Duke Energy Builds 3 Solar Projects in North Carolina

         Duke Energy Renewables, a commercial business unit of Duke Energy, has begun construction of three utility-scale solar power projects totaling 30 megawatt solar energy in Eastern North Carolina. The 20 megawatt Dogwood Solar Power Project is located in Halifax County, near Scotland Neck. The company is also building two 5 megawatt projects, one in Bertie County near Windsor, named Windsor Copper Hill Solar; the other, Bethel Price Solar, is in Pitt County, near Bethel.
          "We are pleased to be expanding our presence in Eastern North Carolina and bringing significant community development benefits to these counties," said Duke Energy Renewables President Greg Wolf. "The projects generate valuable tax revenue, provide supplemental income for landowners and bring clean, renewable energy to the state." Power from these projects will be sold through long-term fixed price contracts. SunEnergy1, a solar design, engineering and construction company based in Mooresville, North Carolina, is building the photovoltaic projects, which are expected to be complete by the end of 2013.
           "When the sun is shining and the plants are operating, the 30 megawatt of solar energy generated by the three projects will supply enough electricity to power about 6,000 homes," said Kenny Habul, CEO of SunEnergy1. "We are proud to be partnered with Duke Energy and applaud their continued commitment to bring economic growth and renewable solar power to these counties that can repeat tangible benefits from the projects."

Duke Energy Renewables' 14 megawatt Blue Wing Solar Project in San Antonio, Texas, one of 20 solar farms the company owns across the U.S.

Google Invests $80 Million to Open 6 Solar Energy Plants

        Google is investing $80 million in 6 new solar plants in California and Arizona that the company says will provide enough electricity for 17,000 homes in the United States. The investment is Google's 14th in renewable energy. The company has so far put more than $1 billion behind solar and wind projects since April 2010. Google is partnering with investment firm KKR for the venture; the lead developer is Recurrent Energy.
       According to a Google blog post, the projects have a combined capacity of 106 megawatts. A typical coal power station produces 600-700 megawatts while a nuclear power plant puts out 900-1,300 megawatts. Google currently gets 33% of its energy from renewable sources, but hopes to be 100% reneawble at some point.

Apple Experiments with the Solar iWatch

       Apple is "experimenting with wristwatch-like devices", the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with Apple's tests. The devices would be made of curved glass and, not surprisingly, run on iOS, the paper said. Apple has discussed such a device with its key manufacturer Foxconn, the Wall Street Journal reported in a follow-up pace.

       A wrist watch could make a lot of sense in the context of Apple's search for way to deliver products that are more accessible in lower income markets, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said in a report last month, the Times notes. Rumors circulated earlier this year that Apple was looking at plastic to bring the cost of an iPhone down to between $99 and $250.

       Apple may have its own energy solution to the power constraints a watch running iOS may face. The U.S. Patents and Trademark on February 5 granted Apple patent No. 8,368,654 for "Integrated touch sensor and solar panel configurations." The solar patent would introduce optical sensing capabilities to the screen as a means to interact with it and to boost its energy generating capacity.

       "The integrated touch sensor array and solar cell stack-ups may include electrodes that are used both for collecting solar energy and for sensing on a touch sensor array. By integrating both the touch sensors and the solar cell layers into the same stack-up, surface area on the portable device may be conserved. In addition to being used for capacitive sensing, the integrated touch sensor and solar panel configurations may also be used for optical sensing," Apple notes in the patent.

         The patent adds: "When an approaching object, such as a finger, is detected the solar panel may switch to a capacitive sensing mode to more precisely locate the object. Alternatively, the solar panel may cycle between solar power/optical sensing mode and capacitive sensing mode."