August 7, 2002—The Solar Electric Power Association has announced the recipients of the Solar Power Solutions (SPS) funding awards. SPS is an effort supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, designed to address the barriers to photovoltaic commercialization and market penetration. The initiative consists of two components; a document, entitled Business Case for Capturing Total Value, that recommends a new approach focused on how key stakeholders in both the public and private sectors can collaborate to harness the benefits of solar; and a funding component to support two “showcase” photovoltaic projects.
The two recipients, City of Tucson, in partnership with Tucson Water and Tucson Electric Power, and the Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, each received funding awards of $75,000 for their projects. These projects were selected because they demonstrate innovative approaches to expand the photovoltaic market.
The Tucson group has teamed to install two 20kW photovoltaic systems at the Hayden/Udall Water Treatment Facility. This facility treats 20% of the drinking water for Tucson and the surrounding areas. The photovoltaic system was designed to be easily replicable and the system layout can be easily adapted to the available landscape.
The Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization received SPS funding to provide a photovoltaic component for EcoVillage Cleveland, an environmentally sustainable 20-unit town home development that is currently under construction. Ten homes in the EcoVillage Cleveland development will have photovoltaic systems on their garages, one model home will have a 4.8-kW system, and nine other homes will have 1.2-kW systems. In addition to the photovoltaic systems, energy efficient and sustainable design practices will be applied to the development. The EcoVillage project is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America Program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the City of Cleveland, and a number of community organizations.
For more information on the Solar Power Solutions initiative, visit SEPA.
