Clean Fleet Reporthybrid & electric cars smart charged with renewable energy
Solar Charged Electric Vehicles
Solar is powering more vehicles. American’s have reduced their use of petroleum 5 percent this year. So far, petroleum reduction is the result of fewer miles traveled solo as people cut travel to deal with high gas prices and a slowing economy. At the Solar Power International conference, one notable area of growth is solar covered parking structures with vehicle charging – a cool solution for a planet that is getting hotter.
Los Angeles Metro Installs Solar on Facilities Rooftops
The Metro Board of Directors has approved $5 million for a new solar generation. This starts a comprehensive three-year plan to install solar panels on every Metro Bus and Rail facility within its Los Angeles County service area. Solar panels will be installed on Metro Bus Division 18’s maintenance building rooftop and as shading structures in the employee parking lot and will consist of about 1,600 solar panels that together will generate 417 kilowatts of electricity, enough power to save Metro about $25,000 per month, or $300,000 per year.
Photovoltaics (PV) and Large-scale Concentrating Solar Power (CSP)
Solar Power 2007 was such a hot event that registration had to be closed a week prior to the conference opening in Long Beach, California. There was enthusiasm for high growth and technology advancements in photovoltaics (PV) and in large-scale concentrating solar power (CSP). In 2006, PV grew over 40% to $20 billion in revenue and over 2,500 MW of new solar power.
Electric Buses with Hydrogen Fuel Cells at AC Transit
Each day, over one thousand people ride on three hydrogen fuel cell buses in Oakland and in environmentally conscious Berkeley. By 2012, five thousand people daily will be riding on twelve such buses. The only emission is water vapor. The electricity to power the reformation and the compression of the hydrogen gas is from solar power.
