Tangent Energy Solutions, the Kennett Square-based solar technology provider, launched last week solar energy generation installations at three Colonial School District schools in suburban Montgomery County, according to a press release.
Renogy employees in Wuxi, China working on solar panels in September 2011. Renogy and Kensington-based Solar States are partnering on a Philadelphia project.
Updated: corrected the location of Renogy Solar.
Solar States, the Kensington-based commercial solar power provider, has signed a supply contract with Renogy Solar, a major solar panel manufacturer based in Baton Rouge, LA with major facilities in China, according to a press release.
Solar States will install 30kW of solar panels on the rooftop of Finanta, a financial educating and community lending group also in Kensington at 2nd and Thompson streets. The installation, which will begin in November, will support 100 percent of the building’s energy needs, said Solar States spokesman John Steele.
The agreement also makes Solar States the East Coast distributor for Renogy.
In shoring up the deal, Solar States founder Micah Gold-Markel visited the Renogy facilities in Wuxi, China, touring the facility and writing about the experience and sharing photos of the facility.
The announcement comes on the heels of the controversy surrounding the bankruptcy of Solyndra, a Caifornia solar manufacturer that had received U.S. government support. Gold-Markel wrote about what he calls the misrepresentation of the situation here.
Solar States founder Micah Gold-Markel displaying March 2, 2011 the computer monitoring device connected to the solar array on the roof of the Crane Arts Building.
Solar States founder Micah Gold-Markel knows which of 450 solar panels his company operates on the roof of the Crane Arts Building in Kensington is performing best at any given moment. You might be able to guess by climbing up the black wrought iron ladder onto the roof and looking for cloud cover. Gold-Markel seems to like the computer monitoring device he has in the office below.
After kicking off last week what is billed as one of the city’s largest solar arrays to date — 81kw output at its best — Technically Philly visited for a tour of the array. Check out the city map tracking major solar projects — the Crane Arts building is there yet.
Below see video of Gold-Markel talking shop and showing off the view.
Just seconds after Councilman Bill Green hurried off to another engagement, state Rep. Tony Payton flipped a mock switch with a solar startup founder, effectively kicking off the largest photovoltaic solar array in Philadelphia Thursday night.
Solar States founder Micah Gold-Markel told a group of more than 60 inside the Crane Arts Building in Kensington that it was a historic start. Back in June 2009, Solar States first applied for the state grant to adorn 450 solar panels to the top of the retrofitted artist community.
See a photo album of the install here. See video from Green, Payton and Gold-Markel below.
In which we link out to the tech news from Philly and elsewhere (when it matters) that slips through the cracks and make it way fun. See others here.
We found some redundancy in technology startup news this week.
Remember back in April, we introduced you to Stealth Rowing, which was constructing indoor training equipment for crew teams? Remember how you thought that was a novel idea and then forgot about it because no sensible person gets up at four a.m. to splash in the Schuylkill?
Well, maybe it wasn’t all that novel an idea.
As Inquirer business columnist Mike Armstrong reported late last month, two Philadelphia University graduates are rolling out the Benson rower, a piece of machinery that, yup, simulates rowing on open water. This city is silly with those silly narrow boats.
That isn’t it.
Callowhill-based Avencia has released two data-heavy, online mapping displays in recent weeks: on legislative data and election data. Well, there are other wonks in town. Mikey Armstrong, of Philadelphia Business Today fame, again introduced us to a player in startup bizarro world.
Center City-based neighborhood revitalization group the Reinvestment Fund has won some praise of late for its PolicyMap.com, a freemium-model display that maps block-by-block statistics on things like household incomes, foreclosures and employment.
The more the merrier, I suppose.
After the jump, Geekadelphia talks horror films, sex addicted principals on MySpace, the solar world comes to Philly and four other regional tech stories you need to read, including our most trafficked story of the week.
Kensington-based solar startup Solar States fuses education with a unique business plan. Photos courtesy of Solar States.
The growth generation of the region’s solar-tech work force is going to be trained in Northern Liberties, if solar startup Solar States has anything to do about it.
This Saturday is the first of a four-session training course called “Green by Example” held in the NoLibs Community Center by Solar States. The $350 class, taught by LEED For Homes expert Sam Klein, will give participants the shot at learning the latest in solar technology and weatherization. Guest speakers from top green building companies will join the party, too.
It’s the education arm of a fully-fledged solar business.
See, Solar States Solar States aims to become an independent solar power producer by 2010, and the plan is to do so with the help of Philadelphia high school graduates and others who might want the work but don’t have the training.
Saturday’s beginning of the adult vocation course is another step in that mission of developing this city’s sustainable workforce.
But the company is more than education. Its founders say what they’re developing will help shape the solar energy industry for the better.
If you live sustainably in Pennsylvania, you just might get a break on your home owner’s insurance.
The Donegal Insurance Group, based in Marietta east of York, will begin offering policies May 1 that offer a five percent discount on insurance for homes that use solar energy or a geothermal heat pump.
It is part of a growing trend for green initiatives to actually expand, despite relatively low gas prices. The commodity’s price still dictates interest in products like hybrid cars for some, but as oil seems destined to only increase in expense, the movement maintains.
Last Sunday we outlined Philadelphia’s “shovel-ready” tech proposals that could potentially be funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and although it is still unclear what funds Philly will receive, we’re beginning to have a better picture since President Obama signed the bill.
Last week, The Morning Call reported that $101 million will be afforded to alternative energy investments through the state’s energy program. Some of that could go toward Philly’s proposals of installing 3,000 LED lamps in signalized intersections that could save the city $1 million per year in energy costs. It could also be funneled into plans for a Residential Solar Energy loan fund.
There’s good news for Health Camp Philadelphia, who followed up on our proposal post with hopes that electronic medical records could become a reality for medical institutions throughout the city. According to Modern Healthcare, $19.2 billion has been earmarked in the bill for health information technology. Gov. Ed Rendell spoke at the National Governors Association’s annual winter meeting on Saturday, and expressed support for long-term datelined provisions, such as the switch to electronic records. Some health care systems, like Albert Einstein in Philadelphia, have made in-roads on their own for an electronic switch, as we reported.
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