U.S. Government Property to Have Largest Solar Installation

Arizona Public Service Co. is planning to build a new photovoltaic power plant at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Ariz. It will be able to generate about 15-megawatt of clean renewable energy. According to company, the solar plant will be the largest on U.S. government property and it is expected to be ready in summer 2011.

The solar installation will be equipped with 52,000 high-efficiency SunPower solar panels. It will also have a single-axis tracking system that will let the panels to follow the sun. This way, it captures 25% more electricity than if the panels were stationary.

The plant will generate enough energy to power 3,750 Arizona homes or 50% of the Base's electricity.

[Source: MarketWatch]

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Up to 20 Percent of Iowa’s Energy is Generated by Wind

During the last seven years, the state of Iowa has been increasing its wind power capacity. So, according to a document from Iowa Policy Project, up to 20% of Iowa’s energy is generated by this new green source.

David Osterberg, the organization’s director claims that in the last two years, this state added about 2,500 megawatts of wind turbine capacity, and today it has a wind capacity nearly 6 times the size of Iowa’s lone nuclear plant.

In the future the number of green jobs could reach 10,000(only from wind energy production). Now, coal-fired power plants generate seventy-five percent of Iowa’s energy.

[Source: Care2]

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