Follow the Patents: For Solar Power, the Devil Is in the Details
Alec Schibanoff for Electric Light & Power: There actually is a crystal ball that permits you to see into the future. All you have to do is follow the patents. The latest patents in any technology will show you where that technology—and the businesses that use that technology—are going. This month, we take a look at the future of solar panel installation.
The first solar power generator was displayed at the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1878. The first U.S. Patent for a solar power device was awarded the next year to Edward Weston. He actually received two patents: U.S. Patent No. 389,124 for an “Apparatus for Generating Solar Radiant Energy” and U.S. Patent No. 389,125 for the “Art of Utilizing Solar Radiant Energy.” It was not until 1954 that Bell Labs developed the first silicone-based solar panel. Cont'd...
New hydronium-ion battery presents opportunity for more sustainable energy storage
The new battery provides an additional option for researchers, particularly in the area of stationary storage.
Over 3 Million in U.S. Now Work for Clean Energy
Today, national business groups representing the range and breadth of clean energy companies in the United States cheered government statistics showing their industries support more than 3 million American jobs - equal to the employment of retail stores across the country, and twice as many jobs as involved in construction of buildings. This is based on 2016 data recently released by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in its second annual U.S. Energy and Employment Report. Full Press Release:
7,000 Railways Stations In India To Go Solar
Saurabh Mahapatra for CleanTechnica: Almost every railway station in India will soon be fed with solar power if the plans announced in India’s latest union budget are implemented.
The Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced that the 7,000 railway stations across the country will be fed with solar power as per the Indian Railways mission to implement 1,000 megawatts of solar power capacity. The minister made the announcement during the union budget speech on 1 February 2017.
The minister stated that work to set up rooftop solar power systems at 300 stations has already started, and soon this number will increase to 2,000 stations. According to data released by the Minister of Railways, India had 7,137 railway stations at the end of March 2015.
These rooftop solar power systems are expected to be implemented through developer mode, wherein the project developer will sign long-term power purchase agreement with Indian Railways. Cont'd...
The Global Corporate Demand for Renewable Energy
We spoke with Tom Lindberg and Stein Amble Haugan, Managing Director and Key Account Manager of ECOHZ, who attended the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) in Abu Dhabi 17-18 January 2017.
Renewable Energy And The EU: Are We Better Off After Brexit?
Renewable energy insurance provider Lycetts provide an independent and in-depth analysis of the future state of EU renewables; read on to find out more about its future after Brexit.
California demand for wind power energizes transmission firms
Nichola Groom for Reuters: A firm controlled by Philip Anschutz, the billionaire entertainment and pro sports magnate, will soon build the largest wind farm in the United States to serve utilities in California, where officials have set ambitious green power goals.
The $5 billion project, however, will be constructed 700 miles away in Wyoming, a state better known for coal mines and oil fields.
The vast distance between the two states provides a different Anschutz-owned firm with another big opportunity: a $3 billion project building transmission lines to deliver the power - one of a dozen similar power-line projects by other companies across the West. (Map: How wind power will get from Wyoming to California click here)
In all, about 5,700 miles of transmission lines are in development with the goal of delivering renewable energy to California from other states, according to the Western Interstate Energy Board. Cont'd...
High-tech canopy helps generate solar power while providing shade
Barbara Eldredge for Curbed: Imaginative architect and designer Carlo Ratti has had some bonkers ideas over the past year, including an exercise-powered gym barge and a mile-high skyscraper park. But his latest project is on the sunnier side of feasibility. Literally.
The Sun&Shade is a light-reflecting canopy made of mirrors that automatically rotate to catch the sun’s rays and fling them at a photovoltaic panel, “located a safe distance away.” This generates clean electricity up top while cooling the shaded area beneath. A working prototype of the mirrored structure just debuted at Dubai’s Museum of the Future as part of its “Reimagining Climate Change.” Cont'd...
Energy Powers Our Lives
The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can, however, be transferred from one location to another and converted to and from other forms of energy.
2017 Lloyd's Register Technology Radar - Low Carbon Report
Our findings show that industry experts are optimistic about the pace of innovation in the low carbon space, and shed light on which technologies will have the most impact on the sector.
Chinese solar company opening local module factory in September
Victor A. Patton for Sacramento Business Journal: A solar module factory expected to bring more than 200 jobs to Sacramento is slated to begin production in mid-September at McClellan Business Park. It will be the first U.S. factory for Nanjing, China-based solar cell and module manufacturer China Sunergy Co, who on Thursday announced its subsidiary Sunergy America has agreed to lease a 140,000-square-foot manufacturing building — previously a plant where J.C. Penney made window coverings.
Simon Szeto, a Sunergy advisor, said the company will bring around 20 management staff from overseas and will hire other employees locally. The work being done at the factory will include putting together the modules. Each module includes a solar cell, an aluminum frame, tempered glass, cables and a junction box. The completed products, which can be placed on a ground mount or rooftop, will be sold commercially in the U.S, Szeto said. Cont'd...
Scientists invented a battery that could work for a decade without degrading
Mike Wehner for BGR: Energy storage degradation in rechargeable batteries is a pretty serious problem that many of us put up with on a regular basis. It’s why your iPhone seems to last forever when it’s brand new out of the box but seems like it dies by lunchtime after a couple of years of use. Now, researchers at Harvard have developed a new battery technology using a bit of chemistry magic to create a rechargeable power source that could be tapped for many years with very little in the way of maintenance.
Energy storage degradation in rechargeable batteries is a pretty serious problem that many of us put up with on a regular basis. It’s why your iPhone seems to last forever when it’s brand new out of the box but seems like it dies by lunchtime after a couple of years of use. Now, researchers at Harvard have developed a new battery technology using a bit of chemistry magic to create a rechargeable power source that could be tapped for many years with very little in the way of maintenance. Cont'd...
Analytics and IT Technology Continue Evolution in Utility Market: Highlights from Distributech 2017
Key themes and takeaways from the 2017 Distributech conference
Catch wave power in floating nets
Zhong Lin Wang for Nature: Nature provides three sources of energy for free: sunlight, air and gravity. Solar and wind power are increasingly exploited, gravity less so. Hydraulic power plants harvest energy from flowing rivers. Tidal energy can be gathered along some inlets and coasts. But few places are suitable for dams or barrages, which can also damage the environment.
By contrast, oceans cover about 70% of Earth’s surface. Wave energy is plentiful day and night, whatever the weather. Capturing it requires little land and raises few safety or security concerns. Yet hardly any of this ‘blue energy’ is being generated. Today’s wave farms produce no more than 1–10 megawatts at any one time, enough to power a town. No commercial wave farms currently exist. Full article:
Stanford engineers create a low-cost battery for storing renewable energy
Jackie Flynn for Stanford News: A battery made with urea, commonly found in fertilizers and mammal urine, could provide a low-cost way of storing energy produced through solar power or other forms of renewable energy for consumption during off hours.
Developed by Stanford chemistry Professor Hongjie Dai and doctoral candidate Michael Angell, the battery is nonflammable and contains electrodes made from abundant aluminum and graphite. Its electrolyte’s main ingredient, urea, is already industrially produced by the ton for plant fertilizers.
“So essentially, what you have is a battery made with some of the cheapest and most abundant materials you can find on Earth. And it actually has good performance,” said Dai. “Who would have thought you could take graphite, aluminum, urea, and actually make a battery that can cycle for a pretty long time?” Cont'd...
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