You are here: Home / Archives for Photovoltaic

January 2013 Meeting

December 12, 2012 by

Meeting Topic: UNLV’s Solar Decathlon Program

Solar NV meets monthly and everyone is invited!

Date: January 17th. (third Thursday of every month)
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: University of Nevada – Las Vegas (UNLV)

Greenspun Hall, Room GUA 2202
4505 S Maryland Pkwy
Las Vegas, NV 89154

UNLV solar decathon rendering.UNLV solar decathon rendering.

We are bringing in the New Year with old friends. The UNLV Solar decathlon team is going to be back to give us updates on their progress. The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2013 is an international competition to educate the public about energy-saving residential design. 20 collegiate teams will design, build, and operate ultra-efficient solar-powered houses. Solar Decathlon 2013 will be held in Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California from October 3-13, 2013.

As a student-run project, the interdisciplinary team members of the UNLV team get a first-hand experience in designing, planning, constructing, and maintaining a prototype house of the Mojave Desert. Currently, there are 40 students who work directly on the project. This number is expected to increase once the construction of the house begins next spring. The team has named their design DesertSol.

DesertSol’s design educates and inspires inhabitants of the Mojave Desert through the responsible use of the sun and water. DesertSol is designed to be the base camp for desert explorers in search of an escape, vacation or a retirement living. DesertSol’s design focuses on creating indoor-outdoor connections that allows the residents to enjoy the beauty of the environment. DesertSol will return to Las Vegas after the competition and become a public exhibit prototype, educating the valley residents and children of about sustainable living.

We look forward to seeing you!

Share
Filed Under: Meetings, Photovoltaic

October 2012 Meeting

September 20, 2012 by

Meeting Topic: Living with a Leaf – PV & EV in NV

Driving on Sunshine!

Solar NV meets monthly and everyone is invited!

Date: October 18th. (third Thursday of every month)
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: University of Nevada – Las Vegas (UNLV)

Greenspun Hall, Room 2212
4505 S Maryland Pkwy
Las Vegas, NV 89154

(Maps, directions, parking info)

Steve Rypka lives a low-carbon lifestyle.Our speaker for October is Steve Rypka, green living consultant, writer and practitioner. He’ll be sharing his perspective about the practicalities of using the sun to power an electric vehicle.

Steve will discuss his decision to purchase one of the first Nissan Leaf’s sold in Nevada, plus a lot of other details about incentives, charging, batteries, vehicle range and maintenance. He has been happily driving on 100% sunshine since February. Learn how his investment in a roof-mounted photovoltaic system over seven years ago is not only paying for itself, but has become one of the best and most ethical financial investments imaginable.

Steve Rypka is a founding member, past board member and past president of Solar NV. He has been a strong advocate of renewable energy and green building for many years. His Green Living column has been published every other week in the Las Vegas Review Journal  for over six years. Enhanced versions of his columns (with images, links and videos) are posted and archived at GreenDream.biz.

After the presentation, Steve will show the Leaf and answer questions. We hope to see you  there!

Also, here is an excellent article by Las Vegas resident James Lindelien who charges his Chevy Volt with his solar array.

Some quotes from the article:

If you calculate the rapid payback time of solar power — when it is used to avoid expensive gasoline purchase costs — it’s a bargain. Instead of a decade or more to break even, a solar PV investment pays off in just a few years when the electric power is used to avoid buying expensive gasoline.

PV-sourced solar power has no inflation for the next twenty five years, and no price volatility. How’s that compare to the past twenty five years — and the future twenty five — of gasoline pricing and volatility? Getting tired of not knowing what a gallon of gas will cost next month, or the month after that?

 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in NV


View Nevada EVSE Locator Map in a larger map
Map courtesy of the Nevada Electric Vehicle Accelerator project.

Share
Filed Under: Meetings, Photovoltaic Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

September 2012 Meeting

August 26, 2012 by

Meeting Topic: How Lawyers Work for Renewable Energy

Solar NV meets monthly and everyone is invited!

Date: September 20th. (third Thursday of every month)
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: University of Nevada – Las Vegas (UNLV)

Greenspun Hall, Room 2212 (New Room!)
4505 S Maryland Pkwy
Las Vegas, NV 89154

(Maps, directions, parking info)

Bryce AlsteadOur speaker for September is Bryce Alstead of Holland and Hart who represented Sempra in the development of the large Copper Mountain solar project.

Mr. Alstead provides clients with the responsive counsel they need in complex land use and water rights matters, and in real estate and energy transactions. Clients in the energy transmission, mining, geothermal, solar, real estate development, and resort industries count on his guidance. Regarding the Copper Mountain projects, he handled the real estate, land use (City Council hearings), and construction contract work for each of the CMS 1, 2, and 3, projects. He is primarily a real estate and permitting lawyer for energy projects (primarily solar, geothermal, and transmission).

Working from the firm’s Reno and Las Vegas offices, Mr. Alstead has experience covering a broad range of land use issues common to Nevada, such as zoning changes, special use permits, water rights issues, and variances. Mr. Alstead’s experience also covers the areas of gaming and liquor licensing, development agreements, municipal leasing for energy generation and transmission projects, and open meeting law counseling. While he typically represents project proponents, Mr. Alstead also has successfully opposed land use applications.

Share
Filed Under: Large Scale Solar, Meetings, Photovoltaic

National Clean Energy Summit 5.0

July 10, 2012 by

National Clean Energy Summit 5.0National Clean Energy Summit 5.0: The Power of Choice [Read more...]

Share
Filed Under: Events, Large Scale Solar, Photovoltaic

July 2012 Meeting

July 9, 2012 by

Renewable Energy Policy in Nevada

Meeting Topic – Public Utilities Commission of Nevada: Renewable Responsibilities

Presented by: Karen Olesky, Policy Advisor for the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada

The meeting will encompass a brief overview of how the State Legislature creates renewable mandates and goals for the Utilities to implement, which then are monitored and enforced by the PUCN. Specifically I will be discussing the state RPS, the solar carve out of the RPS and then the small scale renewable programs for solar PV. Energy Efficiency is also important to the RPS.

[Read more...]

Share
Filed Under: Large Scale Solar, Meetings, Photovoltaic

June 2012 Meeting – Solarbration!

May 27, 2012 by

The Las Vegas Solar Festival

Solarbration – Las Vegas Solar FestivalSolar NV is a proud sponsor of Solarbration and will have a booth at the event. It will take the place of our regular monthly meeting for June. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Be sure to tell your friends too!

The Annual Las Vegas Solar Festival blends art, technology, and outreach to promote renewable energy, inspire conservation, and support sustainable communities.

[Read more...]

Share
Filed Under: Events, Meetings, Photovoltaic, Solar Hot Water