As heard July 6, 2012, on Q-90.1 FM, Delta College public broadcasting …

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Automotive supplier Nexteer is turning to the sun. 

The company has announced a new product, called SunSteer. The product is a solar tracking actuator that will be built at the company’s world headquarters in Saginaw.

The product uses electronic steering and driveline technologies to allow solar panels to track the movement of the sun. This can increase the efficiency of photovoltaic generation.

According to Nexteer, the Sunsteer product uses a precision built, high-efficiency ball screw – ball nut combination that provides operating efficiencies of up to 95 percent.

Under normal operating conditions, SunSteer will accurately track the sun’s position, while consuming less than $2 worth of energy per year.

The company says the product uses high-performance coatings developed under extreme vehicle testing environments. These coatings are said to reduce corrosion and provide performance of greater than 20 years in the field.

Nexteer officials say the product offers levels of reliability and efficiency that in many cases are unprecedented in the alternative energy market.

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U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, a Midland Republican, says the final version of a Highway Bill Conference Report will include a study and plan to prevent Asian carp, and other invasive species, from entering the Great Lakes.

The measure is called the Stop Invasive Species Act.

In announcing the latest development, Camp mentioned a live Asian carp found two years ago near Lake Michigan. He said the act would lay the groundwork for a permanent solution to the Asian carp threat.

Camp introduced the act earlier this year with U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Lansing Democrat.

The legislation requires the Army Corps of Engineers to complete a Great Lakes Mississippi River Interbasin Study ahead of schedule, in about 18 months rather than three years.

That study is to include a plan to hydrologically separate the two basins.

Camp says hydrological separation is the only sure way to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes and prevent the invasive fish from destroying the ecosystem and devastating a $7 billion fishing industry.

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