Here’s an article from SmartGridNews that raises an interesting and important question about the siting of renewable energy projects. Siemens is asserting that the large European governments are in the process of wasting 45 billion Euros by not properly thinking through the consequences of its siting decisions.
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solar panels
Rusinga Island, located in the eastern part of Lake Victoria in Kenya, is having solar panels installed on homes to not only provide electricity but to aid in the fight against malaria. Malaria kills an estimated 1.2 million people per year and is a big problem for the 30,000 inhabitants of Rusinga Island. If fitting homes with solar panels that power insecticide-free
Alphabet Energy (Alphabet) is a Hayward, California, company that develops thermoelectric materials and products that convert waste heat to electric power.
Alphabet’s web site provides this overview of the concept of thermoelectrics:
Thermoelectrics are solid-state semiconductors that
General Motors is not in the solar game just so we can tout it on our environmental blog.
There are very real benefits to using solar to power parts of our facilities, not the least of which is the fact that it’s better for the environment.
It can save money, too.
IKEA has expanded its solar power portfolio with the installation of a new system at its has South Florida store in the city of Sunrise. The installation also marks the 35th completed solar project for the company in the U.S., with four installations at four more locations now in progress.
A new crowdfunding project on Indiegogo wants to bring solar power to the site of a former trash dump on the Galápagos Islands, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located 550 miles west of the Ecuadorean mainland. The islands were visited by Charles Darwin during his South American expedition and the species he observed there helped him formulate his theory of
California homeowners and businesses, taking advantage of a state rebate program that encourages the installation of solar panels, are now generating 1 gigawatt — or 1,000 megawatts — of electricity, roughly the equivalent of a nuclear power plant, state regulators say.
Launched in 2007, the $2.4 billion California Solar
A recent deal has created the largest permitted solar photovoltaic power development in the world, and will create a cool 650 construction jobs in the process. MidAmerican Solar, a subsidiary of MidAmerican Renewables, bought from SunPower the 579 MW Antelope Valley Solar Projects (AVSP), two co-located projects in Kern and Los Angeles Counties in
A new means of transport needs a new name. ELF is a “ velomobile” , a combination of bicycle and automobile powered with solar energy and good old pedaling force is raising funds via KickStarter. At the time of writing the project had raised US$26,397 out of the targeted US$100,000. The deadline is January 13.
Our latest webinar featured Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s Galen Barbose sharing hot-off-the-presses findings of the 5th annual Tracking the Sun report on solar price trends in the U.S. The report confirmed that solar has never been a better deal for Americans. 2011 brought another year of double digit cost declines, and that downward
The past ten years have seen major changes in the types of technologies that are used to produce and consume energy. As dwindling oil reserves place greater strain on energy markets, the green energy revolution is likely to accelerate. This is not simply reserved to your typical alternative energy industries such as wind and solar, but is expanding
Brazil is known for its non-fossil energy matrix largely thanks to its reliance on hydropower, which comes with its fair share of controversy as the case of the mega dam Belo Monte exemplifies. Wind power is starting to grow in the country but solar photovoltaic is still a minuscule, virtually non-existent industry.
Therefore, it comes as good news that the fifth global
Here’s a lecture by Ozzie Zehner, whose popular book “Green Illusions” is making the rounds. Indeed, there is a great deal of truth here. In particular, we’re seduced by the sexiness of renewable energy, and in some cases make extremely illogical decisions to deploy it.
Zehner provides an example of a gentleman who
Solar Powered Tablets should not Be Limited to Children in Ethiopia: Lessons From Sandy
written by Walter Wang
All last week there were numerous frantic New Yorkers looking desperately for places to plug-in. Without electricity this ultra connected island was stranded by the storm both physically and electronically. People stood in groups throughout the darkened city listening to battery-powered boom boxes for news. In polling places on Long Island generators still stood