The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has entered into a collaboration with General Motors and 34 other utilities to facilitate the integration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the grid, a key step in providing the drivers with an alternative to petroleum fuels.

PHEVs use domestically produced electricity through the grid, with a lower cost to fuel the vehicles than that of petroleum fuels. Additional, research released last year by EPRI and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) pointed to the potential of PHEVs to lower greenhouse emissions.

The EPRI-GM-utility collaboration will work to accelerate large-scale deployment of PHEVs and create a blueprint for an electric fuel infrastructure.

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General Motors is adding the world’s largest rooftop solar photovoltaic power installation to its car assembly plant located in Figueruelas, Zaragoza, Spain. When the project is completed in the fall of 2008, the Zaragoza solar installation will cover about 2,000,000 sq. ft. of roof at the plant and comprises about 85,000 solar panels.

When fully operational, the Zaragoza solar installation will generate about 12 megawatts of power at its highest output. The installation will generate about 15.1 million kWh of power annually, which is equivalent to the demand of 4,575 households with an average annual consumption of 3,300 kWh in Spain.

The Zaragoza project demonstrates proof that GM is actively accelerating our efforts to be part of the solution to the environmental issues and challenges facing our world,” said Gary Cowger, GM group vice president of Global Manufacturing and Labor Relations. “We are proud to be a global leader in the usage of renewable energy.”

GM currently has two of the largest solar power installations in the United States on the roofs of its Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana, California parts warehouses. The Rancho Cucamonga project was the first public solar project in the U.S. over 1 mega watt, when it began operating in the fall of 2006. The solar panels provide about 50 percent of the electricity to the facility.

The Fontana project, also 1 megawatt, became operational in December 2007. It generates about 1.3 million kilowatt hours of electricity a year, which is about the amount needed to power 200 homes yearly.

“As we develop new solutions in vehicle propulsion to reduce carbon emissions, we are also making significant progress in reducing the impact our facilities have on the environment,” said Elizabeth A. Lowery, GM vice president, Environment, Energy and Safety Policy. “Our commitment to expanding the usage of renewable energy sources is part of our coordinated global effort to reduce energy, water consumption, waste and CO2 emissions.”

A windshield from General Motors uses a camera, lasers and infrared sensors to enhance what’s happening on the road so aging drivers with vision problems can see more clearly.

GM says the new windshield will make objects stand out that could otherwise go unnoticed.

The technology enhances just a few objects in the dirvers view.

“You can see the difficulty of implementing technology like this,” GM researcher Thomas Seder said.

“They say, `That would be very frustrating or confusing, to have things on my windshield. I need to see the world,’ ” Seder said. “I’m enhancing the world. I’ll take a feature that should be important to you, like the edge of the road, and paint a line over the real edge.”