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CleanTechies Staff

Aros: An Intelligent Air Conditioner for CleanTechies

In another sign that boring old appliances are ripe for a cleantech makeover, GE (NYSE: GE) and Quirky, the company that makes invention accessible, recently announced the launch of Aros – an app-enabled window air conditioning unit that promises to save energy and also pleases the eye. Aros is Quirky’s first major connected appliance and the fifth product developed out of the Quirky+GE partnership.

Controlled by the WINK app, Aros gathers information based on users’ habits, cost of energy, and budget to automatically maintain the perfect temperature and maximize savings for the home. Aros gets more brilliant over time, ensuring that the user never has to return to a too-hot or too-cold environment again.

“After receiving the submission for this invention, it was clear that this was a product that absolutely needed to exist, but a challenge that most companies would shy away from,” said Quirky Founder and CEO Ben Kaufman. “With the support of GE’s technology expertise, scale, and supply chain, we were able to focus our efforts on leveraging our community’s ideas into a beautifully designed product where every aspect of the product’s interaction was attended to.”

Aros was the idea of Garthen Leslie of Columbia, Maryland, who spent years helping to cut costs and conserve resources at the Department of Energy. Leslie said that it was his own dysfunctional air conditioner that sparked the idea for Aros. “I was tired of choosing between wasting energy or suffering through the stuffy summer heat.” He dreamt of a smarter air conditioner, beautifully designed for the modern day, and submitted his idea to Quirky. Months later, with the help of over 2,000 community members and over 80 years of GE’s experience with AC units, Aros was born. Aros is available today for pre-order at Amazon and will be available at major US retailers in May.

“This is a great example of how by working together GE and Quirky can re-invent an entire category quickly and at scale,” said Kevin Nolan, Vice President of Technology for GE Appliances. “Aros gives consumers a way to connect with new technology in easy-to-use, everyday ways, allowing people to remotely cool their living spaces and save money at the same time – a true breakthrough”.

Aros Product Features:

Smart Schedule – Learns your usage patterns to automatically build a schedule for you.
Smart Away – Aros will power itself down when you have left your home, and will prepare your desired temperature before you return.
Smart Budget – The smart budget will predict your future costs using your schedule, weather data, and past usage information. Enter a budget for the month, and users will get notifications when they are approaching their limit.
Control From Anywhere – Can be powered and controlled from anywhere in the world through the WINK app.
Power – 8,000 BTU in-window air conditioning can cool up to 350 sq. ft.
Easy Installation – Easy to install and fits into almost any window, with sliding fabric extensions that keep cold air in and hot air out.
Multi-Speed and Cooling – Multi-speed fan with three fan speeds and three cooling modes.
Beautiful Design – Aros employs a unique upward airflow to increase circulation and an easy-to-clean flat front face with touch-capacitive buttons.
Washable Filter – Includes a washable filter that is easy to remove and clean.
MSRP – $300.00

Aros can now be pre-ordered on Amazon.com

04/10/2014 1 comment

Clean Transportation

Solar Powered Plane Aims to Fly Round the World

written by CleanTechies Staff

The team behind Solar Impulse 1, which flew across America in 5 legs beginning in San Francisco and ending in New York unveiled Solar Impulse 2 on Wednesday and aims to fly round the world beginning in March 2015.

The Solar Impulse 2 has a 236-foot wingspan – longer than a Boeing 747 – and is covered in 17,248 solar cells. The solar cells will power four electric motors that drive the plane’s propellers. The plane weighs 5,000 pounds and is capable of flying up to 87 mph. Maximum cruising altitude will be 27,000 feet. Batteries make up one quarter of the plane’s weight and will keep the plane flying at night and in cloudy weather.

The plane will be piloted by the two founders of the Solar Impulse project, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg. Because the plane only seats one, the plane will make stops along the way to allow the pilots to switch. The cockpit has been designed to allow the pilot to fully recline during flights lasting from 4 to 6 days.

The anticipated flight path will begin in the Persian Gulf region and fly over the Arabian Sea, India, Burma, China, the Pacific Ocean, the United States, the Atlantic Ocean, southern Europe or North Africa, and back to the starting point in the Persian Gulf.

04/10/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Genomatica Recognized as Game Changing Company

written by CleanTechies Staff

Genomatica might be a cleantech company that you’ve never heard of. Far from the glamorous world of solar, wind, or electric vehicles, Genomatica specializes in developing and commercializing bio-based processes for intermediate and basic chemicals. What does that mean? Chemicals that would normally be produced by a conventional petroleum-based process can now be done using renewable feedstocks such as conventional sugars, sugars from cellulosic biomass, or syngas. That means better economics and a lower environmental footprint.

In recognition for its innovation, the company was recently named a winner of the 2014 Bloomberg New Energy Pioneers Award. Every year, Bloomberg recognizes ten game-changing companies for innovation, momentum and potential global impact in industries including bioenergy, energy efficiency, digital energy, solar and water. Winners are judged by industry experts that are advised by Bloomberg New Energy Finance technology experts. According to Bloomberg, “Genomatica caught the judges’ attention for its technology, innovative licensing strategy and the fact that it is already disrupting the market, with fast-growing revenues and impressive partnerships in place.”

Genomatica CEO, Christophe Schilling, Ph.D., noted that “Customers want more sustainable everyday products and the chemical industry is eager for technologies that make it easier to deliver those products.” The company has raised $125 million in financing from Alloy Ventures, Bright Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Mitsubishi Chemical, Mohr Davidow Ventures, TPG Biotech, VantagePoint Capital Partners, Versalis and Waste Management.

04/07/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

LDK Solar Delisted From NYSE

written by CleanTechies Staff

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced earlier this week that it would suspend trading and delist the shares of LDK Solar Co. In its announcement, the NYSE cited LDK’s “abnormally low” price for the shares, which had been falling for years and by February were trading below $1.

LDK, China’s second largest maker of solar wafers, has been in financial dire straits for quite some time. In the fourth quarter of 2013, the company secured a $256 million credit facility from a syndicate of Chinese banks. The terms of the credit facility were limited to financing LDK’s onshore operations in Jiangxi Province in China, preventing the funds from being used to service existing debt.

The company is seeking to restructure nearly $3 billion in debt after failing to pay a bond that matured in February. The company noted in an announcement on Tuesday that it wishes to “reiterate their commitment to continuing to work with LDK Solar’s offshore creditors to achieve the restructuring of LDK Solar’s offshore liabilities.” LDK further noted that “restructuring support agreements have been signed by holders of approximately 60% in aggregate principal amount of the Company’s 10% Senior Notes due 2014 and by holders of approximately 79% of the convertible preferred shares issued by an affiliate of the Company and involving claims against the Company.” LDK also recently received a commitment letter from Heng Rui Xin Energy (HK) Co., Limited, an existing shareholder of the Company, to provide interim financing up to an aggregate principal amount of $14 million.

04/02/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Solar Plant in Israel is Now Self-Cleaning

written by CleanTechies Staff

Developing large solar power plants in the desert makes a lot of sense in many ways. Wide swaths of land coupled with unobstructed sunlight makes for a compelling case. One of the drawbacks of being located in the desert is the dust that gets kicked up by the winds which eventually settles on the surface of the solar panels located nearby. The efficiency of the panels dwindles and time, money, manpower, and water is spent to constantly clean the panels.

Located in the Negev desert, the Ketura Sun solar park spans 20 acres and produces 9 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. The manual cleaning process takes approximately 5 days and can pose a risk to the cleaners but also sensitive equipment. Without cleaning, the efficiency of the panels could drop by as much as 35 percent.

Thanks to Ecoppia, the Ketura Sun solar park no longer has to worry about dust or expend time and money to manually clean the panels. The panels are now cleaned nightly by Ecoppia E4 robots that clean 54 square feet in 30 seconds. The robots use a rotating microfiber brush and an airflow cleaning system to remove 99 percent of the dust build-up. No water is required. No additional energy is required either. The robots are powered by their own solar panels and battery system.

04/01/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

California Households to Receive Climate Credit on Their Electricity Bills

written by CleanTechies Staff

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) today announced that millions of California households in regions serviced by investor owned utilities will receive a “Climate Credit” averaging $35 on their April electricity bills. The credit comes from California’s cap and trade mechanism for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

According to CPUC President Michael R. Peevey, “The Climate Credit is made to households and small businesses to promote a cleaner, more energy efficient California, giving millions of Californians a stake in the fight for clean air and a healthy environment.” Officials hope that households will invest the Climate Credit in simple energy efficient improvements that will help households further conserve energy and lower utility bills thereby forming a “virtuous circle” according to Mary D. Nichols, Chairman of CARB.

Households will receive a Climate Credit on their April and October bills each year, regardless of energy consumption or bill amount. Small businesses will receive a Climate Credit every month beginning in April and is based on the amount of electricity used. In the aggregate, approximately $750 million will be allocated to households and $64 million will be allocated to small businesses in 2014.

03/31/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Corpus Christi to Host Sixth Annual IEEE GreenTech Conference

written by CleanTechies Staff

Sponsored by IEEE USA, IEEE Region 5, and IEEE, Corpus Christi hosts the sixth annual IEEE GreenTech 2014 Conference, April 3 – 4, 2014. The conference provides the opportunity to for academia, industry, as well as other organizations to present unpublished, original papers on the field of Green Technology, and offer presentations, workshops, and invited talks in related fields.

“This year’s theme is SOW the Seeds of our Future,” said Ruby Mehrubeoglu, the conference chairman. The theme, an acronym for Solar, Ocean, and Wind, focuses on green technology that is deployed in coastal and marine environments. Mehrubeoglu said many excellent “papers on Clean Technology, Green Technology, and Renewable Energy will be presented.” Security has become important to coastal communities who anticipate the keynote luncheon speaker on opening day, Phrantceena Halres, CEO of Total Protection Services Global, with her topic, Green Vulnerabilities and Avoiding Disaster.

Energy topics to be discussed will include:

Ocean/Tidal/Wind/Solar/
Geothermal Energy Conversion
Green Energy Generation and Storage
Green Energy Transmission and Distribution, Smartgrid
Biomass, Bio-Fuel as Green Energy
Green Buildings
Green Energy Policies, Management and Control
Green Energy Pedagogy and Curricula

Student Competitions in Circuit Design, Ethics, Technical Papers, and Robotics will immediately follow the Conference on April 5, 2014.

More information about the Conference, registration, and paper/abstract submissions, IEEE R5 annual meeting and student competitions, and other activities visit www.ieeegreentech.org

03/21/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

Energy Thought Summit Takes Flight in Austin Next Week

written by CleanTechies Staff

Ever wonder what the state and future of energy is and will be? On March 24^th and 25^th, a two day summit will convene in Austin, TX where the world’s thought leaders in energy will engage in dialogue on topics ranging from the smart grid, electric vehicles, renewable energy, disruptive technologies, big data, smart homes, and emerging business models.

The line-up of speakers is a who’s who in the energy industry featuring Jon Wellinghoff (former FERC Chairman), Steve Wozniak (Apple/Fusion-io), John Scott (NASA), John McDonald (GE Digital Energy), and Mei Shibata (ThinkEco). Companies such as Tesla, Google, Samsung, and Verizon will also be present.

Next week, all eyes will be on Austin as the future of energy will be discussed. A full list of speakers and conference schedule can be found here.

03/18/2014 1 comment

Renewable Energy

R.I.P. Coal – Ball State Switches to Geothermal

written by CleanTechies Staff

Nearly 70 years after Ball State University installed its four coal-fired boilers, school employees are shoveling in the last few lumps of coal. In just a few days, the boilers will go cold as the Muncie, Indiana based university embraces renewable energy with world’s largest district closed geothermal energy system.

Jim Lowe, director of engineering, construction and operations, will be there to watch the historic event. He’s overseen the $80 million geothermal project — consisting of 3,600 boreholes to the system that heats and cools 47 buildings on campus — since the first hole was drilled in 2009.

“It has been incredible to witness the progress over the last few years,” Lowe says. “I think we’ll realize the full extent of the changeover from consuming about 36,000 tons of coal a year to renewable energy when the two smoke stacks come down in 2015.”

The work to be completed includes finishing the system’s south borehole field, modifications to the South District Energy Station to accommodate the two new 2,500-ton heat-pump chillers, hot and chilled water distribution looping, and modification of the remaining buildings (predominately on the south side of campus) to accept the geothermal connections.

Lowe notes that when the system is complete next year, the shift from fossil fuels to a renewable energy source will reduce the university’s carbon footprint by nearly half while saving $2 million a year in operating costs.

The Earth’s ability to maintain a constant temperature supports the thermodynamic principle for the geothermal system’s operation. A ground source heat pump coupled with a vertical closed loop piping system uses the Earth as either a heat source, when operating in heating mode, or a heat sink, when operating in cooling mode.

Phase 1 was completed in 2012. It consisted of two borehole fields, construction of the North District Energy Station and connecting buildings on the northern part of campus to the new distribution system.

“When costs began to escalate for the installation of a new fossil fuel burning boiler, the university began to evaluate other renewable energy options,” Lowe says. “This led to the decision to convert the campus to a more efficient geothermal-based heating and cooling system.”

Federal and state officials have endorsed Ball State’s foray into renewable energy. The U.S. Department of Energy provided a grant of $5 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Indiana General Assembly authorized nearly $45 million in state capital funding for the first phase. In 2013, the Indiana General Assembly authorized a $30 million cash appropriation for the second phase.

The project has caught the attention of universities and communities across the nation. Lowe is sharing information about the university’s new operation with others who want learn how they, too, can benefit from a geothermal system.

“The geothermal project provides research opportunities for faculty, and by creating a sustainable university, we can provide a learning environment for students,” Lowe says. “This project further demonstrates that we practice what we teach.”

03/18/2014 0 comment

Renewable Energy

The Business of Tracking Global CleanTech Financial Markets

written by CleanTechies Staff

The global economy is turning a corner, and with the increasing frequency of natural disasters occurring due to climate change, Nitin Tanwar expects cleantech action to be back on the agenda.

Tanwar, the Founder of Climate Connect, has created a free, online repository called Cleantechdeals.com, which is comprised of analytical tools that enable the tracking and analysis of financial deals in clean tech markets around the globe.

The newly released site, currently in its ALPHA version, covers asset finance, capital markets, government grants, mergers and acquisition, venture capital, and private equity deals across a wide range of cleantech sectors like renewable energy, carbon capture, adaptation, forestry, and energy efficiency. The tool leverages powerful big data techniques, which include web-scraping, in combination with sectoral expertise at Climate Connect, in order to ensure data consistency.

Tanwar is aiming to position Cleantechdeals.com as the go-to resource for fast and reliable transactional information with the idea that it will help concerned individuals and professionals remain abreast of the latest commercial developments in the low-carbon sector across the world.

“Cleantechdeals.com will ensure there is a freely available web resource that stakeholders can access whenever they want to see the latest deals, or historical trends,” said Tanwar, noting that more sectors and deal types are expected to be added to the site in the near future.

During the ALPHA phase, deals will be updated once a week. Once BETA is launched, however, the site is expected to post daily updates. In the future, visitors to Cleantechdeals.com will be able to use state-of-the-art information technology plug-ins to better explore and analyse financial and economic trends across the clean tech sector.

Climate Connect is an online media and analytics company based in London and New Delhi. It was founded by experienced green market professionals in 2010 and operates a network of websites that provide quick news, accurate data, reliable forecasts and analytical IT tools to companies involved in new markets being created due to impact of Climate Change.

03/17/2014 0 comment

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