Tuesday, November 4, 2008

World’s Largest Thin-Film Solar Roof Comes Online


In Germany the largest thin-film solar roof has just came online. The roof has 11,000 thin-film solar modules from First Solar, with a total capacity of 837 kW, covering the roof of a Riedel Recycling facility in Moers, Germany.

The installation process required just three months despite pitches of 36.55 and 75 degrees and heights of up to 30 meters.

“Thin-film modules are a good choice at our latitudes”, managing director Ludger Riedel continues “because they also deliver good yields despite weaker solar radiation.”

Source: Solar buzz
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Saturday, November 1, 2008

Solyndra: New Cylindrical Solar Panels


Solyndra, a 3 year old company, is producing unconventional solar panels. Instead of the old flat panels, Solyndra came up with new cylindrical panels. These panels collect sunlight more efficiently across a broader range of angles and catch light reflected off the roof itself.


To build these solar panels, Solyndra uses thin film solar cells. Thin film solar cells aren't as efficient as silicon cells but they cost less to manufacture. Very small amount of CIGS, copper indium gallium diselenide, is deposited in ultra thin layers along the surface of glass or metal. VP of business development Kelly Truman said that their process uses just a bit more than a micron of copper indium gallium diselenide, or CIGS.

On the roofs of Solyndra's office buildings, the first modules have been installed.
The solar tubes look like reverse fluorescent light bulbs. These tubes are not bolted to the roof because they are less susceptible to wind damage than traditional flat solar panels.

Source: Smart Solutions

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Thursday, October 30, 2008

First Solar Panels for your Home

First Solar Inc. announced on Wednesday that it will start supplying solar panels for households. Up to this point First Solar supplied panels for huge solar power plants in Europe and Asia. First Solar currently have plants in Germany, Ohio and Malaysia. First Solar will sell SolarCity Corp., a residential-installation company, enough panels for 25,000 homes in the next five years.

SolarCity sells residential solar power systems through a 15-year "no money down" lease program. However, if a home-owner chooses to pay a $1,000 down payment, the lease payment and utility bill will cost him less than his/her old utility bill.

The high first payment to install a solar system has been the biggest obstacle facing residential solar power. But with First Solar's low cost panels, prices will go down.

First Solar's panels are cheaper to produce than traditional solar panels. However, the panels are less efficient thus requiring more roof space compared with more expensive silicon panels.

Source: The Arizona Republic
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Monday, October 27, 2008

CSU Going Solar

The state of California and SunEdison announced an agreement to provide affordable solar power at 15 California State University (CSU) campuses and the CSU executive office. Through this partnership, an eight megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic power system will be installed at CSU campuses giving zero-emissions electric power.

During the first year of operation, the eight MW system is expected to deliver approximately 12 million kilowatt hours of clean renewable energy. This amount of solar generated electricity represents five percent of the entire CSU system’s yearly energy consumption.

Over the life of the contract, the partnership will offset approximately 9,485 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of removing 48,937 cars from the road.

New SunEdison solar panels will be installed on rooftops, atop parking canopies and in ground-mounted arrays at various locations in the CSU campus.

As state government’s contract manager, the Department of General Services (DGS) negotiated the alternative financing method known as a power-purchase agreement for CSU. The agreement allows CSU to buy renewable power at or below current retail rates while avoiding the cost of installing the system. Under this agreement, SunEdison will finance, build and operate the solar panels for 20 years.

The State of California-SunEdison solar purchase agreement arranged by DGS should yield a total of approximately 20 MW of new renewable energy for the state.

It consists of installing the following systems:
1- 7 MW of solar power at five state prison sites and three state mental hospitals. 2- Since 2006, 4.2 MW of solar power have already been deployed at eight other state facilities through similar power purchase agreements.

DGS also recently launched an online database identifying where solar panels, fuel cells, wind turbines and other green energy technologies are generating renewable power at state office buildings, prisons, hospitals and college campuses which can be found at www.RenewableEnergy.dgs.ca.gov.

California’s push to fight global warming and increase renewable energy will also boost our economy. According to an economic study released yesterday by the University of California at Berkeley and Next 10, California’s policies will create as many as 403,000 jobs in the next 12 years and household incomes will increase by $48 billion.

Via: Lake County News
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Saturday, September 20, 2008

iPhone Solar Charger

iPhone Solar Charger

Does your iPhone suddenly displays the low battery warning? Worry no more, with this gadget you can recharge it anywhere by harnessing the sun! If your an iPhone addict this gadget will help you take the iPhone any place without worrying about electricity (camping, hiking, etc). To check the features click on read more.

Features: (Source: MOBILE.BRANDO.COM.HK)

Lithiumion polymer Battery capacity: 3.7V 1500mAh
Output voltage: 5V (max)
output current: 600ma (max) + solar battery 100 (max)
Charge voltage: solar battery 6V USB/DC 5V
Charge current: 100ma (max) + 500ma (max)
Charging ime: less than 3hours
Peak power supplied by photocell: 0.61W
Size: 125mm x 64mm x 25mm
Weight: 100g

Recharge iPhone
by built-in rechargeable battery in Solar Case
1. Insert iPhone into Solar case
2. Turn Power ON, iPhone will be fully charged within 12 hours.


After iPhone is fully charge, turn the Power OFF.
Press the power button, four power indicators indicate percentage of power charged. (A = 25%, …)

Model:
iPhone 3G
iPhone 2G

It costs 48$, go to MOBILE.BRANDO.COM.HK and buy it.

Source: Tech Universe
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Friday, September 19, 2008

Solar Battery Charger for $14.99-Soldius 1


Soldius 1 is a pocket sized solar charger, it comes with a collection of universal power adapters for charging many popular devices like the iPod, Blackberry smartphones and most Nokia, Motorola, SonyEricsson, Samsung and Siemens phones.

It also comes with a femaale USB power tip.


The device costs just $14.99, but supplies are short. The Soldius solar charger comes in black or white.

Placed in direct sunlight, it takes several hours to charge the device to 100%. Buy.com ships is for free.

For about 15$, this is a great deal. You can take it with you on camping trips or road trips and you don't have to worry about battery dying. Just put it in the sun and charging begins.

To buy it go to Buy.com

Source: Gadling.com
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Biofuel motorbike takes victory

Who says Green can't win.
Team Inzane's Ducati 800SS motorbike,driven by Russell Joyner, has won a race at the Norfolk Snetterton track using biofuel. The bike used E85 which is a blend of 15 per cent petrol and ethanol distilled from biomass.
Making this victory a clean one!

Via: LowCarbonEconomy.com Read More......

Newest biofuel: diapers

A cement plant in Utah found a new way to produce energy by burning diapers. Besides generating energy the company is getting paid to do that.

A cement plant uses heat to convert limestone into cement. This plant in Utah uses Little Mermaid Huggies as the fuel. With fuel costing one third of the operating cost, using Huggies helps the Devils' Slide Cement plant save nearly a million dollars a year.

The fuel-mix is made up of chunks of rubber tires and chopped up waste plastic. The Plastic waste comes from Kimberly-Clark's Huggies factory which is leftover chunks of disposable diapers.

They dump the waste into burners that preheat limestone to about 2000 degrees. It reduces coal consumption by 30 percent.

In the rotary kiln, the temperatures get even hotter, an incredible 3000 degrees, chemically transforming the limestone mix into Portland cement.

This new fuel not only saves money but also conserves a natural resource (coal) and keeps a lot of material out of landfills. Its a great example turning somebody's waste into something useful.

To Watch the Story go to KOAA.com and click on the video story link.
Source: KOAA.Com
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3-MW Solar Park Comes Online in Spain

One of the world's largest solar energy projects that utilizes copper-indium-diselinide (CIS) modules just came online in Albacete, Spain. This project made by Swiss solar inverter manufacturer Sputnik Engineering AG and solar systems supplier Wurth Solergy. The system, which consists of 41,600 solar modules and 100-kilowatt centralized inverters generates a total of 3.26 megawatts of electricity.

Fotovoltaica del Peral S.L., which runs the system, estimates an annual output of 1,607 kilowatt-hours per installed kilowatt.

Unlike standard solar modules made of crystalline silicon, CIS modules have a better temperature coefficient, which means that as temperature rises module output decreases slowly. This advantage enables the system to give nominal output power at ambient temperatures up to 45 degrees C.

Source: RenewableEnergyWorld.com
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Solar Curtains

Sheila Kennedy, principal architect in the Boston firm, Kennedy & Violich Architecture, and a current teacher at MIT, creates designs for flexible photovoltaic materials that may change the way buildings receive and distribute energy.

These new materials, known as solar textiles, work like the now-familiar photovoltaic cells in solar panels. Made of semiconductor materials, they absorb sunlight and convert it into electricity.

A 3-D rendering of "Soft House", which uses household curtains to collect solar energy and provide lighting. 

A recent project, "Soft House," exhibited at the Vitra Design Museum in Essen, Germany, illustrates what Kennedy means when she says the boundaries between walls and utilities are changing.

For Soft House, Kennedy transformed household curtains into mobile, flexible energy-harvesting surfaces with integrated solid-state lighting. Soft House curtains move to follow the sun and can generate up to 16,000 watt-hours of electricity--more than half the daily power needs of an average American household.

Although full-scale Soft House prototypes were successfully developed, the project points to a challenge energy innovators and other inventors face, Kennedy says. "Emerging technologies tend to under-perform compared with dominant mainstream technologies."

Source: MIT News
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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Bloomberg University Biofuel Bus Hibernates

BU's Biofuel Bus: “Bus #5.” photo by Dr. Mark Tapsak

BU’s first environmentally friendly shuttle bus, “Bus #5,” started running last April on biofuel made from used fryer oil. Since the fuel must be kept above 40 degrees at all times and the engine lacks the heating equipment necessary to maintain that temperature, the bus will have to hibernate when October comes.

The biofuel used in “Bus #5”— and all plant-based fuel— releases CO2 just like fossil fuels. But unlike fossil fuels, the plants were absorbing and removing CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis before being harvested and turned into vegetable oil. By using plant matter, like vegetable oil, as a fuel, the overall effect is carbon neutral: the CO2 being released into the atmosphere from the biofuel was the same CO2 that was absorbed by the plants that created the biofuel.

The biodiesel provides approximately the same M.P.G. efficiency as regular petrodiesel with virtually no sulfur oxides and sulfates, two main components of acid rain.
Refining site for "BU Biofuel Initiative" on upper campus. photo by Dr. Mark Tapsak

The weekly refinery process is relatively simple. Used oil is collected from campus dining facilities and other downtown restaurants and brought to a greenhouse on campus that serves as the refinery site. Here the oil is transferred and filtered into a container resembling a residential water heater where it is heated and mixed with the appropriate ingredients.

“The recipe is—for every 100 gallons of vegetable oil we start with, we’ll add 20 gallons of methanol and a little bit of Sodium Hydroxide,” said Tapsak, Asst. Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry.. Then the mixture is heated and cleaned via a week-long separation process. The end result is 100 gallons of biodiesel and 20 gallons of glycerol, the latter of which is composted.

Glycerol,the by-product, is used in hand lotion, soap and shampoo. This by-product can be sold or used to create a marketable campus soap.

Source: BU Now
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A Breakthrough in Biofuel

Researchers at Mascoma Corp in Lebanon are on the cutting edge when it comes to ethanol production. Ethanol can power cars with little impact on the environment.
Although using corn or sugar cane is the cheapest way to make ethanol. Its causing the world food supply to be depleted forcing food prices to go up. For this reason, scientists have shifted attention to non-edible plants like trees and grass.

Using non-edible plants was an expensive alternative-until now.
Lee Lynd, a professor at Dartmouth and co-founder of the Mascoma Corp, and other researchers at Dartmouth's Thayer School of Engineering have discovered a cheaper way to produce ethanol from "woody plants" using a genetically modified bacterium.

"If your raw material was three times as expensive as oil that would be a big problem. But the fact that the raw material is-- I got to check because the price of oil is changing-- about 20 percent the price of oil, that gives you a lot of room to move in terms of lowering the processing costs," Lynd explained.

However, to cut emission levels people should drive less or by more efficient vehicles.

Lynd says there is more steps to be taken to advance this technology. But he speculates that large scale production could begin next year.

Source: WCAX News
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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Firewinder: A Wind-Powered Outdoor Light


British inventor Tom Lawton came up with this nice looking Firewinder

Its a vertical axis wind turbine with 14 LEDs on its sides. Its designed to harness the wind energy in every direction the Firewinder is placed in.

The LEDs light-up at 3 mph wind (light breeze) and intensifies as wind speed increases. Firewinder creates an upward spiralling light which could produce a hypnotic effect. Its made completely from recyclable material.

The Firewinder is available now for pre-order for £99.

Via: EcoGeek and Shinyshiny
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Bill Gates Goes For Algae

Cascades Investments LLC, Gates’ personal investment company, is investing in Sapphire Energy, a start up working towards a commercial-scale facility to produce oil from algae.

Investment in Sapphire shows a change in Gates' clean-fuel strategy. Earlier this year Cascade sold its share of Pacific Ethanol Inc, a company that produces Ethanol.

Ethanol production lately has been blamed for the world food crisis. On the other hand, Algae has caught attention of investors as a potential oil producer for vehicle and jet applications.

Source: Wall Street Journal Blogs
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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

A 12 Year Old Boy Invents New Solar Cell



William Yuan, a 12 year old, thinks he has found the solution for the energy crisis. After he studied nuclear fusion and nanotechnology, he decided to tackle the energy crisis head-on.
"Solar it seems underused, and there are only a few problems with it," Yuan said.

Motivated by his science teacher, he developed a 3D solar cell.

"Regular solar cells are only 2D and only allow light interaction once," he said.

The cell he developed can absorb visible and UV light.

If he is right, solar panels with his 3D cells would yield nine times more sunlight
and absorb 10 percent more energy from the sun - even when it's cloudy.

"Which would make solar energy actually a viable energy source for the Pacific Northwest," Yuan said.

His next step is to get a manufacturer and market it.

Yuan is flying out to Washington D.C. on Monday to accept a $25,000 scholarship for his research. He earned the Davidson Fellow award, which normally goes to a graduate student.

Source: Katu.com
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Thursday, September 11, 2008

Can Asphalt Generate Solar Energy?

A research team led by Rajib Mallick at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) says it has found a way to use asphalt’s heat-absorbing properties as an alternative energy source.


Prof. Mallick, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at WPI, states the advantages that asphalt has as a solar collector:
  • Blacktop stays hot and could continue to generate energy after the sun goes down, unlike traditional solar-electric cells.
  • Since installed roads and parking lots already exist, the need to find additional land for solar farms is eliminated.
  • Because “roads and lots” are typically resurfaced every 10 to 12 years, they could easily and cost-effectively be retrofitted for “energy generation.”
  • Extracting heat from asphalt would cool pavement and reduce the urban ‘heat island’ effect.
  • Unlike roof-top solar arrays, which some people find unattractive, solar collectors in roads and parking lots would be invisible.

Mallick and his research team, which also includes Sankha Bhowmick of University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, studied the energy-generating potential of asphalt using computer models and by conducting small- and large-scale tests. The tests were conducted on slabs of asphalt in which were imbedded thermocouples, to measure heat penetration, and copper pipes, to gauge how well that heat could be transferred to flowing water. Hot water flowing from an asphalt energy system could be used “as is” for heating buildings or in industrial processes, or could be passed through a thermoelectric generator to produce electricity.

In the lab, small slabs were exposed to halogen lamps, simulating sunlight. Larger slabs were set up outdoors and exposed to more realistic environmental conditions, including direct sunlight and wind. The tests showed that asphalt absorbs a considerable amount of heat and that the highest temperatures are found a few centimeters below the surface. This is where a heat exchanger would be located to extract the maximum amount of energy. Experimenting with various asphalt compositions, they found that the addition of highly conductive aggregates, like quartzite, can significantly increase heat absorption, as can the application of a special paint that reduces reflection.

Finally, Mallick says the team concluded that the key to successfully turning asphalt into an effective energy generator will replacing the copper pipes used in the tests with a specially designed, highly efficient heat exchanger that soaks up the maximum amount of the heat absorbed by asphalt. “Our preliminary results provide a promising proof of concept for what could be a very important future source of renewable, pollution-free energy for our nation. And it has been there all along, right under our feet.”


Via: Ceramin Tech Weekly and WPI New Release
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Solar News Briefs

Lease Your Rooftop for Solar Power

California's governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Public Utilities Commission and Southern California Edison (SCE) are promoting the use of empty rooftop space to install solar energy technologies. This proposal aims at encouraging utilities to start partnerships with commercial property owners.

The property owners get supplementary revenue while utilities generate solar power without worrying about zoning issues making it a win-win situation. (Source PeachyGreen)

US DOE installs Large Solar System

The Department of Energy, DOE, has installed a large solar power system at the top of the DOE's Forrestal Building in Washington DC.

The photovoltaic (PV) system will generate 200 MWh of electricity—enough to provide eight percent of the building’s energy during peak hours. The system will also save up to $26,000 in energy costs during its first year of operation.

The DOE’s new PV system, which was developed by the SunPower Corporation, is 40-50 times larger than a residential system, and is integrated into the Forrestal building’s current roof.
(Source: Cleantechnica)
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Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Straw Powering Drax


In a step toward reducing Drax's power station CO2 emissions, Drax is looking for alternative energy sources to power its huge coal-based power plant. This new energy source is Straw, a by-product of cereal farming.

The straw will be collected from farms within a 50 to 70 miles radius of Drax. To make it easier to transport, the straw will be processed into pellets in a new straw-pelleting plant at Goole, ix miles from Drax. This plant is expected to process 100,000 tonnes of next year's harvest in order to be burnt at Drax.

In a new £60m co-firing facility being built on site, pellets will be broken up and injected into the furnaces along with the coal.

Drax, currently supplying up to 7% of the UK's electricity demand, is its biggest single source of carbon dioxide. For this reason, Drax is aiming to cut carbon emissions by 15 per cent by 2011. The trucks transporting the fuel will create pollution, but on site the manufacturing process itself produces no emissions.

Straw is extremely effected by the climate, wet weather through-out the harvest means no straw. This could force the plant to shut down or look for other energy sources.

In 2007, Drax burned almost 200,000 tonnes of biomass.

Source:Yorkshire Post
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Monday, September 8, 2008

Updated: The Energy Ball: A Wind Turbine for your Home


Home Energy, A Swedish energy company, recently unveiled a potentially groundbreaking household wind turbine named Energy Ball. Unlike conventional wind turbines the Energy Ball, utilizing the Venturi principle, spins in a spherical manner.

The Venturi Effect

The Venturi effect is characterized by a low pressure that occurs when a flow of air or liquid speeds up as it is constricted. Some perfume bottles use the Venturi effect to suck up perfume into the spray nozzle.

The Energy Ball's design constricts the wind, thereby causing the pressure to drop inside the ball. This sucks in air flowing around the ball and helps turn the rotor blades.

Because of this sucking action, Venturi-based turbines use more of the wind — and can therefore be 40 percent more efficient — than a propeller-style turbine of the same diameter, according to research by Technical University of Delft in Holland.

The unique design forces wind to flow inside the device itself, rather than through it, thus increasing the overall efficiency. The Energy Ball features a built-in power generator - allowing wind to generate power on both sides of the spherical object and, hopefully, improve the device’s power output.

Energy Balls currently are sold in sizes of either 1 meter or 2 meters in diameter and can be installed on a pole or a flat roof in as few as four hours.

In area with average wind speed of 15 mph, or 7 meters per second, a 1-meter ball can generate up to 500 kilowatt-hours per year, while the 2-meter ball can supply 1,750 kilowatt-hours per year(The typical U.S. household uses 11,000 kilowatt-hours per year).

Home Energy claims that even its smallest Energy Ball can provide enough energy to contribute 15% of the average [Swedish] household’s energy usage. The cost of the Energy Ball is between $3,500 and $7,000, not including installation.
Via: Engadget, Inhabitat, Foozoo Design Below the Clouds and FoxNews
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Sunday, September 7, 2008

New Massive Offshore Wind Farm in the UK


The UK government has approved the construction of the UK’s largest offshore wind farms, near Walney Island off the coast of Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria.

The 500MW ‘West of Dutton Sands’ wind farm will contain 139 wind turbines and the developers, Morecambe Wind Limited, claim it could power 372,000 homes with clean electricity.

The government also approved a proposal from Ormonde Energy Limited to build a 150MW wind farm containing 30 turbines near Walney Island.
Offshore windmills: The sun sets behind the North 
Hoyle offshore wind farm in the Irish Sea (Reuters: Phil Noble)
 (Picture via ABC News)

Below is a brief outline of UK's wind farms:
  • Eon’s two wind farms Robin Rigg A and B (180MW)
  • npower’s Rhyl Flats (90MW)
  • Centrica’s two wind farms Lynn and Inner Dowsing (184MW)
Work has also begun on three further offshore wind farms:
  • DONG’s Gunfleet Sands I and II (172MW) due to commission in 2009
  • SSE’s 504MW Greater Gabbard due to commission in 2011
Source: GreenBang
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