Latest Updates: solar energy RSS

• Marine Transport Goes Solar
  Srikant Rajan 04:47:02 pm on September 6, 2008 | 2 | # |
  Tags: marine transport, solar cells, solar energy, toyota

  In a distinct departure from solar energy’s historical use a Japanese based firm is planning to use solar power to propel a ship.This project would involve equipping a freighter capable of carrying 6400 automobiles with a mind boggling 328 solar panel.This ambitious project is estimated to cost $1.3 million and  would be used by Toyota Motor Corp for transporting vehicles.

  This is a bold attempt that would help in gauging potential roadblocks in commercialization of solar panels.The conditions in water would are different from land based utilities particularly on account of rapid shakes and thrusts due to ship motion.Thus use of solar panels in such conditions may allow for designing shock resistant and durable solar panels.However there wont be any solar powers ships in the sea soon as this system is expected to contribute just .2% of the ship propulsion power.Additionally due to a low power capacity there wouldn’t be any major impact on the carbon emission front too.

   

• Breezy Does it Easy !
  Srikant Rajan 01:31:33 pm on August 24, 2008 | 1 | # |
  Tags: new york, solar energy, wind power, windmill

  If Michael Bloomberg has his say ,then New York is in for a major image makeover.Bloomberg states that the cities power grid is being overtaxed and thus is producing several blackouts.H thus wants windmills on available spaces such as buildings,  bridges to harness wind energy.Bloomberg is planning to commission a study that would aid in identifying best possible manner of construction of these windmills and the expected power output from them.

  Quite recently , research was being pursued to find out methods to tap in the asphalt pavement to extract stored solar energy.Such approaches are no doubt eco friendly , but it is worth mentioning that the quantum of energy generated needs to be significant to undertake any additional construction and to compensate for loss of aesthetic appeal of present structures.

   

• Solar Energy , Just Under Your Feet !
  Srikant Rajan 05:34:24 am on August 17, 2008 | 1 | # |
  Tags: Asphalt, International Society for Asphalt Pavements in Zurich, solar array, solar collector, solar energy, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

  The solution to cost effective solar power may now be just under your feet.Anyone who has had a walk down the asphalt lane on a hot day will tell you that heat literally radiates from the pavement.Now researchers are trying to tap into this asphalt pavement as an effective source of heat collector.Through asphalt, the researchers are developing a solar collector that could turn roads and parking lots into ubiquitous—and inexpensive–sources of electricity and hot water.Researches are presently evaluating alternatives that will allow for construction of parking and paving lots in order to maximize their heat absorbing capabilities.

  Rajib Mallick, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering ,heading the research says “ Asphalt has a lot of advantages as a solar collector .For one, blacktop stays hot and could continue to generate energy after the sun goes down, unlike traditional solar-electric cells. In addition, there is already a massive acreage of installed roads and parking lots that could be retrofitted for energy generation, so there is no need to find additional land for solar farms.Roads and lots are typically resurfaced every 10 to 12 years and the retrofit could be built into that cycle. Extracting heat from asphalt could cool it, reducing the urban “ heat island  ” effect. Finally, unlike roof-top solar arrays, which some find unattractive, the solar collectors in roads and parking lots would be invisible “

   

• A “ Window “ that Produces Power
  Srikant Rajan 12:40:13 pm on July 14, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: covalent solar, dye solar, MIT, solar cells, solar concentrator, solar energy, solar window

  Now it may not be all that “ cool ” to close that window in your room ,if you are serious about reducing your power consumption and going green at the same time. Researchers at MIT are currently investigating a technology that allows power generation by adding certain additives to windows in buildings. This process utilizes solar cells that are placed at the glass edges as opposed to spreading them across the flat surface of the glass. This allows reduction in silicon used in solar cells, thus lowering their costs. A further improvement is a method to force sunlight to window edges (where solar cells are placed), filter and concentrate it to generate power.

  Silicon costs have been a major factor driving up the prices of solar energy. This approach eliminates requirement of large quantities of silicon in addition to doing away with supporting mirrors, lenses and trackers. However the quantity of power generated may not be adequate to prompt installation of this system. MIT researchers, however, plan to start a venture -  Covalent Solar to further refine this technology and anticipate a commercial product within 3 years.

   

• Solar Power for Consumer Electronics
  Srikant Rajan 12:12:21 pm on July 11, 2008 | 2 | # |
  Tags: consumer electronics, lcd, sharp, solar energy, solar panel, solar tv, thin film solar

  Sharp Corporation has unveiled a new design of an LCD TV that is powered by solar energy. This new prototype 26 inch LCD is powered by a solar panel of size equal to the actual set. The panel used is designed using Sharps “ triple-junction thin-film solar cell module ”. Adds Sharp, “ Thin-film solar cells use significantly less refined silicon than crystalline solar cells, plus the energy used when fabricating the solar cells is lower because of fewer processing steps. And the fact they use no rare or scarce metals, or materials regulated under the RoHS Directive, means they are highly cost-effective and offer a high level of environmental performance “

  Sharp claims that as compared to conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) model, this LCD prototype consumes only a quarter of power. Additionally this model provides an alternative to people currently not covered by the conventional power grid , an estimated 1.6 billion people across the globe in geographically inaccessible areas. This is a welcome move which establishes the viability of solar power in consumer electronics. However there remains the challenge of lowering the cost so that it provides a decent value proposition for consumers worldwide.

   

• India says no to Kyoto yes to Climate Plan
  Srikant Rajan 11:49:42 am on July 8, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: china, climate plan, emissions reduction, global warming, india, kyoto protocol, solar energy

  Developing countries such as India and china have come been repeatedly criticized for their voracious appetite for energy thus contributing to increased pollution and rising oil prices. According to Bush (the soon to be replaced US president!) the improvement in eating habits of people in “ poorer ” countries such as India is responsible for food grain shortage and not the biofuel policy mess that he has crafted. Now India plans to form eight commissions to promote solar energy, energy efficiency and water conservation to mitigate damage to environment.

  India has recently rejected a proposal by US and Japan to replace national limits on industrial pollution by Kyoto limits. Being a developing country India is not subject to Kyoto protocol. Further India has amply demonstrated its commitment to reduce pollution by implementing the above mentioned process. As Indian minister Mr. Shyam Saran says “ This does demonstrate that we are prepared to be responsible global citizens and join others in a collaborative effort to deal with climate change ” . India has further appealed industrialized nations for emissions cuts and also requested for technological and monetary assistance for developing indigenous carbon reduction measures.

   

• Hybrid Cars And Solar Power
  Srikant Rajan 04:25:04 pm on July 7, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: electric cars, Hybrid, prius, solar energy, toyota

  Toyota is planning to add a solar edge to its best selling hybrid car – the Prius. These panels supplied by Kyocera Corp would power part of air-conditioning in some of the high end gasoline versions of Prius.

  This latest move by Toyota comes at a time when it is facing an unprecedented demand for Prius and is unable to leverage its management expertise to jack up its production capability. Solar power is expensive and not a likely candidate for powering a hybrid car which already is significantly expensive than conventional fossil fuel powered vehicle. Additionally solar energy becomes feasible in large scale power generation, when spread over a couple of acres. As Kentaro Endo renewable energy specialist and director at Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry says “ Even if you laid solar panels out on the entire roof of a house, you only generate enough energy to run two hair dryers. ” This seems more like a PR exercise to placate disgruntled prius aspirants so that Toyota can buy some time to figure a way out to get more hybrids out and fast.

   

   

• Rollback of Fedral Stay on Solar Power
  Srikant Rajan 11:45:18 am on July 5, 2008 | 0 | # |
  Tags: bureau of land management, california, government regulation, solar energy, solar power

  The US government has lifted the temporary moratorium on building solar plants.Faced with a flood of proposals for building of solar plants on government land,the Bureau of Land Management US had previously enacted a two year ban on all projects ostensibly for studying the impact of such plants on the desert ecosystem.While earlier it seem that the govt was genuinely interested in analyzing the environmental impact of such plant ,this rollback seems to indicate otherwise.It now seems that the ban was just a means to arm itself with more manpower to study all the proposals it had in the pipeline.Worse, it also indicates that the exercise was meant as a PR stunt to convince environmentalists of its noble intentions.

  There can and must not be any two ways for achieving energy sufficiency.It is imperative to promote clean energy technologies ,but not at the cost of creating another danger to the environment.It is true that solar power is an attractive large scale power generation technology . However a sudden spurt of numerous such plants would undoubtedly impact the ecosystem which should be throughly analyzed to minimize the hazards.

   

• Federal Stay on Solar Power
  Srikant Rajan 09:07:05 am on June 28, 2008 | 2 | # |
  Tags: brightsource, california, government regulation, solar energy, solar power, Solel

  With demand for energy showing no signs of abatement ,Mojave desert in California is emerging as an attractive destination to solar power developers.Nearly 8 startups have proposed plans to use the desert land for creating small to medium capacity solar power plants.The federal government has now placed a moratorium on new solar projects on public land until it studies their environmental impact,which is expected to take 2 years.

  This temporary freeze on solar proposals has predictably caused a widespread concern among solar developers.Lee Wallach of Solel, a solar power company based in California says "The problem is that this is a very young industry, and the majority of us that are involved are young, struggling, hungry companies.This is a setback."However as unpalatable as this ban is ,it is essential to analyze the environmental impact of such plants on the fragile ecosystem of desert and neighboring areas.Two years is not a long time period to wait and the demand for energy isn’t going to fall in the coming years.However companies such as BrightSource, which already have secured permits to build solar plants would benefit immensely from his temporary ban.

   

• Intel To Develop Solar Technology
  Srikant Rajan 01:36:03 pm on June 17, 2008 | 1 | # |
  Tags: IBM, intel, PV, solar cell, solar energy, SpectraWatt, thin film solar

  Intel has announced a setting up of a new  start up SpectraWatt under its "New Business Initiatives" program.It has also announced a $50 million investment in SpectraWatt and is joined by Cogentrix Energy, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of  Goldman Sachs Group, PCG Clean Energy and Technology Fund (“CETF”) and Solon AG.SpectraWatt will manufacture and supply photovoltaic cells to solar module makers .It is expected that SpectraWatt will break ground on its manufacturing and technology development facility in Oregon in the second half of 2008 with first product shipments by mid-2009.Intel however was tightlipped when it came to which technologies it would focus upon and choose to say that it would focus on "advanced solar technologies" which can mean a whole bunch of things.

  This development comes in heels of IBM‘s decision to partner with Tokyo Ohka Kogyo to improve thin film solar modules.It seems both Intel and IBM plan to leverage their expertise in chip design for advancing solar technology.

   
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