HEB unveils rooftop panels in Weslaco; hails installation as one of 'largest in Texas'

WESLACO — H-E-B unveiled on Friday the installation of what it calls the largest rooftop solar panel system in the state at its Weslaco Retail Support Center.

In doing so, carbon dioxide emissions at the center will be reduced by more than 20,000 tons over the next 20 years — the equivalent of removing about 4,000 cars from U.S. roads, according to an H-E-B news release issued Thursday.

With more than 3,000 solar panels spanning 105,000 square feet, the 1.2 megawatt installation in Weslaco is also hailed as the largest in the company, and it took just a few weeks to erect.

“The project started June 8 and ended on June 30,” said Nicole Ceckiewicz, H-E-B’s public affairs intern for the border region.

She could not, however, determine how long ago the project was conceived or the amount of savings in utility costs that the new solar energy source will provide, which in the center’s case will accommodate between 45 to 55 percent of its electricity needs.

“The company has always been trying to go green and to be good stewards to the environment, so this is right along with what we’ve always done,” Ceckiewicz added, citing a commitment by the company to reduce CO2 emissions and the use of diesel fuel as well as promoting cleaner sources of energy and waste disposal.

H-E-B Public Affairs Senior Manager Linda Tovar said via email that the company was “thrilled about creating an innovative, clean, renewable energy source” for the center, which itself is a 408,000 sq. ft. facility that employs 120 people in service of more than 40 Rio Grande Valley stores.

At the unveiling ceremony on Friday, H-E-B also donated $10,000 to the Boys & Girls Club of Weslaco “for environmental and conservation programming” in an educational capacity.

SolarCity designed, installed and will maintain the solar panels at the center. Erik Fogelberg, Commercial Sales and Storage Solutions senior vice president for SolarCity, said that his company was excited to learn of H-E-B’s plans.

“Texas is the nation’s largest energy producer, and also leads the country in energy consumption,” Fogelberg stated in the release. “With its high number of sunny days per year, the state has an incredible potential for solar power.”

Partnering with SolarCity since 2013, Direct Energy Business provides additional “expertise and market knowledge” for commercial and industrial customers’ Total Energy Management services.

“We are very excited to have been a part of this project, and we look forward to seeing the results that solar technology can bring to our valued customer, H-E-B,” Vice President David Brast said.

mrodriguez@mvtcnews.com

HEB unveils rooftop panels in Weslaco; hails installation as one of "largest in Texas"

Canadian-Saudi JV to Build $5 Billion Solar Power Installation in Nigeria

While Nigeria worldwide is known as Black Africa’s largest hydrocarbon exporter, the state is also looking into renewable energy for indigenous use.

Nigeria’s Delta State’s solar initiative follows the May 6 Federal Government signing the Foreign Investments Protection Agreement (FIPA) with Canada to improve the climate for Canadian investing in Nigeria. Delta State Government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Canada’s Skypower FAS Energy to build a $5 billion, 3,000 megawatt facility in the state.

SkyPower FAS Energy is a joint venture between Toronto-based SkyPower Global and Saudi Arabia’s FAS Energy. Established in 2003, SkyPower FAS Energy has built facilities generating over 25,000 megawatts worldwide, producing over 219 million kilowatt hours of clean electricity to date.  FAS Energy is a subsidiary of Fawaz Alhokair Group, one of the leading groups of companies in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia focusing on retail and real estate business sectors.

Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Foreign Investments Olusegun Aganga said, “Skypower will deploy first in Delta State which has taken the lead because of the enormous work the State has put in to ensure the realization of the renewable energy program.” 

Related Article: Nigeria’s Missing Oil Money Sparks Political Crisis

SkyPower FAS Energy President and CEO Kerry Adler said, “This is truly a proud moment for SkyPower FAS Energy. Global partnerships such as these are key to bringing together extensive expertise from around the world. The signing of these landmark agreements demonstrates the shared vision of a partnership that will further stimulate the vibrant, fast-growing Nigerian economy and substantially impact the state and country’s GDPs, resulting in increased employment and skills training. We applaud the leadership of the Delta State and Federal Nigerian governments for embracing this initiative and demonstrating their continued commitment to reduce carbon emissions and harness the proven power of solar PV.”

Lauding the agreement Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Power Permanent Secretary Godknows Boladei Igali said, “The Nigerian Government is pleased to partner with SkyPower FAS Energy and we look forward to creating more power and more jobs for the people of Nigeria. Foreign investment in Nigeria helps build the economy and strengthen international ties with a well-respected and viable partner such as SkyPower FAS Energy.” Delta State governor Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan was equally enthusiastic, commenting, “Delta State is pleased to sign this agreement with the world’s largest solar developer, SkyPower FAS Energy. It represents a continued effort to provide even more clean and renewable energy that can be sustained for decades to come. Delta State: beyond oil into solar.”

Solar power is well suited to Nigeria. As Nigeria is in the tropics, it has only two seasons a year, a rainy and dry season. Accordingly, Nigeria’s greatest solar energy generation potential occurs during the dry season, which last from December to May, while solar energy can only be generated at lower levels during the rainy season due to the reduced amount of sunshine.

Related Article: Interest In Ocean Wave Energy Growing

SkyPower FAS Energy project is expected to begin commercial operation in phases starting in 2015.

While the Delta solar project is a Canadian-Saudi Arabian joint venture, Nigeria’s solar initiatives dovetail with U.S. President Barack Obama’s “Power Africa” initiative, announced on June 30, 2013, which is intended to “build on Africa’s enormous power potential, including new discoveries of vast reserves of oil and gas, and the potential to develop clean geothermal, hydro, wind and solar energy.”  The initiative will provide increased opportunities for U.S. power companies, as U.S. firms are leaders in commercial solar power development. As the “Power Africa” initiative has already identified Nigeria as a “partner country,” is seems likely that U.S. renewable energy companies will shortly join the U.S. oil and natural gas firms already operating there.

By John Daly of Oilprice.com

Canadian-Saudi JV to Build $5 Billion Solar Power Installation in Nigeria

New solar installation rules likely to raise costs

HONOLULU — A state board has issued new rules for solar panel installation that will require journeyman electricians to do more of the work, which is expected to raise the cost of installing the systems.

Hawaii’s Board of Electricians and Plumbers will require that electricians handle bonding and grounding the system, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported (http://bit.ly/1h7E3Fh ). Those are safety measures that keep people from getting shocked, by diverting current into the earth.

Solar energy system contractors previously handled that step. Leslie Cole-Brooks, the executive director of the Hawaii Solar Energy Association, said solar panels are now made so that an electrician isn’t needed to ground and bond the systems safely. The rules change will make installations slower and more expensive, she said.

“A significant number of panels have been installed, and nobody could bring forward any singular incident of property damage or personal injury because of an installation,” Cole-Brooks said.

There were about a million photovoltaic panels generating power in Hawaii at the end of 2013.

Building inspectors and electrical contractors had testified to the state board that they were concerned about safety. The number of installations in recent years led some companies to use unqualified workers, they said.

The safety concerns aren’t justified, and costs are likely to rise as a result of the new rules, said Gladys Marrone, government relations director for the Building Industry Association of Hawaii.

“From the building industry’s perspective, our mission (is) to keep construction costs down for homeowners,” she said.

The board won’t finalize the rules until its next meeting June 17, said Charlene Tamanaha, the boards’ executive officer. The board took up the issue after an information request by an affiliate of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1186.

New solar installation rules likely to raise costs

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