Clean Energy's posts with tag: solar
June 5, '08 by Hillel Fendel (IsraelNN.com) Electricity Revolution: Beginning July 1, every Israeli will be able not only to manufacture his own electricity, but to sell what he doesn't need to the Electric Company. The Israel Electric Company (IEC) is hoping to encourage consumers to install solar panels, and is willing to pay them NIS 2.01 per kilowatt of "clean" electricity. This is approximately four times the amount that consumers pay the company for their electricity. Installing the solar panels is expensive, however, and begins at 60,000 shekels. Adequate roof space is also required. Experts say that those who are willing to make the investment will be able to make back their money in ten years. Dan Lavi of Yisrael HaYom reports that unlike Germany and Spain, Israel's government does not yet subsidize consumer solar panels. Preparing for the Summer Heat Waves
Meanwhile, the IEC is preparing for record demand this summer. Together with the Infrastructures Ministry, the company held a country-wide drill last week to prepare for such eventualities and to practice the regulation of kilowatt shortages. When demands exceeds available supply, the general practice is to cut back electricity in random neighborhoods until the situation stabilizes. The exercise left officials confident that the IEC is prepared to deal with the summer demands. Attention is now being turned to educating consumers regarding the need to cut back, and informing them that they might find themselves blacked-out for short periods. Supply Exceeds Demand - But Just Barely
Globes reports that the IEC is currently able to produce 11,400 megawatts, with available capacity at 10,877. Demand is expected to reach 10,300 megawatts - 100 more than the record set during the cold wave this past January - leaving a reserve of only 5%.
28 May 2008 Credit: IBM  IBM Research Could Lead to Reduced Costs in Solar Farm Technology New York, United States [ RenewableEnergyWorld.com] Last week, IBM announced a research breakthrough in photovoltaics (PV) technology that could significantly reduce the cost of harnessing the sun's power for electricity. By borrowing innovations from its own R&D in cooling computer chips, the team was able to cool the solar cell from greater than 1,600 degrees Celsius to just 85 degrees Celsius.
In the same way that children in science class use a magnifying glass to burn a leaf, IBM scientists are using a large lens to concentrate the sun's power, capturing a record 230 watts onto a centimeter square solar cell, in a technology known as concentrator photovoltaics, or CPV. That energy is then converted into 70 watts of usable electrical power, about five times the electrical power density generated by typical cells using CPV technology in solar farms. If it can overcome additional challenges to move this project out of the lab, IBM believes it can significantly reduce the cost of a typical CPV-based system. By using a much lower number of photovoltaic cells in a solar farm and concentrating more light onto each cell using larger lenses, IBM's system enables a significant cost advantage in terms of a lesser number of total components. For instance, by moving from a 200 sun system ("one sun" is a measurement equal to the solar power incident at noon on a clear summer day), where about 20 watts per square centimeter of power is concentrated onto the cell, to a 2,300 sun system, where approximately 230 watts per square centimeter are concentrated onto the cell system, the IBM system cuts the number of photovoltaic cells and other components by a factor of 10. "We believe IBM can bring unique skills from our vast experience in semiconductors and nanotechnology to the important field of alternative energy research," said Dr. Supratik Guha, the scientist leading photovoltaics activities at IBM Research. "This is one of many exploratory research projects incubating in our labs where we can drive big change for an entire industry while advancing the basic underlying science of solar cell technology." The trick lies in IBM's ability to cool the tiny solar cell. Concentrating the equivalent of 2,000 suns on such a small area generates enough heat to melt stainless steel, something the researchers experienced first hand in their experiments. But by borrowing innovations from its own R&D in cooling computer chips, the team was able to cool the solar cell from greater than 1,600 degrees Celsius to just 85 degrees Celsius. The initial results of this project were presented at the 33rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists conference last week, where the IBM researchers explained in detail how their liquid metal cooling interface is able to transfer heat from the solar cell to a copper cooling plate much more efficiently than anything else available today. The IBM research team developed a system that achieved promising results by coupling a commercial solar cell to an advanced IBM liquid metal thermal cooling system using methods developed for the microprocessor industry. Specifically, the IBM team used a very thin layer of a liquid metal made of a gallium and indium compound that they applied between the chip and a cooling block. Such layers, called thermal interface layers, transfer the heat from the chip to the cooling block so that the chip temperature can be kept low. The company says that its liquid metal solution offers the best thermal performance available today, at low costs, and the technology was successfully developed by IBM to cool high power computer chips earlier. 
Credit: IBM
While concentrator-based photovoltaics technologies have been around since the 1970s, they have received renewed interest in recent times. With very high concentrations, they have the potential to offer the lowest-cost solar electricity for large-scale power generation, provided the temperature of the cells can be kept low, and cheap and efficient optics can be developed for concentrating the light to very high levels. IBM is exploring four main areas of photovoltaic research: using current technologies to develop cheaper and more efficient silicon solar cells, developing new solution-processed thin-film photovoltaic devices, concentrator photovoltaics and future generation photovoltaic architectures based upon nanostructures such as semiconductor quantum dots and nanowires. The goal of the projects is to develop efficient photovoltaic structures that would reduce the cost, minimize the complexity and improve the flexibility of producing solar electric power.
April 22, '08  (IsraelNN.com) The Infrastructure Ministry has announced a mammoth project that will supply Eilat with almost of its needed electricity by using a solar power station. Approximately 3,000 acres will be set aside for the project. Ministry officials said that there are very few cloudy days in Eilat that would require using electricity from the Israel Electric Corp. (IEC). The ministry also said that the Negev and Arava will be given first preference in other projects to promote solar energy. The generating capacity of IEC often is pressed to its limits, causing brownouts and blackouts in peak periods of demand during the hot summer months and during cold spells in the winter.
 Free Power from the Earth 24/7
by Thomas R. Blakeslee. February 19, 2008 (renewableenergyworld.com) From our home on the earth's thin crust, it's hard to believe that 99.9% of the earth's volume is hot enough to boil water. Atomic decay inside of the earth heats its molten core to a temperature that is hotter than the surface of the sun! To harness this geothermal power, we need only drill through the crust and use that heat to boil water to drive turbine generators. This water can be reinjected into the earth in a closed loop. The world's first geothermal power plant was built in Larderello, Italy in 1911. It is still producing enough power for a million homes today. Geothermal power already supplies 26% of electrical power in Iceland and the Philippines and 5% of California's at prices that are competitive with coal power. Geothermal power plants run 24 hours a day with an uptime of over 90%. They require no fuel and produce no pollution. Coal and atomic power plants need much more maintenance downtime, so they only operate an average of 75% and 65% of the time. Wind and solar power are even worse, producing an average of only 30% and 24% of their rated power. Why then, do we use coal to produce most of our power? We dig thousands of miles of tunnels or blast the tops off of mountains and ship the coal thousands of miles just to burn it to make steam. Every step of this process is an environmental nightmare so bad that we have ruined the earth and upset the entire climate balance of our planet. Acid rain has killed our forests and coral reefs and mercury emissions have made it dangerous to eat most fish. We started burning coal because it was easy at first. The environmental problems didn't become apparent until the scale of coal burning became massive. Coal became big business with lots of political clout that squeezed out all competitors including geothermal. Energy policy today spends billions to subsidize coal and develop "clean coal" technology but nothing at all on geothermal development. The fossil fuel Juggernaut tramples all alternatives that threaten the status quo. Geothermal power today is mostly done in natural geyser or hot spring areas where underground water in contact with hot rocks below produces steam near the surface. However, deep drilling methods developed by the oil industry make is theoretically possible to build geothermal plants in places where the earth's crust is deeper, like the eastern United States. Old oil wells are often rehabilitated by drilling another hole nearby and injecting water to push the oil out. The mixture of oil and water that comes out is very hot. This hot water is now considered a nuisance but if it's heat were used to generate power, tens of thousands of megawatts (MW) could be generated in Texas alone with a cost payoff of only three years. A recent MIT report studies the potential of similarly injecting water into hot rocks purely for the purpose of generating power in non-thermal areas like the Eastern U.S. The report concludes that hot rocks are a rich resource that should be developed now. The research cost of such a development would be much less than the billions already being spent on "clean coal" and nuclear power. Since the water used is recirculated back into the ground, geothermal power consumes a tiny fraction of the massive water consumption of a coal or atomic power plant. Atlantic Geothermal has a very ambitious plan using tunneling technology similar to that used to construct the tunnel under Mont Blanc to build a 50 foot wide tunnel 80 miles long and three deep. Using 1500 ft. boreholes laterally to expand the heat extraction field, the system could generate 1600 MW of power, nearly matching the output of Hoover dam. Since the entire system except for input and output facilities is underground and maintained by hydrostatic pressure, the visual impact above ground would be insignificant. While this project sounds grandiose, it is no more so than Hoover Dam itself. It is a much better use for government money, which is now being wasted on hydrogen and "clean coal" projects. Early in this century energy technology took a wrong turn when geothermal power was overshadowed by cheap coal and oil. Now the oil is running out and the unintended consequences of coal are killing people and ruining the planet. The problem now is a political one. Energy policy is determined by experts and lobbyists from the fossil fuel industry. We must derail the fossil energy juggernaut before it is too late. Thomas R. Blakeslee is president of The Clearlight Foundation, a non-profit organization that invests in renewable energy and other socially useful companies and issues cash grants to individuals who are working effectively for change. For Further Information
January 8, 2008
The Worlds Most Cost Efficient Heating with DRAGIN GeoThermal
DRAGIN Geothermal to Sponsor the Boston Going Green Expo 
Press Release from Going Green
Boston-
DRAGIN Geothermal Well Drilling Inc. with offices in Wareham, MA and Meredith, NH offers geothermal services and a "green" heating and cooling alternative for businesses and residence.
“Businesses and residents alike are looking for ways to conserve energy for both financial and environmental considerations,” said DJ Quagliaroli, President, adding, “The geothermal heating and cooling systems save energy, slash utility bills, reduce hot water costs, cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce maintenance costs.”
According to the EPA (1993) geothermal heat pumps are the world's most advanced and most cost-efficient heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system. Geothermal heat pumps operate at 75% greater efficiency than oil furnaces, 48% greater efficiency than gas furnaces and 40% greater efficiency than air source heat pumps.
The way it works is simple. The Earth absorbs 50% of all solar energy. Groundwater in New England is at a relatively constant temperature of 52 degrees all year long. In winter, this warmth is extracted by pumping groundwater out of the well. The well water is pumped to a heat pump inside the home. The heat pump concentrates the earth's thermal energy and transfers it to forced hot air ductwork and/or radiant flooring throughout the home.
In the summer, the process is reversed; heat is extracted from air inside the house and transferred to the biggest "heat sink" of all-Mother Earth-by way of the well. Prior to expelling the heat, the geothermal system sends excess heat through the home’s hot water tank to provide free hot water anytime the air conditioning is in use. With geothermal there are no worries about carbon monoxide, fuel leaks or spills, fumes, soot or even unsightly and noisy air conditioning units outside the home.
More than 1 million geothermal systems have been installed in the United States as the technology’s popularity continues to rise. It is estimated that these systems have saved 8 billion kwh of electricity and reduced the amount of CO2 by 5.8 million metric tons. This monumental impact is equivalent to taking 1,295,000 cars off the road or planting more than 385 million trees!
DRAGIN Geothermal recently completed a two-month project at Byerly Hall on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The project encompassed the drilling of five wells within a compact work area. The geothermal system is expected to be in operation at Byerly Hall by the spring of 2008.
DRAGIN Geothermal is sponsoring the Waste Management Inc. Going Green Expo in Boston. The event will be held on February 2nd and 3rd at the Bayside Expo Center, and will be the third green event of its kind hosted by Going Green Magazine. With hundreds of Green exhibitors and dozens of Green workshops, the Boston expo promises to attract an estimated 12,000 to 15,000 consumers. Come see us there!
January 13, 2008Solar energy is an exciting option to greenhouse gas producing power sources, because the sun offers unlimited power, and zero carbon emissions. But to make it a real-world energy alternative, kinks in the system need to be addressed.
One of the biggest drawbacks to using solar energy is its unreliability: the sun's rays are not constant, and the power cannot be stored. The Israeli company EDIG, working in traditional markets of electro-mechanics since 1971, believes it has the solution, in the form of a low-cost hybrid generator.
Through subsidiary EDIG Solar, the company plans to make solar energy a viable power alternative. The company's power plant is hybrid, meaning that like electric cars, the system's turbines can adapt to more than one energy source.
During a rainy day, the solar turbines can switch over and run on traditional or alternative fuel.
"It's modular, meaning it can easily be increased in size, and it is flexible in terms of fuel use. It can be powered by bio-diesel, bio-gas or fossil fuels," explains the company's CTO Pinhas Doron, an engineer.
When it comes to alternative energy options, one technology does not fit all, he says. "Every application has to be examined on its own merit, and the best solution applied to it. Our solution works well for grid connected electricity, where there is ample sun."
Based on the research of Prof. Jacob Karni, director of the Center for Energy Research at the Weizmann Institute in Israel, EDIG's technology attracts the sun and concentrates it by way of tiny mirrors on the ground.
The thermal energy generated by the sun drives turbines in a tower, the same turbines that can be powered by traditional fuel, the moment a cloud passes overhead, or at night when the sun sets.
And in doing this, "our hybrid solution addresses the issue of intermittency of solar radiation," says Doron.
Admittedly, he will not try to sell this solution to the northern states in America, or to Canadians, but it would be perfect for places where there is direct radiation, such as in the southwest USA, southern Spain, or in India, he says.
EDIG recently built a 100 kW pilot plant study in Nanjing, China. It included a power conversion unit (a solarized gas turbine and a solar receiver), which was installed on a tower, and a field of heliostats (sun-tracking mirrors).
The unit was fully operational and supplied power to the local electric grid, says Doron. "We proved our concept - we connected to the grid and operated seamlessly," he reports. The next step is building a plant in Israel's Arava Desert, which should be ready by next year.
While the company is not reinventing the "solar" wheel, its IP rests in at least two areas, says Doron. It's solar "receiver" is based on patented Weizmann technology, and the modifications on the turbine, which allows it to switch energy sources and at high temperatures, without the user noticing it, was difficult to overcome.
Of course, when the solution is being operated in hybrid mode, there are "no zero emissions," says Doron. "But during optimal conditions of sunshine, it could be. Fuel use would be minimal," he stresses.
Will this be a solar solution we can all live with? Avraham Israeli, a private consultant and previously a trade exec at Israel's Export Institute for clean technologies, recommends EDIG as the most promising solar energy company in Israel, if not the world.
"The company is implementing a technology of solar thermal electricity generation. It seems to be the most cost-effective technology in the market," he told ISRAEL21c.
And if the new hybrid plant from Israel doesn't live up to the promise and hype, there is always the sun.
January 16, '08 (IsraelNN.com) Jerusalem's municipality has placed its first solar-powered garbage dumpster on Jaffa Road, in the city center, according to Globes.
The solar-powered dumpster can accommodate 750 liters (200 gallons) of compacted waste even though it is only 150 liters in size.
The dumpster has a built-in solar-powered compression system that can compress garbage to up to a fifth of its volume and operates for up to five days on the power supplied by just one hour of sunlight.
by Jane Burgermeister, European Correspondent
renewableenergyaccess.com
December 21, 2007 The streets of Europe could soon be lit by solar energy due to the fact that a solar tree prototype recently passed a key test phase. The solar trees went on display for four weeks in October on a busy street — the Ringstrasse — in Vienna, Austria. They were able to provide enough light during the night-time even when the sun did not show for as much as four days in a row. "The solar cells on the tree were able to store enough electricity in spite of receiving no direct solar light for days at a time because of the clouds. They showed that solar trees really are a practical form of street lighting," Christina Werner from Cultural Project Management (Kulturelles Projektmanagement, Vienna) told RenewableEnergyAccess.com. She said that the City of Vienna was now in the process of deciding whether to install more solar trees. "We hope that not only the city of Vienna but other cities will see the merits of using renewable energy for street lighting to cut emissions," Christina Werner said. "Someday soon solar trees could well be the main form of street lighting in Europe." Putting solar powered LED light systems on trees would cut down on the carbon emissions and also slash the bills of local authorities, she said. Street lighting consumed 10 percent of all the electricity used in Europe in 2006 or 2,000 billion KWh, and resulted in carbon emissions of 2,900 million ton. The use of more energy-efficient lighting in the Austrian city of Graz, with a population of almost 300,000 saved the city 524,000 KWh of electricity and 67,200 euros [US $96,800] in 2005. Close up of branches on a solar tree in Vienna. (Credit: Gerhard Koller/MAK) "Not just trees but other objects could be decorated with solar cells and so keep streets well lit at night time," she said. The branches of the solar tree were decorated with 10 solar lamps, each one comprising 36 solar cells; they also had rechargeable batteries and electronic systems. A sensor was used to measure the amount of light in the atmosphere and trigger the solar lamps to go on automatically at sunset and off at sunrise. The tree's lights went on for the first time in Vienna on October 8, 2007 at 11:00 pm. They are now on display outside the La Scala opera house in Milan. The tree was designed by Ross Lovegrove, a British designer, who said that they are not only efficient but also attractive and bring "nature into a gray city environment". An Italian company specializing in designer lighting systems, Artemide, as well as the world's largest producer of photovoltaic (PV) cells, the German company Sharp Solar, joined forces to turn the design into reality. The idea came from Peter Noever, the Director of the Austrian Museum for Applied Arts in Vienna (Österreichisches Museum fuer angewandte Kunst). Solar Tree, prototype, November 2007, designed by Ross Lovegrove and produced and developed by Artemide polycrystalline solar cells by Sharp. On display at the Piazza della Scala, Milan, Italy. (Photo by David Zanardi) Ross Lovegrove and Sharp are now working on the design study for a car that is powered by solar energy. Sharp solar had a production volume of 434 megawatts in 2006 and a world market share of 17 percent. It produces PV cells in a factory in Katsuragi, Japan. Most of Sharp's modules are used for solar energy systems on roofs, but the company believes that solar cells could soon be used in all areas of everyday life from clothes to satellites - including Christmas trees. Jane Burgermeister is a RenewableEnergyAccess.com European Correspondent based in Vienna, Austria.
December 12, 2007
 Cambridge, MA, 11 December 2007 Dormant since the early 1990s, Concentrated Solar Power is undergoing a renaissance in the solar-rich areas of the world including Spain and the Southwestern US, according to a new study from Emerging Energy Research, a leading research and advisory firm analyzing clean and renewable energy markets. According to EER, solar CSP is the fastest growing utility-scale renewable energy alternative after wind power, with up to $20 billion expected to be invested in solar CSP over the next five years. "With natural gas prices tripling and current volatility expected to continue, CSP is well-positioned to compete against other electricity generation technologies in the near-to-medium term," says EER Senior Analyst Reese Tisdale. "In countries such as the US and Spain with higher solar resources, land availability, and sufficient government support to kick-start the industry, utility-scale solar CSP technology has the potential to become an integral part of the generation mix."
"With natural gas prices tripling and current volatility expected to continue, CSP is well-positioned to compete against other electricity generation technologies in the near-to-medium term," says EER Senior Analyst Reese Tisdale. "In countries such as the US and Spain with higher solar resources, land availability, and sufficient government support to kick-start the industry, utility-scale solar CSP technology has the potential to become an integral part of the generation mix." Spain and the US are currently the two epicenters for the global CSP industry: CSP installations in these two countries are expected to surpass a combined 7,500 MW by 2020, according to EER's study. Spain's favorable feed-in tariffs provide the most stable regulatory environment in the short-term creating a slow but steady growth path for CSP alongside its history of wind power development, according to EER. Outside Spain and the US, Italy, France, Portugal, and Greece are on the cusp of breaking through with CSP developments, as well as parts of the Middle East and North Africa. The southern European countries are looking at improved regulatory incentives to drive 3,200 MW of capacity installation by 2020. "2007 has been a pivotal year for solar CSP development as developers Acciona Solar Power and Abengoa Solar have inaugurated 65 MW of parabolic trough and 11 MW of central receiver technologies, respectively," says Tisdale. With a 17-year history of proven parabolic trough technology and almost 6 GW in the announced project pipeline over the next five years, all indications are that solar CSP is moving to the forefront of renewable energy technologies. Parabolic trough technology's decades of proven operation have made it the most credible of the leading solar CSP technologies, but the technology's head start will soon begin to diminish as central receiver and other technologies are realized at a commercial scale, according to EER's study. By 2010, the market will have a solid view of the potential offered by Central Receiver, Dish Engine, and Linear Fresnel technologies. "Abengoa has made a major step by installing its 11 MW central receiver project, PS10, outside of Seville," says Tisdale. "This project currently represents the first legitimate challenge to parabolic trough technology." New players, including traditional wind developers, vying for leadership in the CSP market The solar CSP industry has only just begun its resurgence, and as a result there has been a proliferation of new entrants up and down the value chain, according to EER's study, from technology innovators looking to change the economics of CSP to investors and IPPs looking to gain first-mover advantages by tying up sites. At one end of the project development spectrum is a leading group of independent technology promoters - including Solel, Solar Millennium, Abengoa Solar, Ausra, BrightSource Energy, SkyFuel, and Stirling Energy Systems - which are looking to leverage their specialized technology capabilities to gain a competitive advantage. On the opposite end of the development value chain are those IPPs and utilities that have already built or acquired GW portfolios of renewable power generation assets and that are now investing in CSP, according to EER. "It is no surprise that the largest owners of wind power plant globally are also emerging as significant players in CSP," says Tisdale. These players, led by Iberdrola, FPL Energy, Acciona, and EDP are looking to add CSP projects to their mounting wind portfolios as a means to diversity other utility scale technologies. FPL Energy, notes Tisdale, is currently the leading IPP investor in CSP with its ownership of seven solar plants in California built in the late 1980s. "As the solar CSP industry evolves we can expect significant movement in both directions along the project value chain," says Tisdale. Technology promoters will fill out project execution capabilities, and utilities and IPPs will build upstream project pipelines and technology capabilities. ABOUT THE STUDY EER's Global CSP market study - Global Concentrated Solar Power Markets and Strategies, 2007-2020 - was released in December 2007. With over 200 pages of in-depth analysis, EER's study analyzes global CSP resources, market drivers, technology and cost trends, and provides competitive analysis of project developers and CSP power plant supply. This study is now available for purchase from EER. Follow this link for the Table of Contents and Order Information. For more information please contact Stephanie Aldock at 617-551-8483 or eermedia@emerging-energy.com
December 17, 2007
Why did solar energy lose its flare? Underutilized alternative source could curb bad gases
msnbc.msn.com  | Cells in most solar panels are made of silicon, which is abundant in sand. But demand in the electronics industry for silicon wafers has caused a shortage of high-grade silicon, which spells potential trouble for the solar industry. | | Andrea Danti / Dreamstime.com |
| "Wind can play some role, as can biofuels and geothermal, but they are all too small," said Erin Baker of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. "The three really big players are solar energy, nuclear power and carbon capture and storage." Over the course of a day, the amount of energy in sunlight striking the continental United States is more than 2,500 times the amount of the nation's daily electricity consumption. Despite this potential, solar power is far behind other renewables, making up just 0.07 percent of the U.S. energy portfolio, according to the Department of Energy. "Solar energy would have to provide 20 percent of the energy supply to have a climate change impact," Baker told LiveScience. "We'd like it to be more than that." In a report released earlier this year, Baker and her colleagues looked at the technologies that might bring solar out into the full light. Sand in demand
Solar panels contain photovoltaic cells that turn light into electricity without releasing any greenhouse gases. One of the attractive features of solar panels is that they can be relatively easily added to a home, as opposed to the bigger construction projects typically associated with wind turbines or other energy-gathering setups. Almost all cells in current use are made of silicon. Although silicon is abundant in sand, it must be processed to make it usable in solar cells and computer chips. In fact, the current high demand from the electronics industry for silicon wafers has caused a shortage of high-grade silicon, which means the solar industry could have even more trouble trying to become competitive. For a typical home's electricity needs, the cost of solar panels is several tens of thousands of dollars. Over the lifetime of the panels, this works out to about 30 cents per kilowatt hour, three times what most utilities charge. To reduce this price, much of the current engineering effort is focused on making solar cells from thin films that either use less silicon or replace it with other photovoltaic materials. Baker said that many experts think this should be the first goal of research and development. "We could fund a lot of people to look for other materials," she said. Solar on the horizon
There are other ideas as well, such as organic solar cells based on cheap, flexible plastic. However, organic cells are currently inefficient at converting sunlight into electricity, and what's worse, said Baker, "they tend to fade and breakdown in the sun." Some researchers are working on future "third generation" solar cells, which could employ a number of new technologies, such as lenses, chemical dyes, multi-layer cells or tiny quantum dots that trap more of the incoming sunlight. But even if highly efficient solar panels could be made cheaply, they can't make electricity at night or on a cloudy day. "The biggest problem for solar is the intermittency of supply," Baker said. For solar to be a major energy provider, there will need to be better electricity storage. Giant flywheels or improved batteries could help smooth out the power flow. Diversify
None of the technological options are sure to work, so Baker thinks policy makers and the solar industry should fund research into several possibilities, much like a diversified stock portfolio. "You don't invest all your money in Google; instead you buy 10 or 100 different stocks," she said. Interestingly, Google just announced plans to invest tens of millions of dollars next year in the development of a gigawatt of power from renewables, enough to supply roughly a million households. One of the companies selected by Google is eSolar Inc., which specializes in solar thermal power.
December 17, 2007  Renewable Energy Powers Italian Town and Its Economy by Jane Burgermeister, European Correspondent Varese, Italy has added 140 jobs in the past ten years. That's pretty good for a town with a population of only 2,400. The town, which is located in Liguria in the northern part of Italy, is experiencing an economic boom fueled by renewable energy. The town has seen a six-fold increase in tourists in the last ten years, many coming just to see its renewable energy network.
Varese became the first municipality in Europe to get 100 percent of its power from renewable energy sources six years ago. It now generates three times more electricity than the people living in Varese need and there are plans in the pipeline for even more renewables. For this pioneering role, the town won a prize from the European Union (EU) in 2004. What has happened in Varese is unusual. On a national level, Italy is set to fall short of its EU objective of generating 25 percent of its gross electrical consumption from renewable energy sources by 2010. Italy's share of renewables was just 13.93 in 2005. But the mayor of Varese, Michaela Marone, and her predecessor, Maurizio Caranza, turned their vision of a town driven by renewable energy into reality by leveraging funds from the EU and using their authority to cut through red tape. The town uses wind, solar and small-scale hydropower, a mix best adapted to its hilly terrain covering a total of 140 square km — and it has plans for more hydropower. Today, renewables bring not only environmental benefits but also improved living standards to a town that had suffered from years of steady decline. An additional 350,000 euros [US $514,000] in tax revenues is handed over to the council each year by the private company that owns the renewable energy network. "We fulfill all the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol and are non profit. We use all of our profits towards paying the electricity bills of the people in the town," Michaele Marone, the town mayor, told RenewableEnergyAccess.com. Four wind turbines located on a ridge 1100 meters above sea level — where the average annual wind speed is 7.2 meters per second — generate 8 million kWh of electricity a year that is fed into the local grid managed by Acam, a power company in La Spezia. The electricity from the wind turbines alone reduce carbon emissions by 8,000 tons, representing 0.05 percent of the region's total annual carbon emissions. Photovoltaic (PV) panels have been installed on the town hall and the local school. The town hall has 102 PV panels covering 95 square meters and generating 12,700 kWh a year, which supplies 98 percent of the total energy consumption of the building. Varese's secondary school has 39 PV panels covering 36 square meters and producing 4,600 kWh a year, which supplies 62 percent of the energy used. In addition to that, the town's swimming pool is heated by solar power and a program to promote the use of wood pellet stoves is in the works. In conjunction with the development of a renewable energy infrastructure, the town has also launched initiatives to make Varese 100 percent sustainable. A total of 108 organic farms now supply 98 percent of the town's food; water is purified using environmentally friendly technology and waste has been significantly reduced. The town has seen a six-fold increase in tourists in the last ten years, many coming just to see its renewable energy network. Varese Not Alone Although certainly a pioneer in Renewable Energy, Varese is not the only town in Europe to adopt such measures. The same thing is happening in many towns across Europe. Güssing in Austria with 27,000 inhabitants has also switched to renewable energy sources — and has also moved from poverty to prosperity, underlining the potential of renewable energy for creating new jobs and new investment. And it's not only rural towns that are forging ahead with renewable energy projects. There has been a marked increase in the numbers of cities across Europe adopting initiatives to cut carbon emissions and develop green energy. Following Rome and London, Paris launched a new "Plan Climat" or climate plan on October 1st 2007 to reduce carbon emissions. Munich, Germany has also developed a strategy for cutting carbon emissions in half by 2030. Beatrice Alcaraz from Energie-Cités, an association of European local authorities for the promotion of local sustainable energy policies that represents more than 500 towns and cities, told RenewableEnergyAccess.com that the driving force behind all of this expansion was EU policy. "Municipalities have to adapt their national policies to the European directives, that is the European directive of public building. They also have to develop the renewables to achieve the EU energy and climate objectives," she said. The EU is targeting urban areas because more than 80 percent of the European population lives there, and the energy consumption of cities is growing. The latest figures from French Environment and Energy Management Agency (Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie (Ademe)) show that the energy consumption of French cities grew by 14.5 percent between 1990 and 2005 from 27 billion KWh in 1990 to 31 billion kWh in 2005. "The rapid development of renewable energy in so many towns and cities across Europe augurs well," said Beatrice Alcatraz, speaking about how cities are combating this increase in energy consumption while keeping down carbon emissions from fossil fuels. Though cities cover only 0.4 percent of the world's total area, they consume 75 percent of the energy and generate about 80 percent of the carbon emissions according to a study by the Münchener Rück. Jane Burgermeister is a RenewableEnergyAccess.com European Correspondent based in Vienna, Austria.
After five years of product development – including aggressively pipelined science, research and development, manufacturing process development, product testing, manufacturing engineering and tool development, and factory construction – we now have shipped first product and received our first check of product revenue. We are grateful to everyone who supported us through all these years and the many occasions where there appeared to be mile-high concrete walls in our path; the unusual intensity and creativity of our team deserves all the credit for achieving this major milestone today. Our product is defining in more ways I can enumerate here but includes: - the world’s first printed thin-film solar cell in a commercial panel product; - the world’s first thin-film solar cell with a low-cost back-contact capability; - the world’s lowest-cost solar panel – which we believe will make us the first solar manufacturer capable of profitably selling solar panels at as little as $.99/Watt; - the world’s highest-current thin-film solar panel – delivering five times the current of any other thin-film panel on the market today and thus simplifying system deployment; - an intensely systems-optimized product with the lowest balance-of-system cost of any thin-film panel – due to innovations in design we have included. Today we are announcing that we have begun shipping panels for freefield deployment in Eastern Germany and that the first Megawatt of our panels will go into a power plant installation there. As far as the first three of our commercial panels are concerned: Panel #1 will remain at Nanosolar for exhibit. Panel #2 can be purchased by you in an auction on eBay starting today. Panel #3 has been donated to the Tech Museum in San Jose. [These are obviously not the first three we ever produced – we have produced loads for testing – but these are the first three of what we consider our commercial panels.] Related Info: Nanosolar Shipping for Megawatt Municipal Power Plant
Named Innovation of the Year
November 13, 2007
Posted by Martin Roscheisen, CEO Popular Science magazine — which many of us read when we were little — just came out with its annual innovation awards. Our solar electricity technology was named the top Innovation of the Year 2007. Ranked #1 overall, we even came out ahead of the Apple iPhone and many other great technologies (and companies with much larger marketing budgets too in particular). It’s great to see our hard work — and greentech in general — recognized so enthusiastically! Now we have no choice but to actually make sure that there’s going to be a solar panel on every building in the future. See also: Popular Science press release, website |
Posted: 14 Nov 2007 01:13 AM CST Isragood Unlike most of its Arabian neighbors, Israel lacks major energy resources of any kind (with the exception of Gaza that is). While the governments of other nations are asking companies to come up with more innovative ways of using the expensive oil that they import, one Israeli researcher may have found an inexpensive way to harvest the energy from the sun.
(Israel Times) Because Israel is typically a sunny nation, its scientists have established the development of new solar panel that magnifies the sunlight passing through. The researchers claim that the new solar power development would significantly reduce the usual high cost associated with solar power generation.
The new panel has a simple reflector that is made up of several mirrors to intensify the sunlight collected. The light collected could intensify for over a thousand times. As a matter of fact, that intensified light could even burn up a person. It is that hot. Only time will tell whether or not Israel adopts this technology nationally, although hopefully the government would consider this as a viable alternative to coal and nuclear power plants. With the Israeli government already pursuing electric cars, solar power may prove to be the key towards Israel becoming the first western nation completely free from dependence upon foreign oil.
 http://www.electricitybook.com/solar-water-heaterYou may have seen Garrett Yazzie and his family the other night on Extreme Makeover Home Edition. Extreme Makeover built his family a new "green" home. But what is most interesting is the solar water heater he built from an old car radiator so he could heat his home. His younger sister has severe asthma and burning coal and wood in their wood burning stove was causing her problems. That's why this young inventor and Navajo Indian, Garrett Yazzie, built the solar water heater - to heat his home for his family. Garrett has won numerous awards for this invention including a Discovery Channel Young Scientist Award. Not only did his solar water heater provide much needed heat for his family, but it got his family a new green home and a new Ford hybrid SUV. Not too bad for a 13 year old! I think everyone should have one of these on their home. What I like about his solar water heater is he uses it to heat his home and his water. I believe he uses some kind of heat exchange system made out of a window fan. And, of course, the hot water can be utilized right out of the system - be careful though - it will be scalding hot. It looks like the water is heated in the radiator which is obviously under a sheet of glass or plexiglass. I'm not exactly sure what the soda cans are for. My best guess is there is a glass covering over the soda cans too and the soda cans are used as a crude air driven heat exchanger for heating the rooms. Of course, everything is pained black to absorb more of the suns rays. The rest is basic solar oven technology. The suns rays enter the glass and upon hitting the black surface, is converted to thermal energy which is trapped inside the glass by the greenhouse effect. Start saving yourself some money today! If a 13 year old kid can do this, you certainly can do it. It costs very little money, it's easy to understand, so what are you waiting for? If you need more information, get my book "Electricity - Make it, Don't Buy it". There's a whole chapter in the book on solar heating and cooling. In addition to the other chapters, principles like thermosiphon, solar cooking, thermal walls, cryophorous, evaporative cooling, thermal mass, thermal chimney, parabolic and trough collectors, solar room, etc are discussed. Click the banner below for full details...  Renewable Energy Solutions (eBook) - This family has been living off the grid for 14 years figured that if they could not build it themselves or find it at a reasonable price it just wasn't worth doing. There are only a few books out there right now that talk about Renewable Energy and none of them talk about how to do it on "the cheap" and still keep it simple. This book shows you where to find FREE solar panels, wind towers, and batteries. Understand and Install Wind Generators, Solar Panels, Micro Hydro and more. This is a must read for those that want to save money on an alternative energy system. This book will save you $1000's!
| Tuesday, October 23, 2007 by Staff Writer
Peres to turn 'President House' into green zone (israeltoday.co.il) Israeli President Shimon Peres has embarked on a mission to transform his official residence in Jerusalem into an environmentally-friendly compound.
|  Google Solar Carport | | | An Israeli company specializing in solar power has been contracted by Peres' office to install a system that will eventually provide Jerusalem's "President House" with clean electricity. Most of the power will be supplied by solar panels installed over the large car port adjacent to the residence.
The first target of the advanced solar system will be the large heating and air conditioning needs of the landmark house.
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| Residential Framed Thin Film Solar Electric Application Debuts Press Release from Aten Solar Mattituck, NY. October 2, 2007 Photo Credit: Suffolk Solar | |
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| A 2.7 KW array of framed thin film A-Si (amorphous silicon) solar electric modules was recently commissioned in Mattituck, NY. This installation is the first of its kind for Long Island and received funding from LIPA's solar pioneering program. The solar electric system was installed by Suffolk Solar Systems, Inc. using products supplied by Aten Solar Corporation; systems integrators specializing in A-Si deployments. "By the watt, amorphous modules really outshine crystalline modules in the nether regions -near East or West", said Anthony Wolbert, owner of Suffolk Solar Systems, Inc.
The Kaneka brand modules are environmentally friendly with their fast energy payback period and use of lead free solder. A-Si modules produce power in conditions of poor temperature and low light when crystalline modules can not. “These are compelling reasons why residential clients and businesses are opting for thin film” said Yousri Abdou, Director of Product Development for Aten Solar. This amorphous array faces East, yet produces as much power as a crystalline array facing South. The modules and other equipment were chosen for their aesthetics, performance, and favorable pricing. “By the watt, amorphous modules really outshine crystalline modules in the nether regions – near East or West”, said Anthony Wolbert, owner of Suffolk Solar Systems, Inc. “We are ahead of expectations; we hope to offer customers alternatives to crystalline based solar modules which can be quite expensive. Our solution looks good and does not break the bank”, noted Yousri. |
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|  | September 30, 2007 The electric car is being resurrected. Amid the global threats of pollution, oil funded terrorism, and 'peak oil', the Western world is looking to replace fossil fuels with clean, renewable sources of energy.
| | | Cornucopians are becoming extinct; scientists, engineers, politicians, and oil tycoons have recognized that we have used 50% of the world's oil supply in less than 150 years, and with China and India ramping up their industrial economies we may run out of our most used energy source in far less time. A full circle energy solution would include fully renewable sources of energy such as solar, wind, geothermal and hydroelectric along with efficient machines to plug into those systems. In other words, the West desperately needs a futuristic approach to life without oil. Enter Israel.
A country minuscule in size and barren of natural resources, Israel has succeeded in defending herself from a barrage of existential military threats while becoming a leader in the global economy. Great in intellectual capital, Israel has developed the world's largest solar power plant (from which PG&E has agreed to purchase 553 megawatts of power, enough power for 400,000 Bay Area homes), as well as the world's largest water desalination plant. She has the greatest number of companies listed on the NASDAQ other than the United States and Canada, has raised the greatest amount of venture capital funds second to Silicon Valley, and has the greatest number of scientific research papers published per capita.
The latest project comes from an Israeli who wants to use Israel's 'gift of enterprising' to help humanity wean off of oil. Shai Agassi, former executive at German software enterprise company SAP AG, is leading a new team of minds into not-so-charted territory. Agassi completed military service in Israel as a programmer for the IDF, and then earned his bachelors degree in computer science from The Technion in Haifa. Venturing into the business world, he later sold the most successful of his software startups for over $400 million to SAP, where he continued working until March 2007.
What he was up to next was first reported in August by Reuters - holding company Israel Corporation agreed to invest $100 million in Agassi's new electric vehicle venture, pending due diligence, with several other investors; the first round funding is $200 million, bringing the total value of the venture to $300 million. The company is stealthily named BetterPLC, a reference to an automated method of manufacturing.
The electric car is a major component of the energy paradigm shift: one where the world relies mainly on renewable sources of energy, thereby reducing the human effect of global warming, shifting the currency balance away from Muslim terrorists, and declawing the menace of peak oil.
"Our goal is to get to 100,000 cars on the road in 2010," said Agassi. He believes that since Israel has an 89% tax on vehicles, and a 100% tax on fuel, if there were zero emissions and zero fuel, there would be zero taxes on cars.
"You tell an Israeli that Israel will be the first country to eliminate the use of oil, and they sign up," Shai said in a speech given at Stanford University. But he realizes that the electric car won't stop in Israel, "If we can do it Israel, and it works, we can create a repeatable model that maybe then works in London... and then we can hopefully do it 50 times in China."
And about powering the new fleet, "We actually think there is a missing entity in the automotive industry that would create, effectively, ubiquity of electrons. Ubiquity of charge. Somebody that will guarantee you that wherever you go, you can charge your car... [and] actually be cheaper for you than buying a fuel-based car."
President Shimon Peres has reportedly told Shai's company along with other vehicle manufacturers that the Israeli government would be willing to provide grants and tax-benefits for the construction of electric vehicle factories.
Every dollar generated by these clean energy plants is a dollar not spent on oil, and a barrel of oil not burned. This makes for a win-win situation for capitalists and for environmentalists.
Within 5 years Israel should be shipping the first electric automobile ready for mass adoption. If the Israeli car succeeds in the marketplace it will have potential to reduce anti-Semitism in the world, and further legitimize Israel's standing.
The reputations of German and Japanese automobiles have certainly diluted American memories of old wars; if the Israeli car is as reliable as its German and Japanese competitors, then maybe it can dilute Arab memories of past wars, and be the car we all ride towards peace.
And in the future people will no longer ask who killed the electric car. They'll ask who killed the internal combustion engine. And the answer will be: Shai Agassi, Israeli.
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|  | Global Warming Solutions Makes the Sun Brighter |
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| The company introduces LETG solar technology that makes solar power possible year round, even in low sunlight regions. Houston, Texas Global Warming Solutions Incorporated, a developer of technologies aimed at mitigating the effects of global warming, yesterday introduced a technology targeting the development of clean, environmentally friendly solar power for commercial and residential use. LETG—an acronym for Light Electric and Thermal Generator—is a new technology with an important mission: To maximize the electrical and thermal energy derived from sunlight. LETG utilizes a hybrid system to produce electricity year round even in low sunlight regions. CEO of Global Warming Solutions, Dr. Vladimir Vasilenko explains that the LETG process increases the efficiency of photovoltaic conversion, adding “LETG employs a unique molecular solar spectrum converter—a ‘photonic quantum pump’— to shift an inefficient part of solar radiation to the effective red absorption spectrum of the silicon photocell.” In plain English, the result of this technology will be an increase in electrical output of 250%—a stunning advance in what had been considered a mature field. Whereas solar power has to date been employed for targeted applications – heating a home or office building, for example – LETG technology holds out the prospect of solar energy being used for larger, more general purposes, such as “a new generation of power plants,” says Vasilenko. Global Warming Solutions is currently conducting advanced stage testing of LETG solar technology, the development of which is being led by Dr. Alexander Kornaraki. The company plans to announce the test results in the near future. |
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| IsraGood Posted: 20 Sep 2007 12:54 AM CDT  (Hat Tip: Israel Times, Image Credit: Inhabitat.com)Hy (Chaim) Brown whose notable projects include constructing Disney World in Florida, as well as the World Trade Towers (that were sadly destroyed on 9/11, 2001) may be making yet another mark upon humanity by constructing affordable solar houses for "the rest of us." (Jerusalem Post) The model of the 70-square-meter houses, which he says can be added onto as families expand, was the brainchild of his engineering students at the University of Colorado, where he commutes to teach. They twice won a US government-sponsored competition to create a workable home that runs exclusively on solar energy, the second time for building one that families could afford.
The house, fully equipped with appliances - including dishwasher, washing machine, refrigerator, oven and tailor-made items such as a Shabbat heating plate (or, for Beduin needs, a courtyard for livestock) - costs $50,000, and can be assembled from start to finish in two weeks. All it requires to run efficiently, says Brown, is four days of sun per month. Though perfect for the climate of the Negev, the house can be erected anywhere.
"My idea is to dream big," he says. "Who knew we'd have Israel?" Although a 70-square meter house may not be a dream home for some individuals and families, this type of housing may appeal towards the lower income families, especially since they come with "free" electricity. | sss
By Judy Siegel September 05, 2007 Israel21C.org
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Prof. Arie Zaban: This will mark the beginning of a whole new path that combines independence from fossil fuels with a greener, more sustainable future.
| | A Bar-Ilan Univeristy nanotechnology expert has invented a photovoltaic cell - which produces electricity from the sun's rays - that could be dramatically cheaper to produce.
The cells, which are composed of metallic wires mounted on conductive glass, can form the basis of solar cells that produce electricity with efficiency similar to that of conventional, silicon-based cells while being much cheaper to produce, says Prof. Arie Zaban, head of BIU's nanotechnology institute, who has just patented the technology.
The design is based on nanotechnology, which makes use of microscopic structures, and originally involved cells with an area of less than one square centimeter. But, Zaban said, his research took a "giant" step forward when he increased the size of the cells to 100 square centimeters.
"Initially, we created linked arrays of very small cells, which led to a loss of efficiency because the sunlight hitting the space between the cells was not converted to electricity," Zaban explained. With much more surface area, the new array actively captures the sun's energy and becomes "a practical choice for solar energy production," he said.
Zaban's cells feature a sponge-like array of microscopic "nanodots" arranged on flexible plastic sheets. The key to his system is the use of standard semiconductor material injected with an organic dye, which makes it become energy absorbent. Orionsolar, a Jerusalem-based company that has entered into a partnership with Bar-Ilan, is developing commercial applications for inexpensive, dye-based photovoltaics based on Zaban's work.
"Given the state of the technology, I believe that the new solar cells will be available commercially within the next five years," he said. "This will mark the beginning of a whole new path that combines independence from fossil fuels with a greener, more sustainable future."
Another of his recent discoveries involves reducing the amount of platinum used in photovoltaic cells, another important step towards reducing production costs. "We've found a way to produce platinum nanodots ... [which] reduce the amount of platinum needed by a factor of 40," he said.
"Cost is an important factor in the success of any solar technology," Zaban explained. "To become widely adopted, solar cells must generate electricity at lower cost than what we now spend on fossil fuels. At the same time, we have to make the basic infrastructure extremely affordable - because the third-world countries that stand to reap the most benefit from solar power usually lack the money to invest in it. By making cells more efficient and keeping material costs down, nano-based techniques are moving us closer to that goal." |
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