Electical Contractor

The Kansas Wind for Schools program and the Wind Applications Center at Kansas State University (KSU) selected several schools to each receive a Skystream 3.7 wind turbine as part of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Wind for Schools initiative.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) announced that the California Public Utilities Commission has approved its gas purchase agreement with Microgy Inc. to deliver up to 8,000 cubic feet of pipeline-quality renewable natural gas daily.

A year after surpassing California as the nation’s leader in wind power capacity, Texas’ lead is solid and growing. In 2006, the Lone Star state marked the second year in a row that it led the nation in wind power production.

The wind turbine pictured above is turned on its side, but it isn’t broken. The 11-foot blades are suspended just above the ground at one end with a 2,000-pound counterbalance pitched into the air at the other.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) third Solar Decathlon competition was held Oct. 12–20, 2007, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

A small college of about 1,000 students in Claremont, Calif., is making some big changes on campus. Pitzer College has recently finished construction on three new residence halls that qualify for gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design status from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Researchers at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have developed an inexpensive solar cell that can be painted or printed on flexible plastic sheets. “Someday, homeowners will even be able to print sheets of these solar cells with inexpensive home-based inkjet printers.

As part of its ongoing growth in renewable energy and developing technologies, Progress Energy Florida (PEF) has signed a long-term contract to purchase electricity generated by what will be the largest waste-wood biomass plant in the nation.

New research from Frost & Sullivan, a company that specializes in market research and analysis, found the central and eastern European steam and gas turbine markets earned revenues of $1.52 billion in 2006. Frost & Sullivan estimates market revenue to reach $5.34 billion in 2013.