Exploring Thermal Energy Storage

Greg Glatzmaier, Senior Engineer/ CPS Project Leader for Thermal Energy Storage at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) explains that working to make the thermal energy storage aspect of concentrated solar power (CSP) more attractive to utilities by lowering the cost overall is a main area of focus.

Shouting From the Rooftops: The Importance of Promoting Technological Innovations in Solar Energy

The success of new and emerging PV technologies can have a profound effect on our economy, providing a much-needed shot in the arm for various industrial sectors, while also paving the way for future technological advancements.

Understanding the Impact of the New Lisbon Treaty on EU Energy Policy and the Opps for Scotland

"If projects are to succeed, their technologies must be aligned with those set out in the Strategic Energy Technology (SET-) Plan"; Bioenergy, CCS, Grids, Fuel Cells & Hydrogen, Nuclear, Energy Efficiency, Solar and Wind.

Solders and fluxes for soldering PV panels

Our R&D department currently is working and will continue to work on new, innovative products for the photovoltaic industry. Already this year, we have introduced new alloys and fluxes. We will launch even more new products in the coming months.

PV Front Sheet Systems

A pre-laminate that combines ETFE frontsheet and EVA encapsulant, features all the performance benefits of both with improved production efficiencies, including reduced wrinkles and precise alignment. In addition, it can help module manufacturers achieve lower systems cost with reduced packaging and shipping costs.

Florida Algae-preneurs - Making Fuel from Algae

Some Florida businesses are squeezing a trickle of fuel from algae, claiming they can help power the world. But right now, a few expensive drops in the bucket are all they have to show. On 1,000 acres on the northwest shores of Lake Apopka, Orlando businessman Nick VandenBrekel touts a new crop for Florida that he says can help boost the state's economy as it provides another source of alternative energy. His company, Agrisys, has raised more than $25 million from investors and plans to break ground this quarter on ponds and a small refinery where VandenBrekel says Agrisys will be able to grow algae, process it into an oil, and refine the oil into jet fuel, diesel or gasoline. The operation, he says, will be "the world's first large-scale, vertically integrated algae-to-biofuels facility."

Green Design Spree Aims to Trim U.S. Government's Big Energy Bill

Sure, you've heard about Big Government. But have you seen its energy bill? With $25 billion in annual power and fuel costs, the U.S. government is the largest single energy consumer in the nation's economy, and among the largest in the world. Of course, the 500,000 buildings the government leases or owns include not only office space, but supercomputers, hospitals, and aviation safety radar facilities. And the 600,000 vehicles that Uncle Sam has to tank up include those conveying troops engaged in active combat. For years, it has been clear that there's a big opportunity in the sheer size of this energy footprint. The U.S. Congress has been setting federal efficiency goals since 1978—in hope not only of cutting costs and foreign oil dependence, but also of leading the way for energy savings in the private sector. The Obama administration now is seeking to ramp up that effort dramatically—with the help of an unprecedented $4.5 billion in stimulus funds to be spent by next September entirely for federal green building and renovation projects. By executive order, the federal government is aiming to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent by 2020.

Fuel cells popping up in California

An office park in Alhambra is about to start drawing a quarter of its electricity from the devices. It joins commercial properties in more than 40 cities statewide. Behind a chain-link fence next to a parking structure at an office park in the San Gabriel Valley sit five softly humming gray boxes that could change the way homes and offices are powered. On Tuesday, the boxes — each somewhat bigger than an SUV — will begin generating enough electricity to power about a quarter of the complex, saving the property owner about $500,000 a year in electricity bills. The Energy Servers use fuel-cell technology to create low-emission electricity. The product, developed by Bloom Energy, a Sunnyvale, Calif., start-up, has been hailed as an innovation that could change the power industry. "We were convinced that this was a technology that was extraordinarily good," said Wayne Ratkovich, chief executive of Ratkovich Co., which owns the Alhambra office park. "And we're not paying as high of an electric bill, so we'll save a lot of money."

U.S. gasoline demand may have peaked for good

The world's biggest gas-guzzling nation has limits after all. After seven decades of mostly uninterrupted growth, U.S. gasoline demand is at the start of a long-term decline. By 2030, Americans will burn at least 20 percent less gasoline than today, experts say, even as millions of more cars clog the roads. The country's thirst for gasoline is shrinking as cars and trucks become more fuel-efficient, the government mandates the use of more ethanol and people drive less. "A combination of demographic change and policy change means the days of gasoline growing in the U.S. are over," said Daniel Yergin, chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates and author of a Pulitzer Prize-winning history of the oil industry. This isn't the first time in U.S. history that gasoline demand has fallen, at least temporarily. Drivers typically cut back during recessions, then hit the road again when the economy picks up. The Great Recession was the chief reason demand fell sharply in 2008.

A Wind Farm in Deep Water off the U.S. Coast

Deepwater Wind, a company based in Providence, Rhode Island, has drawn up plans for what could be the largest wind farm in U.S. waters, the company announced last week. The proposed farm would generate a huge 1,000 megawatts of power and would be located 18 to 27 miles off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts at a depth of 52 meters—considerably deeper than any other large scale wind project to date. By moving into deeper waters, turbines can harness stronger, more sustained winds. And the massive turbines the company plans to use—each capable of generating more than 5 megawatts of power, with blades rising 150 meters above the water's surface—will be nearly invisible from shore, thereby avoiding potential legal battles with coastal communities that perceive the turbines as eyesores. Four-legged steel platforms rising from the seafloor will allow Deepwater Wind to operate in depths more than twice those of conventional steel "monopole" wind turbine platforms. As water depth increases, the diameter of monopoles must increase exponentially, making them uneconomical in water deeper than about 20 meters. By using a four-legged design, company officials say they will be able to work in depths that were previously prohibitively expensive.

The DIY Guide to OFF GRID Solar Electricity

In this article I'll show you how to untether from the grid, and avoid a smelly, noisy, fuel consuming generator except in extreme weather conditions. It can be pricey for a good system, but you'll have minimal ongoing expenses, unlike fuel and maintenance on a generator. The less power you consume, the less power you will need to generate, keeping the system costs down. It's important to start with conservation.

Solar System Racking Systems

From a materials perspective, racking represents roughly 5-10% of the system cost. That said, the labor required to install the modules on the racking system costs twice as much as the racking material involved and can account for up to 66% of the total installed cost of a system. According to expert industry analysts, the speed and ease of installation for the racking system can directly impact roughly 40% of the total installed cost.

The World's Largest Fleet of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Hybrid Buses

Between 2006 - 2010 Ballard Power Systems and its consortium partners developed the next generation of zero- emission fuel cell buses for deployment by BC Transit.

SolarAid - A growing solar charity increasing access to electricity in rural Africa

To date, SolarAid has installed over 150 rural solar systems in Africa and plans to double this number in the coming year. With only a small fraction of people living in rural Africa currently enjoying access to electricity, SolarAid is planning to increase the scale of its work so that it can reach as many people as possible and continue to contribute towards the growth of solar market in Africa.

The Five Myths of Going Green

Understand that Green is profitable from Day 1 when quantifiable Savings exceed project's Finance Costs. For example, verifiable Energy and/or Water savings equal $ 1 per month; while financing that project costs anything less than $ 1 per month. Focus on projects with fast Payback Period, double-digit ROI, and Tax Incentives.

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