There has been research work going on to increase the efficiency of the cost-effective amorphous solar panels. TU Delft has been the center where this research work is being developed. The research will directly help in increasing the efficiency of amorphous solar cells – from a 7% to a 9%. Crystalline silicon is most [...]
Posted in: Inventions, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power

Alternative Energy

While five locations have been identified, details of the submitted proposals will ultimately determine how many of the sites are selected to receive solar panels. If chosen, the non-profit entities and government-owned facilities will receive all the energy produced by their site’s solar system. APS will receive the renewable energy credits, which will go toward helping the company meet the requirements of the Arizona Corporation Commission’s Renewable Energy Standard.

Funding for the installations is expected from two sources. A majority will come from the Energy Office of the Arizona Department of Commerce’s Distributed Energy Leadership (Utilities) Program, which is funded with federal stimulus dollars (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009). The second funding source, pending ACC approval, is the APS Renewable Energy Incentive Program.

As part of the development process, installers must meet all reporting requirements of the Arizona Department of Commerce and all requirements related to the accounting and disbursement of federal funds pursuant to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

RFP submissions are due by noon (AZ time), Monday, September 27, 2010. Additional information, including the locations for the projects, is available online at aps.com/rfp.

APS, Arizona’s largest and longest-serving electricity utility, serves more than 1.1 million customers in 11 of the state’s 15 counties. With headquarters in Phoenix, APS is the largest principal of Pinnacle West Capital Corp. (NYSE: PNW).

Solar Power Digest

This is the first guest blog post from Wako Takayama, sustainability consultant and author of Everyday Sustainable. Wako is committed to living and working sustainably and helps companies develop sustainable products and services.

When people find out that I have a passion for energy efficiency and have been conducting basic residential energy efficiency audits (as a volunteer with Acterra Green@Home HouseCall,) they often ask what they can do to be more efficient at home.

Talking about CFLs is easy because you can see them and you can tell when they are on and using electricity. Not so with so many of the other electronics products plugged into our homes.

A recent study of energy usage in Minnesota shows that “Home electronics is a growing portion of each household’s electricity usage, close to 20 percent.” In 1980, the average home had three electronic devices. We might guess a TV, stereo/radio and how about a blender?

These days, think about all the gadgets plugged in around a typical house. And we keep bringing new ones home, eager to try out the new computer, brew a cup of coffee or play the latest video game. The last thing on our minds is wasted electricity and how to manage it.

But it turns out that a lot of these things are drawing power even though we don’t see it–for example when electronics are is “standby mode.”  And then there are the things that we forget are even plugged in because we don’t use them, like that extra fridge out in the garage that is empty except for a couple liters of soda left over from last Thanksgiving.

The Minnesota study names 5 low-cost and no-cost energy reducing opportunities:

1. Enable computer power management [in other words, make sure your computer goes to sleep or hibernates automatically after it hasn't been used for a while ]
2. Manually unplug devices that draw standby power when not in use
3. Manually turn off devices that are left on but not used
4. Use “smart” power strips to eliminate standby power consumption of peripherals (e.g., a DVD player) when the main device (e.g. television) is turned off
5. Use timers to eliminate electricity use by devices that are only used at certain times of day

So here is what I suggest for cutting down wasted electricity at home. Walk around your house and give it a one-time plug load audit. A device like a Kill-a-Watt can help you “see” the watts used by a device when it’s on and off and on standby. You can also feel the heat on devices that are drawing power when they are “off.” As you review the devices in your house, consider which of the opportunities above might work for it. And don’t forget to do this every time you bring home your next latest-and-greatest-gadget.

The study was conducted by the Energy Center of Wisconsin. To read the full report of the study and video presentations, go to http://www.ecw.org/plugload.

Solar Power Digest

Scientists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have come out with positive news about increased efficiency of thin-film solar cells. As we know that scientists are trying to increase the efficiency of the solar cells so that they can be considered as serious alternative to the fossil fuels. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz [...]
Posted in: Inventions, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power

Alternative Energy

Success greets the research team of National Research Council’s National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) and the University of Alberta. The plastic solar cells have now an operating life of 8 months instead of mere hours. And they are low-cost, environmentally efficient, unsealed plastic dollar cells – a green energy source. Developing economically viable plastic [...]
Posted in: Industry, PhotoVoltaics, Solar Power

Alternative Energy

You guys are gonna love this. Some “Unknown Conservative” blogger decided that an article Putting Solar Myths to Shame, written by CalFinder’s own Brittany Mauriss and Taylen Peterson, was fit for debunking. He or she (he from here on out—an educated guess) did so in perfect Rush Limbaugh fashion, full of coarse words, suspicious sound bites and skewed logic. While I’d often disregard such antics as the desperate pedantry of a dying breed, sometimes when you’re singled out, you have to fight back. So here it is: our response to one Climate Change denier.

Each myth is on a new page so click the link below to move to the next page. Here are each of the myths:

1. Solar only works in hot areas
2. More pollution comes from manufacturing panels than is offset by solar energy
3. Solar is too expensive
4. Solar can’t meet the nation’s energy needs
5. The Sahara Desert could power Europe
6. Solar is too unreliable
7. Create your own panel with DIY sites

Please feel free to comment, in favor or opposition, to any point given below. Here’s to open dialogue!

#1 – Myth: Solar systems only work in really hot areas of the world

We’ve taken screen-shots of the original myth-buster answers and his responses. Below each is our rebuttal.

The point is not that solar could be the dominant source of energy in all climates around the world, but rather that it serves a legitimate function and is viable in any climate. Simply look at use of solar panels in Antarctica by government scientists, for example. Some locations are best for wind, some geothermal (see Iceland or East Africa), and some solar power.

Of course, weather plays a factor. Again, Unknown Conservative is missing the point. Different solar power systems are conducive to different climates with different weather patterns. But designed wisely, a solar system can be beneficial in any climate—solar thermal systems in climates that reach “two degrees above zero” utilize a propylene glycol (anti-freeze) solution to protect against freezing and enable the system to operate even in the cold. Admittedly, the system will work best on a hot, sunny day, but it will still work otherwise. And solar thermal systems, unlike many of their PV cousins, can provide solar energy on cloudy days, as the sun is still transmitting heat. PV panels, however, work MORE efficiently the cooler it is—a good reason some innovators are working to marry the two technologies. See here and here for examples.<

Germany is the world leader in solar power, which certainly makes up a small percentage of Germany’s total power production (coal still being number one), but coal has had a 100-year head start, and to ignore solar’s growth is to be ignorant and unattractively dismissive. In 1990, photovoltaics provided just 1 gigawatt-hour (GWh) of electricity to Germany’s national grid, according to Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. By 2009, that total had increased to 6,200 GWh of PV and counting. That’s a 6,200% increase in less than 20 years!

Solar power may never provide all the energy for a cloudy country like Germany, but it will, based on the country’s aggressive promotion of the technology today, provide a significant portion. Already, combined with other resources, renewable energy contributes over 16 percent of total energy consumption in Germany.

More »

Solar Power News

Here at the Alternative Energy Blog, while not underestimating the scale of the challenges facing the world, we like to talk about solutions. Another website that has consistently done this is World Changing, which started as an award winning group blog, became a non-profit and has now also become a 600 page book.

This firecracker of a book is about the future of the world, full of big ideas on how humanity, technology and our environment can interact in a positive way. If you are tired of pessimistic doom and gloom tomes on the state of the world and the business as usual messages of many of our political & business leaders, this is the book for you. It is a optimistic read, overflowing with ideas for change.

What are you waiting for?

Go buy World Changing and instead of the Barefoot Contessa, let’s see barefoot solar engineers on the top sellers list.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY BLOG – Solar-Energy-Wind-Power.com

New Zealand’s Northern Advocate reports that a US 2 million (NZ 0m) proposal to generate electricity with 200 tidal-powered turbines submerged at the entrance to the Kaipara Harbour could get under way next year. The harbour is one of the largest in the world. It’s a broad shallow harbour covering an area of over three hundred square miles and has more than two thousand miles of shoreline. It has a two and a half mile wide entrance to the Tasman Sea halfway along its length.

Although officially called a harbour, the Kaipara is rarely used for shipping, owing to the treacherous tides and bars at its mouth. For this reason, no large settlements lie close to its shores, although small communities dot its coastline.

Crest Energy has applied to the Northland Regional Council for resource consent to set the 22m-tall turbines on the seafloor along about 8km of the 30m deep main channel at the harbour entrance.

The tidal energy is expected to get the turbines generating 200 megawatts of power – enough for 250,000 homes. The turbines, shielded from fish, would sit on heavy concrete pylons and be at least 5m from the surface at low tide. Leisure craft and barges could pass over them, but would be restricted from anchoring in the turbine area.

Two 30km-long cables 125mm in diameter would feed electricity into the national grid.

Crest Energy claims the size and commercial scale of the Kaipara project would make it the largest of its kind in the world.

If the project gets the green light, possibly around the middle of next year, the company plans to raise about million to begin building turbines.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY BLOG – Solar-Energy-Wind-Power.com