Solarion

Solar energy, will be playing a big role in our lives, as it has been playing for eons. Sustainable society is a need if we are to survive as a planet. There are many a facets to solar energy, solar electricity, solar heat and so on. Education is key factor in bringing Solar power to the doorsteps of every house and all people. This site will try to empower you, by bringing new about solar energy, the solar power blog, empoweringsolar. Be powerful! be off the grid. Let Sun Shine On You.

Monday, December 25, 2006

Novak tries to find his right bolt, the energy bolt

BluClimate blog has a very good analysis of the columnists like Robert Novak stand in the light of global warming and energy policies. For years they had a easy run because the political climate in the United States of America. But since last elections, even with faulty voting machines, Democrats have won. Now I hope things will start changing as ties to energy companies and congress will be seriously different. As the mentioned article states, hope United States will be united with rest of the world in saving our planet, in movements like Kyoto Protocol.
I just wrote about global warming witness' like Mitsuaki Iwago bt then people like Robert Novak too are in this world pulling the other end of the rope, and I like to see more columnists like BlueClimate exposing their blows to the healthier world. If you are world concious, I am sure you will find BlueClimate a very good read.

Links;
Columnist Robert Novak Feels the Pain in his right...
global warming witness

Global Warming Witness, Iwago, Mitsuaki

I cane across this site, “A Witness to Global Warming - Mitsuaki Iwago’s Website”, today that I spent my whole morning, going through the site, watching movies and thinking about the global warming.
I strongly urge you to visit this site and see the marvelous work done by a wild life enthusiastic. I got there because of my camera, after seeing his work on this site and else where, I wonder why "my camera does not work very well, even though mine is two or three models newer than his!"

Global warming could change climates throughout the world, raise ocean levels and bring more violent hurricanes, desertification, coral bleaching, and unseasonable rain and snow. These events would create serious problems for mankind and wild animals.

Mitsuaki Iwago has been photographing wild animals in their natural habitats for decades. His keen powers of observation and unique insight focus on the dangers that global warming poses to the natural world.

Visit “A Witness to Global Warming - Mitsuaki Iwago’s Website” to enjoy his special movies and high-quality digital photos shot with the Olympus E-1. Through his eyes and camera lenses, you too can be a witness to the effects of climate change.

Links;
Global Warming Witness, Iwago, Mitsuaki

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Hope sun will shine your way! Have a great holiday!

I hope Santa will come your way and Your holiday will be filled with laughter and Joy. If you pass by an unfortunate person, please try to make him/her smile. Don't forget that all the Kids are the same!

Best Regards!

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Venturi Eclectic OIL Independeant Vehicle, Solar and Wind Powered

Soaring gas prices, economic crises, wars, omnipresent pollution, irreversible changes in the climate… Our world is going through a period when the stakes in terms of energy form the very basis for worldwide chaos. While admitting that no solution for energy production can be perfect, we must become fully aware of the imperative need to limit our own personal consumption of energy.

Eclectic, the first autonomous vehicle in the history of the automobile, opens up a new era in the field of mobility : reserved for daily driving in urban areas, its low energy consumption makes it the most economical environmental vehicle ever built.

Innovative and astonishing, Eclectic is much more than a simple vehicle ; it is a production and storage plant for renewable energies, either solar or wind based. Charging of these energies, which is intermittent in certain regions, can also be complemented by electrical recharging.

This new solar and wind powered vehicle is energy independent to the extent that it is able to acquire the energy it needs on its own. For sunny days it has a solar panel on its roof, and for days without sun, if there is wind, a wind turbine can be erected to charge the battery. But for moments when both sun and wind is not enough, the renewable energy sources can also be complemented by electrical recharging by plugging in to an electric outlet.

Links;
Venturi

echoMOD, one house at a time, by ecological design

I learned about a nice project by university of Virginia, ecoMOD, through a post on the worlds fair. echoMOD seems to be a project that we should hope will spread in to other areas of studies at universities and the like. The echoMOD's target, according to website is "The ecoMOD project is embedded in the curriculum of the University of Virginia, and is intended to create well-built homes that cost less to live in, minimize damage to the environment and appreciate over time."

echoMOD has already built a house under this program for a family affected by hurricane Katrina, for a family in Gautier, Mississippi.

Each completed house is to be monitored and evaluated carefully, with the results guiding the designs of subsequent houses.

Newly built low-income single-family homes tend to be trailers or some variant of manufactured or prefabricated housing. These homes may be affordable and easily installed in various locations, but they tend to be built in ways that waste resources and encourage indoor air quality problems. Most of them are sited without any consideration of solar or wind orientation, or local hydrology. The buildings themselves are aggressively 'site-less' – seemingly adaptable to any environment, yet entirely separate from their surroundings.

In contrast, the intent of the ecoMOD designs is to create site-specific homes using natural lighting and ventilation, non-hazardous materials, renewable energy, and energy-efficient systems to help reduce environmental impact and improve occupant health.
The other areas of engineering studies could also take part in this type of projects. Material design, Electrical Engineering, social sciences, could all come together to make this world a better place. If all at once is not possible, one at a time will do.

Links;
echoMOD project site
The worlds Fair

Monday, December 04, 2006

Oil Giant Venezuela goes Solar, on the streets.

Solar enegy panel powered lights now line Avenida Bolivar in central Caracas.
Credit: Michael Fox

Michael Fox at Venezuelanalysis.com reports that Venezuela has entered solar energy phase. I think making solar powered street lights is one way to go. Although I do not like politics of Venezuela, I do like their thoughts about energy alternatives. This is a country that did not have to worry about running out of oil for a while.

Highlighting one of the first initiatives of the recently launched Mission Energy Revolution, 73 new solar-powered lamp posts where installed last week along Bolivar Avenue in downtown Caracas. Venezuela has plans to multiply the pilot project around the country.

“Can you see these structures all along Bolivar Avenue?” President Hugo Chavez asked hundreds of thousands of his supporters on Sunday, from the stage on the Western side of the avenue. “Above, they have two panels, they are solar energy cells, or better said, cells to capture the energy of the sun. They accumulate the energy throughout the day, and with that we are illuminating Bolivar Avenue at night.

Chavez announced that he saw the solar panel project in action when he was in Vietnam and ordered Energy and Petroleum Minister, Rafael Ramirez to set it up in Venezuela.

Links;
Michaels report

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Spanish Solar, Spain begins to enjoy the SUN.

The emerging EU power, Spain, which has not made any changes to it's building code since 1970s, is taking giant steps to make solar power a prime part of the building or renovating any new structures.
All homes now have to have, at least, hot water solar systems and all new businesses have to generate solar electricity. Other regulations in the new building code include mandatory use of insulation, maintenance of heating and cooling systems and use of natural light. All together, these practices should decrease electricity use by up to 40%.
“The new standards will bring energy savings of 30 to 40 percent for each building and a reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from energy consumption of 40 to 55 percent,” the Environment and Housing Ministries said in a joint statement.

Spain, which is both enjoying and loathing a gigantic boom in construction, is hoping to control some of that growth as well as mitigate its impacts with the new regulations. The construction lobby, of course, is furious, saying that building costs will go up over 10%. The government does not seem too unhappy about that, but cites it's own figures that say the costs of construction will be recouped by energy savings within a couple years.
Way to go Spain, these are the wars you should fight.

Links;
Reuters article via MSNBC

Sunday, November 26, 2006

Simplee Solar, fined £40,000 for false claims

Bournemouth Crown Court heard how Simplee Solar, based at Woolsbridge Industrial Estate, Three Legged Cross, had sent flyers telling householders they could save up to 70 per cent on their energy bills and that solar could power their central heating.

Among those who gave evidence at the trial was pensioner Wendy Hammett, who paid £8,500 to have the system installed at her West Parley bungalow in August 2004.

Prosecuting on behalf of Dorset Trading Standards, Tim Bradbury said: "The extent to which the system could accrue benefit was wildly exaggerated."
continued...

He explained that the expert view was that solar panels could only be expected to provide two to three per cent of the energy needed for a domestic central heating system.

Simplee Solar denied two counts of supplying and five counts of offering to supply goods to which false trade descriptions had been applied.

But a jury yesterday convicted them of all charges.

So be true in your claims to energy savings through solar energy. Rather than using solar panels to heat water, solar water heaters are better, A few years ago, in a very sunny area, I was able to produce near steam, with a series of hand made solar water heaters.

Links;
Solar energy firm fined £40,000 for false claims

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

SunPower Gobbles up Powerlight, actually purchases.

Solar San Diego reports about SunPower a division of Cypress Semiconductor purchasing PowerLight, a leading provider of large scale solar project systems for $332.5 million in cash and stock.
From the press release;
"Together, SunPower and PowerLight aim to accelerate the reduction of solar power costs to compete with retail electric rates without incentives," said Tom Werner, SunPower CEO. "PowerLight is one of the premier system integrators worldwide and presents us with a downstream investment opportunity that will accelerate SunPower's revenue growth while meeting our long-term financial model. By working closely with PowerLight over the past year as one of its key suppliers, we have gained great respect for their innovative products and the breadth and depth of their customer relationships. We intend to build on our strong market positions and duplicate our success in other emerging markets.""
Read more and find the press release at Solar San Diego.
Links;
Solar San Diego
Sunpower
Powerlight

Monday, November 13, 2006

Is Solar Power Affordable? You Bet!

Andy Black on Mother Earth News carries an reprinted article from Solar Today magazine. I immediately knew that I need to inform users of this fine piece of writing. I know a lot of people are confused when it comes to financing and planing to convert their abode to be energy independent. The information is our there but at best is scattered. "You Can Afford Solar Power" article carries one through the phases of implementing such a system. It touches on age old questions such as payback and gives you no frills answers. I suggest that you read and digest this article if you are solar energy expert, solar power user, or intending to be one or the other.
from the article;

'What Factors Improve Payback?

The most important factors for making solar an attractive investment include high electric rates, net-metering policies, financial incentives and good sunlight. Unlike the other factors, sunlight is available in almost all of the continental United States.

High electric rates can take various forms. California, Hawaii, New York and other states have average rates well above 15 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). California’s tiered pricing system penalizes large residential users with prices as high as 33 cents per kWh. Solar energy offsets highest-tier usage first, making the customer look like a smaller net user.'

Direct incentives can include tax benefits such as credits or depreciation. A federal tax credit went into effect Jan. 1 for 30 percent of the cost of a solar system, up to $2,000 for residential systems (there’s no cap on commercial credits). For PV systems, that typically means a $2,000 credit on your tax return for the year the system was installed. Then there are state incentives, including rebates, which can discount up to 60 percent of a system’s cost. Some states also offer tax credits, which can further reduce the upfront cost of a system. Consult a certified tax adviser to check the applicability of such incentives to your situation.

The article ends with links to valuable tools listed below ;

Links;

You Can Afford Solar Power

Solar Today Magazine

Links from the article;

Tools for Calculating PV System Payback

Database of State Incentives for Renewable Energy

Clean Power Estimator

Find Solar

PV Watts

RETScreen International

Solar Energy Industries Association Guide to Federal Tax Incentives

Author’s post of detailed information on calculating various scenarios

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Oil companies win, California Prop 87 Defeated

What can I say, Only thing I can repeat is what Adam Browning, Executive Director of the Vote Solar Initiative said.
"Oil companies spent nearly $100 million trying to convince California voters that collective suicide is a good idea. Unfortunately, they were successful,"
So congratulation's California, if you cannot wait for the results, you can jump off coastal cliffs and finish it now.
Links;
Vote Solar, (The Vote Solar Initiative is a non-profit organization with the mission of stopping global warming and increasing energy independence by bringing solar energy into the mainstream.)

How Cash back for Solar works in California.

If you are a Californian, there are incentives for you to turn your home in to a Solar Generator! Aka self sustained house. California State initiative, works in a wonderful ways to turn your interest toward converting your house in to a solar power house.
I urge all the states that could benefit from Solar energy to adopt a similar initiatives. Let's go beyond the American Borders, let's introduce such measures all over the world.

The California Solar Initiative Offers:

Photovoltaic incentives starting at $2.50 per watt for systems up to one megawatt in size.

Funds for solar installations for existing and new low-income and affordable housing.

A pay-for-performance incentive structure to reward high-performing solar projects.

The California Solar Initiative will be coordinated with the state's energy efficiency, "smart" metering, and building standards programs at the Public Utilities Commission and Energy Commission, ensuring that the state is using its energy resources wisely.

The above is true if you act before the year ends. There is a new way based on Public Utilities Commission (PUC) of California that will change the incentive payment criteria.

Starting January 1, 2007, incentives for all solar energy systems greater than 100 kilowatts in size will be paid monthly based on the actual energy produced for a period of five years. This incentive is called Performance Based Incentives, or PBI.

Incentives for all systems less than 100 kilowatts will initially be paid a one-time, up-front incentive based on expected system performance. Expected performance will be calculated based on equipment ratings and installation factors, such as geographic location, tilt, and shading. This incentive structure is called Expected Performance-Based Buydown, or EPBB.

Starting in 2010, incentives for all systems greater than 30 kilowatts in size will be paid based on actual energy produced.

CPUC Administration of the California Solar Initiative

On March 2, 2006, the CPUC opened a proceeding to develop rules and procedures for the California Solar Initiative and to continue consideration of policies for the development of cost-effective, clean and reliable distributed generation (DG). On August 21, 2006, the Governor signed Senate Bill 1 (SB1), which directs the CPUC and the Energy Commission to implement the CSI program consistent with specific requirements and budget limits set forth in the legislation.

The PUC has a rulemaking in progress to reconcile its decisions with SB1, and it also continues to hold public workshops to continue designing program elements. Contact the CPUC to learn how to provide your input in these decisions.

Current incentives provide an upfront, capacity-based payment for a new system. The CSI incentive system will change in 2007 when it moves to performance-based payments. In its August 24, 2006, decision, the CPUC shifted the program from volume-based to performance-based incentives and clarified many elements of the program's design and administration.

There is also a FAQ page that will answer most of your questions.

Links;

Cash Back For Solar

Cash Back for Solar FAQ

"Go Solar California" is the moto of the new state website promoting solar Energy in California.

After all the initiatives that California has made, you can follow the progress on the new web site, "Go Solar California". The State of California plans or wishes to place 3,000 megawatts of new, solar produced electricity systems on rooftops by 2017. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger goal is to put solar systems on a million California roofs. And certainly the California need your help.
State has already taken steps to make alternative energy a part of the power Grig that runs through California.
About 10.2 percent of the electricity California already use comes from renewable sources - biomass, geothermal, small hydroelectric, solar, and wind.

According to a statement on the site, why alternative energy;

Benefits of Renewable Energy

Choosing renewable power provides many benefits:

Making use of secure, indigenous, and sustainable natural resources.

Helping to keep our air clean.

Potential to reduce the production of carbon dioxide - a leading contributor to global climate change.

Helping to create jobs for California and American workers.

Establishing the United States as a world leader and exporter of renewable power technologies.

Nationwide, reducing dependence on imported oil.

By purchasing electricity generated from renewable resources or installing a renewable energy system on your home, you can demonstrate your commitment to a healthy environment and a healthy economy.

Today, thousands of Californians have already made the switch to renewable energy, producing clean, "green energy" for themselves.

So join the race and be productive. The site is a source of information for Solar energy whether you are a Californian or not. I hope all the states in USA and other countries will follow a California, the state I live, and find best resources for energy. If you were to surpass us we will surely, follow you. Like we are already learning from Brazil about alternative feuls.
Only bad thing about site is videos are in windows format and not all can watch them. Please change them to a better format that ASF, not all people use windows, specially californians.

Links;
"Go Solar California"

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Solar Powered Politics in Down Under

An exciting new election pitch by the Green Party proposes that every Australian man, woman and child would wash under a solar heated shower.

“A complete change over to solar could potentially reduce the state’s greenhouse gas production by 2200 million tonnes each year,” Greens energy spokesman Louis Delacretaz said. (Michael Warner, Solar Conversion a must under Greens, Herald Sun, October 21, 2006).

Under the Green Party’s new election campaign, solar power units would be installed in all new homes and electric and gas systems would be slowly replaced over the next 15 years. The controversial new policy would also see the closure of Hazelwood power station in the Latrobe Valley. The Greens are also pledging to spend a huge $10.5 billion in upgrading the Public transport network and Education is set to receive $1 billion in additional funding.

Major Political parties have historically taken the Green Party’s pre-election promises as a joke. However, the Green’s are highly likely to grab the balance of power in the new 40 seat Legislative council due to changes in the state’s electoral boundaries. Voting for the upper house has changed from preferential to proportional and has threatened Labour and Liberal’s strong-hold in state politics. This in turn has created an opportunity for smaller parties to take them on at the polls.

30 Million into Sharp Solar Power Development

VUNET's Simon Burns from Taipei, reports that Sharp Coporation will expand its solar cell output by a factor of six, the Japanese electronics manufacturer announced on November 1st.

New production lines will start rolling at the company's solar cell facility in Southern Japan later this month.
After the expansion, Sharp's total annual production capacity of pholtovoltaic solar cells will be enough to generate 600 megawatts of power, up from 100 megawatts today.
Solar panels with 600 megawatts of generation capacity would be enough to provide power for a city with a population of almost half a million.

Simon also reported earlier that Motech Industries will ask for about $300m from investors, and E-Ton Solar Tech will seek more than $190m, increase production of Solar Cells this year.

Monday, October 30, 2006

Household water saving Peoject started

New project targeting water usage and water savings in households is on the way in Australia. This project planed to span over three years will gather data, and will provide "bullet Proof" solutions to todays problems in water usage in households.
According to Project leader, Dr Rodney Stewart;
"Until now there has been little hard, specific data available on the effect of different water saving technologies on household consumption.

"Government rebates on items such as tanks and whitegoods are vital to encourage consumers to buy water-saving technology and this study will enable governments to prioritise which technology to subsidise."

The project will involve selecting 100 homes with average-to-high water use in South East Queensland, a region pinpointed as Australia’s fastest growing metropolitan area, and one under massive pressure to meet escalating domestic water demand.

They will collect and analyse data from before and after the installation of the water saving devices then present the findings to local and state government water authorities nationwide.

This will also enable water authorities to tackle the massive water loss that occurs in the supply system before the water even reaches homes.

"Up to 10 per cent of Australia’s drinking water is lost through pressure leaks in the system before it even reaches us," Dr Stewart said.
I think this is not only a problem in Australia but everywhere and any solution this research will benefit all of us.

Links;
Project press release

Sunday, October 29, 2006

A new 3435AH Battery for your Solar Power system

Surrette Battery, a leading Canadian lead-acid battery manufacturer has a new, higher capacity giant for your Solar/Renewable Energy battery needs. I meant Giant, well at least you have to be a giant to lift or carry it at 285 pounds or 130 KG weight.
There is more than the size or weight to this battery, known as 2-YS-31PS, The lead acid battery features the same durability, performance and ease of maintenance as every Surrette battery, but its larger size and additional capacity of 3424AH allow the system to minimize parallel connections in your solar power storage system, thereby maximizing charge efficiency and reliability. The new 2-YS-31PS design maximizes cell size and bank capacity, which reduces the depth of cycles while increasing the battery’s longevity. In addition, the larger capacity allows users to minimize the number of cells in their system, cutting down maintenance time.
Here are the numbers for the battery;

2-YS-31PS Specifications:

Model:	2-YS-31PS
Overall Dims:	15 ½” x 9” x 31 5/8"
Weight Wet Est:	285 LB/130 KG
Max Ht with optional Hydrocaps:	32 1/9”
Weight Est:	200 LB/91 KG
Capacity:	1993 AH 8 HR
	2430 AH 20 HR
	3435 AH 100 HR

You will be able to get the battery from Surrette or it's dealers. In the USA Rolls battery is the name for Surrette Batteries.
Links
Surrette Battery
Rolls Battery

Friday, October 27, 2006

Solar Power need no pushing, it will pick up speed naturally....

According to Author, fund manager, and former corporate buyout expert Travis Bradford in "Solar Revolution."
The president and founder of the Prometheus Institute for Sustainable Development in Cambridge, Mass., says we are on the doorstep of the solar era. He's not forecasting something that will occur in the next century. Bradford offers the evidence of a trend that is well under way and that will gain relentless momentum within the next two decades.

I came across the news on Plenty Magazine (How to go green), which I started reading from Issue 5, Which is now available in digital format. Go register and you will learn a lot. The article was "Lighten Up" by Trevor Stokes. it is an interview with Travis Bradford.

Plenty: Why do you think solar energy will be part of the solution to today’s energy crisis?

Bradford: The answer to that is very simple: Today solar energy costs 10 percent of what it did to install in the mid- to late-1970s. The products have gotten more mature; the efficiencies have improved; the costs have come down—all using the exact same photovoltaic technologies. The more we make, the cheaper it gets. We’ve entered a phase where it’s cheap enough to install the technology in lots of places; every time we install more it gets cheaper.

Read the rest of the article at Plenty.

Friday, October 20, 2006

SEPA award goes to PGandE for its solar energy programs, for the second time!

PGandE has interconnected more than 13,000 customers with solar generating systems to the power grid -- representing more than 100 megawatts and more than any other utility in the nation. In just the past 24 months, PGandE has interconnected nearly 4,000 customers representing 35 megawatts of solar power. PGandE has also provided more than $150 million in rebates to nearly 300 solar customers through the utility's self-generation incentive program, which helps offset the cost of installing solar and other forms of clean, on-site generation such as wind and fuel cells. And for all these work, an award from the Solar Electric Power Association.
his is the second time in two years that PGandE has received SEPA's Solar Business Achievement in the category of public awareness and industry leadership. This is also the first time SEPA has honored any company with a "repeat" award.
PGandE is hosting the Solar Power 2006 conference being held in San Jose from October 16 to 19. King made introductory remarks to welcome over 4,000 conference attendees, which I attended. I plan to attend next year as well.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Is your hot water usage putting you in hot water?

Then read GREEN TIPS published by UCS, which I am a member! and I urge you to join UCS even if you are not a scientist. It is a good source of information on energy, world and local matters that matters to all of us, and pure good science for cleaner and healthier living. Most of my articles are originated from the ideas I receive from UCS and I am sure you will wonder, why did not I find this site before!

Now back in to hot water, A few years, a decade ago, I worked on a project to introduce Solar Energy to a third world country, factory. This factory needed a lot of hot water and steam in order to operate and they were spending a fortune in heating water that used boilers that were so old I could not even guess the age.
Due to monitory reasons they were not willing to replace the boilers and the project fund was not that big either.
So we decided to construct solar water heaters on the factory roof and feed the boilers with heated water so that it would use less energy to heat the water. All the people were sceptical because the factory was in a cold area higher up in the mountains. But we saw that, when sun shines, it shines better.
The water the factory was getting was from a natural stream, and water was cold to touch.
So we sat out to produce solar water heater, which were very crude, from copper plates, copper tubes and Matt black paint. We produced about 30 panels about one square meter and connected them in serial manner. We fed cold water in one end and checked out the other end, Viola, near steaming water came out on sunny days. Even on cold gloomy days, water temperature was much higher than that of the stream.
The factory workers and the owners (The same) were very happy to see the results. They started saving a lot of money as they connected the output of the solar heater to the input of the boilers. After a decade, now they have much better solar heater and boilers. All made locally by technicians that we trained. This is something I always remember when I think of solar power. It makes me extremely happy.
Now back to the UCS green tips article,

Water heating accounts for approximately 15 percent of the average household’s total energy consumption (and a sizable chunk of its energy costs). If your water heater is more than 10 years old it is likely running at less than 50 percent efficiency—wasting energy and money—but most people don’t replace their water heater until it fails. Upgrading to a new, more efficient model will lower not only your monthly expenses, but also your contribution to air pollution and global warming.

Before you shop for a new water heater, however, make sure you’ve done everything you can to minimize your hot water use. Install water-saving fixtures and appliances, for example, and insulate your pipes. Then, choose the most energy-efficient model that meets your needs and budget; three types are described below.

So I ask you to click on the link below and read the rest of the article, you may get out of the hot water you are in right now!
Links;
Hot water with less worry
UCS Union of Concerned Scientists
Incentives for renewable energy

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Google beats Microsoft! in Solar power

Google asks you to be a copycat, not in search, but saving earth.
We hope corporate America is paying attention. We want to see a lot of copycats' of this project, Radcliffe said, After just revealing plans to install what some say is the nation's largest corporate solar project.

Google plans to put about 9,200 solar panels on six buildings at its Mountain View headquarters by next spring. The project, which will be built by San Rafael -based EI Solutions, will produce up to 1.6 megawatts of electricity -- or enough to supply 30 percent of the campus' electricity on a hot summer day. Or just be able to power about 1000 normal households.

'That would be the record for a solar installation,' said Noah Kaye, spokesman for the Solar Energy Industries Association.

The announcement comes as Silicon Valley hosts the largest solar industry gathering in U.S. history and at a time when companies and government agencies are seeking cost-effective ways to ensure reliable electrical power.

Google seems to be beating Microsost even in this endevour, it is 1.6 MW against 0.480MW! Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus, for instance, flipped the switch on a 480-kilowatt solar-panel system earlier this year. The Santa Clara Valley Water District and Cypress Semiconductor of Sunnyvale also have large solar-panel installations in Silicon Valley.

Industry experts said recent threats of rolling power blackouts along with state-funded economic incentives are pushing solar's popularity.

in addition to this solar power conversion, Google has also installed motion sensors in rooms to turn lights on and off; serves only organic foods in its cafeterias and provides a commuter shuttle that removes hundreds of cars from the road each day, Radcliffe said.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Climate Change in the U.S. Northeast Report is released

Last week, a team of independent scientists and researchers, in collaboration with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), released a new report detailing how global warming is poised to substantially change the climate in the Northeast.

Please read the report (in PDF format) so you can download and read at leisure.
If you do not have time to read the full report, at least read the The Changing Northeast Climate: Our Choices, Our Legacy (PDF) UCS produced eight-page summary of the NECIA (Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment) climate change report.
It is a very good read if you are even a tiny bit interested in our world, our earth, and our climate.
UCS is an independent nonprofit alliance of more than 100,000 concerned citizens and scientists. We augment rigorous scientific analysis with innovative thinking and committed citizen advocacy to build a cleaner, healthier environment and a safer world. I invite you to join the alliance.

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Off the Grid In Berkshire, MA

Berkshire Eagle reports about Andre Rambaud never gets a case of sticker shock when he opens his monthly electric bill, even in the harsh winter months.

That is because his bill has always been $6.50 for quite a while. Andre say that even electricity company suspected that he is cheating with his electricity usage. But the company was wrong and his secret lies in his basement bunker.
Since 1994, Rambaud's home — and the 35-lot no-frills campsite he built on the 475 magnificent acres he has owned for 46 years — has been "off the grid."

"I started this project because I wanted to be completely independent," the 74-year-old said.
An underground concrete bunker sits next to his house, and within the bunker, housed in a small vault made of 1-foot-thick concrete, is a hydroelectric generator that runs off a spring a mile up the mountainside.

Above the din of the generator, Rambaud explained that the force of the water coming down the mountain creates pressure of 300 pounds per square inch, and the generator translates it into 65 megawatt hours of electricity per year.
The average family home uses about 12 megawatt hours per year.

My only question is why he is not selling his electricity back to the grid. Just only with his electricity about 4 families. But that may be in the coming.

What advise does Andre gives to rest of us?

Rambaud admits that he's in the minority: blessed with abundant acreage; a cold, clear spring; and a steep mountainside to provide gravitational pressure for hydroelectricity, he can go farther off the grid than almost anyone.

He suggests that sustainable energy novices could start with smaller projects, like solar panels and energy-efficient double-paned windows that are insulated with argon gas.
"The average person can't take it to this level," he said. "But something has to be done."
Cynthia Grippaldi from the Center for Ecological Technology agrees with Rambaud and acknowledges that many people feel "powerless" in the face of the mounting energy and ecological crisis.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Flickr

This is a test post from

, a fancy photo sharing thing.

Sunday, October 01, 2006

How Solar Power works Part III The final!!

Solar Thermal Concentrating Systems

By using mirrors and lenses to concentrate the rays of the sun, solar thermal systems can produce very high temperatures—as high as 3,000 degrees Celsius. This intense heat can be used in industrial applications or to produce electricity.

Solar concentrators come in three main designs: parabolic troughs, parabolic dishes, and central receivers. The most common is parabolic troughs—long, curved mirrors that concentrate sunlight on a liquid inside a tube that runs parallel to the mirror. The liquid, at about 300 degrees Celsius, runs to a central collector, where it produces steam that drives an electric turbine.

Parabolic trough concentrators. Source: NREL

Parabolic dish concentrators are similar to trough concentrators, but focus the sunlight on a single point. Dishes can produce much higher temperatures, and so, in principle, should produce electricity more efficiently. But because they are more complicated, they have not succeeded outside of demonstration projects.

A more promising variation uses a stirling engine to produce power. Unlike a car’s internal combustion engine, in which gasoline exploding inside the engine produces heat that causes the air inside the engine to expand and push out on the pistons, a stirling engine produces heat by way of mirrors that reflect sunlight on the outside of the engine. These dish-stirling generators produce about 30 kilowatts of power, and can be used to replace diesel generators in remote locations.

The third type of concentrator system is a central receiver. One such plant in California features a "power tower" design in which a 17-acre field of mirrors concentrates sunlight on the top of an 80-meter tower. The intense heat boils water, producing steam that drives a 10-megawatt generator at the base of the tower. The first version of this facility, Solar One, operated from 1982 to 1988 but had a number of problems. Reconfigured as Solar Two during the early to mid-1990s, the facility is successfully demonstrating the ability to collect and store solar energy efficiently. Solar Two’s success has opened the door for further development of this technology.

To date, the parabolic trough has had the greatest commercial success of the three solar concentrator designs, in large part due to the nine Solar Electric Generating Stations (SEGS) built in California’s Mojave Desert from 1985 to 1991. Ranging from 14 to 80 megawatts and with a total capacity of 354 megawatts, each of these plants is still operating effectively.

As a result of state and federal policies and incentives, more commercial-scale solar concentrator projects are under development. Modified versions of the SEGS plants are being constructed in Arizona (one megawatt) and Nevada (65 megawatts). In addition, Stirling Energy Systems received approval from the California Public Utility Commission in October 2005 to build a 500-megawatt facility (with the option to add 350 megawatts) in the Mojave Desert using the parabolic dish design. Beginning in January 2009, the plant will supply power to Southern California Edison under a 20-year contract that will help the utility meet its requirements under the state’s renewable electricity standard.

Photovoltaics

In 1839, French scientist Edmund Becquerel discovered that certain materials would give off a spark of electricity when struck with sunlight. This photoelectric effect was used in primitive solar cells made of selenium in the late 1800s. In the 1950s, scientists at Bell Labs revisited the technology and, using silicon, produced solar cells that could convert four percent of the energy in sunlight directly to electricity. Within a few years, these photovoltaic (PV) cells were powering spaceships and satellites.

The most important components of a PV cell are two layers of semiconductor material generally composed of silicon crystals. On its own, crystallized silicon is not a very good conductor of electricity, but when impurities are intentionally added—a process called doping—the stage is set for creating an electric current. The bottom layer of the PV cell is usually doped with boron, which bonds with the silicon to facilitate a positive charge (P). The top layer is doped with phosphorus, which bonds with the silicon to facilitate a negative charge (N).

The surface between the resulting “p-type” and “n-type” semiconductors is called the P-N junction (see the diagram below). Electron movement at this surface produces an electric field that only allows electrons to flow from the p-type layer to the n-type layer.

When sunlight enters the cell, its energy knocks electrons loose in both layers. Because of the opposite charges of the layers, the electrons want to flow from the n-type layer to the p-type layer, but the electric field at the P-N junction prevents this from happening. The presence of an external circuit, however, provides the necessary path for electrons in the n-type layer to travel to the p-type layer. Extremely thin wires running along the top of the n-type layer provide this external circuit, and the electrons flowing through this circuit provide the cell’s owner with a supply of electricity.

Most PV systems consist of individual square cells averaging about four inches on a side. Alone, each cell generates very little power (less than two watts), so they are often grouped together as modules. Modules can then be grouped into larger panels encased in glass or plastic to provide protection from the weather, and these panels, in turn, are either used as separate units or grouped into even larger arrays.

Click on the graphic above to
see a full-size diagram of a
PV cell. Illustration: Amanda
Wait/DG Communications

The three basic types of solar cells made from silicon are single-crystal, polycrystalline, and amorphous.

Single-crystal cells are made in long cylinders and sliced into round or hexagonal wafers. While this process is energy-intensive and wasteful of materials, it produces the highest-efficiency cells—as high as 25 percent in some laboratory tests. Because these high-efficiency cells are more expensive, they are sometimes used in combination with concentrators such as mirrors or lenses. Concentrating systems can boost efficiency to almost 30 percent. Single-crystal accounts for 29 percent of the global market for PV.
Polycrystalline cells are made of molten silicon cast into ingots or drawn into sheets, then sliced into squares. While production costs are lower, the efficiency of the cells is lower too—around 15 percent. Because the cells are square, they can be packed more closely together. Polycrystalline cells make up 62 percent of the global PV market.
Amorphous silicon (a-Si) is a radically different approach. Silicon is essentially sprayed onto a glass or metal surface in thin films, making the whole module in one step. This approach is by far the least expensive, but it results in very low efficiencies—only about five percent.

A number of exotic materials other than silicon are under development, such as gallium arsenide (Ga-As), copper-indium-diselenide (CuInSe2), and cadmium-telluride (CdTe). These materials offer higher efficiencies and other interesting properties, including the ability to manufacture amorphous cells that are sensitive to different parts of the light spectrum. By stacking cells into multiple layers, they can capture more of the available light. Although a-Si accounts for only five percent of the global market, it appears to be the most promising for future cost reductions and growth potential.

In the 1970s, a serious effort began to produce PV panels that could provide cheaper solar power. Experimenting with new materials and production techniques, solar manufacturers cut costs for solar cells rapidly, as the following graph shows.

Source: NREL

One approach to lowering the cost of solar electric power is to increase the efficiency of cells, producing more power per dollar. The opposite approach is to decrease production costs, using fewer dollars to produce the same amount of power. A third approach is lowering the costs of the rest of the system. For example, building-integrated PV (BIPV) integrates solar panels into a building’s structure and earns the developer a credit for reduced construction costs.

Innovative processes and designs are continually reaching the market and helping drive down costs, including string ribbon cell production, photovoltaic roof tiles, and windows with a translucent film of a-Si. Economies of scale from a booming global PV market are also helping to reduce costs.

Historically, most PV panels have been used for off-grid purposes, powering homes in remote locations, cellular phone transmitters, road signs, water pumps, and millions of solar watches and calculators. Developing nations see PV as a way to avoid building long and expensive power lines to remote areas. And every year, experimental solar-powered cars race across Australia and North America in heated competitions.

More recently, thanks to lower costs, strong incentives, and net metering policies, the PV industry has placed more focus on home, business, and utility-scale systems that are attached to the power grid. In some locations, it is less expensive for utilities to install solar panels than to upgrade the transmission and distribution system to meet new electricity demand. In 2005, for the first time ever, the installation of PV systems connected to the electric grid outpaced off-grid PV systems in the United States. As the PV market continues to expand, the trend toward grid-connected applications will continue.

This distributed-generation approach provides a new model for the utilities of the future. Small generators, spread throughout a city and controlled by computers, could replace the large coal and nuclear plants that dominate the landscape now.

The Future of Solar Energy

Solar energy technologies are poised for significant growth in the 21st century. More and more architects and contractors are recognizing the value of passive solar and learning how to effectively incorporate it into building designs. Solar hot water systems can compete economically with conventional systems in some areas. And as the cost of solar PV continues to decline, these systems will penetrate increasingly larger markets. In fact, the solar PV industry aims to provide half of all new U.S. electricity generation by 2025.

Aggressive financial incentives in Germany and Japan have made these countries global leaders in solar deployment for years. But the United States is catching up thanks particularly to strong state-level policy support. The rolling blackouts and soaring energy prices experienced by California in 2000 and 2001 have motivated its leaders to create new incentives for solar and other renewable energy technologies. In January 2006, the California Public Utility Commission approved the California Solar Initiative, which dedicates $3.2 billion over 11 years to develop 3,000 megawatts of new solar electricity, equal to placing PV systems on a million rooftops.

Other states are following suit. Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania have specific requirements for solar energy as part of their renewable electricity standards. Many more states offer rebates, production incentives, and tax incentives, as well as loan and grant programs. Even the federal government is offering a 30 percent tax credit (up to $2,000) for the purchase and installation of residential PV systems and solar water heaters.

As the solar industry continues to expand, there will be occasional bumps in the road. For example, demand for manufacturing-quality silicon from the solar energy and semiconductor industries has led to shortages that have temporarily driven up PV costs. In addition, some utilities continue to put up roadblocks for grid-connected PV systems. But these problems will be overcome, and solar energy will play an increasingly integral role in ending our national dependence on fossil fuels, combating the threat of global warming, and securing a future based on clean and sustainable energy.

All work belongs to UCSUSA.ORG,

Another British University goes green

The University of Bath has committed to buying 'green' electricity for its Bath and Swindon campuses, reducing emissions of carbon dioxide by about 10,000 tonnes each year.

The majority of the University’s energy will now come indirectly from a variety of renewable sources, including on-shore wind farms, hydro schemes, biomass plants and combined heat and power schemes.

The University has signed contracts with its current supplier, Scottish & Southern Electricity, to guarantee its renewable energy prices over the next two years. Its spend on electricity, gas and water for the next academic year is predicted to be in the region of £5 million.

“This decision reduces the emissions of carbon dioxide that we are responsible for, and helps make a contribution to reducing the impact of climate change,” said Peter Phelps, the University’s Energy & Environment Manager.

“It is planned that all future electricity supply contracts, including those for all our off-campus properties, will be negotiated on the basis of using green electricity where possible.

“Additionally, a study into renewable energy options for the campus is now underway and a large scale energy-awareness initiative is due to start soon.

“Like many large organisations, the global rise in energy prices is affecting the University, so any additional reductions in energy use that staff and students can make will have clear financial, as well as environmental, benefits.”

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

The Royal Society Opens up to all of us, It's scientific journals Archive.

Usually closed to public, The scientific journals library of the Royal Society of London will be open to all of us for next two months. Usually it is open only upto 1997, and now we can read all the upto or down to Philosophical Transactions in 1665.
My first choice, second and ..........
Here is the news directly from the source;

Go direct to the Library/Archive

Here is the News Article

The complete archive of the Royal Society journals, including some of the most significant scientific papers ever published since 1665, is to be made freely available electronically for the first time today (14th September 2006) for a two month period.

The archive contains seminal research papers including accounts of Michael Faraday's groundbreaking series of electrical experiments, Isaac Newton's invention of the reflecting telescope, and the first research paper published by Stephen Hawking.

The Society's online collection, which until now only extended back to 1997, contains every paper published in the Royal Society journals from the first ever peer-reviewed scientific journal, Philosophical Transactions in 1665, to the most recent addition, Interface.

Professor Martin Taylor, Vice President of the Royal Society and Chair of the Publishing Board, said: "The Royal Society archive is a unique source of information for practicing scientists, science historians and indeed anyone with an in interest history. The rich, varied and sometimes entertaining archive documents the earliest accounts of the seventeenth centurys new experimental philosophy', through which an understanding of the natural world was acquired by experiment and observation. This provided the foundation of the modern scientific method."

The archive provides a record of some key scientific discoveries in the last 340 years, including Halley's description of his comet' in 1705, details of the double helix of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1954 and Edmond Stone's breakthrough in 1763 that willow bark cured fevers, leading to the discovery of salicylic acid and later the development of aspirin.

Some of the more obscure papers explore rudimentary prototypes of modern day technology. Trials proposed by Robert Boyle in 1665 hypothesize on the possibilities of blood transfusions, pondering "Whether a fierce dog stocked with the blood of a cowardly dog may not become more tame?". A forerunner for ventilators was also discussed in a paper by Robert Hooke in 1667 entitled "An account of an experiment made by Mr. Hook [sic], of preserving animals alive by blowing through their lungs with bellows".

The archive also contains more amusing experiments and observations such as the use of electrical conductors to cure muscle stiffness and a bizarre description of a "Very Odd Monstrous Calf" which illustrate the inquisitive nature of science's early pioneers.

Professor Taylor added: "In addition to being a valuable scientific resource, the journal archives are also a rich historical record documenting a time which is hard to imagine given the knowledge we have today."

The electronic archive contains papers documenting the discovery of new planets, the first descriptions of organisms through a microscope, and the first account of photography. Early journal papers contain fascinating descriptions of how Captain James Cook preserved the health of his crew aboard the HMS Endeavour and the astonishment of 18th century Society by the performance of a eight year-old Mozart.

The archive will be freely available online until December 2006 and, following this period, will be available as part of Royal Society journal subscription packages or alternatively on a-pay per-view basis.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

How Solar Power works Part II

Passive Solar Design for Buildings

One simple, obvious use of sunlight is to light our buildings. If properly designed, buildings can capture the sun's heat in the winter and minimize it in the summer, while using daylight year-round. Buildings designed in such a way are utilizing passive solar energy—a resource that can be tapped without mechanical means to help heat, cool, or light a building. South-facing windows, skylights, awnings, and shade trees are all techniques for exploiting passive solar energy. Buildings constructed with the sun in mind can be comfortable and beautiful places to live and work.

Residential and commercial buildings account for more than one-third of U.S. energy use.[1] Solar design, better insulation, and more efficient appliances could reduce this demand by 60 to 80 percent. There are several hundred thousand passive solar homes in the United States, but there should be many more. Simple design features such as properly orienting a house toward the south, putting most windows on the south side of the building, and taking advantage of cooling breezes in the summer are inexpensive yet improve the comfort and efficiency of a home.

Solar Heat Collectors

Besides using design features to maximize their use of the sun, some buildings have systems that actively gather and store solar energy. Solar collectors, for example, sit on the rooftops of buildings to collect solar energy for space heating, water heating, and space cooling. Most are large, flat boxes painted black on the inside and covered with glass. In the most common design, pipes in the box carry liquids that transfer the heat from the box into the building. This heated liquid—usually a water-alcohol mixture to prevent freezing—is used to heat water in a tank or is passed through radiators that heat the air.

Oddly enough, solar heat can also power a cooling system. In desiccant evaporators, heat from a solar collector is used to pull moisture out of the air. When the air becomes drier, it also becomes cooler. The hot moist air is separated from the cooler air and vented to the outside. Another approach is an absorption chiller. Solar energy is used to heat a refrigerant under pressure; when the pressure is released, it expands, cooling the air around it. This is how conventional refrigerators and air conditioners work, and it’s a particularly efficient approach for home or office cooling since buildings need cooling during the hottest part of the day. These systems are currently at work in humid southeastern climates such as Florida.

Solar collectors were quite popular in the early 1980s, in the aftermath of the energy crisis. Federal tax credits for residential solar collectors also helped. In 1984, for example, 16 million square feet of collectors were sold in the United States, but when fossil fuel prices dropped and tax credits expired in the mid-1980s, demand for solar collectors plummeted. By 1987, sales were down to only four million square feet. Most of the more than one million solar collectors sold in the 1980s were used for heating hot tubs and swimming pools.

Today, about 1.5 million U.S. homes and businesses use solar water heaters—still less than one percent nationwide.[2] In other countries, solar collectors are much more common; Israel requires all new homes and apartments to use solar water heating, and 92 percent of the existing homes in Cyprus already have solar water heaters.[3] But the number of Americans choosing solar hot water could rise dramatically in the next few years. With natural gas prices at historically high levels, solar water and space heaters have become much more economic.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, water heating accounts for about 15 percent of the average household’s energy use.[4] As natural gas and electricity prices continue to rise, the costs of maintaining a constant hot water supply will increase as well. Homes and businesses that heat their water through solar collectors could end up saving as much as $250 to $500 per year depending on the type of system being replaced.

Part III will come this week!
All work belongs to UCSUSA.ORG,

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

How Solar Power works Part I

Solar energy—power from the sun—is free and inexhaustible. This vast, clean energy resource represents a viable alternative to the fossil fuels that currently pollute our air and water, threaten our public health, and contribute to global warming. Failing to take advantage of such a widely available and low-impact resource would be a grave injustice to our children and all future generations.

In the broadest sense, solar energy supports all life on Earth and is the basis for almost every form of energy we use. The sun makes plants grow, which can be burned as “biomass” fuel or, if left to rot in swamps and compressed underground for millions of years, in the form of coal and oil. Heat from the sun causes temperature differences between areas, producing wind that can power turbines. Water evaporates because of the sun, falls on high elevations, and rushes down to the sea, spinning hydroelectric turbines as it passes. But solar energy usually refers to ways the sun’s energy can be used to directly generate heat, lighting, and electricity.

The Solar Resource

The amount of energy from the sun that falls on Earth’s surface is enormous. All the energy stored in Earth's reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas is matched by the energy from just 20 days of sunshine. Outside Earth's atmosphere, the sun's energy contains about 1,300 watts per square meter. About one-third of this light is reflected back into space, and some is absorbed by the atmosphere (in part causing winds to blow). By the time it reaches Earth's surface, the energy in sunlight has fallen to about 1,000 watts per square meter at noon on a cloudless day. Averaged over the entire surface of the planet, 24 hours per day for a year, each square meter collects the approximate energy equivalent of a barrel of oil each day, or 4.2 kilowatt-hours of energy.

This figure varies by location and weather patterns. Deserts, with very dry air and little cloud cover, receive the most sun—more than six kilowatt-hours per day per square meter. Northern climes, such as that of Boston, get closer to 3.6 kilowatt-hours. Sunlight varies by season as well, with some areas receiving very little sunshine in the winter. Seattle in December, for example, gets only about 0.7 kilowatt-hours per day.

These figures represent the maximum available solar energy that can be captured and used, but solar collectors capture only a portion of this, depending on their efficiency. For example, a one square meter solar electric panel with an efficiency of 15 percent would produce about one kilowatt-hour of electricity per day in Arizona.