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The Bosco Verticale mixed-use towers were constructed with a $2.5 billion public-private investment as part of the redevelopment of Milan’s Porta Nuova district. The towers, measuring 260 feet and 367 feet, house 800 trees between 9 and 30 feet tall, over 4,000 shrubs, and 15,000 ground cover plants including vines and perennials. Created with LEED Gold certification in mind, Bosco Verticale is also equipped with a gray water recycling and irrigation system as well as photovoltaic solar cells.

Related: Green Walled Skyscraper Complex Makes Waves in Kazakhstan

The buildings welcomed its first residents last month, but those families weren’t the only ones to call the vertical forest home; a thriving bird population has already begun to nest in Bosco Verticale’s rich foliage, of which over a hundred different species of trees and shrubs are represented. “The real key to this project is biodiversity,” says Boeri. In addition its 22,000 residences, the high-density mixed-use towers also comprise 69,000 square feet of office space and 650 commercial spaces. Nearly two out of ten property buyers are foreigners.

The superstructure was also recently shortlisted for the prestigious International Highrise Building Award 2014 as one of the five most beautiful and innovative high-rises in the world that were recently completed. Boeri is currently in China, where he plans to replicate the Bosco Verticale project.

+ Stefani Boeri Studio

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SCOTTSDALE, AZ GREENWICH, CT —(eSolarEnergyNews)—Kyocera Solar, Inc., a provider of innovative solar power solutions, and Healthy Planet Partners (HPP), a Clean Energy Solutions Fund that finances renewable energy and efficiency projects that optimize performance in commercial buildings, today announced a strategic partnership that will result in lowering capital costs for solar developers and benefit Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) customers.

The Kyocera-HPP team provides developer/EPC partners with an end-to-end solution, from assistance with origination, technical and financial feasibility analysis to construction and long term financing. HPP’s experienced finance team has the ability to quickly evaluate and commit to financing a project. Kyocera uses its 39 years of experience in the solar industry to provide technical support including site and system evaluation, construction management, ongoing operations and maintenance. In addition, Kyocera provides the only modules to earn the highest rating across all six PV module test categories in GTM Research’s July 2014 PV Module Reliability Scorecard.

“Working together, Kyocera and HPP leverage their respective areas of expertise in both financing and system design and implementation to minimize risk,” said Steve Hill, president of Kyocera Solar, Inc. “This benefits everyone involved from a financial standpoint because it provides a lower cost of capital, thus creating a competitive advantage for developers and installers, and making the cost of solar lower for our customers.”

Kyocera and HPP inaugurated their partnership with a recently announced solar project for the Seattle Mariners’ spring training camp, located in Arizona.

“Healthy Planet Partners and Kyocera are extremely focused on the drive to make solar an affordable and mainstream energy source,” said Michael Richter, Managing Partner of HPP. “HPP is very pleased to be collaborating with Kyocera on this strategic initiative; together we can empower our partners to deploy solar projects that deliver tremendous economic value and environmental benefits.”

Kyocera began its downstream project development and finance activities in 2013 with a PPA for the Madison School District in Arizona, continuing with the Somers Solar Center in Connecticut and a tax equity investment with U.S. Light Energy in New York state. Together, these projects exceed 17MW DC. Kyocera and HPP have future projects planned.

To learn more about Kyocera Solar solutions for both residential and commercial projects in the U.S. and Latin America, please contact infosolar@kyocera.com or +1-800-223-9580.

SAN FRANCISCO,CA —(eSolarEnergyNews)—  ET Solar Energy, a leading smart energy solutions provider, announces that it has supplied 5 MW polycrystalline photovoltaic modules to a leading mining operation in Suriname.

Upon completion, this solar power plant will substantially meet the demand for electricity of the facilities. ET Solar photovoltaic modules are proven to be one of the most reliable products globally in terms of quality, performance and linear product warranty. Additionally, backed by a technical support and service system available on a global basis, ET Solar is committed to providing fast and efficient responses to customer requests.

Dennis She, President and CEO of ET Solar, commented: «We are proud to have been involved in such an exciting and challenging project in Suriname. This is our first mining project in South America and we are very pleased to help minimize the energy cost and carbon emission of the mining operation.»

ET Solar offers an attractive value proposition for the mining industry as the solar power plants require low capital expenditures, have short design and construction cycles, and offer speedy paybacks. «Our engineering and business development teams are currently exploring several opportunities with various mining customers in the region for off grid hybrid systems. In Chilean market in particular, we are able to offer a basket of solutions and services, ranging from EPC to project co-development.» Dennis added.

About ET Solar

ET Solar is a leading smart energy solutions provider. With innovative solar technologies and tailored finance solutions, ET Solar provides professional one-stop solutions throughout the entire solar power plant lifecycle that includes development, financing, engineering, procurement, construction, and operations and maintenance. To learn more about ET Solar, please visit http://www.etsolar.com.

NORCROSS, GA—(eSolarEnergyNews)—Suniva Inc., America’s leading manufacturer of high-quality, high-efficiency crystalline silicon photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and high-power solar modules, today announces that three of its partners have been nominated for the 2014 Solar Builder’s Project of the Year award.

The Solar Builder annual project awards are chosen by its reader base. The awards are divided into two categories: roof-mounted and ground-mounted and the winners will be announced at a special ceremony this week in Las Vegas at Solar Power International (SPI).

Suniva partner nominees consist of JM Family Enterprises Building for their 150kW rooftop project in Deerfield Beach, Florida; Whole Foods Market for their 186kW rooftop system in Austin, Texas; and, Mt. Air Solar Farm for their 120kW ground mount project in Newburg, Maryland.

“Suniva wishes to congratulate our partners on receiving this highly regarded nomination,” said Matt Card, vice president of global sales and marketing of Suniva. “We are proud to be the module supplier to these notable projects and send our congratulations to all.”

During a recent media event, Suniva reported progress on its new 200MW manufacturing facility in Saginaw Township, Michigan, which is scheduled to be complete end of Q4 2014. The new facility further strengthens Suniva’s position as America’s leading solar module manufacturer.

This week during SPI, Suniva’s Executive and Sales team will be attending various events and will be sponsoring a breakfast on Thursday, October 23rd from 8:30am-10:00am at the MGM Grand Hotel with Technology Credit Corporation to discuss their new financing partnership. To learn more about this event or to RSVP, contact jfeng@suniva.com.

From their roles in the way crystals form to their effects on a material’s mechanical, thermal and opto-electronic properties, dislocation and defects govern many aspects of a material’s behaviour. Therefore, it is of great scientific interest to identify and study these structures, and understand their impact on the properties of technologically important materials and devices, such as solar cells, photon detectors and similar semiconductor devices.

Despite the large amount of theoretical work in this field, experimental knowledge detailing the atomically resolved chemical structure of even the most basic dislocations has just begun to be accessible. A group of scientists from the United States has combined state-of-the-art atomic-resolution Z-contrast imaging and X-ray spectroscopy in a scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) to analyse two low-elastic-energy stair-rod dislocations in the binary II-VI semiconductor CdTe. CdTe is commercially used in thin-film photovoltaics owing to its ideal electrical properties. The conversion efficiency of CdTe solar cells, which is critical for the industry, has only seen minor developments and improvements over the last 20 years despite intense research activity. Current laboratory records are still shy of the theoretical limits quoted as far back as 1961.

In the current issue of Acta Crystallographica Section A: Foundations and Advances, Klie and co-workers demonstrate how, with the use of atomic-resolution STEM images and specially tailored Burgers circuits, the structure of these dislocations can be identified. The results may lead to the eventual improvement in the conversion efficiency of CdTe solar cells. The analysis presented by the authors can also be applied to study and predict similar structures in other zinc-blende and diamond materials. This study further demonstrates how the new generation of aberration-corrected electron microscopes can advance our understanding of seemingly basic crystal-structure defects.

BRIDGEPORT, CT —(eSolarEnergyNews)—  PSEG Power Connecticut today announced that it has donated and will install approximately 1,600 solar panels at two of Bridgeport’s libraries – the main Downtown Burroughs-Saden Library, located at 925 Broad St.; and the North Branch Library, located at 3455 Madison Ave.

«PSEG Power Connecticut has made this donation to show its commitment to helping Bridgeport meet its energy needs in a variety of ways,» said Tom Copus, plant manager-PSEG Power Connecticut. «The company wants to raise awareness of green energy, so installing solar panels at the libraries made sense, especially as we expand our efforts to educate students about this alternate form of energy.»

The company has hired RGS Energy of Port Chester, N.Y., as the engineering, procurement and construction management vendor for the work. RGS is one of the oldest and largest solar energy companies in the United States and, with its recent acquisition of Mercury Solar Systems, has even more of a local Connecticut presence.

As part of the agreement with RGS Energy, an educational display will be built in each of the libraries, which will be tied into the system, showing real-time data. These kiosks will be housed in highly accessible areas at both branches to facilitate education.

«The Bridgeport Public Library board of directors is pleased to use library facilities to further green energy initiatives,» said Thomas Errichetti, library board director. «The display kiosks will be another tool to educate the public – not only our younger readers, but patrons of all ages – about green energy and energy conservation. This is keeping with the library’s purpose: to foster life-long learning through free and open access to information.»

«In Bridgeport, we’re committed to moving toward a clean energy future, which will help reduce pollution and improve the economic future for our kids and grandkids,» said Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch. «But in order to do so, we need job creators and businesses to pitch in. That’s why efforts like this from PSEG are so important. These solar panels will help produce emissions-free energy at a site where kids and families spend a good deal of their time. We’re thankful for PSEG’s generous contributions to our city, and look forward to continuing our work together in creating green jobs and powering our city with clean energy sources.»

The solar panels have been designed to provide the libraries with the maximum amount of energy possible. It is estimated that the solar panels will reduce the libraries’ total energy consumption by 125,000 kWh a year, saving the libraries approximately $20,000 per year. Work is expected to start by the end of October, with an estimated completion by year-end 2014.

PSEG Power Connecticut’s Bridgeport Harbor and New Haven Harbor stations are part of PSEG Power LLC’s generating fleet.

PSEG Power LLC is an independent power producer that generates and sells electricity in the wholesale market, with a fleet totaling more than 13,000 MWs of electric generating capacity. It is a nationally recognized industry leader on environmental issues.

PSEG Power LLC is a subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Incorporated (PSEG) (NYSE: PEG), a diversified energy company.

BOULDER,CO—(eSolarEnergyNews)—Today, Wunder, a Boulder Techstars Company, launched a first-of-its-kind solar fund that makes investing in solar projects easy, provides a strong seven percent annual return, and supports a clean, renewable power source.

The Wunder Fund opens the door for any accredited investor to create a diversified portfolio of revenue-generating solar assets. Since the private launch on October 7, investors have reserved $535,300 in The Wunder Fund of a planned $1 million in initial funding.

The U.S. solar market has grown more than 10x in the past four years. Goldman Sachs committed $40 billion to renewable energy sources, saying that the market is “compelling [and] at a transformational moment in time.” In committing $30 billion, Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway is “going to keep [investing] as far as the eye can see.” Corporations including Google, Apple, and Walmart are pouring billions into solar.

“We know that investing in solar can provide strong returns, but most opportunities are only accessible to big investment institutions and corporations,” said Bryan Birsic, co-founder and CEO of Wunder. “We set out to change that — to provide individual accredited investors with easy access to solar projects. The Wunder Fund is like nothing else on the market. For the first time ever, any investor can earn strong diversified returns while having a positive impact on our energy future.”

At WunderCapital.com, investors reserve a spot in the fund, guaranteeing access to Wunder’s proprietary deal flow. Wunder then surfaces the best investment opportunities from its 50+ solar installer partners, allowing investors to invest (or decline) on a per-project basis.

Wunder announced the fund at Boulder Techstars Demo Day. Wunder is the first solar company to receive investment from the prestigious Techstars incubator program.

ATLANTA, GA —(eSolarEnergyNews)—  ISM Solar Solutions, part of the ISM Group of Companies, providers of utility-scale solar site development services announced today that they have partnered with Atlanta based WatershedGeo™, who offer permanent closures for landfills and brownfields using their patented products, including ClosureTurf™.

Together, ISM Solar Solutions and WatershedGeo™ will design, develop and construct utility scale solar arrays on existing and new ClosureTurf™ installations.

This joint venture will provide innovative solutions specific to landfill closures, while creating opportunities to develop renewable energy across North America.

«We enter the partnership with great expectations,» said Mike Ayers, President of WatershedGeo™. «Our unique value proposition allows landfill owner/operators to turn a liability into an asset, by creating renewable energy after properly closing landfills.»

The partnership provides three key environmental benefits:

•     Creating permanent protection for aquifers and drinking water supplies from the hazardous materials and soil erosion associated with landfills and brownfields
•     Developing cost effective, utility scale Solar Power to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and provide a clean source of energy for decades 
•     Repurposing landfills and brownfields to develop solar, while eliminating the need to cut down forests, place large arrays in neighborhoods or destroy family farms

«We are very pleased to offer an innovative solution which provides compelling economic and environmental benefits to all stake holders,» said Greg Lucini, President and CEO of ISM Solar Solutions.

GUELPH, ONTARIO —(eSolarEnergyNews)— Canadian Solar, one of the world’s largest solar power companies, today announced that it supplied Conti / SunDurance with 10 MW of solar modules during the third quarter of 2014.

For this 10 MW order, Canadian Solar delivered to the Conti Group in total 33,792 pieces of CS6X solar modules in 6 x 12 cell matrix with UL 1000V certificate. In the life span of 25 years, these modules will turn solar energy into 360,000 MWh of electricity, and displace CO2 emissions by 67,000 tons, the equivalent of taking 11,800 cars off of the roads, or developing a 6,200 hectare forest with 237,000 trees.

As a leading provider of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services in the renewable energy and other industrial markets internationally, the Conti Group has installed over 70 MW of solar projects throughout the United States. Matthew Skidmore, Vice President at Conti, commented, «We continue to find success in the industry partnering with sophisticated solar developers, solar asset owners, and electrical utilities to design and build large-scale projects, and are very excited to again work with Canadian Solar on this opportunity.»

«We are pleased that Conti, a world leading EPC provider, have once again selected our PV modules. We look forward to continue working with Conti in future projects. I am confident that Canadian Solar’s global leadership, proven track record, and strong brand will continue to make us a partner of choice in powering key solar installations worldwide,» said Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar.

In the past few years, Canadian Solar modules have consistently been ranked at the top of the PTC Ratings in the industry. PTC Ratings, established by the California Energy Commission (CEC), is the widely accepted indicator of real-world PV module performance.

New methods for oil and gas development such as fracking may be responsible for unusually high levels of ozone in some regions. This appears to be the conclusion reached by a U.S. study that was conducted under the supervision of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Ozone, which is a molecule consisting of three oxygen atoms, is normally present in the upper atmosphere and shields the earth and its inhabitants from UV radiation in the form of the well-known ozone layer. Close to the ground, ozone in high concentrations is an air pollutant and the main ingredient of smog. Ground-level ozone is formed when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides, mainly from vehicle exhaust gases, react with each other in the air. However, smog usually occurs during the summer, which is due to high levels of solar radiation, temperature and humidity that promote these reactions.

For this reason, it is very unusual that high ozone levels have been measured near the ground during the winter in the western United States. This occurred in oil and gas fields. An international research team decided to investigate the incidents in the Uintah Basin in Utah.

Martin Graus, who now works for the Institute of Meteorology and Geophysics at the University of Innsbruck, was involved in the study as a former employee of the CIRES Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder. He explains how researchers approached the matter: «The task was to identify the main ozone precursors and chemical intermediates in this remote area during the winter months between 2012 and 2014 using a variety of complex scientific instruments, and to create a quantitative time series.»

This revealed that the emission of VOCs in the oil and gas fields is very high due to the nature of the processes they are used in as well as leaks. Together with the nitrogen oxides from trucks, compressors, pumps and other equipment with internal combustion engines, two of the conditions for ozone formation are already fulfilled. The precursors of ozone formation also do not dissipate so readily because the ground is continuously covered with snow in this area. This means that there is hardly any air interchange, so ground-level air is saturated with VOCs and nitrogen oxides. These ‘sit and wait’ for a convenient time to react with each other. As soon as the sun shines strongly enough on the blanket of snow and is reflected back, conditions are right to produce ozone near the ground, even during the winter.

Based on the data that was collected, researchers working together with Peter Edwards at the University of York in England developed a model that they used to find an explanation for the ozone formation. The formation of ozone during the winter is different from the formation of smog during the summer because VOCs are more concentrated and need less solar radiation and humidity to react. This new model for ozone formation will now help to make decisions on measures to be taken by the government and industry to reduce ground-level ozone during the winter. However, in and of itself, this seems to be a further argument against fracking and similar methods of fossil fuel extraction.

The study was published as a Nature Advance Online Publication. (DOI: 10.1038/nature13767)

Tanja Peschel