Solarpro’s Yankovo PV Power Plant Put into Operation

On 24 August the first stage of the photovoltaic plant of Solarpro in the village of Yankovo, northeastern Bulgaria, has been officially put into operation. The first phase of the project "North-East 1" features installed capacity of 338kWp . The plant had been successfully acceded to the power grid of E. ON and delivers electricity to the electricity distribution company. The project is scheduled to reach full capacity by the end of the year. The whole plant "North-East 1" has nominal power of 2404kWp will be the largest photovoltaic park in the country.

Solarpro, 80% owned by Bulgarian miner Kaolin, has launched production of photovoltaic (thin-film amorphous-silicon PV module) solar panels at its factory in Silistra, on the Danube. At the end of March the first panels of the first production line of the photovoltaic plant in Silistra were produced.

The "North-East 1" PV power plant is constructed with 8064 thin-film photovoltaic panels, manufactured by Solarpro, in its Silistra-based factory. It is the only company in Bulgaria, which concludes the entire PV module manufacturing – power plant integration chain. The components of the power plant are mainly made in Bulgaria, and all subcontractors are local companies.

Solarpro is the first and only manufacturer of solar panels in Bulgaria. Solarpro is the biggest solar panels manufacturer on the Balkans, with planned capacity of 18 MW annually, organized in three production lines, one of which currently operational. The company came into being in end-2007 in line with a strategy of its owner to bolster energy efficiency and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Sources: solarpro.bg & alfafinance.bg

Sun-Heated Solar Outdoor Shower

The sun-heated solar shower is a perfect accompaniment to any outdoor pool and an interesting alternative to the regular outdoor shower. This cool solar device can heat up to 8 liters of water to 140° Fahrenheit in as little as two hours. Just place it in a sunny spot and connect to your garden hose to fill the tank at the bottom to its 8-liter capacity. The shower's base acts as a greenhouse to heat hose water; sunlight penetrates the transparent lid and the trapped solar radiation heats the water as it courses through the internal collection tube.

This particular solar shower mixes the 140° water with cool water from the garden hose to a pleasant 86-90°F, giving you plenty of toasty warm water at just the right temperature. You and your family can take several showers consecutively before the tank needs to reheat.

The sun-heated solar outdoor shower is useful device as it will definitely save you electricity costs.

Orange Solar Concept Tent for Campers

The United Kingdom mobile company Orange recently unveiled their concept for the "tent of the future", called Glastonbury. This tent will allow avid campers to keep in touch and power their essential gadgets such as GPS or mobile phones. 

The Orange Solar Concept Tent was designed with help from the American product design firm Kaleidoscope and it harnesses solar energy to charge the gadgetry through a wireless charging pouch (no plug in!).

The solar-powered futuristic tent captures the rays of the sun via “photovoltaic fabric" - specially coated solar threads woven into conventional fabric. The Solar Concept Tent uses this revolutionary new technology to full effect with three adjustable glides, which can be rotated throughout the day to follow the sun and capture the most sunlight. Not only that, the tent has a wireless control hub to provide WiFi, wireless charging, and a touchscreen LCD display that keeps track of the energy generated and consumed.

Another advancement is a cool feature called "glo-cation technology". This enables campers to find their tent using an SMS message or automatic active RFID tech. So if you’re having trouble finding your tent, sent a text, and the Glastonbury will glow gently for you, guiding you back to your sleeping bag.

There is also a feature known as groundsheet heat. This is an internal heating element controlled by the central hub and it is embedded within the tent’s groundsheet. The underfloor heater will automatically come once the interior temperature drops below a certain level.

Well, let's hope that the Orange Solar Concept Tent could soon become a reality.

Source: Orange Unveils Solar Powered Tent for Staying Connected While Camping in Luxury

Solar-Powered Electric BlueCar soon in Europe

Another exciting news concerning electric vehicles coming this time from Europe. Italian car designer Pininfarina and French battery manufacturer Bolloré have officially announced that they will release in 2010 a fully-electric, partially solar-powered car in Europe, named BlueCar. Previously unveiled at last years Geneva Show, the BlueCar is a fully-electric car that comes equipped with solar panels on the rooftop. The solar panels on the vehicle’s roof provides some power to the vehicle’s systems.

The four-seat, five-door hatchback vehicle is 3.65 meters long, 1.72 meters wide and 1.6 meters high. The 50kW electric motor and the LMP (Lithium Metal Polymer) batteries + a device for energy storage (supercapacitor) give the BlueCar a range of 250 km (155 miles) per charge. With modest demands the battery is able to run the car at a top speed of 80kph and provides enough thrust to enable the car reach 60kph in less than 6.5 seconds. If need be, the batteries can be fast-charged for five minutes, giving the car enough power to run 25km.

The two companies claim that to recharge the BlueCar, you should simply plug it into a traditional power socket at home or a public power outlet. It takes about six hours to recharge the car’s battery from a standard power socket, and only two hours on the future public fast-charging outlets.

The car will go into production in Italy at Pininfarina starting in 2010. Production on an industrial scale will take place between 2011 and 2017, with 60,000 of the vehicles expected to be produced by 2015.

Sources: Inhabitat » Solar Powered Blue Car Hitting the Streets in 2010, Eco Cars: Sun harvesting electric Bluecar gets real in France and Italy Bluecar by Pininfarina

Update 2020: Hanergy partners with Bollore Group to build solar electric vehicles

Hanergy Thin-film Power Group

Read also the post: 5 Partially Solar-Powered Cars You Can Buy | Solar Energy - Green Lifestyle for You

Solar-Powered Electrical Plug-in Station Unveiled in Chicago

Last month Carbon Day Automotive announced the unveiling of the first solar-powered electric vehicle charging station in Chicago. Located and operational at the City of Chicago Department of Fleet Maintenance, it will be used on a daily basis to fuel the city’s electric vehicles with clean and renewable power from the sun.

Carbon Day Automotive’s Solar Plug-In Station(TM), built by Carbon Day Construction, was designed by the world renowned firm of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. Wanxiang America Corporation manufactured the solar panels that form a tree-like canopy built by Residential Steel.

Carbon Day Automotive envisions thousands of charging stations in key locations throughout Chicago and tens of thousands nationally by the year 2011. The construction of this infrastructure is one more step to reducing America's dependence on foreign oil.

“Without these stations, it would be like driving around in traditional cars without the availability of gas stations,” said Scott Emalfarb, CEO of Carbon Day. “The day of true plug-in electric vehicles will be here sooner than most people realize and the world needs to be ready to accommodate them. Carbon Day will build them and they will come.”

Carbon Day Automotive is a division of Carbon Day, an energy solutions organization dedicated to increasing environmental awareness. For more information you can visit the Carbon Day website, www.carbonday.com.

Sources: Gas2.org & Jetson Green