Advocate for solar power hailed by many admirers

On Wednesday, more than 300 people celebrated Sinkin's 97th birthday at a luncheon that doubled as Solar San Antonio's largest fundraiser of the year. The Pearl Stable was packed with admirers from every sector of the city, many of whom have embraced Sinkin's unwavering belief that solar and other renewable forms of energy will benefit San Antonio and the region environmentally and economically. Click here for the full report.

Carbon rules "greatest wealth opportunity" for this generation, says solar leader

Solar costs are crashing, Obamabucks are hurriedly enhancing solar energy storage options, and it would seem Jigar Shaw has returned to San Antonio triumphant. Shah said the renewable-energy revolution represents the "greatest wealth opportunity of our generation." He says he's moved past simply terming the technological changes in foment as "opportunities" (a "blue-collar term") and has started dropping "wealth" whenever he can. Click here for the full report.

 

Texas' Largest Solar Project Breaks Ground In San Antonio

CPS Energy, Duke Energy and juwi solar Inc. are proud to announce that work crews recently started construction of Texas’ largest solar farm on a 139-acre site in southeast San Antonio.The Blue Wing Solar Project, a 14-megawatt (MW) solar PV installation, is being built near the intersection of IH 37 and U.S. 181 on a site that will be clearly visible from both highways. The project will consist of 214,500 ground-mounted First Solar thin film panels. Blue Wing will generate an estimated 26,570 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity each year, enough energy to power about 1,800 San Antonio area homes a year.

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A Vision for Sustainablilty

"San Antonio: Leading the Way Forward to the Third Industrial Revolution"-This new report commissioned by CPS Energy and written by Jeremy Rifkin, President of the Foundation on Economic Trends lays out an exciting plan for converting San Antonio into the first post-carbon metropolitan region in the United States. 

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SA Business Journal: CPS Energy inks partnership deal for solar energy

August 24, 2009 - CPS Energy and Juwi Solar Inc. have agreed to jointly develop a new solar energy project in Southeast San Antonio. Read the full article here.

Please Welcome Our New Executive Director

Solar San Antonio is proud to announce the appointment of Lanny Sinkin as Executive Director.  In this role, he will administer Solar San Antonio's program activities and work with the board of directors to define the mission and strategic goals of the organization. Read More

TPR Podcast: The Promise and Challenge of Implementing Solar Energy.

July 6, 2009 · Lanny Sinkin, from Solar San Antonio, joins host Dan Skinner to talk the promise and challenges of implementing Solar energy. The promise includes energy efficiency, less pollution and economic growth. Click here to listen.

MySA.com: St. Philip's readies students for "green" day - July 16, 2009 - St. Philip’s College will unveil its Power Generation and Alternative Energy program this fall, and it promises hand-on experience in wind and solar power. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: Here's how to join the solar industry - July 2, 2009 -Solar San Antonio will hold a "Solar 102" workshop for people interested in becoming part of the solar industry from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 17 at the Bright Shawl, 819 Augusta St. Read the full article here

Gazette-Enterprise: Solar Energy has power to save money - June 25, 2009 - Long before the green movement took effect — think 46 years ago — there was only one well-known person in the U.S. who was putting solar power to use in his daily life. Read the full article here.

KENS5: Tessera Solar and CPS Energy sign agreement - June 22, 2009 - The SunCatcher power system is manufactured by Tessera Solar's sister company, Stirling Energy Systems. The SunCatcher system uses precision mirrors attached to a parabolic dish to concentrate the sun's energy onto a high-efficiency Stirling Engine. Each dish can generate up to 25,000 watts of power and has been certified by Sandia National Laboratories as having the highest sun-to-grid energy conversion in the world. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: Award-winning solar panel project saves NISD on gas - June 4, 2009 - Northside ISD has received the first Bill Sinkin Solar Energy Award from the city of San Antonio for the massive solar panel project at the Northside Aquatics Center. The award recently was presented to NISD as part of the city’s Green Buildings Awards. Read the full article here.

SA Current: Jigar Shah - Solar Titan - May 20, 2009 - What do we eat, if not the Sun? We’ve long gobbled up its energy converted by plants, converted by cows, converted with extra bacon grease. More recently, we have learned to consume the sun’s energy more directly, converted by photovoltaic arrays on our roofs, pipelined from fields of concentrated solar panels. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: Experts say consumers can bring solar home - May 16, 2009 - Solar panels on homes are about as common as bow ties on businessmen these days. But given recent increases in energy costs, nationally recognized solar energy expert Steven Strong thinks people might be ready to reconsider harnessing the sun's energy. Read the full article here.

SA Business Journal - Nonprofit sees solar power getting new day in the sun - May 11, 2007 - Although solar power is not a new concept, it has gained a tremendous amount of momentum in the last year with escalating fuel prices and a more energy-conscious atmosphere in America. And that is breathing new life into Solar San Antonio, an organization dedicated to promoting the power of the sun. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: Green Awards for San Antonio - May 9, 2009 - Who knew that sprawling San Antonio could be so green? The National Association of Home Builders on Friday named San Antonio's green building program the best in the nation.Build San Antonio Green won the “green building program of the year” award at the National Green Building Conference in Dallas. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: S.A. urged to embrace solar - May 5, 2009 - San Antonio's future energy needs can be met more cost-effectively with solar than a new nuclear power plant, according to the man who started the largest solar-energy services provider in North America. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: Solar Fest - April 30, 2009 - This could happen only at Solar Fest — a little girl rushing to hug a walking trashcan (actually it's Binnie, the mascot of the city's Solid Waste Management Department). The festival returns to Maverick Park on Saturday with another eco-friendly lineup — music on a solar-powered stage, information and models of solar and other renewable energy technologies, information about green building and eco-conscious living, hybrid and electric vehicles on display, activities for children and opportunities to recycle clothing with Goodwill and sports shoes with Nike. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: Solar Fest - April 30, 2009 - Solar fest slide show. View the slide show here.

MySA.com: More weekend plans for your calendar - April 28, 2009 - The Solar San Antonio party starts at 8 a.m. with a 5K "Run on the Sun" from Maverick Park to the Pearl Brewery and back.For those of you who like to power your mornings with coffee, not running, don't worry.More than 70 exhibitors also will have displays on solar energy, green building, conservation, recycling and electric and hybrid vehicles. CPS Energy will give away free trees.

MySA.com: Fiesta 2009 - April 24, 2009 - San Antonio has one of the top recycling programs in the city. In March, Men's Health ranked San Antonio the No. 3 city in the nation for recycling. (See S.A. steps up recycling but is it enough?) Yet, very few Fiesta events encourage recycling. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: City's solar exploration can reap big dividends - April 9, 2009 - San Antonio has won an important opportunity to advance the use of solar energy through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The successful effort to snare the $200,000 grant was led by Solar San Antonio's Bill Sinkin and City Councilwoman Diane Cibrian. The city and CPS Energy will match the federal dollars, and city staff will develop a demonstration project as well as a plan for implementing solar technology on a bigger scale by 2015. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: Harnessing the sun at home - March 29, 2009 - Steve Hixon has one request for CPS Energy: Get rid of the digital meters on his home and bring back the old-fashioned wheel that turns fast or slow depending on power usage.After Hixon installed solar panels on his San Antonio home in 2007 and 2008, he actually watched the dial change directions as his solar array fed electricity back into the system. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: Solar Mission - October 11, 2008 - If you think solar-powered homes are straight out of the Jetsons, you did not take part in last weekend's Solar Tour. You would think the homes on the tour — sponsored by Solar San Antonio — would be hard to miss. But aside from a few small signs directing attendees and the occasional cluster of Priuses, the homes look just like the rest of the neighborhoods. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: Rebates help residents go green for less green - September 12, 2008 - Orthodontist Robert "Tito" Norris saw power in the sun. But until recently, he didn't see solar energy as a financially feasible means of powering his far North Side home. Read the full article here.

MySA.com: Pros and cons of alternative power - March 27, 2007 - Stephen Ackley's favorite moment as the owner of a solar-panel system for generating electricity came when a meter reader told him with alarm: "Something's wrong with your meter!" "I told him, 'No — something's very right,'" Ackley said. Read the full article here.

SA Express News: Partnership for Energy is knocking on private sector's door: November 14, 2002 - A local movement is under way that will make business opportunities mushroom. The Metropolitan Partnership for Energy is not a secret. Yet more than eight months after the publicly backed MPE office started promoting the idea of green, energy -efficient building practices, the effort has attracted little notice. "Underwhelming" was the one word Solar San Antonio board chairman Bill Sinkin used to describe the private industry response to MPE. Read the full article here.

SA Business Journal: Solar San Antonio, partners win $100k grant - August 16, 2001 - Solar San Antonio, an advocacy group for solar power, has won a $100,000 federal grant to study the feasibility of charging up the South Texas economy with renewable energy. The U.S. Commerce Department awarded the grant through its Economic Development Administration. Read the full article here.

Rebates help residents go green for less green

"Orthodontist Robert "Tito" Norris saw power in the sun. But until recently, he didn't see solar energy as a financially feasible means of powering his far North Side home..."

Solar visionary waits for San Antonio to get with the program

"You could say that Bill Sinkin has been for solar power since before it was cool..."

San Antonio designated a "Solar America City" by DOE  

"San Antonio has won an important opportunity to advance the use of solar energy through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The successful effort to snare the $200,000 grant was led by Solar San Antonio's Bill Sinkin..."