Double Pack – Wind Energy Plus Solar Power
Italian based Moncada Energy Group is planning a model of energy generation that would combine bot solar and wind power .Moncada plans to erect solar panels in its wind farm fields and hopes to draw power when the sun shines during the day and in the night when the wind intensity is higher as compared to day time.Salvatore Moncada , executive says “ The panels will be used for our solar farm and placed under the towers in our wind farms. This will allow both the panels and the wind turbines—55 meters tall, with 40-meter long blades—to use the same infrastructure in place to collect energy ”
This double harvest technique would add 400 MW to 105 MW of energy from wind farms , but the power output would vary as sometimes solar panels could be hampered by presence of turbine shadows.
Tags: Moncada energy group, solar energy, solar panel, wind energy, wind farm, wind turbineBalloon Type Solar Concentrator
Cool Earth Solar has a balloon up in air.No, it isn’t the kind of balloon you would like to play with it, but the kind that concentrates solar power to generate electricity.The company uses an inflatable thin-film balloon(Solar concentrator) that upon inflation focuses sunlight onto photovoltaic cell held at its focal point.Technically speaking this design should produce the maximum amount of power concentration as it focuses sunlight from all directions. A single cell in this concentrator generates about 300 to 400 times the electricity of a cell without a concentrator.So does this mean there would be no more rows and rows of solar panels in the field but just one balloon hovering in the air?
Well Cool Earth is constructing a prototype plant in Livermore to test out different solar designs and get some proof of this technology.This winter, Cool Earth will launch its first commercial-grade power plant. The plant will be relatively small— only 1.4 MW— but Cool Earth plans on launching a full-size plant (10 to 30 MW) by next summer.
Tags: photovoltaic, PV, solar cell, solar concentrator, solar energy, solar panel, thinfilm solarChina Plans to Go Green
The dragon is looking for new sources of energy to fuel its furious flight.Chinese government has acknowledged the importance of clean energy and is investigating its abundant source of hydropower.Chinas hydro potential ranks the first in the world.The country’s hydropower installation reached 145,000 MW IN 2007 and is now targeting 190,000 MW for 2010. Other source that look promising for China are the global favorites, namely wind and solar energy.The nation’s total wind installation reached nearly 6,000 mw in capacity by 2007. The government has doubled the wind target for 2010 from 5,000 MW to 10,000 MW.Adds China Wind Energy Association Vice President Shi Pengfei “ The new target is still conservative. Actual installation may reach 20,000 mw by the time ”
Tags: china, green tech, hydropower, solar energy, wind powerSolar Powered Refrigerator
After having a solar powered LCD television, now it is a solar powered refrigerator that is on the cards.A MIT spin-off Promethean Power Systems has secured funds to develop a solar powered fridge for rural India by the year 2009.The device uses thermoelectric cooling effect as opposed to freon based cooling, which in turn allows for reduced dependence on diesel generators.The device uses power form a hybrid compressor for cooling effect in addition to 3-5 solar panels.
Promethean estimates that the fridge costs 66 percent less to operate because of the ability to remotely monitor and diagnose problems, as well as the need for fewer fossil fuels.Additionally the design of the fridge allows it to run off the grid and can work for farmers living in rural India who have limited access to centralized grid based power.
Tags: grid based, solar panel, solar power, solar refrigeratorDecreased Demand for Hybrids
There is a crisis on hand.Now I am not talking about the wall street , I am talking about the rippling down effect of the wall street on the US economy , into varied sectors such as the automobile sector.The hybrid vehicle segment for instance is seeing a decline in sales as compared to last year.The demand for hybrids is strong although not quite as much as when crude was soaring to new heights,but the demand for automobiles as such is decreasing.However , as I had highlighted before the liquidity crunch has made it harder for consumers to access credit.Also , number of hybrid shoppers have decreased, and many who had earlier purchased hybrids are finding it tough to make payments.So not many are buying ,those want to buy don’t have funds and those who have bought cant pay !!!! (hybrid prime in hand ??? )
Tags: credit rating, greentech, hybrid vehicles, liquidity crunch, wall streetIs That a Yes to Offshore Drilling ?
Historically , congress has enacted bans in in offshore drilling along pacific and atlantic coasts due to environmental concerns and impact on tourism industry.Now the US senate has voted to open waters off the atlantic and pacific coasts to oil and gas drilling.The purpose of this legislation is however not clear as it allows for drilling in areas 50 miles away from sea, into areas that contain just 5 % of the estimated reserves.Even this drilling is subject to coastal states agreement which may not be very forthcoming as this legislation does not give them any share from royalty earned by energy production.
Tags: atlantic coast, energy legislation, offshore oil, oil drilling, USPower Grids To Get Smarter
Grid integration technology is slowly gaining a foothold in the much ignored domain of energy transmission.GridPoint has raised $120 million to bolster its “ smart grid “ technology development .It has also acquired V2Green , an enterprise engaged in providing technology to utilities for managing electricity demands of plug-in vehicles.GridPoint termed this acquisition as “ first step in an acquisition strategy to be fueled by the $120 million investment from undisclosed previous investors “
The company has built what it calls the SmartGrid Platform, which gives utilities more insight into the grid so that they can, for instance, strategically discharge and store power according to demand. Such development can act as a potential push for advancing the commercialization of plug in hybrids.
Tags: grid integration, gridPoint, Hybrid, plug in, power grid, renewable energy, v2greenSenate Extends Alternative Energy Tax Credits
US senate has approved $17 billion in renewable energy tax credits for wind and solar companies.This legislation extends investment tax credits till year 2016 for the solar power industry.Notably the bill also gave utilities, the advantage of solar investment tax credits for the first time.Wind however received just an year long extension of tax credits.
This legislation is welcome as it would ensure some breathing space for the solar industry.Recently there were a lot of apprehensions regarding the extension of credits which actually lead some small solar companies to lay of workers.Additionally the tax credit could also help US solar industry to gain a competitive edge in the global solar market.
Tags: senate, soalr energy, soalr panel, tax credits, US soalr sector, wind energyBillion Dollar Bailout Impact on Greentech
US economy is in midst of one of the biggest turmoil’s in the financial sector. The administration is proposing a 700 billion package to ease the banks of their bad loans. So what does this mean for investment in Greentech ? Going by the present economic trends , jobless claims are at a high and more importantly the oil price is slowly moving up on the assumption that the bailout may actually boost up the economy. This bailout may end up benefiting the big banks , who were hit hardest by the housing bubble and that too marginally. However just as the war on Iraq failed to find any weapons of mass destruction, this bailout is unlikely to do the economy any real good. It is however probable that increasing oil prices may increase focus on Greentech , but the liquidity crunch may make it difficult for the greenies to pursue their research.
As Jeff Sparrow editor of Overland remarks “ President Bush and his supporters can find $700 billion to spend on a war of choice. Almost overnight, they can stump up an equivalent amount to stop Adam Smith’s invisible hand from throttling their cronies in the banking sector. Such extraordinary sums, if devoted to public transport or alternative energies or scores of other socially useful outlays, would go a long way to ending America’s dependence on carbon fuels “
Tags: greentech, housing bubble, investment, liquidity crunch, oil pricesIf you Thought Carbon was Bad, How About Methane?
The amount of methane stored beneath the Arctic is estimated to contain a greater carbon content than the global coal reserves.And what happens when that methane starts to escape ? Well for starters methane is 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse(GHG) gas and could significantly accelerate global warming.The main reason for methane escaping from underground reserves is the melting of the permafrost layer in the arctic on account of global warming.
The Arctic region as a whole has seen a 4C rise in average temperatures over recent decades and a dramatic decline in the area of the Arctic Ocean covered by summer sea ice.this in turn has caused fissures in the seabed causing trapped methane to escape.In some areas the release is so rapid that methane could not dissolve in the seawater but escaped as bubbles to the sea surface.These methane “ chimneys ” could cause a spiraling effort by accelerating global warming which would further cause melting of ice sheets and more escape of methane .
Tags: arctic region, ghg, global warming, green house gases, methane reserves, permafrost
