Latest Updates: power grid RSS

• Power Grids To Get Smarter
  Srikant Rajan 02:10:54 pm on September 28, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: grid integration, gridPoint, Hybrid, plug in, power grid, renewable energy, v2green

  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.

   

• Hybrid Air Conditioners ?
  Srikant Rajan 04:56:50 pm on September 17, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: green energy, greentech, hybrid air conditioner, hybrid cars, ice bear, ice energy, power grid

  Heard about hybrid cars , now how about hybrid air conditioning ? This is the latest in a series of technologies to emerge in the rather bewildering domain of Greentech.Hybrid air conditioning essentially seeks to tap into the power grid late in the night at times of low demand (  oh no not again !!!!   )and put the excess power to some use.The “   Ice Bear   “ a patented concept from Ice Energy is the core of this new system.This device is similar to a three dimensional refrigerator but is around four feet high and four feet across with rows of coil filled with water.The system uses power from the grid during nighttime to freeze the water using a conventional refrigerant.During daytime this ice is used as a cooling medium for conventional air conditioners , thereby reducing the demand for power.

  Hybrid air conditioners are designed to work for about six hours, long enough to cover the peak demand times. One unit can cool down about 2,000 square feet of space using the power required to turn on a couple of high-wattage light bulbs.Ice Energy executive says  “   We’re like a plug-in air conditioner.Once the coils are frozen, they can satisfy a building’s demand for cool air during the day without using a traditional, power-hungry air compressor-based air conditioner.So we reduce the overall cost, we reduce greenhouse emissions and we mitigate the need for extra power plants, so really everybody wins   “