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Embedded content at the bottom of this page includes regularly updated collections of insightful news.
Watts on your Rooftop: Map Program Measures PV Potential Google's online platform, "Project Sunroof," provides highly detailed solar info on 60 million rooftops in all 50 states. The program covering about half of all U.S. households includes much of the Hampton Roads metro area. The project was developed partly in response to the company's own commitment to clean energy, Google's world-wide operations are on track to be powered entirely by renewables this year. The main driver of the endeavor was an overwhelming volume of search engine queries. |
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1st Major Wind Farm in the Southeast is Operating Virginia’s neighbor to the south is a clean energy leader, claiming the number two spot, behind California, for installed solar capacity. And now North Carolina has realized another renewable milestone as home to the first "major" wind farm in the southeast. 104 turbines reaching about 500 feet skyward at the blade tip are distributed upon 22,000 acres spanning numerous low lying Pasquotank and Perquimans County farms. The facility began full commercial production in early February. The power injected into the local grid is produced for Amazon data centers, including one in Northern Virginia, and compares to the energy needed to supply about 61,000 homes. |
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Solar Projects Soar High School rooftops, military installations and an electric cooperative in Virginia are supporting solar. Read more about recent ground-breaking initiatives, including the 21 MW solar farm planned at Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach. Image: Oceana Naval Air Station on August 2, 2016 - The Governor of Virginia, Secretary of the Navy & Dominion CEO sign a renewable energy initiative agreement on a ceremonial solar panel. Photo: U.S. Navy by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Justin Yarborough |
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Solar Ready Vets Training Program at TCC Chesapeake According to Deputy Energy Secretary Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, “jobs in the dynamic solar energy sector have grown more than 20 percent per year for the past several years.” The solar industry is a leader in hiring military veterans—employing nearly 17,000 veterans to date—and it is committed to employing 50,000 veterans by 2020. Learn more about courses offered to transitioning vets at the Tidewater Community College, Chesapeake Campus here. The 2017 schedule is as follows: Feb 20 – Mar 24; April 10 – May 12; June 12 – July 14; Sept 5 – Oct 6 & Oct 16 – Nov 17. |
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Sowing the Seeds of Change: There's good news for the struggling small farmers of the Commonwealth. Historically significant cash crops could make a comeback. Once ubiquitous in fields across the state, hemp and tobacco are ripe for a renaissance. New eco-friendly products created from these crops could redeem their marred reputations and increase farmers' opportunities to cultivate cash crops well suited to the region. They even have the potential to relieve another American addiction: reliance on imported fossil fuel. |
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Wave Energy Technology to be Tested in Hampton Roads as Virginia Tech Scientist Earns $2 Million DOE Award With momentum to develop clean energy building, there's been a recent surge of interest to harness the dense power in the coastal waters close to major population centers. A prototype multi-directional system that gathers energy as waves move back and forth will be deployed for testing in Hampton Roads in November. The apparatus in front below will be housed in a buoy similar to the yellow one behind developer Lei Zuo, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. Columbia Power Technologies based in Charlottesville, also a recipient of DOE funds, is likewise working to commercialize wave energy conversion with its StingRAY prototype. Read more here. |
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New Solar Tech Going Online at the University of Richmond According to Rob Andrejewski, the Director of Sustainibility at the University of Richmond, the school has "committed to carbon neutrality by 2050." One way to achieve this goal is through on-site renewable energy production. By entering into a power purchase agreement with Secure Futures of Staunton, VA, the University was able to avoid high up-front costs and install a 205 kW solar system atop of the the LEED-Gold-certified Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness. |
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Power Shift: The Clean Energy Revolution The promise of renewable energy is no longer a pipe dream: Rapidly expanding across the country, it is now seen as a cost effective and clean. As cities respond to the threats of climate change, resilience strategies that embrace clean energy are spreading. Over a dozen US cities have made commitments to transition to 100% renewable power. The role clean energy initiatives like traditional wind and solar generation to game changing technology are explored in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Featured topics include a free solar training program for transitioning vets offered through Tidewater Community College; solar power for Naval Stations Norfolk and Oceana; plans for the Commonwealth's first wind farm; new energy modeling program based on weather data; and next generation technologies like 50 MW offshore turbines and wave energy conversion. |
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Hemp growing in a Virginia field near Harrisonburg. Image: 
A prototype multi-directional system that gathers energy as waves move back and forth will be deployed for testing in Hampton Roads in November. The apparatus in front below will be housed in a buoy similar to the yellow one behind developer Lei Zuo, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Virginia Tech. 
Next generation renewable technologies like gigantic 50 MW bioinspired morphing wind turbines and floating wave energy converters could be part of tomorrow's grid. Image: Professor Eric Loth by Tom Cogill on behalf of the University of Virginia School of Engineering & Applied Science