Courtesy of
PowerLight
Corporation /
PIX12398
Chris Gunn Photography / PIX12165
Kramer Junction Company / PIX11070
Richard Parish / PIX10732
2001
Powerlight Corporation installs the largest rooftop solar power system in the
United States—a 1.18 megawatt system—at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin,
California.
– Photo Caption: In Spring 2002, Alameda County, CA successfully completed the fourth largest solar
electric system in the world atop the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, California. This solar installation, the
United States’ largest rooftop system, was commissioned to help Alameda County reduce and stabilize
future energy costs. This smart energy project reduces the jail’s use of utility-generated electricity by
30% through solar power generation and energy conservation. Clean energy is generated by a
1.18 Megawatt system consisting of three acres of solar electric or photovoltaic (PV) panels.
(Courtesy of PowerLight Corporation / PIX12398)
All buildings will be built to combine energy-ecient design and construction
practices and renewable energy technologies for a net-zero energy building. In
eect, the building will conserve enough and produce its own energy supply to
create a new generation of cost-eective buildings that have zero net annual
need for non-renewable energy.
– Photo Caption: This home was built by students from the University of Colorado (CU) for the rst
Solar Decathlon, a competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Student teams are
challenged to integrate aesthetics and modern conveniences with maximum energy production and optimal
efciency. Each collegiate team will build a uniquely designed 500-ft2 -- 800-ft2 house. Decathletes will
transported their houses to the National Mall in Washington D.C. for the competition in the fall of 2002.
The CU team took rst prize in the competition overall. (Chris Gunn Photography / PIX12165)
Photovoltaics research and development will continue intense interest in new ma-
terials, cell designs, and novel approaches to solar material and product develop-
ment. It is a future where the clothes you wear and your mode of transportation
can produce power that is clean and safe.
Technology roadmaps for the future outline the research and development path
to full competitiveness of concentrating solar power (CSP) with conventional
power generation technologies within a decade. The potential of solar power in
the Southwest United States is comparable in scale to the hydropower resource of
the Northwest. A desert area 10 miles by 15 miles could provide 20,000 megawatts
of power, while the electricity needs of the entire United States could theoretically
be met by a photovoltaic array within an area 100 miles on a side. Concentrating
solar power, or solar thermal electricity, could harness the sun’s heat energy to
provide large-scale, domestically secure, and environmentally friendly electricity.
– Photo Caption: This is the world’s largest solar power facility, located near Kramer Junction, CA.
The facility consists of ve Solar Electric Generating Stations (SEGS), with a combined capacity of 150
megawatts. At capacity, that is enough power for 150,000 homes. The facility covers more than 1000
acres, with over 1 million square meters of collector surface. (Kramer Junction Company / PIX11070)
The price of photovoltaic power will be competitive with traditional sources of
electricity within 10 years.
Solar electricity will be used to electrolyze water, producing hydrogen for fuel
cells for transportation and buildings.
– Photo Caption: SunLine, a California transit agency, is being evaluated as they add state-of-the-art
hydrogen fuel cell buses to their eets and set up infrastructure facilities for fueling and maintenance.
The hydrogen is produced at the site using solar-powered electrolysis and natural gas reforming.
Because fuel cell buses aren’t yet commercially available, these demonstration projects are used to
better understand the technology and plan for the future. (Richard Parish / PIX10732)
Here’s a look at the expected future direction of solar technology.