SOLAR TODAY - September/October 2009

Huge Solar Farm Planned for Washington State Teanaway Solar Reserve LLC ( teanawaysolarreserve.com), a privately held solar company led by investment adviser Howard Trott, announced in July plans for a 75-megawatt photovoltaic (PV) park on 400 acres of privately owned timberland near Cle Elum, Wash., about 80 miles east of Seattle. It might be the largest PV installation in the world. The target date for completion is sometime in 2011. A major power line passes about two miles south of the proposed site. The $100 million project would use more than 400,000 PV modules. Trott said he is negotiating with potential vendors to build a PV module factory nearby.

PHOTOS COURTESY TEANAWAY SOLAR RESERVE

SunSpec Alliance

Aims for Open Standards

During Intersolar North America 2009 in July, a consortium of 15 companies announced the formation of SunSpec Alliance. ;e group plans to focus on de;ning open data standards for the renewable energy and photovoltaic (PV) industries. Charter members are Campbell Scienti;c, Draker Laboratories, Dust Networks, Energy Recommerce, Fat Spaniel Technologies, Fronius USA, ;CO Solar, Nautilus Solar Energy, PV Powered, Renewable Ventures, SatCon Technology, SMA America, Solar Power Partners and Veris Industries.

Membership in the group is open to any corporation, nonprofit or individual with a vested interest in the renewable energy industry, including manufacturers of inverters or PV balance-of-system components, networking ;rms, so;ware developers, computer hardware companies, system integrators, ;nancial backers, regulatory agencies and energy consumers. ;e idea is that standards ultimately drive down costs, enabling manufacturers to embed more intelligence into system components and streamline the integration and management of renewable energy systems.

;e SunSpec Alliance’s initial project is the definition and publication of the SunSpec MODBUS speci;cation, now under development in cooperation with the IEEE, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Internet Engineering Task Force, the Electric Power Research Institute and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.