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The Solar Total Energy Project (STEP) was the world’s first and largest solar thermal cogeneration project having an industrial application. Built and operated during the 1980s in Coweta County, Georgia, STEP used solar energy to provide electricity and process heat to a manufacturing facility. Developed as part of the National Solar Thermal Energy Program, which was instituted after the oil crises of the 1970s,〔http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=5155159 STEP〕 STEP was jointly financed by the United States Department of Energy and Georgia Power 〔http://www.georgiapower.com/about/pdf/Renewable%20Energy%20Research%20ext%20page.pdf〕 to advance development of nonconventional renewable energy technology. The objective was to design, construct, operate and evaluate a solar thermal energy system that could provide electrical power, process steam and absorption air conditioning to an adjacent knitwear factory. Georgia Power has expressed continuing, long-term interest for nonconventional renewable energy technology, investing millions of dollars in initiatives for development of solar thermal, solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, and biomass. Significant investment began in the 1980s with STEP and construction of the new Georgia Power Building in Atlanta, which included active and passive solar energy systems. Georgia Power also supported a major PV project to provide energy for the swimming pool on the Georgia Tech campus,〔http://www.solardesign.com/projects/project_display.php?id=18〕 used for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. ==Project history== In 1977, DoE selected a joint proposal by Georgia Power and the Westinghouse Advanced Energy Systems Division from a field of 16 competitors from 14 states for STEP’s site and commercial application. Design work was completed between 1978 and 1980 under DoE sponsorship (with Georgia Power cost-sharing support) through the construction and test operations phases. The project was formally dedicated and began test operations in (May 1982 ). Georgia Power assumed full responsibility for STEP’s commercial operation in 1984 and continued the project beyond 1987. The project was conceived by Edward J. Ney, a Westinghouse energy physicist who later became a nationally recognized expert on solar energy systems. Ney was the Project Integrator while with Westinghouse, later joining Georgia Power as Manager of Solar Operations and STEP Project Manager. He brought the involved parties into a joint-venture agreement and subsequently oversaw design, construction, test operations, commercial operations, and eventual decommissioning and disassembly of the Project. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Solar Total Energy Project」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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