Will Solar Trees Sprout in Parking Lots

Part of the fine print in solar power systems is that whatever wattage number is quoted, it is usually “peak watts,’’ or the amount of electricity that the panel would deliver when the sun is directly overhead. For the rest of the daylight hours, the output is lower; a graph showing minute-by-minute production resembles a sharp mountain peak.

One way to do better is to mount the panel on a metal backbone and let it tilt over the course of the day, keeping itself pointed towards the sun from sunrise to sunset. This is called a single-axis tracker. Better yet is a two-axis tracker, which also adjusts the angle to compensate for how high the sun is in the sky. Then the graph showing output would resemble a plateau. But all of this adds cost.

Envision Solar, a San Diego company, has found a niche in the solar world by building shaded parking areas with solar panels fixed to the roofs. The panels do not track the sun, but they are angled to take advantage of it: they are usually tilted to the south.

Read the full article: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/will-solar-trees-sprout-in-parking-lots/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Solar energy’s dirty little secret

Solar energy’s dirty little secret
by Todd Woody
6 Jan 2010
Link to full article below

Solar energy has long been one of the great hopes for fighting climate change and liberating the world from fossil fuels. And it’s easy to see why solar has captured the collective imagination: All those photovoltaic panels look so shiny, futuristic, clean, and green.

A cauldron. Producing solar PV modules involves a witch’s brew of toxic chemicals. And spooky fog for good measure.That’s not quite the case. Any form of energy production has its dirty side and solar is no exception. While its impact is nowhere near that of coal-fired power plants, photovoltaic modules are made from a witch’s brew of toxic chemicals. Arsenic, cadmium telluride, hexafluoroethane, lead, and polyvinyl fluoride are just some of the chemicals used to manufacture various types of solar cells.

None of this poses much, if any, threat during a solar panel’s working life. Solar modules—which are linked together to form a solar panel—for instance, are solid state and encased in glass or other protective material to keep them dry. The problem, as the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition pointed out in a 2009 report, comes at the beginning and end of a panel’s life. Toxins potentially can be released during the manufacturing process—putting workers at risk—and when panels finally hit the scrap heap decades later.

Please read the full article: http://www.grist.org/article/2010-01-06-solars-dirty-little-secret

VIDEO: 5 cheap ways to go solar

5 cheap ways to go solar
By Bankrate.com

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/video/5-cheap-ways-to-go-solar.aspx

The New Wave of Solar-Thermal Energy

The New Wave of Solar-Thermal Energy
By Michael Scott Moore
July 22, 2009 Link to full article below

A consortium of 12 firms wants to provide Europe with up to 15 percent of its energy from African solar-thermal sources by about 2020.Desertec Foundation

Where did Desertec come from (and why did it take so long)?

Large-scale solar power may still be a shimmering mirage on the desert's edge, but since last week, when a group of European companies laid out a half-trillion-dollar plan for a solar power plant in North Africa, it's a mirage with international financing. Siemens and a consortium of 11 other firms want to provide Europe with up to 15 percent of its energy from African solar-thermal sources by about 2020.

To read the full article:
http://www.miller-mccune.com/europe/the-new-wave-of-solar-thermal-energy-1351

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Green Dreamboats - A Rising Tide of Hybrid and Solar-Powered Boats

Green Dreamboats: A Rising Tide of Hybrid and Solar-Powered Boats
By Don Wallace Link to full article below

Until recently, boating was one of the least green things one could do. Powerboats guzzle fuel at a rate that makes a HUMMER look like a teetotaler. (We’re talking gallons per minute, not per mile.) As for sailboats, call them yachting’s dirty little secret: They all need smoky, leaky engines and generators to power their increasing amenities: lighting, refrigerators, stoves, air-conditioning, TVs, hot tubs.

And so began the Great Tinkering. All through the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, boats sprouted windmills, solar panels, solar-heated showers and underwater electricity-generating propellers.

In the late 1990s a French company, Lagoon, outfitted a sailing catamaran with electric motors to give vacation renters a noiseless option for inshore cruising.

To read the full article: http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4740

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5 cheap ways to go solar

5 cheap ways to go solar

Don't have $50,000 to invest in solar? Here are ways that the rest of us can harness energy from the sun.

http://www.bankrate.com/dls/news/pf/Dec08-cheap-solar-video-a1.asp

A Solar Revolution May Be Coming to Your Town

A Solar Revolution May Be Coming to Your Town
By Mariah Blake, Washington Monthly
April 11, 2009

http://www.alternet.org/story/136152/

This winter, as Congress was scrambling to pass the stimulus package, the bottom fell out of the renewable energy sector -- the very industry that lawmakers have held out as our best hope of salvaging the economy. Trade groups like the American Wind Energy Association, which as recently as December was forecasting "another record-shattering year of growth," began predicting that new installations would plunge by 30 to 50 percent. Solar panel manufacturers that had been blazing a trail of growth announced a wave of layoffs. Some have since cut their workforces in half, as stock prices tumble and plans for new green energy projects stall.

But there is one place where capital is still flowing: Gainesville, Florida. Even as solar panels are stacking up in warehouses around the country, this city of 120,000 is gearing up for a solar power boom, fueled by homegrown businesses and scrappy investors who have descended on the community and are hiring local contractors to install photovoltaic panels on rooftops around town.

To read the full article:
http://www.alternet.org/story/136152/

Solar to Go: A Mobile Solar Generator Makes Going Off-Grid a Little Easier

Solar to Go
A Mobile Solar Generator Makes Going Off-Grid a Little Easier
By Lydia Breen

http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4567

John and Victoria Mc-Bride fell in love with their 100-acre California ranch the minute they set eyes on it. The property, located in the hills of northern San Luis Obispo County’s wine country, had a stunning view overlooking Santa Margarita Lake. Signs of wildlife—eagles, mountain lions, bears, coyotes and foxes—were everywhere. There was even room for a corral big enough to hold their dozen or so horses. The land had everything they ever wanted—except electricity.

Undeterred by the hardships of rustic living, the McBride’s bought their dream property and set up a modest shelter where they could spend weekends taking family and friends on remote horseback adventures. Their power needs were met by a gas generator and a wood-burning stove. But after six years spent hauling gas fuel from a distant town, the relationship with their noisy, belching generator went sour. Alternative options were limited. The price tag for extending power lines a half mile up the road to their property was set at $50,000.

The McBride’s began to wonder if there were other off-grid solutions that could meet their power needs. During a trip to the county fair, they happened across a booth run by Travis Semmes, a young conservationist and solar entrepreneur. Semmes showed them his portable mobile solar trailer, a device born from an idea he had while working with his father, a contractor who builds solar homes. The McBrides and Semmes struck up a conversation that turned into a friendship. A few months later, Semmes drove one of his brand-new units onto the ranch—a trailer with batteries and inverter inside. He disconnected the McBride’s sputtering old diesel generator, flipped up the solar panels on the trailer, connected some wires to the house, and the McBrides began a new relationship with the sun.

Because the couple lives modestly, they have more than enough electricity to run their kitchen appliances, space heater, lights, stereo, computer and wide-screen television. A wood-burning stove gets them through the coldest nights of the year. Their gas generator has only been used once in two years.

Semmes’ company, Mobile Solar Power, provided the first maintenance lesson: filling the batteries with water once a month, cleaning the solar panels during the hot, dusty summer months and equalizing the batteries twice a year. Semmes says the upkeep is relatively simple, but it’s not for everyone. “If you don’t remember to put air in your tires or add oil to an engine,” he says, “you probably shouldn’t buy one of our units.”

John McBride estimates it will take about a decade to recover his costs. In 15 years, it will be time to think about replacing the large 24-volt, 1,640-amp-hour battery bank, at a cost of roughly $7,000.

“We don’t mind a rustic life; it allows us not to be dependent on anyone,” he says. “I highly recommend the solar generator for anyone who lives out in the middle of nowhere. If we ever move, we can take the unit with us. We wanted to go solar because we like peace and quiet. And when everyone in town is losing their power in storms, we don’t.”

To read the full article: http://www.emagazine.com/view/?4567

Easy to Install Solar Panels Are City Friendly and Affordable

Easy To Install Solar Panels Are City Friendly and Affordable
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin
03.11.09

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/03/easy-install-affordable-solar-panels.php?dcitc=weekly_nl

Solar start-up Veranda Solar
http://www.verandasolar.com/
wants to change the world of solar power the way Apple changed computers. Veranda got a big head-start on financing the start-up when the company was awarded 100,000€ as runner-up in the PICNIC Green Challenge, funded by the Dutch postcode lottery. The solar panels Veranda uses are nothing special. The prototypes were developed in cooperation with Stanford University and SunPower Corp. No new photovoltaic advances, no biomimicry.

But these solar panels are offering something new to the market. Check the photo over the fold to see what makes Veranda solar special and decide for yourself if they have what it takes for success.

Veranda Solar panels are plug-and-play. They can be installed in hours, with just a screwdriver, and without expensive solar specialists. The ease of installation on balconies and hanging out of windows will appeal to sustainably-oriented city dwellers, although solar panels will certainly join clotheslines and television dishes in the architectural eyesore wars. But this is exactly the angle Veranda Solar will use to compete. Veranda intends to win the wars by selling -- in the words of Travis Bradford, president of solar-research firm Prometheus Institute: "sexy solar."

The solar panels can be flat-packed for efficient shipping and come with everything needed for operation. At $400 for a 60 to 70 watt ($600 for a panel with inverter and cables), the Veranda solar panels are affordable, or at least in line with the cost of many electronic toys that are enjoyed by the people in Veranda's target market, but not beating the market benchmark of $1 per watt. However, Veranda can appeal to lower income buyers with the expandability concept. Consumers can start with one panel, adding additional panels later simply by snapping them on. Veranda also plans to use financing models that promote the accessibility of the technology, such as leasing the panels through utility companies.

CEO Capra J'neva is quoted in Salon:

We interact with real people to create our products, so we are reducing market risk by understanding the real needs of people.

Solar Dish Collects, Concentrates Solar Energy by Factor of 1000

Solar Dish Collects, Concentrates Solar Energy by Factor of 1,000
by David Gutierrez

Source: Natural News - Solar Dish Collects, Concentrates Solar Energy by Factor of 1,000


(NaturalNews) A successful test has been carried out of a new prototype solar dish that concentrates solar rays by 1,000 times, creating what inventor Doug Wood has called "the most efficient solar collector in existence."

The device is a 12-foot-wide dish made from thin, mirrored aluminum tubing and strips of mirrored glass. Water runs through the center of the dish in a coil of tubing, which is painted black for maximum heat absorption.

The collector is so effective at focusing light that when it is pointed directly at the sun, the water in the middle instantly vaporizes into steam. The prototype has also been used to set a plank of wood on fire, and researchers believe that it should be able to generate enough heat to melt steel.

Wood has signed over the rights to the device's design to a team of MIT students, who built the prototype and have launched a company to mass produce the devices. The company, RawSolar, hopes to use heat generated by the collector to produce steam for electricity generation, industrial processing, or heating or cooling buildings.

Wood spoke approvingly of the changes that the students had made to his design

"They really have simplified this and made it user-friendly, so anybody can build it," he said.

Unlike with many alternative energy sources, large-scale production is not required to make the solar dishes cost-efficient, Wood said. Because the materials to make the device are so cheap and because larger dishes require a larger, more expensive support structure, small dishes actually costs only one-third as much as large ones for every unit of collecting area.

"I've looked for years at a variety of solar approaches, and this is the cheapest I've seen," said David Pelly of MIT. "And the key thing in scaling it globally is that all of the materials are inexpensive and accessible anywhere in the world."

Sources for this story include: www.foxnews.com; web.mit.edu.

homemade backup solar power supply =)!

[note: The following is a blog from http://hiloliving.blogspot.com and I am posting it here because it is SO AWESOME!! =)



We designed a portable micro solar system to provide emergency backup electrical power if the local power system goes down. In Silicon Valley we had a small Honda gas-powered generator used for emergency backup power for our computers and refrigerator. Power outages in the Bay Area were common and we used the generator many times a year. Since we live in sunny Hawaii, instead of the foggy Bay area, and the cost of gas and electricity is substantially higher here, we decided to make a portable micro solar system to use as our back up power supply and get the added benefit of reducing our electric bills by using it to generate power for everyday use like fans and other appliances.

About 15 years ago we had a small solar system at a mountain cabin in Colorado that was similar in scale to our design, with one solar panel and two batteries. We used it to power compact florescent bulbs for light at night and it did a fine job. Although the costs have remained about the same, our newly designed system has about 300% more battery storage and the electric controls are vastly better. Battery and solar panel technology have made a quantum leap in the last 15 years!

One of the challenges we ran into while cobbling together the system was finding all the parts and figuring out how to assemble them. After collecting parts for over 6 months, we wondered if wiring them together would cause the batteries to explode or get us electrocuted in the process. We convinced our favorite brilliant mechanic friend to come over and show us how to hook the system up without getting killed and thanks to him, the system is now up and running.

With the current state of solar products, a person with a simple understanding of electricity cannot easily or safely build a solar system on their own and the design we are describing is experimental. Hopefully, a venture capitalist or company will fund the manufacturing of affordable, portable solar power systems vastly better than this one. We want a light weight portable solar system completely assembled and ready to go (as are gas and diesel home power systems today) so we can pick one up at Home Depot, take it out of the box, and get power from it immediately.

We strongly advise that you do not assemble a solar system without help from a licensed electrician. The improvements in batteries and solar panels mean there is much more electrical power in the system and a corresponding higher risk for injury.


The Micro Solar System

Here are the components of the system, their cost, and where we bought them.

At Hilo Propane and Gas we bought a Mitsubishi solar panel for $792;






a Morningstar Prostar-50 Solar Charge Controller for $260;








and two Trojan T-650 deep cycle 6 Volt batteries and a Series cable for $300.
The batteries are sitting on a water hose cart we bought for $65 at Home Depot in Hilo. Home Depot cut plywood to size for the batteries to sit on for $9.
The blue wire was also purchased there for $23.







At Solar Works in Ocean View we bought a Coleman 800 Watt Power Inverter for $135.




At Ace Hardware in Hilo we bought plastic wire connectors for $5.




It isn’t pretty, but the system works and the cost for everything was about $1500 including the cart to make the heavy batteries transportable.



Here is a wiring chart of the experimental system.
In this design, we have not solved how to ground the solar panel or power inverter (in case of a lighting strike). Grounds typically involve pounding a long copper rod into the ground to hook the grounding wire. That implementation would defeat the portability of the system and since we are on solid lava rock, it is not possible to pound a rod into the ground. The solar panel is large and heavy to move in and out each day and though the batteries are on a cart, they are so heavy it is difficult to push. And the connectors to the controller are difficult to work with as the solar power wire is spun so that it is a challenge to attach it to the controller.

We are interested in making improvements to the system like utilizing new battery types that are lighter making the system more portable. There are new types of solar panels available that are adaptable in size and shape. We are eager to hear about portable solar systems that others are working on.

New Thin Film Solar Panels Could Revolutionize Market

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/new-modular-thin-film-solar-photovoltaic-rooftop-panels-solyndra.php

Building on couple of topics which are perennial TreeHugger favorites (cool roofs and thin-film solar photovoltaics)... Fremont, California-based Solyndra has announced the launch of a new type of rooftop solar array which the company says could revolutionize the market for commercial rooftop solar arrays. This is what it’s all about:

Thin-Film Coated Tubes Gather Light From All Sides
What Solyndra has done is develop a thin-film solar PV module consisting of cylindrical tubes that when placed on a rooftop, and assisted by a light colored roof, is capable of collecting solar energy from both sides of the module. The units are lightweight, flat-mounted on the roof, require no roof mounting hardware beyond the brackets which prop the units up from the roof surface, and are attached to one another by clipping the units together at the edges.

More Rooftop Covered Than Traditional Systems
Solyndra touts the superior energy gathering abilities of their new system:

The Solyndra system’s ability to cover more roof and capture more light results in more annual solar electricity generation. Solyndra panels employ cylindrical modules which capture sunlight across a 360-degree photovoltaic surface capable of converting direct, diffuse and reflected sunlight into electricity. This self-tracking design allows Solyndra's PV systems to capture more sunlight than traditional flat-surfaced solar panels, which require costly tilted mounting devices to improve the capture of direct light, offer poor collection of diffuse light and fail to collect reflected light from rooftops or other installation surfaces.

Installation in One-Third the Time
Solyndra explains why:

Solyndra's system enables its customers to realize significant savings on installation costs. Because wind blows through Solyndra's panels and horizontal mounting is optimum, simple, non-penetrating mounting hardware is used in the Solyndra system. No roof penetrations, attachments or ballast are needed. Panels and mounts are quickly attached together, enabling installations to be done in one third of the time of conventional PV installations. After the installation is complete, these same attributes enable Solyndra systems to be easily moved for relocation or roof servicing.

Cost? Durability? Minimum Size?
A number of questions immediately popped up in my mind: How much do the units cost? What’s the minimum number of units which can be installed? Would this be suitable for lat-roofed apartment buildings for example? How much power does each unit produce? Durability? My brother’s metal roof in Texas got dented by hail; what would that do to one of these panels? And if some of the tubes get broken does the whole thing have to come apart (picturing one of the units in the middle of the array going down and having to disassemble the whole thing...)? I’m sure readers will have more...

According to Solyndra’s press release, the company currently has $1.2 billion worth of multi-year contracts with customers in Europe and the United States; and has already begun shipping the first of its units.

More (including a video showing the installation procedure) at :: Solyndra

all images: Solyndra

Thin-Film Solar Photovoltaics
New Thin-Film Solar Cell Coater Reaches 1GW Annual Output
550 Megawatts: A Thin-Film Solar Record Worth Announcing!
Nanosolar Raises $300 Million, Plans to Further Accelerate Production

Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:

• Japan To Subsidize Solar Panels For Your House
• BioSolar Announces BioPolymer "Backsheet" for Solar Photovoltaics
• SkyFuel Making Solar 25% Cheaper
• National Grid Wants Your Roof! Utility Looking to Install Solar Panels on Customer’s Homes & Businesses