Category Archives: Solar

MIT unveils 90 MPH solar car

Via the Autopia blog on Wired.com – “MIT Unveils 90 MPH Solar Race Car“, by Chuck Squatriglia:

MIT’s latest solar race car might look like a funky Ikea table with a hump, but don’t laugh. It’ll do 90 mph and is packed with technology that may end up in the hybrids and EVs the rest of us will soon be driving.

MIT Solar Team with "Eleanor"

MIT Solar Team with “Eleanor”

The university’s Solar Electric Vehicle Team, the oldest such team in the country, unveiled the $243,000 carbon-fiber racer dubbed Eleanor on Friday and is shaking the car down to prepare for its inaugural race later this year. “It drives beautifully,” said George Hansel, a freshman physics major at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the team. “It’s fun to drive and quite a spectacle.”

Eleanor is slated to compete in the tenth World Solar Challenge, a seven-day race across nearly 2,000 miles of Australian outback.

See also Mr. Squatriglia’s 10 Best Songs About Cars.

MOORE'S LAW DOES NOT APPLY TO CARBON DIOXIDE

Moore’s Law, “The number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles every two years” has held for transistors, integrated circuits, and even hard disk drives since his observation in 1965. However, it does not hold for Carbon Dioxide, which is governed by the Ideal Gas Law. This can be expressed as  PV = nrT and means the volume of a given quantity of a gas is directly related to its temperature and inversely related to pressure under which it is stored. In economic terms, we might call it Yogi’s Corollary, “Storing a Gas Costs Money,” or Furman’s Observation, “Moore’s Law Does Not Apply to Carbon Dioxide.”

This means that Carbon Sequestration technologies are not going to drop in price very far or very quickly.

The good news is Moore’s Law should  and probably will apply to photovoltaic solar modules, once the solar economy gets moving.

How to Strengthen the Grid, Minimize the Impact of Power Failures and Save Money

Stress related power failures, like the one that knocked out power in the northeastern United States and southeastern and central Canada in August 2003, are more likely to occur in the summer because of the additional air conditioning load. Storm related power failures in this part of the world are perhaps more likely in the winter because of cold weather and ice storms. In the south-east Atlantic states and the Gulf States – from North Carolina to Texas, weather related power failures are likely to follow hurricanes, and thus are more likely during late summer and autumn. Power failures caused by human action, whether accidental or willfull, i.e. terrorist, can occur any time. The only predictor is Murphy’s famous observation, “whatever can go wrong will, usually at the worst possible moment.”

There are some simple steps we can take to strengthen the grid, to minimize the probability and impact of weather related, accidental, and human triggered power failures, and to save the taxpayers and ratepayers money. Continue reading →

Alternative fuels safer, and the law

In April of 2007, the Supreme Court ruled the federal Environmental Protection Agency must regulate carbon emissions unless it presents scientific proof that greenhouse gases do not contribute to global climate change. On Nov. 13, the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board ruled it would do so. We need alternatives to fossil fuels and nuclear power, if for no other reason than to obey the law.

Traditional hydroelectric plants harness the energy in waterfalls. New designs harness the energy in tides, waves and ocean currents. Wind farms harness wind energy. Solar energy systems harness sunlight. Geothermal systems use heat from within the earth.

The sun will shine and the wind will blow regardless of the presence of solar panels and wind turbines. By harnessing a process rather than consuming a resource, solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and other clean, renewable, sustainable technologies generate power without fuels, and without greenhouse gases, mercury, radioactive wastes, other pollutants and without the cost of fuel.

Saving the shore from global warming will help the economy. And it’s the law.

This was published as a letter to the editor in the Asbury Park Press, Friday, 12/5/2008.

World Renewable Energy Congress in Glasgow

The World Renewable Energy Congress is meeting this week in Glasgow, Scotland. Conference details here for any

World Renewable Energy Congress

interested in last-minute attendance. NanoTechWire reports that Professor Darren Bagnall and his Nano Group at the University of Southampton will be announcing progress in applying nanotechnology to the production of solar panels.

Professor Bagnall and his Nano Group at the University of Southampton’s School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) have conducted extensive research into how nanotechnologies can contribute to the creation of solar cells which can be manufactured on cheap flexible substrates rather than expensive silicon wafers by using nanoscale features that trap light.

Speaking in the conference session on Photovoltaic Technology on Tuesday 22 July, Professor Bagnall will deliver a presentation entitled: Biomimetics and plasmonics: capturing all of the light. He will describe how his group has investigated biomimetic optical structures, which copy the nano structures seen in nature so that they can develop solar cells which allow efficient light-trapping. One type of structure is based on an anti-reflective technique exploited by moth eyes. Others are based on metallic nanoparticles that form plasmonic structures. Continue reading →

Gore’s house: green renovations underway

Al Gore’s renovations – delayed, apparently, because of zoning restrictions – are well  underway. JekyllnHyde on Gore’s improvements, initially quoting the Associated Press:

In an Associated Press interview, Gore responded to the phony attacks levelled against him a few months ago by a conservative think tank in Tennessee for consuming too much energy

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Al Gore, the environmental activist stung by criticism over his house’s energy efficiency, said Friday that renovations are nearly complete to make it a model “green” home.”This plan has been in the works for a long time,” the former vice president said in an interview with The Associated Press. “The only thing that has changed is that we’re more public about it because of the misleading attack by a global-warming denier group.”

Gore’s renovation project, which he said has been in the works for months, seeks to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Now, I’m no environmental guru (as I’m sure there are people here on Truth & Progress with far greater knowledge on the subject than me) but it seems to me that Gore is a man who practices what he preaches.  After his neighborhood council passed new zoning laws – ones that previously prohibited the installation of solar panels – Gore said that he’d be able to take the following additional steps

* install a geothermal system that will, among other things, drastically reduce the cost of heating his pool.
* upgrade windows and ductwork.
* install more energy-efficient light bulbs.
* create a rainwater collection system for irrigation and water management.

Al Gore’s “Green” Home Almost Ready. Is He?

GM announces plans for “world’s largest rooftop solar array”

Matthew L. Wald – who reliably turns out ahead-of-the-pack energy stories – with lots of detail, good news and bad – got to write about GM’s announcement that it plans to build the world’s largest rooftop solar array. “Large Solar Array Set for G.M. in Spain.“

Solar array being installed on roof of General Motors in Spain

The array will power a G.M. manufacturing plant. (For his labors – Wald didn’t even get to go to Spain – but apparently he didn’t have to go to Detroit either, so perhaps it’s a wash).

Why is GM building this in Spain? Because the Spanish current subsidize solar at a rate five times that of the United States.

Inhabitat: Solar Rickshaws in development

Mahesh Basantani at Inhabitat reports that SolarLab, in London, is working on a solar rickshaw

. We’ve written before about the Serpentine Shuttle – also by SolarLab – a solar ferry boat which collects enough power that it has reserves for night operation and returns power to the grid. (Thought of another way – it’s a floating, movable solar power array – with room for passengers).

More properly credited – DeZeen – via Inhabitat.

This is a proper moment to note that we don’t check Inhabitat as often as we should – they’re exceptionally on their game, and we find ourselves greatly tempted to plagiarize. Interestingly, where the Inhabitat staff see sustainability – we also see disaster risk reduction and disaster preparedness. It’s not a big jump from a solar-powered boat or rickshaw to solar-powered patient transportation in a disaster. But if you’re looking for new technology that’s sustainable in the long term, that will reduce disaster risk – and mitigate disaster effects – be reading Inhabitat regularly.

Solar Power, Alchemy, and Magic Numbers

There are magic numbers in New Jersey: $450, $550, $771, $150 and $600.

In Jersey you can produce a widget that would cost you $150 to buy, use or sell the widget, and then sell it again for $450 to $550 – that is sell it for $600 or $700. The question is, how much does it cost to produce? And the raw ingredients and fuel are free, so the production costs are only are only the amortized costs of the machine.

Allow me to explain.

Jersey allows you to produce a widget of solar power, use it or sell it, and then sell it or sell it again for three times it’s current value or more. In Jersey, every kwh of power produced by a solar energy system is worth 3, 4 or perhaps 5 kwh. The answer, in a word, is SREC’s, Solar Renewable Energy Certificates.

Electricity producers In New Jersey have a choice. Produce power using solar, or pay “the Solar Alternative Compliance Payment” – a fine. They also have a way out. Rather than produce the power, they can buy the right to claim the solar power someone else produced. They do this via Solar Renewable Energy Certificates. Today, for “energy year 2008”, the “the Solar Alternative Compliance Payment” (the fine), is set to $771 per mwh (click here for NJ Clean Energy Page, here for SREC Trading Page). The SREC’s, therefore, are forecast to be worth $450 to $550 for every mega watt hour, mwh, produced. Electricity purchased from the utilities costs $130 to $150 per mwh. The total value of the electricity produced using solar power in NJ is the sum of the price you would pay if delivered plus the value of the SREC’s of that power.

If the electricity I buy costs $150 per mwh, and the SREC value of the electricity I produce is worth $450, the total value of the electricity is $600.

This is a New-Alchemy. It’s not turning lead into gold. It’s turning sunlight into money.

The questions are:

  1. How much – or how little – does it cost me to install a Solar electric generating system?
  2. How quickly will that system pay for itself?
  3. How many times will that system pay for itself over it’s 40 or 50 year life?
  4. Why aren’t more people doing this?

Solar Power Tax Deduction

The US Tax Code allows a one time tax deduction of up to $2000 and up to 30% of the cost of a photovoltaic solar energy system (Click here for IRS, or click here).

So any taxpayer who installs this kind of system will get back 30% of the first $6,666.67 – up to $2,000. Typical residential scale full sized solar energy systems cost $28 to $80 thousand, so that tax rebate is fairly trivial for most of the US. But if you live in NJ, California, or somewhere where electricity costs more than twenty Cents per kwh, it makes sense.

Consult your tax advisor. Then consult your local solar electric contractor.

New Solar Handbag: with batteries, many buckles

Costume National reports on a new handbag with solar panels.

  As the venerable Joel Johnson of Boing Boing points out, it depends on how you feel about buckles. But it’s clear some amount of solar carried capacity makes some sense in a society in which people routinely carry things which need electricity – PDAs, phones, music devices, laptops, or some fusion of the above.

And Dr. Johnson notes that he’s “come to think that practical portable solar needs batteries to really be useful.” We agree, and we’d like to add Furman’s Rule of Most Critical Solar Applications: the most important solar installations at present are those which work and are visible, and thus serve to persuade people that solar works.

Via Joel Johnson on Boing Boing.

Solar Balloons – The Sky’s the Limit

Solar Balloons can power remote areas and quickly provide emergency power in disasters. Joseph Cory, of Geotectura.com, and Pini Gurfil, his research partner in the Haifa Technion, Haifa, Israel, are developing the balloons. Helium balloons floating above the trees or tethered to the roofs of buildings, can provide more power in less space and at lower cost than roof mounted or ground mounted systems. They can also be deployed very quickly in an emergency.

Where conventional PV Solar installations are two dimensional, these are three dimensional.

Initial research, using computer models and a prototype, shows that a 10 foot diameter PV Solar balloon provides the energy of a 269 square foot PV Solar surface. The cost of the balloon is targeted at $4000. The cost of a comparable surface mounted system is estimated to $10,000.

I read about this on Pinkus Javits’ SustainabiliTank blog,Gizmundo,and Israel 21C .

Inhabitat: Transparent Solar Panels

Inhabitat reports on transparent solar panels developed at the University of Queensland. solarglass1.jpg

From Mike Chino

‘s article:

The Queensland University of Technology recently announced that it has been working with Dyesol to develop an innovative solar cell technology that re-envisions windows as clear, clean energy providers. Professor John Bell has said that these dye-infused solar cells would significantly reduce building energy costs, and could even generate surplus energy to be stored or sold. The development has been touted as the most promising advance in solar cell technology since the invention of the silicon cell.

Modern architecture has a love-hate relationship with windows: they contribute light and levity to interior spaces, yet they are the most frequently cited culprits for thermal energy loss. Traditional approaches to the problem have tended towards increasing insular ability, however this new development would imbue windows with power producing capabilities, actually providing energy instead of leaking it.

Dyesol’s solar cells use an innovative technology called “artificial photosynthesis”, wherein a dye analogous to chlorophyll absorbs light to generate electricity

. The panels are composed of “an electrolyte, a layer of titania (a pigment used in white paints and tooth paste), and ruthenium dye sandwiched between glass. Light striking the dye excites electrons which are absorbed by the titania to become an electric current.”

Dye solar cells are cheaper and require less energy to manufacture than silicon cells, since they don’t require expensive raw materials. They also produce electricity more efficiently, even in instances of “shadowing”, where overcast skies and shadows from trees and other buildings can cause a loss in collected power.

These solar windows will offer an enticing new option for skyscrapers and houses looking to break the zero-energy barrier – imagine the net power that a floor-to-ceiling glass-walled skyscraper could produce! Current cells have a rosy tint, although blue, grey and green cells are in the works. Dyesol says the panels will be commercially available over the next few years.

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