News from the Alternative Energy Front

Open Energy Corp., Solana Beach, Calif. announced that its solar roofing membranes have been installed at the Sweet Life Patisserie in Eugene, Oregon.

Northern Power, Barre, Vt., has introduced a “grid-friendly” power converter to improve wind turbine reliability. The technology is designed to improve wind turbine reliability, energy capture and grid performance. The converter design uses a proprietary magnetics filter and circuit configuration to obtain lower switching losses and very fast response time, as well as very low dv/dt. The low dv/dt can improve generator winding and bearing life. The modules can be configured for most types of wind turbine applications in the 500 kW to 5 MW range.

AC Energy Inc., Alberta, Canada, is an electrochemical power company that has entered the fuel cell market to develop systems based on proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology.

Honeywell, Minneapolis, announced in January that the Pleasanton Unified School District in the San Francisco Bay Area has awarded the company a unique solar energy project, one of the first of its kind for a K-12 school district in California. Under the agreement, Honeywell will install, own and maintain solar panels on seven district buildings, and sell the electricity the panels produce to the district at a price significantly below its current utility rate. The technology is expected to supply 20% of the district’s electricity and save it an estimated $2.5 million in energy costs over the course of the 20-year contract.

GE Energy, Atlanta, provided wind turbines representing over 45% of the country’s new wind capacity in 2006, reported company officials. In related news, the American Wind Energy Assn. reported earlier this year

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