site examples of solar company closures, such as the recent solar company, Solyndra’s, file for bankruptcy, as examples of the solar industry’s inability to compete with other power options. However, making these claims would be in contradiction with the endless evidence to the contrary.

For starters solar power is not overly expensive – this is commonly assumed but wrong argument. According to the Vote Solar Initiative, over half the solar power contracts signed by the state of California are lower than they would be for fossil fuel generated power of the same wattage. The exact numbers are somewhat shaky, but more information can be found on the Vote Solar website.

Secondly, the bankruptcy of companies like Solyndra is a result of the competitive atmosphere, and ability to compete with other power industries – as the above paragraph explains. Solyndra’s bankruptcy comes from their company’s failure to keep their per watt priced solar output as low as their solar competitors. Their average output was pried at $2/w of solar power, which is much better than the $4.50/w of two years ago, however higher than the current average of $1.20-1.50/w. This is the reason that Solyndra had to declare bankruptcy – they were unable to compete – not because solar power cannot compete.

The fact that Solyndra’s reason for bankruptcy is the exact opposite of what most people would have you think is important to remember. Solar power is a blossoming industry. It is getting cheaper every year, according to the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab report, solar power costs have dropped by 17% in the last year and have continued to drop this year at a promising rate.

All this information should attest to the fact that not only is the solar industry alive and well, but it is here to stay. Keep yourself tuned in because there will be many new innovations in solar power in the coming months and you can bet they will be reported here.

Solar Power More Viable than Ever! is a post from: Boots On The Roof

Solar power is normally thought of as coming through black panels that absorb the energy of the sun and convert it into power for our homes. However, as amazing as these panels are we are often at a loss of where to place new ones. On our roofs is the obvious solution, but where else? Deserts? Abandoned Hillsides? Panels are great, the energy they provide is clean, as long as the panel is made from clean materials, but the amount of energy they generate is not always significant.

So, what other solar technologies can be combined with panels to ensure a more steady supply of soar power? The answer is a solar tower. The EnviroMission, an Australian energy firm, technology is going to revolutionize the solar power industry. Their new solar tower design can generate enough electricity to power around 150,000 homes from one tower.

The technology, according to SmartPlanet, relies on three basic scientific principles:

1. Greenhouse effect. At the base of the tower is a canopy comprised of glass panels, which air as it’s continually being heated by the sun’s rays. Think of it as a sprawling greenhouse where the temperature can get as high as 90 degrees Celsius.

2. Chimney effect. As a general rule of thumb, heat floats upwards due to the differences in air density between hot and cold air, a phenomenon known as convection. The greater this difference is, the greater the force of buoyancy. In this case, the temperature drops one degree for every 100 meters of elevation. Translation: Air differential within a 2,625-feet high tunnel is a lot of force.

3. Wind Power. As air pressure is sucked through the hollowed tower, it drives an array of 32 wind turbines installed inside the tower, hence producing energy.

Once generated, this solar power feeds into the grid, powering homes and electric cars. Best of all, the tower gives off no waste product and really only requires sun.

However, not everything is as perfect as it might seem. The 2,625 feet high tower still takes a lot of room to build and each one costs around $750 million. But, in a country like the United States which does not suffer from a poverty of land this should be no problem. In fact the first of these solar towers is already planned to rise above the fields of Arizona, if everything goes as planned.

Another solar tower is being erected in Mongolia with others planned throughout Asia. If these solar towers prove to be a success we may have found a highly efficient and ethical source of solar power.

The EnviroMission Solar Tower is a Remarkable Idea is a post from: Boots On The Roof

Implementing solar power nationwide can be a slow process. It takes a lot of money to install personal solar panels; many people who want solar power cannot afford it. However, the government can assist people through tax breaks and other means leading to greater solar productivity – whether they are solar panels on personal homes, corporate buildings, or large solar plants – the government’s funding is essential for a speedy transition to solar power. The recent announcements by the Department of Energy seem to show that the current government is aware of the role they must play to bring about a solar revolution.

The DoE announcement states that they have given a partial guarantee to SolarCity – a San Mateo, California solar company – to install solar panels on 160,000 U.S. military homes. The homes involved in the project are spread throughout 124 U.S.military bases in 33 different states. The shear scale of the government’s solar project, named SolarStrong, is astounding. It represents the largest solar sponsored housing project to date and will give the military families a source of clean energy to power their homes.

The SolarStrong program will not only be about clean energy, but also energy independence it will begin to generate more power through solar alternatives, such as the roof panels. What better place to start this than on military bases? Making them self-sufficient would be a major achievement in energy independence, and important in terms of national defense.

Not only is this a huge success from an environmental and energy independence standpoint, but from an economical one as well. The colossal project will create hundreds of jobs in the 33 states where the installations take place helping to fix our ailing economy.

Hopefully, this leads to further collaboration between government and solar energy companies in the future, so we can build our solar infrastructure more quickly. Either way, this is a major step forward in terms of solar implementation and it is great to see.

Government Funds Solar Development is a post from: Boots On The Roof