Archive for the ‘Solar’ Category

If you’re thinking about ways to make your own power and getting off the grid even partially, you have several readily accessible options for which the Government is willing to give you a tax credit of 30% of your cost. Making your own Power does not mean that you have to generate “all” the power for your home, there are options for every taste and pocketbook.

1. Photovoltaic  Systems
2. Residential Small Wind Turbines
3. Solar Water Heating
4. Geo Thermal Heat Pump

SOLAR Power Systems: Going Solar used to bring to mind expensive and cumbersome equipment, that would make it feasible only for those with deep pockets and dedicated environmentalists. But as time has passed Solar Power has become more and more affordable and less and less intrusive.

• Photovoltaic Systems: solar electric or photovoltaic technology uses the sun’s energy to make electricity for the whole home and possible more that you can sell back to your Local Energy Company. In essence you become your own utility company. Solar Modules are an investment and add immediate and long-term value to your home.

• Solar Water Heating: can cut your water heating bills in half. Solar water heaters come in a variety of designs, all including a collector and storage tank, and all using the sun’s thermal energy to heat water. A recent study done on Solar Water Heating systems shows that it has a payback period of just two years.
  • Type of collectors and the circulation system.
    • Batch collectors
    • Flat-plate collectors
    • Evacuated tube collectors
    • Direct systems
    • Closed-loop, or indirect
    • Active, or forced-circulation
    • Passive systems
  • DIY Solar Projects

Residential Small Wind Turbines:

• A wind turbine system, is installed on top of a tall tower, collects kinetic energy from the wind and converts it to electricity that is compatible with a home’s electrical system. Typically it can lower your electricity bill by 50 to 90 percent.
• DIY Wind Power Projects

Geo Thermal Heat Pump:

• A Geo Thermal Heat Pump uses the earth as either a source of heat in the winter, or as a coolant in the summer. This design takes advantage of moderate temperatures in the shallow ground to boost efficiency and reduce operational costs.

Residential Renewable Energy Tax Credits

Consumers who install solar energy systems (including solar water heating and solar electric systems), small wind systems, geothermal heat pumps, and residential fuel cell and microturbine systems can receive a 30% tax credit for systems placed in service before December 31, 2016; the previous tax credit cap no longer applies. For More Info Energy Department.

If making your own Power is not an option for you right now, you can direct your energy dollars towards renewables by purchasing “green power.” This may be an option through your utility company, check out the EPA’s Green Power Locator.

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If your in Atlanta the week of Oct 7th stop by the GreenBusiness Works Expo. It is being held Oct 7th and 8th. at the Cobb Galeria Center in Atlanta Georgia. It is a comprehensive environmental EXPO designed to educate corporations and municipalities about sustainability programs, services and products available to support their environmental stewardship efforts.

If you are in any of these professions or positions then you should attend or send someone from your company to represent.

• Corporate Sustainability Officers and Environmental Managers
• US Mayors and other Elected Officials
• Facility Managers, Supervisors and Building Service Contractors
• Hospitality Industry Leaders including Hotel, Restaurant and Entertainment District Managers
• Development Community
  • Developers, Builders, and Contractors Architects and Engineers
  • Commercial and Residential Interior Designers

• Facility Managers, Supervisors and Building Service Contractors
• Hospitality Industry Leaders including Hotel, Restaurant and Entertainment District Managers
• Meeting and Event Planners
• Bankers and Environmental Financiers and Real Estate Brokers
• Warehouse, Plant and Project Managers
• Fleet Directors and Managers
• Marketing and Communication Officers
• Human Resource Managers

Available at the expo will be Speakers, Roundtable Experts, and the trade show exhibition.

Keynote speakers will be:

Scott Seydel
President, The Seydel Companies
Board of Directors Chairperson, Global Green USA

and

Andy Savitz
Sr. Consultant, Sustainable Business Strategies

Attend and get your business involved to learn from leading experts who have already practiced sustainability successfully through exclusive educational programs, networking opportunities, best practices, leading case studies, and products and services that support corporate and community environmental stewardship efforts and positively impact ROI.

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The deterrent for going solar is often times the up front costs of installing solar panels on a house or a commercial building where it can take years to repay itself in energy savings. At the commercial level it is even more difficult to make solar a viable consideration because the costs of energy are typically passed on to the tenants.

A start up from Silicon Valley  has come up with a technology that would bring the cost of solar power down to be in competition with fossil fuels like coal fired electricity. Their innovation:  SUNRGI’s “concentrated photovoltaic” system, uses lenses to magnify the power of the sun 2000 times, letting it produce as much electricity as standard panels but with a far smaller system. They plan to start producing panels in 2009 that would put out electricity at a cost of 7c per kwh compared to the 20c-30c per kwh which is the standard for solar systems that are on the market today and is the reason why solar systems are not as popular as they could be. Everyone likes the idea of solar, no one likes the costs.  More info.

Another way of getting solar energy into the mix. In order to help commercial building owners take a serious look at going green, there are companies that have come up with a way to finance these energy-saving improvements. What they do is contract with building owners to provide energy at a fixed cost for 10 years. Once they have a contract they invest the capital in the building for the energy-saving improvements. Of course these companies are in it to make a profit and make their money by creating a space between what the owner pays for the energy and what they pay the utility companies. But most importantly they provide a way for commercial building owners to go green, which is something that was not attainable for them otherwise. I read about this in Entrepreneur Mag and they mentioned Transcend Equity Develepement Corp as providing this service.

Another innovation I came across is Solar Panel Paint, yep you heard right. Researchers at Swansea University in the UK and at the University of Toronto are developing a new, eco-friendly technology that could foreseeable make every rooftop an electricity generating machine, for that matter any surface the sun shines on. They have come up with a way to use materials other than conventional solar cells that are more efficient at collecting low light radiation. They are developing an efficient solar cell system that can be applied to steel building products through the use of paint. Imagine being able to paint on your electricity… More info… Even More Info…

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On Monday January 21st, the World Future Energy Summit was be held in Abu Dhabi, at which time the plan for Masdar City, the greenest city on earth was unveiled.

Masdar City will be the first carbon-neutral, waste-free, car-free city.

The city will consist of six-square kilometers (2.3 sq miles), that will eventually house about 50,000 residents and 1500 businesses. They will start construction in the first quarter of 2008, and will take approximately 10 years to complete, although it’s firsts residents will be able to move in by 2009.

No Pollution, No Waste… Now how will they accomplish this you ask? Here’s a list:

• ZERO CARBON: 100 per cent of energy supplied by renewable energy – Photovoltaics, concentrated solar power, wind, waste to energy and other technologies
• ZERO WASTE: 99 per cent diversion of waste from landfill (includes waste reduction measures, re-use of waste wherever possible, recycling, composting, waste to energy)
• SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT: Zero carbon emissions from transport within the city; implementation of measures to reduce the carbon cost of journeys to the city boundaries (through facilitating and encouraging the use of public transport, vehicle sharing, supporting low emissions vehicle initiatives)
• SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS: Specifying high recycled materials content within building products; tracking and encouraging the reduction of embodied energy within materials and throughout the construction process; specifying the use of sustainable materials such as Forest Stewardship Council certified timber, bamboo and other products
• SUSTAINABLE FOOD: Retail outlets to meet targets for supplying organic food and sustainable and or fair trade products
• SUSTAINABLE WATER: Per capita water consumption to be at least 50 per cent less than the national average; all waste water to be re-used
• HABITATS AND WILDLIFE: All valuable species to be conserved or relocated with positive mitigation targets
  
• CULTURE AND HERITAGE: Architecture to integrate local values.
• EQUITY AND FAIR TRADE: Fair wages and working conditions for all workers (including construction) as defined by international labour standards
• HEALTH AND HAPPINESS: Facilities and events for every demographic group
  

Source: The Masdar Initiative

C/Net News.com: Masdar City…

abu dhabi masdar city the greenist city on earth World Future Energy Summit

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I came across a post on Ecoble.com, titled the World’s Coolest Solar Collecting Building, so I had to take a peak. Unbelievable, the building is spectacular. Take a look at the other pictures on the Ecoble.com.

Leave it to the Japanese to come up with a Solar Powered Building that not only gathers it’s power from the sun but, acts as an enormous Billboard, is an awesome architectural design, and includes a Solar Lab.

Built by Sanyo in Japan this beauty is built on a steel frame and solid trusses, with an overall length of 315m (945feet) and heights reaching 37.1m (111feet) on the ends. Earthquake resistant to a level 7 on the Japanese Scale.

But the most important point of this building is the power it can yield, solar power that is. It uses 5,046 panels made of Single-Crystal Silicon Solar Cells, capable of producing a Max load of 630Kw, that’s an annual electrical output of 530,000 KWh. This is a Fossil Fuel savings equivalent to 7,145 kerosene cans (128,610 liters) per year and a CO₂ reduction 95 t-C/year.

That’s pretty cool in itself.

ecoble.com environment Solar Ark solar power

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