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Ultra-Thin Modular Solar Panels Energize Any Building | inhabitat
Sulfurcell is the producer of a new kind of modular solar panel that add energy-generating capabilities to any building. The super-thin panels are entirely self contained, so they don’t require any substructure, and they can be applied to new buildings as well as retrofitted old buildings to provide plenty of power.
via age-of-ecology
“A Santa Monica, Calif., company called SolarReserve has taken a step toward making that a reality, filing an application with California regulators to build a 150-megawatt solar farm that will store seven hours’ worth of the sun’s energy in the form of molten salt.
Heat from the salt can be released when it’s cloudy or at night to create steam that drives an electricity-generating turbine.
The Rice Solar Energy Project, to be built in the Sonoran Desert east of Palm Springs, will “generate steady and uninterrupted power during hours of peak electricity demand,” according to SolarReserve’s license application.
So-called dispatchable solar farms would in theory allow utilities to avoid spending billions of dollars building fossil fuel power plants that are fired up only a few times a year when electricity demand spikes, like on a hot day.”
Solar Powered Monorail System For Bologna | inhabitat
Iosa Ghini Associati has designed the Energy Belt, a solar-powered monorail system for Bologna, Italy that will connect the airport to the city center.
via makdreams: age-of-ecology
“Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG) announced today it is partnering with Houston-based Standard Renewable Energy (SRE) to install solar panels on approximately 75 Chipotle restaurants over the next year. In all, Chipotle has committed to panels that will produce 500 kilowatt hours of electricity, making Chipotle the largest direct producer of solar energy in the restaurant industry.”
via reuters.com
“Philadelphia company SRS Energy has developed the Solé Power Tile, a roof tile designed to sustainably convert sunlight into electricity without compromising aesthetics. The dark blue tiles, manufactured by SRS Energy, are jointly branded and distributed by US Tile and specifically designed to be compatible with the clay roof tiles manufactured by US Tile.”
via brettjohn
Soup posted a map this morning of the land area necessary to power the world with solar panels. If there were collectors on some small-looking percentage of the Earth’s land mass, it would be enough. Some researchers have calculated world roof-top area, and it’s close to the right number.
I noticed that someone reblogged and asked why we weren’t doing this. It is a good question.
I am an energy scientist—more specifically I am an electrochemist, which means I study the conversion from electricity to mass. This is what happens in batteries, fuel cells, solar cells, etc.
World energy use (2001 numbers) is 13.2 TW. TW = tera-watt, and means a trillion watts. (The USA was 3.2 TW of that, or about 25%.)
These are watts just like in a light bulb. A watt is a measure of energy required per time. So if you need more electricity faster, then the watts go up.
Here are the numbers for energy you can get out of many common renewable energy sources:
- Hydro-electric: 1.5 TW (how many rivers are there?)
- Geo-thermal: 11 TW (hard to get the energy though)
- Wind: 2-4 TW (where is it windy enough?)
- Biomass: ~5 TW (water and land will limit)
- Solar: 120,000 TW
So that shows why solar power has such potential. Massive amounts of sunlight hit the Earth every day, the sun is free, the sun is plentiful, and the sun will not go out (soon anyway).
i.e. There is a shitload of sun.
Plants are geniuses, and photosynthesis makes about 90 TW all the time. They do it all by themselves. How can we do that?
Solar cells.
So, why do we not do that already? Here is how much it costs to make energy in several different ways (2002 numbers):
- Coal: 1-4 cents per kW-hr
- Gas: 2.3-5
- Oil: 6-8
- Wind: 5-7
- Nuclear: 6-7
- Solar: 25-50
That’s why. Production, operation, and maintenance of solar cells needs to become about ten times cheaper. This will happen both by research for new designs, and by experience gained operating the solar cell systems we already use.
If you wonder why we still use coal, and why solar is still only something for people to put on their roofs, those cents-per-kW-hr numbers are why. If someone asked you to pay for 100,000 kW-hr (for example), you would use coal, too.
I got the numbers given here from a lecture by Nate Lewis, a chemist at CalTech. A streaming video of him giving the lecture is here, and very good if you care about energy.
Dragonfly Vertical Farm » inhabitat
“Modeled after the wings of a dragonfly, this incredible urban farm concept for New York City’s Roosevelt Island intends to ease the problems of food mileage and shortage, and reconnect consumers with producers. Spanning 132 floors and 600 vertical meters, the Dragonfly would accommodate 28 different agricultural fields for the production of fruit, vegetables, grains, meat and dairy. A combination of solar and wind power make Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut’s Dragonfly concept 100% self sufficient.”
“Soon to recognize the enormous potential of solar energy, Cloncurry, an outback Australian town, will soon be getting a new solar thermal power plant that will deliver about 30 million kilowatt-hours of green electricity annually. The design will be implemented by Lloyd Energy Storage, which will build 54 towers, each of which will be 18m in height.
About 8000 mirrors covering an area of over 60,000 square feet will reflect light onto 10 ton graphite blocks mounted at the top of the towers. These blocks will then heat up enough to convert water being pumped through the graphite blocks into steam. The steam generated through this heating will then be used to power a conventional steam turbine to generate electricity. Since graphite retains heat for a longer period of time, the tower will work to its potential through night and on overcast days. Apart from generating green, renewable electricity, the plant will also conserve water, as it would use less water than what actually falls on the roof of the power station during rain.”
The batteries, with a 400 charge lifespan are housed in the curving arc of the frame and can be topped up by regenerative braking (A Prius convertible/cabriolet, if you will!). (via Ride like the Sun: Electrobike - Solar Electric Bicycle : TreeHugger
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the “oven” that doubles as a satellite dish.
Solar Cooking Demonstration in San Diego : Eat. Drink. Better.
“The butterfly species Papilio paris (pictured) has wings with intricate solar collectors that trap and transport solar heat to the body. This evolutionary adaptation that is thought to help the insects tolerate cold weather may someday help to power our world. Chinese scientists at Shanghai Jiao Tong University have recently found a way to copy and template the butterfly solar collectors for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs). The preliminary research shows that the insect’s solar collectors have a honeycomb-like structure that effectively scatters and absorbs light. By transplanting this honeycomb-like microstructure onto DSCs, scientists hope to increase the cell’s conversion efficiency in order to achieve a more commercially viable product.”
Voltaic Laptop Generator Bag - “The Voltaic Generator is the first solar bag powerful enough to charge a laptop, using high efficiency solar cells. It includes a battery pack custom designed to efficiently store and convert the electricity generated. It will also charge cell phones and most other hand held electronics.
- Solar panel generates up to 15 watts using 20% efficient cells, enough to fully charge the Voltaic battery in about 5 hours.
- The included battery pack stores the equivalent of a typical laptop charge and automatically delivers the required output voltages
- Common adapters are included for connection to laptops, phones and other handheld devices
- Or connect via USB or car charger
- Fabrics made from recycled PET (soda bottles), which is tough and water resistant”
“DuPont has installed its largest solar array at its Hi-Bred Waimea Research Center in Kauai, Hawaii. The array comprises of 1500 panels, which are produced by Evergreen Solar and installed by REC Solar. Installed in over an acre of area, the array is capable of generating 706,205 KWh of electricity annually.
The electricity generated by the array can be compared to the power requirement of 64 households. DuPont believes that the system will be able to provide about 85% of the plant’s required energy and would additionally save about $200,000 annually in purchased electricity costs.” (via Ecofriend)
