Enjoy the first video fully shot with GoPro. Si2 first took to the skies in June, soaring across Switzerland and getting its first view of the Alps. The aircraft has now flown 21 times; with pilots seeking out the sun wherever possible at 8,500m. Co-Founders & Pilots André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard are both confident in the capability of the aircraft and themselves to pilot Si2 for the First Round-The-World Solar Flight.
100 days from now, Solar Impulse will take off from Abu Dhabi for this pioneering journey. Between now and then, Si2 will be dismantled, packed into a cargo plane and reassembled in Abu-Dhabi.
Get more information about the project: http://www.solarimpulse.com
Environmental groups are accusing Walmart of falling short on a number of its well-publicized sustainability goals. The world’s largest retailer still relies heavily on carbon-intensive coal power in U.S. stores and facilities, despite a longstanding promise to invest in renewable energy, critics said in a report released Thursday. Only 3 percent of Walmart’s electricity use comes…
Water is the source of life. With severe drought plaguing many parts of the world and basic access to clean drinking water a challenge in other parts of the world, innovation is needed to ensure an adequate supply for current and future generations.
The International Water Summit (IWS) and Isle, a global technology and innovation consultancy will launch Innovate@IWS at IWS, hosted by Masdar and taking place during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in January 2015.
Are you in the water industry? Do you have an innovative idea that would be beneficial to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region? Now is your time to submit ideas and potentially have the opportunity to demonstrate the potential impact to global experts, end users, technologists, and investors. All you need to do is submit your entry to the selection committee via the IWS website by November 25, 2014.
The competition categories include ‘Municipal Water’, ‘Industrial Water’, and ‘Water for Real Estate’. Submissions must demonstrate excellence in terms of their impact, innovation, leadership and long-term vision. Shortlisted submissions will be invited to present to a leading panel of experts, capital investors and potential end users from across the MENA region, live at IWS.
IWS offers a unique window to a rapidly growing clean technology market in the GCC, whose governments plan to allocate US$300 billion to water and desalination projects by 2022. “The region has demonstrated its commitment to seeking, investing and deploying technology to address its water challenges, and Innovate@IWS platform extends that commitment. said Naji El Haddad, Show Director of the International Water Summit.
In post-Fukushima Japan, the need for an increase in the use of renewable energy is becoming clearer and clearer as coal use continues to rise dramatically. Securing tracts of land suitable for utility scale solar is becoming more difficult as solar adoption has ramped up in recent years. The solution, announced this week by Kyocera TCL Solar LLC and Ciel et Terre is to utilize the country’s abundant water surfaces as the base for floating solar installations.
Kyocera plans to develop floating installations for reservoirs in the country utilizing Ciel et Terre’s Hydrelio© floating solar platforms in two installations, totaling 2.9 megawatts (MW) at Nishihira Pond and Higashihira Pond in Kato City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The 1.7MW plant planned at Nishihira Pond will become the world’s largest solar power generating system installed on water. Combined, the plants will use 11,256 Kyocera 255-watt solar modules and is expected to generate approximately 3,300 MWh/year.
Some of the features highlighted by the project include:
1. Generates more electricity than ground-mount and rooftop systems thanks to the cooling effect of the water.
2. Reduces reservoir evaporation and algae growth by shading the water.
3. Ciel et Terre’s floating platforms are 100% recyclable, utilizing high-density polyethylene which can withstand ultraviolet rays and corrosion.
4. A strong design and installation technology are used for the floating platforms to ensure durability against typhoons.
The Internet of Things Revolution is taking off. Concerns about security abound and make for sensational headlines, but there are other concerns that barely get noticed. Of course we are talking about energy and in particular how much it will take to power the Internet of Things.
The promise of the Internet of Things is that as devices are able to communicate with each other, our lives will be made much easier. That means less to worry about and more time to enjoy. Imagine if all the sensors needed to communicate with one another did not need batteries or draw additional power from the grid.
Engineers from the University of Washington have designed a communication system that uses radio frequency signals as a power source and reuses existing Wi-Fi infrastructure to provide internet connectivity to these devices. Using ultra-low power tags with an antenna and circuitry, these tags communicate with Wi-Fi enabled laptops or smartphones by looking for Wi-Fi signals moving between the router and a laptop or smartphone. Data is encoded by either reflecting or not reflecting the Wi-Fi router’s signals, slightly changing the wireless signal. The Wi-Fi enabled laptop or smartphone would detect these changes and receive data from the tag.
“If Internet of Things devices are going to take off, we must provide connectivity to the potentially billions of battery-free devices that will be embedded in everyday objects,” said Shyam Gollakota, a UW assistant professor of computer science and engineering. “We now have the ability to enable Wi-Fi connectivity for devices while consuming orders of magnitude less power than what Wi-Fi typically requires.”
In a further escalation of the solar trade war with China, the U.S. Department of Commerce has imposed yet another layer of tariffs on solar modules from China, and – for the first time – on imports from Taiwan. In a decision announced today, Commerce will immediately impose antidumping duties ranging from 26.33 to 58.87 percent for most Chinese suppliers and 27.59 to 44.18 percent for Taiwanese producers. Rhone Resch, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) was quick to condemn the decision.
“Enough is enough. The Department of Commerce continues to rely on an overly broad scope definition for subject imports from China, adversely impacting both American consumers and the vast majority of the U.S. solar industry,” Resch said. “We strongly urge the U.S. and Chinese governments to ‘freeze the playing field’ and focus all efforts on finding a negotiated solution. This continued, unnecessary litigation has already done serious damage, with even more likely to result as the investigations proceed.
“If there’s a silver lining to today’s announcement, “Resch continued, “it’s the fact that the U.S. and Chinese governments, SolarWorld, and Chinese manufacturers now have a brief window of opportunity to move forward on settlement discussions. SEIA got the ball rolling in this direction first by proposing a negotiated solution and then bringing the parties together. Now it’s time to start bargaining in earnest.
“A win-win settlement of the broader U.S.-China-Taiwan solar trade conflict is still achievable – as well as one for polysilicon. As the old saying goes, ‘where there’s a will, there’s a way.’ Today, the parties are finally engaged and all sides seem committed to finding a negotiated solution. I am encouraging my U.S. and Chinese industry colleagues to roll-up our sleeves, work together, and find a deal that’s good for everyone.”
SEIA will hold a webinar on July 29 at 1 p.m. EST to examine the impact of today’s Department of Commerce decisions on the U.S. solar industry.